Today’s Scripture

Psalm 148       Acts 3:13-15, 17-26    1 John 5:1-6    John 20:19-31

 

Acts 3:13-15

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified his servant Jesus.  You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go.  You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you.  You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead.  We are witnesses of this.

 

            In baseball one never wants to make an out.  The worst out to make is the strike-out.  Of strike-outs, the hardest to take is the called third strike.  North-siders and South-siders alike, it is a feeling of helplessness watching the ball go right by and hearing that emphatic sound, “Strike three – you are out.”  It isn’t just that one pitch.  It is the fact that you had three chances and now totally missed the last one.  We have yet to hear the umpire say, “Why don’t you come back and try another pitch, and we’ll make this one easier on you.”  In our life on this earth, we find ourselves being called out with that third strike all too often.  We have missed our chances.

 

            In the account of Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, Peter lays it out straight and simple.  “You killed the author of life.”  Folks, you struck out.  Jesus was here, right in the middle of all of us.  But you did not accept him.  You wanted Jesus to do things for earthly gain alone.  You paved his way with coats and palm branches hoping a peaceful and powerful kingdom based out of Jerusalem would result.  All of this resulted in Jesus’ conviction and death.  Folks, when you do not stand up for Jesus Christ, the only one who is true God and true man in one person, you kill Christ.

 

            Who knows this better than Peter?  It was Peter who denied Jesus three times in the courtyard of the high priest.  As he denied Jesus the third time, Peter looked up and there was Jesus, standing there and looking at him.  Peter was just sent to the dugout with three strikes and the other team is throwing some pretty nasty strikes.  You and I and all other people on this earth too, how often are we caught with the bat on our shoulders when in thought, word, and deed, each one has failed to witness the love of Christ to another.  Just what is this “love of Christ,” and how do I miss it and how do I hit it?

 

            A key word in this verse is the word, “but.”  Although we “killed the author of life,” God does something that turns this entire scene around.  “God raised him from the dead,” [v. 15].  Let us go back to that Thursday night in Gethsemane, Friday in the courts and on Calvary, and all day Saturday before the resurrection.  At Immanuel we stripped the altar to get a sense of what the disciples and all who still followed Jesus felt, he is no longer here.  Jesus is gone.  We’ve struck out as we let this terrible thing happen. 

 

            We are helpless and there is no hope left.  Each one of us knows we are like Judas who betrayed Jesus when we too sell out to temptation and the whims of our sinful natures in this provocative world.  Each one of knows we are like Peter, cowering in fear in the opportunities to witness who Jesus is before others.  Each one of us knows we are like Thomas, doubting this whole thing can be real unless we have some hard piece of physical evidence on our terms instead of living by faith on God’s terms.

 

            “But God raised him from the dead.”  Would God raise Jesus from the dead if Jesus had died a sinner?  Would God raise Jesus from the dead if Jesus had not fulfilled all that needed to be done to pay the price for all sins?  Would God raise Jesus from the dead if Jesus were not his one and only son?  Would God raise Jesus from the dead if he did not love you and want to raise you up too in his complete righteousness and holiness for all eternity?

 

            You and I have struck out pretty badly on this earth.  We each have those skeletons in this earthly closet that no one ever wants another to see, hear, or know about in any way.  Each one of us has those fears, failures, disregarded and missed opportunities to live God’s commands and to witness his love to others in every way imaginable.  “But God raised Christ from the dead.”    As he restored his own son, he restores you, his dear child whom he has adopted in the waters of baptism.  How important it is to bring even the youngest of infants to receive that precious gift.  As he restored his own son, he gives that son to restore you as you receive that very body and blood miraculously present in the bread and wine to strengthen and preserve you in that faith in your baptism.  God gave his word in Jesus in order that you can hear it, read it, mark it, learn it, and take it to heart in daily reading, in Bible Study with others, and in the worship fellowship with each other.

 

            Peter remembered Jesus’ words and repented in faith that Jesus would restore him.  And Jesus did.  Thomas, as bold as his doubting words were, repented too, proclaimed Jesus his “Lord and God.”  Thomas was counted saved as one who also believed.  The crowds in Jerusalem heard these words, were cut to the heart, repented and believed in Christ, the son of God and Savior of the World.  They were restored and marked as God’s dear children in baptism.  You too, as hopeless as it feels looking at God’s commands in this world, know that as God raised Jesus from the dead, he has also restored you as his dear child.  As John writes, “Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God,” [1 John 5:5]. 

 

            Will trouble and sorrow and pain and anger and warring ever cease on this earth?  No.  Are you equipped as a child of God to live through all of these events as helpless as you feel from moment to moment?  Yes.  It is because God has made you his child and uses you in ways known and unknown to you to share his love in Christ Jesus to others.  And, when your last day has come, will raise you up with all believers in Christ to be with him in all glory and splendor forever.  In God’s love there is no “strike three” to those who trust in Jesus.  In Christ Jesus you are always safe at home with him.  Amen.