Before we get to original sin, let us first define ‘sin.’ Sin is any action that goes against the will of God.

I defined God as revealed in the Bible yesterday. namely God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, The One God, three persons. God who is our Creator. Sin is any action that goes against the will of God, active or passive failure to do the will of God. An example of active sin would be to throw someone into floodwaters, an example of passive sin would be to not reach out to someone who is within reach and drowning.

Now, what is original sin?

Our Lutheran churches teach that since the fall of Adam (Romans 5:12), all who are naturally born are born with sin (Psalm 51:3), that is, they are without fear of God, without trust in God, and with the inclination to sin, called concupiscence. 2 Concupiscence is a disease and original vice that is truly sin. It damns and brings eternal death on those who are not born anew through Baptism and the Holy Spirit (John 3:5).

The Scriptures teach that original sin is the absence of original righteousness and the root cause of all sinful thoughts, words, and deeds. The wages of sin, according to the Sacred Word of God, is death. The apostle Paul put it this way: “I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members” (Romans 7:23). Sin corrupts the whole of a person and has not only temporal consequences, but it also has what is referred to as a second death consequences, total, complete and everlasting separation from God and His love. 

This is horrible news, the good news comes tomorrow with the article of faith regarding the Son of God. In Jesus Christ, God removes the condemnation of all sin, including the inclination to sin. Praise God for Jesus our Savior!

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In America, more and more people are claiming to be atheists. In other words, they believe that there is no god. To be honest with themselves they are really placing their faith in themselves.  In other words, they have created god in their own image.

In America, some consider themselves agnostics when it comes to understanding ‘God.’ An agnostic believes that there is a ‘god,’ however, they have no idea who he/she/it is.

Then there are those of countless different faiths who believe in a so-called ‘god’ that has been created in the minds of man. These different faiths deny the God that has been revealed in Sacred Scriptures, a.k.a. the Bible.

So what do Lutheran believe or what does the Sacred Word of God teach?

Our Lutheran churches teach with common consent that the decree of the Council of Nicaea about the unity of the divine essence and concerning the three persons is true. It is to be believed without any doubt. God is one divine essence who is eternal, without a body, without parts, of infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. He is the maker and preserver of all things, visible and invisible (Nehemiah 9:6). 3 Yet there are three persons, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19). These three persons are of the same essence and power.
 

In short, we believe, teach, and confess that God, as He revealed Himself in the Bible, is one, yet three distinct persons. So we baptize people of all ages in the name of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As Jesus said that if you deny that He is God, then you deny the One who sent Him, namely God the Father. In rejecting Jesus as God, you reject His saving work in paying for your sin when He shed His blood on the cross. Furthermore, it is the Holy Spirit who brings and keeps one in true faith in God. 

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Jesus breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.” John 20:22

God, who formed us from the dust of the ground, breathed into our nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). Jesus now begins a new creation, breathing on his disciples, giving them the breath of life in the Holy Spirit. The word for “spirit” in Greek, pneuma, also means “breath.” As the disciples are now charged with sharing forgiveness, mercy, love and hope for the world, they go out on the strength of their own breath, but in the power and inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus had said earlier to his disciples, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). The Spirit is with us always to guide us in the truth of Jesus and his promise for us. We have this Breath of new life in us, and through the Spirit, we breath this breath of life for the whole world. The last day of Easter is Pentecost, when the Spirit came upon the disciples, and they began to witness to the whole world “God’s deeds of power” (Acts 2:11). That witness is going

on still in each of us, inspired by the Breath of the wounded Healer.

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If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them. John 20:23

As Jesus was the Message of love and forgiveness for the world, so he calls his disciples to be representatives, re-presenting that same Message for the world. To be sure, they may encounter some who will not be receptive to that Message, even as Jesus did. But the mission is still the

same, even for those who are enemies to the cross of Christ: love and mercy shall prevail!

When Peter had made his confession of faith that Jesus was the Christ of God, Jesus conveyed on him the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:16, 19). Keys can, of course, lock doors. But they are primarily meant here to be used to unlock a world trapped in darkness and sin. We extend love and mercy to the world with Jesus’ authority. And even “the gates of Hades will not prevail against” (verse 18) this Message and its faithful mission for the world. Love and mercy shall prevail!

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As the Father has sent me, so I send you. John 20:21

The Easter community does not seek to remain in isolation or behind closed doors and walls. If it is faithful, it reaches out—not on its own strength, but on the strength and courage that comes from the crucified and risen Lord. Jesus, who was himself sent into this world by the Father (John 12:44-45), now sends his disciples out to be ambassadors of his promise for the rest of the world. As such sent ones, they are apostles of his grace.

In the New Testament, the distinction of ministry is never one of laity and ordained but only old and new (2 Corinthians 3). And the new ministry, sharing the good news of Jesus the Christ, is never simply the responsibility of the ordained but the laity as well. When we gather as a community of faith in worship, the service always ends with a rite of sending: “Go in peace, serve the Lord.” How do we serve? By bringing Christ’s peace to others. The good news is meant to be shared with all

the world!

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Jesus came and stood among them … John 20:19

When the disciples had met together on the first Easter evening, even though they were in the same room, they were dismembered—separated, lonely and fearful. When Jesus came and stood among them, they were re-membered, brought together as his body, with joy and promise.

Jesus’ promising presence is for his followers—past, present and future—our reason for being. Without our Lord, we are nothing—we are lost in our fears and futility. But with him in our midst, we are a community together that celebrates his life and hope.

We value the community of faith because it is where Jesus is sharing his gifts with us through Word and sacrament and through our brothers and sisters who are gathered together with us. It is not the size of the community that matters, for Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered

in my name, I am there among them” (Matthew 18:20). It is the joy of sharing Jesus in word, water, meal, liturgy, singing and the conversation of consolation. We should never underestimate it or stand alone. Grace is there for us in this gathering of Christ’s body.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Peace be with you. John 20:21, 26

Sharing peace starts with the One who shares it first with us. Jesus’ Easter greeting to the disciples is a Jewish greeting—shalom alechem, peace be with you! But in sharing it with the disciples with the marks in his hands and side, he underscores just how deep that peace is. We

are at peace with God, reconciled, brought home into the promise of love and forgiveness. The first response of the disciples was rejoicing. Sharing the peace with one another and with the world would come later.

In such sharing, we are conveying to one another what Jesus the Christ first gave to us—the peace with God, the forgiveness of our sins. We do so with a spirit of wholeness in what this sharing represents. We have all been blessed with Jesus’ peace. It is God’s final word for us. And

it is too good to keep this good news only to ourselves. That makes the moment of sharing all the more filled with rejoicing.

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