The Second Sunday of Easter
April 15, 2012 - Pastor Adam Moline
Acts 4:32-35 1
John 1:1-2:2 John 20:19-31
He is risen! He is
risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
Our text today comes from the second reading, especially these words,
“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but
if we confess our sins, God who is faithful and just will forgive our sins, and
cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Thus far our text.
There once was a man, who lived with his wife and his
children, and worked hard every day. One
particularly cold day, he was out shoveling snow, when suddenly he felt a pain
in his arm. The man ignored it and kept
on shoveling. Soon, he felt slightly out
of breath, and went inside for a few minutes.
While he was telling his wife what was going on, she looked at him and
said point blank, “That sounds serious, perhaps we should go to the doctor. The man told her right back, “Only sissies go
to the doctor, I’ll be fine.”
The next day the same thing happened, and the next and
the next, and still he ignored the pain and shortness of breath, even as they
got worse. Finally one day, the man fell
collapsed while he was out working, and died from a heart attack that could
have been prevented had the man paid attention to the symptoms. If he would have simply admitted something
was wrong and gone to see the doctor, he could have been healed and lived for
many more happy years with his wife and family.
But instead he deceived himself saying, “I’m fine, I don’t need any
help.”
Dear friends, I hope that none of you ever face that particular situation, and
yet the truth is, you face it every day.
No, not with heart problems, but with sin. Daily we are confronted by the fact that we
are sinners, that we are guilty, that we deserve punishment, and yet, so often
we ignore it like it doesn’t exist, deceiving ourselves. The signs are there, the symptoms are ever
present, and you deny the truth of the matter.
And yes, I am talking about you all.
This past week we celebrated Easter, the joyous
resurrection of the dead, the hope of life through the Risen Lord and Savior of
the entire world, Jesus. We came, we saw
our lilies, we said the Easter greeting, ate our hams and then went on like
nothing had happened the rest of the week.
We heard the truth, the wonderful Gospel of Easter, and then we returned
to our sin, as scripture says, “like a dog returns to its vomit.” You did it, and dear friends, I too have done
it.
Our text says, “If we claim to have fellowship with him
yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.” When we continue in our life of sin, we deny
that Christ has risen, we deny that we are sick and that we need his help. We fail to live in the truth, and worst of
all, we don’t confess it to those who are around us.
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the
truth is not in us. We become like that
man, who ignored the symptoms of heart troubles, and who died because of
it. We are that person, we who so
joyously celebrated a week ago, have deceived ourselves much since then. We have worshiped false gods and idols,
mostly ourselves. We have cursed, sworn,
we have committed murder and adultery in thought word and deed, we have stolen,
coveted, cheated, and more. And all of
these are the symptom of the greater problem.
All these are the shortness of breath caused by a heart attack. All of these things show that we live like
Christ is still dead, like he is still in the tomb. And if Christ is dead in the tomb, that is
all the further you will get yourself. If
Christ is dead, you are dead as well.
If you live in darkness, if you live in sin, you do not
have fellowship with Christ, you are not in the light. Don’t deceive yourself. You are in sin. You are guilty. You do deserve punishment and wrath from
God. Each of you. Each and every one of you. Jesus said so, that’s why he came, to rescue
you. To die for your sin.
So confess your sin.
Confess your sin and walk in it no longer. Christ is risen from the dead, so don’t live
a life of death any longer. Confess your
sin, so that God who is faithful and just will forgive it, so that he will
cleanse you from unrighteousness.
Confess your sin, so that the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world will take yours as well. Tell him
your deepest darkest sin, and be forgiven.
Confess all that you have done wrong, Before God plead guilty of all
sins, even those you do not know, as we do in the Lord’s Prayer. And before the Pastor, we confess those sins
that we know and feel in our hearts, that bother you. Confess and be forgiven.
If anyone does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father
in our defense-- Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and
not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. He went to the cross for sins, both the
confessed and the unconfessed. He went
to the cross so that you would not have to make the difficult choices your sin
brings about, so that you would not have to deal with the difficult situations
your sin puts you in. So that you can be
free from them forever without end.
And now, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed. He who killed
your sin now lives sin free with you. He
who was bloodied now bloodies you in his own holiness of life. You cannot live anymore in your sin, “No one
who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he
cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.” Confess, be forgiven, live in the holiness
that Christ gives to you by His grace.
Christ is risen, be risen with him, and leave your sin
behind. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
