Vicar Christopher Gillespie
Immanuel Lutheran Church of Frankentrost 
Saginaw, Michigan
Text: John 20:19-31; 1 John 5:4-10; Ezekiel 37:1-14

2008-03-30 audio

Dear brothers and sisters,

Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluiah!

This morning we consider the Gospel text just read from John chapter 20 where Jesus comes and visits the disciples, extending to them peace, and commissioning them with the Holy Spirit. Later Jesus appears before Thomas in order that his faith might be strengthened.  We pray:

Since Christ has full atonement made And brought to us salvation,
Each Christian therefore may be glad And build on this foundation
Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead, Your death is now my life indeed,
For you have paid my ransom.
Let me not doubt, but truly see Your Word cannot be broken;
Your call rings out, “Come unto Me!” No falsehood have you spoken.
Baptized into Your precious name, My faith cannot be put to shame,
And I shall never perish. 
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.
(Salvation Unto Us Has Come, LSB 555 (sts. 6-7, Paul Speratus)

You wouldn’t believe some of things people tell me. Part of my responsibilities as your vicar is to care for the sick and the dying. There is something about the hospital or nursing home which causes people to describe their bodily functions and ailments in ways that would normally be considered indecent. I hear about bowel functions, vomiting, bloating, and cramping. Aches and pains are described in intimate detail. And sometimes patients intentionally show you exactly where it hurts without shame. 

At first, I was surprised and shocked by the frankness. After a time I grew to understand why people let their guard down when they are under care. You see, they go to the hospital or the nursing care facility precisely because they need help. Its too late for them to be shy and say “there’s nothing wrong.” So their timidness fades and they open up. 

Yet, all the exposure and talk of wounds still shock some. I’m no longer surprised. When emergencies arise, pride whithers away. Subject matter that was once taboo is now fair game. 

But why? What would cause folks to let their guard down and expose themselves to me? Simply, they recognize why I am there. I’m not there merely as a friend. I’m not their to merely offer sympathy. I am there on behalf of the pastor… as their vicar. I am there to care for their soul, to be their seelsorger, a physician of souls.

The patient recognizes their need for care. Just as the doctor asks questions and listens patiently as you describe the symptoms, so you describe for your seelsorger what troubles your soul. Just as your doctor wields medicine and knife to remedy your body, so too your physician of souls wields the sword of the Spirit in meditation, prayer, and hymn. 

It comes as no surprise, then, that dear Christians would reveal themselves to me. For I am there to hear their woes, their grief, their pain, and their sorrow and provide the appropriate remedy for their soul. 

Some need a cleansing via the laxative properties of the Law. The Law cleanses our soul of our own righteousness and worthiness, emptying us of reliance upon good works. But for others their torment has already beaten them low and they need a steroid shot of the Gospel, rejuvenating them in faith and trust in Jesus the Christ.

“Like newborn babes [we] long for the pure spiritual milk of the Word.” (Psalm 81:1) In their time of need the faithful lay their ailments at the pastor’s feet because they know that he comes bearing the only remedy that always heals. He carries the only peace that passes understanding. And so, they sing to God for strength. In their distress they call to God of Jacob and He delivers them. They open their mouth wide and our Lord God fills it with his sweet honey drawn from the rock of Christ.

How do they know that their pastor bears the the cure for the soul? How do they know they can reveal to him all their secrets in humility? What testimony proves his authenticity? 

He comes to them not by virtue of election or status but by virtue of the instituted office, the yolk of burden of the Holy Ministry. 

Yet, even a clerical collar or an stole do not make the office. They know He carries the office because of the gifts he brings. The healing that comes on his wings does not rely on the testimony of men. It does not need support. 

No, they can trust His cure is real without FDA approval because they are faithful people of God. They test His word against the Word of the Spirit and find it true. They see, hear, and touch the waters of baptism, given as Jesus instructed. They taste upon their lips the blood of Christ, given and shed for the forgiveness of sins. 

These are the testimonies that say He is rightly called seelsorger, the physician of souls. These are the marks  the church and the apostolic office therein. By the Spirit, water, and blood we know that the pastor is indeed the servant of God who can pronounce forgiveness and eternal life to all who believe by and in the stead of Jesus Christ. 

Christ himself instituted this office. “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” He says to His disciples, “you are my sendlinge, to go out into the world with the testimony of the Word.” You take the pure spiritual milk of Me and nurse the infants of faith. 

And He breathed on them saying “Receive the Holy Spirit.” Not just any spirit, but the Spirit who testifies of Me, sent by the Father and brings my forgiveness to the nations. You are my missionaries not to add warm bodies to a pew but to declare the justification won on the cross, bearing redemption, healing, and life eternal to all who believe… so that they can join in heavenly song before the Lamb Who Was Slain, singing the great canticles of faith. 

And you, my sendlinge, forgive those who are contrite and withhold forgiveness of the hard of heart. Testify in my Spirit, bringing people into the knowledge of truth, carrying with you My water and My blood.

Many doubt the apostolic office. They refuse the testimony of the Word which declares them unworthy in sin and worthy in Christ’s blood. They make God a liar by refusing to believe the truth, that in His Son Jesus Christ, man is justified by grace through faith alone and not by any merit or worthiness of ourselves. Rather they trust the testimony of men who speak lies and deceit. They give credence to the wickedness of the world and deny the testimony of the the truth. 

Their faith is not sola scriptura, sola gratia, and sola fides. They want more than just the Word of grace in Jesus which is grasped in faith. They want earthly evidence, things they can see and feel to prove that God is active. In doubt, they reveal their cares to anyone and everyone in their time of need in a vain hope that if God doesn’t pull them through, the doctors might. “Its about time I get a lucky break” they say. They make God a liar by not trusting in Him but by adding the idolatry of Mistress Luck or modern medicine. 

The doubt of Thomas is not that His Lord can rise from the dead. Thomas rather doubts that God can be the Deus Abscondicus, that is, the hidden God. Thomas doubts that our Lord could be present in a gathering behind locked doors. Thomas cannot believe the testimony of his fellow Apostles. He does not trust the eyewitnesses, later who recall the event in the Spirit-inspired Gospels. 

Yet, Christ uses the tongues of men to speak his testimony that He that overcame the World. “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed!” For we believe in faith but not through sight but hearing. We know that Christ is raised from the dead! Death has been defeated! Hell cannot triumph anymore!

Thomas could not believe his brothers, the sendlinge of Christ. But He, like a lost sheep, pursues the truth. We aren’t left with the mere testimony of God uttered by the lips of men. We too, like Thomas, demand to see His hands and side. We must behold His wounds which He bore for the iniquity of the world. Our resurrected Lord must still bear the scars of our sin. 

Like Thomas too, we follow Christ’s command and touch his side. We feel the water flow from Christ, purchasing and winning us from sin, death, and the power of the devil. We taste His very blood poured out for the continued forgiveness of our sins. 

Unlike Thomas, we cannot see our Lord. He remains the Deus Absondicus, the God hidden in, with, and under means. But these means, as weak and insignificant as they may seem are the testimony of the Spirit about the Son. They are the witness that our Lord is not dead. 

He has triumphed over the death! He is the victor over Satan! You are made heirs to this new life in your deliverance from the Egypt, the land of sin, when you passed through the saving waters. 

“Stop doubting but believe!” We need the food fit for newborn babes just as we are children of faith. Christ serves His heavenly banquet to us here, were he is in service to us. He speaks to us His forgiveness, the dishes that truly satisfy the soul, curing it of doubt and strengthening faith. Our shame is removed and our death is undone. Those wounds in His hand and side are given and shed for us.

We confess “I know that I am accepted by God and have the Holy Spirit, not for the sake of worthiness or merit on my part, but for the sake of Christ, who subjected Himself to the Law for us and bore the sins of the world. In Him I believe.” (What Luther Says, p.428)

Jesus says “The words that I speak to you: they are Spirit and they are life.” (John 6:63) By his wounds, we know that on the last day our grave will be opened. Our Lord will breath upon us, raising us to new life with him. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? For I know that my Redeemer lives and will raise me and all believers! 

And when He breathes upon us, these dry bones will be restored. All the pain and suffering of our lives will be removed. We will suffer no shame under them for they will be gone! There will be no need to expose the torment that troubles your soul… no need to describe the hurts of this life. For they will all be removed in a blink of an eye. 

We will be taken to heavenly Jerusalem, the great and holy hill where we, His servants, along with the Holy church throughout the World, the glorious company of the apostles, the goodly fellowship of the prophets, the noble army of martyrs and all the angels and archangels will worship our Lord in glory everlasting. 

There we can confess in jubilant song with Thomas “My Lord and my God!” Shout for joy in the Lord, O You righteous! Christ is Risen! He is Risen Indeed! Alleluiah!

+ In the name of Jesus. + Amen.