Luke 1 1-4, 24 44-53
“Show and Tell”
21st Sunday of Pentecost
St. Luke the Evangelist
Luke 1:1-4 and 24:44-53
NKJ Luke 1:1 Inasmuch as many have taken in hand to set in order a narrative of those things which have been fulfilled among us, 2 just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word delivered them to us, 3 it seemed good to me also, having had perfect understanding of all things from the very first, to write to you an orderly account, most excellent Theophilus, 4 that you may know the certainty of those things in which you were instructed.
NKJ Luke 24:44 Then He said to them, "These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me." 45 And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. 46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, 47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 "And you are witnesses of these things. 49 "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high." 50 And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. 51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshipped Him, and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple praising and blessing God. Amen.
Intro.: When I was young and in my first years of school, there were special days set aside for a very important event. This event was called show and tell. Show and tell was the time that was set aside for class members to share something special with the rest of the class. Sometimes it was an object that was shared and other times it was a special event or story that had taken place. Recently, I was pleasantly surprised that my two year old daughter was going to participate in her first show and tell. So the tradition goes on.
Today we celebrate the life of St. Luke the Evangelist. We thank God for the blessings that He has poured out through his Word, in the Gospel that he inspired Luke to write. As a congregation we have been studying the Gospel of Luke for some time now. It is his gospel that we have focused on in our teaching and our preaching. Why? What is our purpose in doing this? More importantly, what purpose did Luke have to write it? (Pause)
Show and tell! Luke is sharing with his friend, Theophilus and us, the most beautiful story ever told. It is the living story of Jesus Christ. He shows us what God has promised to all people in both the Old and New testaments. He shows us how God our Father has fulfilled his promises in Christ. Luke continues to tell us that all that is to be fulfilled is being fulfilled in us as God uses us to bear witness to the world, with His Word and Sacraments.
1. That which was to be fulfilled has been fulfilled. :
a) It was fulfilled for us.
Jesus said “thus it is written and thus it was necessary.” All His words and all the things that He had done were in fulfillment of all that had been written in the Old Testament as a promise to us. Our Heavenly Father keeps his promises and all of them have been kept in Christ. Through Him, God freely offers to all people, healing of body mind and spirit. He offers to give them life, here and now, and eternally. He invites us to fellowship with him, to sit down with Him at His table to eat and to drink. He nourishes us with himself and quenches our thirst. What was the price though? What was it that he did that fulfilled all that God has promised, and that has given us fulfillment in our lives, the lives He has given us?
b) It was fulfilled at His cost.
Thus it was written and thus it was necessary for Jesus to suffer and to die and to rise from the dead on the third day. As we walk with St. Luke in his gospel, we walk with Christ. We see how he has fulfilled all of Gods promises to us. Luke’s witness and testimony to the life of Christ becomes our own witness. We are witnesses of Zacharias in the temple at Jerusalem as Gabriel, an angel of the Lord, announces that he will be the father of John the Baptist, who will prepare our Lords way. Standing beside the Jordan river we see our Lord baptized. It is a baptism that we share in our own baptism. With Luke we walk the dusty streets of Galilee and Capernaum. As Jesus calls his disciples we remember that he has called us also. In the healing of the army officer's servant we remember that he heals us also. As Jesus brings the widows dead son back to life, we feel the compassion he has for her and us in our own suffering. We feel the joy that she feels at her sons resurrection. We have hope for our own resurrection and in the resurrection of the people we love. Our journey with Luke leads us to recline at the feet of Jesus and listen to His Word. We can recall the things that he has taught us -- the story about the farmer sowing His seed, the good Samaritan, and the faith of the mustard seed. Jesus teaches his disciples to pray. And us… “Our Father who art in Heaven…." As we approach Jerusalem with Jesus, as he enters for the final time, we share in His victorious entry; but we are blind like the disciples because we really don’t understand what it all means. Our lack of understanding leads us to sleep during our own prayers, just as the disciples slept in the garden of Gethsemane the night before our Lords death. Like Peter, we find ourselves denying our Lord at our own convenience and to save our own life or reputation. We suffer in our own blindness as we watch Christ die, and we don’t understand why he had to. Standing guilty before His cross we are convicted of our own sin that put Him there. Yet, in our blindness we still don’t get it.
c) Our eyes have been opened.
Then, with the disciples, we meet the risen Christ face to face. As comforting as this is or should be, we still don’t understand what He has done. Our sinful nature, so ingrained in our flesh, doesn’t grasp it or even want to. Here to, Jesus shows his compassion to us. In verse 45 it says that Jesus opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. How often have we tried to understand what the Bible says, or what Christ has done, relying on our own understanding? Explicitly we see that we are not capable of doing this. Just as the blind men’s eyes were healed when Jesus commanded them to be open, we are present at a greater miracle – the healing of the disciples' eyes, and our own. Only God can open our minds and direct our sight to all that he has done in Christ Jesus.
2. That which is to be fulfilled is being fulfilled in you.
a) Fulfilled in you.
God has opened our minds. Now we know what God has done in Jesus Christ and we have begun to understand what he has fulfilled. Is that all there is? Shall we say to ourselves: my, that is a cute story and I’m glad God has done that for me? By no means should we feel this way. God is fulfilling his promise to all people through us, His church. We, just like the disciples have been made witnesses to the redemption of mankind that has been purchased by Christ Jesus. We have been baptized into Jesus’ life, death and resurrection. Through our baptism’s we have been made His witnesses to all the people of the world. This is not our choice. Our privilege is to preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins through Jesus Christ.
b) By His power.
How can we do this? The disciples were instructed to wait in Jerusalem until they were given power from heaven to be Christ’s witnesses. We do not have to wait to receive the power of God as the disciples did. The fulfillment of Christ’s promise of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to His disciples was given to us at our baptisms. His power has been made manifest in us through His Word and His sacraments. This power, His power, enables us to proclaim His love and redemption that he freely gives to all people. We have been given a wonderful gift. Luke has shown and told us
Conclusion:
In a way we have been in Luke’s classroom listening to the precious account of Jesus that he shares with us. We have heard and we believe. In a way also, our world is a classroom. We have the opportunity to go to the front of this class which is made up of our neighbors and friends. They wait with anticipation. Now, it is our turn to share the most precious gift we have. A gift that we have learned about and experienced. It is our turn to show and tell how God has kept His promises and shown His love through His Son Christ Jesus.
Amen. May the peace of God keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus to life everlasting.