May 8, 2011 Third Sunday of Easter & Mother's Day

The New Covenant of Transforming Power! 

Today we conclude our sermon series on Covenant. It seems appropriate to end with the realization of what the "New Covenant" really means to us who are living in it, by celebrating the special places mother's have in the nurture and faith of children.

St. Paul celebrated Mother's and grandmother's in 2 Timothy 1:
 ¹ Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, ² To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ³ I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. ⁴ Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. ⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. ⁷ For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. 

St. Paul recognized the special place of encouragement and nurture given by Mother's. Today we look at the Gospel from St. Luke 24 where Jesus appears to the men on the road to Emmaus:
 ²⁵ He (Jesus) said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! ²⁶ Did not the Christ have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” ²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.
 ²⁸ As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus acted as if he were going farther. ²⁹ But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them.
 ³⁰ When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. ³¹ Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight. ³² They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
 ³³ They got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together ³⁴ and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” ³⁵ Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread.

Today we want to have our eyes opened to the transforming power of the Holy Spirit who is given to us in Holy Baptism and "who calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith" (Luther's Explanation of Third Article of Apostles' Creed in Small Catechism) We are called to live a life of faith and sanctification and therefore as Romans 12: 
 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. ² Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

I believe this is the desire of every parent, but especially our heavenly father's will, that we experience the transformational power of the New Covenant and His Holy Spirit in our lives each day. The Holy Spirit is the encourager and nurturer in the Old Testament and New Testament let us experience this transformation today. THEN OUR HEARTS WILL BE BURNING!

Texts to look up for more information Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah 29, Ezekiel 36, Ezekiel 11, 2 Corinthians 3, Romans 8, Galatians chapter 3-5 and Hebrew 12:18- the end of chapter 13. Check them out.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! CHRIST HAS RISEN! HE HAS RISEN INDEED HALLELUJAH!!