3^rd Sunday of Easter at Epiphany on April 26, 2009

Luke 24:36-49 While they were still talking about this, Jesus himself stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." ³⁷ They were startled and frightened, thinking they saw a ghost. ³⁸ He said to them, "Why are you troubled, and why do doubts rise in your minds? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet. It is I myself! Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones, as you see I have." ⁴⁰ When he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. ⁴¹ And while they still did not believe it because of joy and amazement, he asked them, "Do you have anything here to eat?" ⁴² They gave him a piece of broiled fish, ⁴³ and he took it and ate it in their presence. ⁴⁴ He said to them, "This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms." ⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ He told them, "This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, ⁴⁷ and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of these things. ⁴⁹ I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

We Are His Witnesses

There was once a little boy who was walking along the beach when suddenly he came upon thousands of starfish that had washed up on the beach. The tide was going out, and for some strange reason, the starfish ended up stuck on the beach. They were all doomed because they couldn’t survive being out of the water in the hot sun until the next high tide. The little boy realized this and frantically started picking up starfish and throwing them, one at a time, back into the water.

A man who was walking along the beach saw the boy doing this and he yelled at the boy, “Son, what in the world are you doing? Don’t you know that there are thousands of starfish on this beach? And don’t you know that this beach goes on for miles and miles? There is no way in the world you can save all those starfish!”

The little boy thought about that for a moment, then turned to the man, picked up a starfish and said, “Yeah, I know. But I can save this one.” And he heaved it as far as he could into the ocean.

Sometimes we get discouraged because we can’t solve all the problems of the world, or see all of our friends and family come to Christ, or do everything that we feel God wants us to do. But we can do something. And something is always better than doing nothing at all.

Jesus tells us to do something. One thing. One little, but all important something. He says to His first century disciples and He says to His twenty-first century disciples: “You are witnesses.”

Witnesses testify about what they have seen and heard. Jesus said, “You are witnesses of these things.” With their own eyes, the disciples had seen the proof that God had chosen Jesus to take away the sins of the world. With their own eyes, the disciples were about to see the proof that God had chosen them to tell the world about Jesus.

Isn’t it remarkable that Jesus entrusted this amazingly good news of forgiveness, peace, and eternal resurrection to a band of fearful, doubting, denying disciples? Of all the means at His disposal, it appears that Jesus uses the least efficient, weakest, and most vulnerable. If we ran the show, we would have used angels or some miraculous power to make everybody believers. God could broadcast His good news to the world in a miraculous moment, if He so chose. But instead Jesus relies on selfish, lazy, materialistic, gullible and generally unspiritual people like you and me. He chooses us. He’s counting on us. There is no other plan.

We know we are God’s witnesses. Yet it is pretty obvious that we don’t take this mission as Christ’s witnesses too seriously, too cheerfully, or too willingly. How many chances to tell the world about Jesus did you waste this past week? How many opportunities to speak about the value of Christian education have you let slip by? When you went out to eat this week did you pray out loud or when you ate lunch in the break room did you openly read your Bible so you could witness to Jesus? When you filled your envelope for church this week, did you think about how you prioritize your money as a witness for Jesus? Did you begin a conversation with the intention of directing someone’s thoughts to Jesus? I thought so. I didn’t have a very good week, either.

When we fail to carry out the mission Christ gives us, we stifle the Savior’s plans in two ways: we stifle His plans for the people around us – the people He wants to be saved – and we stifle His plans for us – the people He wants to be His witnesses! We end up leaving people baking on the beach – no hope of survival, no hope of life.

In order to motivate us Jesus promises, “It is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.”

The disciples were to begin in Jerusalem and preach to the nations what they had witnessed – the rough, bloody cross, the open, empty tomb, the folded burial cloths, the scarred hands. The resurrected Lord standing in front of them – to see, to hear, to touch. Can you even begin to imagine what they witnessed!

And what remarkable miracles have we witnessed through Scripture! The blind see. The deaf hear. The lame walk. But, most amazingly, the dead lived! A little girl. A young man. Lazarus. All of them. Brought back to life. And then, most amazing of all, Jesus himself died and then came back to life.

What else have we witnessed? We have witnessed people with the worst addictions give it all up and turn their lives over to the Lord. We have witnessed marriages broken by unfaithfulness, sewn together with the thread of Christ’s love and made whole and even stronger. We have witnessed parents who lost a child to death, instead of being overcome with grief, be overwhelmed by the conviction they will see and enjoy their child in heaven for an eternity.

If you’ve been around long enough, you have seen our church come through difficult times before – Depression, World Wars, a “Blow-up Sunday” – yet God has always blessed the church and made it stronger. In the past you may have witnessed two congregations and possibly even church leaders who didn’t always get along that well now jointly run a school, worshiping and working together to support mission work and Christian education ministry in Racine.

We have seen our little school which began with Kindergarten in the Friendship Room now grow to Preschool through Eighth grade on two campuses. For 35 years have seen parents and teachers faithfully teach our young people, not just math, reading and science, but teach Jesus as Savior as we equip Jesus’ lambs with life-skills that glorify God. We have seen you faithfully supporting our congregation’s ministry through WLS with your offerings, prayers, time, and various talents. We have witnessed difficult times in the past. We know we have difficult decisions to make for our future. Yet we have personally experienced how God has always guided us through the dreary desert of difficulties to lead us to a place of flowing with blessing, growth, faith, trust, and even increased numbers of saints.

We have seen WLS become a vital mission outreach tool to our congregation. Look around you at all the new faces that have graced Epiphany in the last few years through WLS. Over 40 members and 60 children in just the past four years. Imagine what the church would look like today if those families weren’t here. However, we don’t support Christian education and do mission work in Racine in order to fill up our classrooms or our pews. We support Christian education because we as a congregation have said that is how we are going to train up our children in the way they should go. We do mission work because it is our responsibility – it is our privilege. And when those parents and children come to our church and school, that is simply a blessing God is granting us for being His faithful stewards.

We witness to others what we have seen and heard Jesus accomplish in our church, in our school, in our own lives through the gospel of forgiveness and peace preached in this place. We witness to others so that we can see these children and adults in heaven someday. We witness not to increase numbers at WLS or Epiphany, but to increase God’s kingdom. We witness because someone once witnessed to us.

Why do we take all the time, the effort, the money to witness, to preach, and to teach Jesus in our classrooms and from our pulpit? Because our classrooms are filled with sinners and little heathens. This church is filled with doubters and deniers and disbelievers. Our community is filled with the scared, the hurting and the lonely. We are bringing the life-giving water of the gospel to those spiritually dying of thirst. We are announcing that Christ has broken the chains of sin that has imprisoned humanity. We are declaring that we have received pardon and peace before the Judge of heaven and earth.

We have been carrying out this mission responsibility for 82 years through Epiphany. We have been carrying out our ministry privilege for 35 years through Wisconsin Lutheran School.

We know that we have an urgent task before us. Yet, we must collectively confess that our love for lost souls has fallen short of Jesus’ love for us. Our witness has been hampered by our prejudices, by our procrastination and by our pride. We have been stingy with our offerings. We have been negligent in praying for our called workers. We have chosen not to speak to some people. We have put off speaking to others. And we have feared the reactions of still others. We must beg for forgiveness for shrinking back from the awesome privilege of sharing Jesus’ love with the world.

How wonderful it is to know that we are able to witness to Jesus’ wonderful forgiveness, because He even forgives us for our lack of witnessing. That is how great God’s love for us really is.

The heavenly Father’s love for fallen mankind was so great that He offered up His only begotten Son. The love of our Lord Jesus Christ knew no limit, as we witness at the lowly manger, at the desert of temptation, at His lonely night in prayer, at His cruel cross, and at His empty tomb. The love of Jesus is so great that He even promises to help us in our witnessing: “I am going to send you what my Father has promised.” The Holy Spirit opens our eyes to see what we had trouble seeing before. He expands our minds to believe what before had seemed unbelievable. The Spirit warms our hearts and takes away the selfishness and self-interest. The Spirit puts steel in our steps and gives us courage to be witnesses for Christ.

We – you and I – are God’s ambassadors and Christ’s witnesses to the world. This is to be our chief purpose in life. There is nothing more important than saving another person’s soul from the flames of hell.

This church is our ministry. This school is our mission. Through this church and school, God is inviting you to participate in the greatest, largest, most diverse, and most significant cause in history—building his kingdom. He’s building His family for eternity. Nothing matters more and nothing will last as long.

You aren’t going to be able to win the whole world to Christ. But you can encourage one family to come to your school. You can invite one person to worship God with you in your church. You can share your love for Jesus with one person. The Bible tells us that all of heaven rejoices when just one person is saved.

We have some serious challenges before us. Our budget appears too large to accomplish. Our ministry appears too difficult to achieve. Our mission field appears too great to succeed.

You can’t do everything – but you can do a lot more than you think you can. And God will take what you do, bless it, and multiply it – just like he did with a little boy’s lunch beside the Sea of Galilee.

So pick up a starfish and throw it. That’s all God want you to do. He’ll do the rest. And He’ll bless it. Amen.