SATISFACTION GUARANTEED

By Dr. Eric C. Stumpf, Senior Pastor

St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church – Munster, IN

Easter + Is. 53:10-11 + April 8, 2007

 

“Grace and peace to you from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.” It’s good to say that again.  I’m glad to be back.  What seemed like a simple surgery turned into a greater ordeal than expected, but it gave me the opportunity to draw closer to the Lord, to wait patiently on his grace, and thank God for the great work and talent of the staff at St. Paul’s.  It’s amazing to feel so lifted up in prayer.  Thank you.

 This morning is Easter.  Why are you here?  Some come to hear the story – maybe not know it well, what is Easter about?  Some know the story very well, but what does the resurrection event mean to them?  Some are here because they’ve been told to be here.  They haven’t been to church since Christmas or last Easter or some Easters before.  They know the story, sort of.  And if the preacher doesn’t get on with it, they will only have this bulletin to occupy time.

 The title is “Satisfaction Guaranteed.”  Pretty big statement to make, and some of you might even rise to the challenge…”Ok,” you say to yourself, “satisfy me.”

 For those who want to hear the story, here it is.  God the creator of the world and every human being who ever lived, lives, or will live, desires to repair the damage we have made.  Perhaps we think of pollution, but you’d only be close.  The greatest pollution is sin which our first parents brought into the world and we live every day.  Whether you acknowledge or not, sin is working to destroy your life, and all sin, all die from that sin.  God, however, loves you and seeks to rescue you and me from eternal damnation with salvation in his son.

 God spoke of his plan to do this.  Seven hundred years before the birth of his son, he moved the prophet Isaiah to speak words of promise to the whole world.  Imagine someone in the 1307 saying anything that would have any revelation as to what we are doing today in the 2007.  Human beings have no insight into the future like that.  And those who try almost always paint the future in dismal colors and horrible forebodings.  But Isaiah had words of hope from God…..

 Almost 2000 years ago God’s son was crucified to take the sins of the whole world upon himself, “For God so loved the world that he gave his only and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but live.”  Yes, Jesus died on the cross to pay for the sins of humanity, and God raised him from the dead.  On the third day after his death, as we heard in the Gospel, he was raised to life.  Quite a claim, but is it true?  We have eyewitnesses to his resurrection.  These people saw Jesus more than once, but many times, in many places, and many different times of the day.  He showed himself to over 500 people.  Some wrote their eye witness. 

 Some might not be convinced.  In 1971, a well known and respected author, Clifford Irving sold a manuscript which was the authorized biography of Howard Hughes, a famous billionaire recluse, to McGraw-Hill, a famous publisher.  He claimed he interviewed the man and many others for the material.  He had cleverly lied to his publisher, fooled handwriting experts, Mike Wallace of CBS news who investigated his claim, and even a lie detector test.  But soon after publication Howard Hughes, the real Howard Hughes, called seven journalists who knew him from former days, and denounced the whole book.  Irving in a few days confessed the hoax.   

If Jesus resurrection was a hoax, it would have been quickly found out and denounced, and the life of Jesus would have meant nothing.  Those claiming to see Jesus were threatened with death and all the disciples save John died for claiming Jesus was the risen Savior.  Does a person die for a lie or for the truth?  But these words by themselves will not convince you, but the Holy Spirit who creates faith when the news of Jesus is preached will convince you.

Now for those who know the story well, what does this all mean to you?  Paul directed by the Holy Spirit wrote, “If Christ has not been raised from the dead, you are still in your sins…but in fact, Christ has risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.”  (1 Cor 15)  When we come to worship our Lord, when we go to him in prayer, when we place our faith in him for our eternal salvation and the power of the Gospel to help us each and every day, we are connected to the living God, not some dead prophet.  “Because he lives, we shall live.”  Our living starts now.  We live because we can forgive and be forgiven;  we live because God’s power in us directs us to do what is pleasing to God and a great blessings in our life;  and, we live because we carry in us a treasure that can never be destroyed and will never run out when we share it.  Our life is immeasurably better and richer because we are a child of God instead of apart from God.

Finally, for those who are here only because someone bribed you or nagged you or made you feel guilty if you didn’t go.  Be thankful that you have family or friends who love you enough that they hope the love of Christ could be in your heart.  They know that Christ is life and they want you to have that life as well.  It is very easy to live and be contaminated by the cynical world we live in.  It is all around us, the Me-Centered belief that the only thing worthy while is what pertains to me and what gives me pleasure.  A song that is making a comeback captures that spirit of this cynicism, “I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now.” (Queen)  A life centered in the “Me” is a dead end.  A life centered in Christ, the Lord of Life, is life, it fulfils us while the world only want to empty us and cast us to the side. 

Celebrate the life Christ won for us, the Heavenly Father assured by raising his Son, and the Holy Spirit works in your heart.  I

n Jesus, Amen.