Fourth Sunday of Easter 4/29/12

Fourth Sunday of Easter 4/29/12 Text: Psalm 23 Title: Only in Jesus Is There Peace. Our lives are very busy today. There are so many things going on and so little time, so we scurry from task to task all day long until we drop into bed exhausted thinking about tomorrow and wandering how we are going to get everything done. And then life ends. I am not immune to those same pressures, any more than you are, as I tend to the needs of my family, the congregation, and those in the community, particularly the homeless. The day is never long enough and there is always something waiting to be done. Peace is hard to find. Last week I showed you through God’s Word that peace, true everlasting peace, for this life and beyond can only be found at the cross of Christ. For it is there that Jesus took all that stuff that we take upon our self; mostly out of guilt, and puts it on himself, so that we can have peace in our lives. We come to church every Sunday to hear the Gospel message of forgiveness and peace and partake of the body and blood of our Savior, our Good Shepherd, so that we can live lives that are more peaceful. This short time every Sunday morning is to be a time of peace, so that we can have peace during the week even when our lives are anything but peaceful. It is unfortunate that there are so many Christians who look upon worship time, involvement in God’s Church, as being simply one thing more that adds stress to their lives instead of peace. It is unfortunate. Even more unfortunately, there are a lot of preachers, the hired hands that are spoken of in our Gospel reading who are supposed to bring peace to their congregation’s life are adding stress by telling the people in the congregation on what they should do or not do if they are to be his disciples, while nothing is said about what God did and continues to do, for those he loves. In other churches, socially minded pastors tell the members that as Christians we must care for the environment, and be involved in caring for the refugees, and strive to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and bring justice to the poor, so that God will love them, while nothing is said about what God did and continues to do, for those he loves. In still other churches the pastors will tell the members that the faithful must tithe, that the truly dedicated must go to prayer meetings, and that those devoted to Christ will read the bible and pray every today for at least an hour, and be actively involved in the different groups of the church, as leaders, helpers, or participants, if God is to love them, but not a word will be said about what God has done and continues to do, for those he loves. That does not count the other hired hands that come into our lives through the television, radio, books, CDs, DVDs and such. The world has not changed since the time John wrote this to the church. There are an endless supply of “hired hands,” salesmen, hawkers and pitchmen all offering their wares, everyone seeking to make a deal, promising us a better life in exchange for what we can pay. Peace is for sale. It is all about satisfying that hunger that Christians have for finding peace in their lives. The problem is that they claim to care for their customers but ultimately only care about their bottom line. Making a deal is all about their survival and not the survival of the “sheep.” When their costs get too high, their bottom line too weak and the snapping wolves too close, they “run away.” Cutting their losses, they move on to another flock where they can offer their services “for hire.” Our lives are filled with people telling us what it is we need to do, or what it is we should do. And while there can be good in what we are told when it comes to being told that we need to do something to merit God’s love the Gospel is lost. The gospel is lost whenever our actions are stressed and the love and the intercession of God in our lives is ignored or down played. The gospel is lost whenever our salvation and the salvation of the world, is linked to our activity, to what we do and feel, instead of being linked to what God did and continues to do for us. In the reading from the Book of Acts this morning we heard how Peter and John were arrested for healing a cripple and then proclaiming to the people that through Jesus sins are forgiven and the dead are resurrected. At the trial next morning the rulers and elders and teachers of the law question Peter and John about the healing they had performed, asking them, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Peter answers them saying: “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” My dear brothers and sisters in Christ that message is for us today, “for there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” It is by Jesus Christ and his love, a love shown on the cross, that we are saved; and it is by his name that we receive peace; and all that we do that has lasting value is done not by ourselves alone, but by the Holy Spirit working through us and honoring the name that we use. There are many obstacles and dangers in our lives, there are many drains upon our energy, many things that challenge us, and voices that mislead. Alone; we can be overwhelmed by them and the people that push their latest “truth” about finding peace. The good news is that we are not alone, there is one who watches over us, and gives us the strength and the protection we need. God teaches through the writings of King David in the 23rd Psalm, Saint Peter in Acts, and Saint John in our Gospel for today that it is only God, Jesus Christ our Good Shepherd who overcomes that which is overwhelming, giving us peace. What I am saying, for God tells us in his Holy Bible, that even when we do not live our lives as he tells us to live them, even we wander off that path he has prepared for us, falling into the ditches of despair and doubt and pride, that God, just as the painting I showed the children earlier shows us, reaches out to us, so that we can have what we truly need in our lives today; peace and comfort. Throughout the scriptures this truth is expressed in a very simple, but very profound image, the image of God as a shepherd. Psalm 23, the most loved psalm of all has comforted many a Christian in their time of distress. Great, great words about the Lord; words that we do well to remember and take comfort from, for God, our Shepherd, helps us, as he restores us back into the fellowship with him that he originally created his human creation to be in with him. There is nothing that we need to do to deserve or receive that help. It is always there for us. It was won for us on the cross of Jesus, and secured for us forever by his resurrection. When we cry out he comes to us. When we look for him he is there to assist us, and when we are in danger, he rescues us, but the most marvelous thing of all is this. When we stray away from him, as we all do from time to time he seeks us out and calls us to him, so that are led back into his safety and comfort of his love. He comes to our rescue in many ways. First of all in his Word, in the forgiveness of your sins that I speak to you every Sunday morning, the Sacraments, and people that are in your life that show God’s love for you. That is our God, a God who died to give you peace. It is so easy to get all tied up in a spiritual and emotional knots in our world, as we run around doing things that must be done, losing track of who we are and where we should be. It is so easy to be so busy that we get exhausted, finding ourselves hungering for peace, but not knowing any longer where we can find it. It is so easy to stray, ending up in need of help, looking in all the wrong places looking for that inner peace that only God can provide through Jesus. It is easy to wander off, goodness less than half of our membership attend worship services on Sunday morning. Greener pastures have beckoned many and they have lost sight of the Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Maybe some of you who are listening to this sermon this morning or listening to it on the internet have wandered off. Jesus is calling you today. He is calling you back to the still waters and the green pastures where you will have peace, true peace in this overworked, overstressed, and certainly not peaceful world. Here you are fed the bread of life and drink of the everlasting water that refreshes your soul and body. Here you will find the peace and restoration that you are searching for, as you rest in the arms of your Good Shepherd Jesus Christ. Be still and listen to the voice of Jesus, as he speaks to you, "I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.” Pause for a moment. Think about what you just heard him say. Let it sink in. Start to feel the peace, for in those words are the strength, comfort, and peace that you, that I, so desperately need. Amen.