Our Sermons

Bible Passage: 2 Peter 1:16-21
Pastor: Pastor Berg
Sermon Date:  February 19, 2023

“Easter never happened!” That’s what a college professor proclaimed to his class around Easter time one year. “Jesus’ resurrection is a myth, just some made up story to help his dejected disciples feel better. Think about it…what God would send his Son to be crucified in the first place?” Tentatively, Joshua raised his hand from the back of the classroom and said, “Sir, I believe that Easter did happen. I believe that Jesus rose from the dead.” 

“Joshua, you can believe what you want. But I choose to live in the reality of this world. Reality says that miracles like the resurrection are impossible.” The professor wanted to make an example of Joshua and all Christians. So he went to his refrigerator and took out a raw egg. “I’m going to drop this egg. And the reality is that gravity is going to pull it toward the floor and cause it to break into pieces. Joshua, I want you to pray and ask God to keep this egg from breaking. If he can do it, then I’ll admit that Easter happened.”

Joshua thought about his professor’s challenge for a moment. He decided that he would say a prayer out loud, but that he would ask for something a little bit different. He began, “Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that if my professor drops that egg that it splatters and breaks. But Lord, you can do anything. So I pray that you show him your presence and power in a different way. I pray that if my professor challenges you and drops that egg, I pray that you would show him your power by causing him to lose his job within the next week.”

Well, that changes things, doesn’t it? Suddenly, the stakes were a whole lot different. Suddenly, the professor had skin in the game. The class sat in rapt silence, wondering what the professor would do. The professor looked at Joshua and then looked at the egg. “Class dismissed,” he said and put the egg back in the refrigerator. As sure as he made it seem, this professor wasn’t willing to bet his job on a claim that there is no resurrection, that Easter is just a made up story.

“Uh-huh, sure you did Peter. Sure you saw his glory. Sure, you heard the voice of God.” You can hear the objections that were raised about Peter’s testimony without even seeing them written down. “Are you sure you weren’t a little drowsy and just dreamt all this up? That’s how some people want to view Jesus’ transfiguration. They want to see it just as a dream or a mirage. They picture those disciples up on that high mountain with the sunlight glistening off the snow. That’s it! It only looked like Jesus was glorified. People will do anything to discredit a miracle.

Do we listen to them? Do we listen to those who say, “The Bible is just a bunch of stories written by men,” or “Jesus was just a good man and he did a lot for people, but you still have to work out your own salvation,” ? Let’s take a brief jaunt through the past few months of the Church Year. What do we see in the life of Jesus? We see him born in a stable. We see him an itinerant preacher with no place to really call home. We see people rejecting him. And now shift your eyes to what lay ahead next week and the next six weeks. What do we see in the life of Jesus? We see suffering. We see lowliness. We see humiliation. We see weakness. For much of the Church Year, we see Jesus’ humanity on full display. We see him looking no different than we do. 

Joseph Goebbels, a propagandist for the Nazi regime in Germany said, “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Has that happened to us? We have an interesting allegiance to the Word of God, don’t we? We will defend it to the death. But do we always trust that the Gospel message alone is the power of God to convert the lost and strengthen the found? Do we believe that proclaiming the gospel faces is enough to bring new souls into the kingdom of God? Or does the Word of God suddenly lose its power, at least in our own minds, when it comes to converting souls and strengthening faith?

That is why it is so good for us to be here–again! That is why we need to hear what Peter has to say to us today. Because even Joseph Goebbels had to admit: “The truth is the mortal enemy of the lie.” And Peter is here to give us the truth. Listen again to what he says: “To be sure, we were not following cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the powerful appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when the voice came to him from within the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” We heard this voice, which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.” 

Who killed JFK in November of 1963? History says it was Lee Harvey Oswald. But did he? Were there more people involved? There’s always been a debate because there were no eyewitness accounts. We will never know for sure. Eyewitness testimony is important. You may have all of the circumstantial evidence in the world, but one eyewitness can trump it all; one person who can say, “I was there. I saw it happen. I heard it.” That’s what we have in Peter! And it seems that Peter is rather defensive about it too, doesn’t it? Why? Because people were trying to discredit the truth of God’s Word just like they do today. Because other teachers were famous for spinning yarns on the names found in the Bible. Because myths about angels and other Old Testament figures were favorites among the Jews. But notice what Peter says–no fables, not stories! We’re not exaggerating or embellishing when it comes to the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ! None of that! We were eyewitnesses! We were there when the lowly Jesus was enveloped in the Majestic Glory of God. We saw him shine like the sun. We heard the voice of the Father himself come out of that Majestic Glory! We heard him repeat what he had said to Jesus at his baptism! This is no story or fable! This is fact!

It is good for us to be here–again! As we are ready to dive headlong into Lent and see Jesus suffering and dying for us, we need to remember what Peter tells us today. Jesus, despite the often humble appearance, is God! He’s God with all of God’s power and glory. He’s God who is in control of everything. That even though it looks like he’s at the mercy of his enemies, he’s the Almighty God who is in control. That no one is forcing him to walk this path to the cross, but that he’s choosing to go for us and for our salvation! We need to remember the marvelous paradox, that his lowest point is actually his most glorious point! It is good for us to be here–again! It is good for us to see the glory! File it away for the lowly times of Lent. When we’re tempted to believe the lie, we can pull it out again and remember what comes at the end–a return to glory at the resurrection!

But people still might think that we’re making all of this up. But think about it. Why would Peter and the rest of the apostles risk their necks for a lie? Because they preached about Jesus and his resurrection, they were rejected and persecuted by most of the Jews and eventually the Roman authorities. Why would they do that, risk that kind of treatment for a lie that brought them no financial or political gain? Would you die for something that you knew was a fake story? Perhaps some would. But we have something even more impressive and more important than the eyewitness testimony of Peter. We have the testimony of God himself in the Holy Scriptures. Listen to what Peter says: “We also have the completely reliable prophetic word. You do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts, since we know this above all else: No prophecy of Scripture comes about from someone’s own interpretation. In fact, no prophecy ever came by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were being carried along by the Holy Spirit.” 

“Above all else–above everything else you may have heard or ever might hear–above all else,” Peter says, “the whole Bible is God’s Word.” No part of Scripture came from man. The writers were carried along by the Holy Spirit. Like a ship being carried along by the wind, the prophets raised their sails and the Holy Spirit filled them and carried their craft along the direction he willed. Men wrote. God spoke. Just like the Incarnate Word, Jesus, came into this world through an impure human being, a sinful mother, and yet remained pure; the written Word came into this world through impure humans, sinful apostles and prophets, but remained pure. The Bible is God’s Word. We can trust it. When we hear it, just like the disciples hearing the voice of God on the mountain, we can be certain that it is the truth.

Are you looking forward to Lent? We do it every year. Every year we come down off the high of the Mount of Transfiguration and go down into the low of Lent. Every year we follow the path of the Savior to Calvary. You’d think we have it down by now. So why do we do it every year? Why are pastors willing to keep preaching the same good news about Jesus despite being criticized for saying the same thing over and over again? Why is it good for us to be here–again? Because this is the truth! Because the battle that rages inside all between doubt and certainty is won with the truth. Peter wrote in the verses just before our lesson: “That is why I intend always to keep reminding you of these things, even though you already know them and are established in the truth you now have. I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to keep you wide awake by reminding you, because I know that the putting off of my tent is going to happen soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. I will also make every effort so that after my departure you always have a reminder of these things.” 

It is good for us to be here–again, so that we can be reminded of what we already know. We know that we are sinners who need a Savior. We know that God sent that Savior in Jesus, his Son. We know that Jesus lived, suffered, died, and rose–all for us. We know that because of what Jesus did, we have a heavenly home waiting for us. We know that Jesus is going to come again in the same way he left to take us to be with him forever. We know all these facts. We know the truth. But lest we ever forget, it is good for us to be here–again. It is good for us to be here–again to refresh our memories. It is good for us to be here–again so that when we face dark times, when we are confronted with doubt, when the lies are repeated so often that we are tempted to believe them, we can remember what we hear every year, every month, every week. The Bible is God’s Word. It’s true. Jesus is God. We’ve seen his glory. We’ve heard the Father’s voice. Jesus lived, died, and rose again for us! It is good for us to be here–again! Amen.