Keep the Fire Burning (Luke 24: 36-48)
Rev. John Westfall
04/14/2024

Grace, peace, and mercy to you from God our Father and from our Lord and risen Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear Christians friends,

Are you alive today? I think there is an obvious answer to that, or you would not be sitting here on this beautiful morning. So, let me rephrase the question. Are you alive in Christ? We would hope there would be an obvious answer to that as well or you might not be here this morning.

Okay, this is the 3rd Sunday of Easter, and we can ask ourselves if the Resurrection has made us alive in Christ. Another question we might ask is, “Is this church alive in Christ?” Are the vital signs of this church body … church family … alive with the power that comes from the Easter Resurrection? Chances are the church is alive in Christ if the church members are. Makes sense, right?

Let’s look again at today’s gospel from Luke 24 where we find the disciples thinking they might have seen a ghost when Jesus appeared to them. Jesus showed them His hands and His side. He ate with them. He reminded them of the words of the prophets concerning His death and resurrection. He reminded them of the continued work that needed to be done in His name throughout all nations. Jesus, in today’s gospel message, is laying out the beginnings of the Christian church, of which we are an important part of here today.

You see a “spark” had been lit in the disciples and now they would have to be on fire for Christ in order for the Gospels to be spread and for the church to grow. Yes, the disciples needed to be “alive in Christ” or as I mentioned “on fire for Christ.”

Is it any different today? If we are going to be true disciples of our Lord, our risen Savior, don’t we have to be on fire for Christ? And not just at Easter, when we celebrate His resurrection, but every day of our lives. Yes, we must keep the fire going.

Allow me to use a couple of analogies. Those of us who are sports fans know the feeling that we get when our favorite team wins a championship. It can provide us with a feeling of euphoria, and we want to celebrate with other fans. We want others to know that we are a true fan of our favorite championship team. We don the caps, wear the t-shirts and jerseys, fly the banners, etc. That’s only natural. But, does the feeling last? Usually not … especially if the team is not doing so well during the next season. (Old sports cliche – What have you done for me lately?)

The feeling, the high, the fire (if you will) for the team does not always remain, does it? Fans can easily become “fair weather” fans or those types of fans who simply jump on the bandwagon when things are going well. Can that happen in our Christian lives? I think we know the answer.

Okay … analogy #2. On a cold day, if we have a fireplace or wood-burning stove, we enjoy the warmth of a nice fire. We get the fire started by using the starter sticks or starter logs, etc. We like a nice big crackling fire. However, when the fire begins to die down, what do we do? We throw another log on the fire to keep it going strong and keep it looking nice and providing warmth on a cold day.

You can understand, hopefully through these analogies, that we as Christians need to keep the fire burning in our spiritual lives as well … as individuals first of all and as a congregation of believers. So, what do we do?

How about – Keep our FAITH burning, so to speak, and put it into action. We must allow the Holy Spirit to work in our lives in order to sanctify us and keep us in the one true faith … a faith that needs nurturing and a faith that needs to grow as we go through life’s journey with the Lord.

We get fired up on Easter morning when we hear about Jesus’ resurrection, but we must understand that in the life of a Christian, every morning is Easter morning, and share that feeling we have in our hearts (the love, the trust, the peace, the joy) with our Lord and Savior and with others.

We don’t have to jump up and down or cheer like we would when our favorite team is doing well (although that’s okay). It’s not the Lutheran way, of course. However, we should have the love, the peace, and the joy in our hearts that we want to share.

We come to worship each Sunday because we want to share our love for our risen Savior together. We want to praise and offer up our thanks to our triune God together. We want to go to the Lord’s Table each Sunday to experience the taking of His true body and true blood for forgiveness of our sins together.

Remember, however, it’s not what we do. It’s what God has done for us by His grace sending His only Son Jesus to the cross to die for the sins of all mankind – we undeserving sinners. And then that same Jesus rose from the dead to conquer death and also conquer sin and the power of the Devil.

Together … that’s important. Most would say it’s more fun to be at the game cheering on your favorite team instead of watching it by ourselves. In church, as well, there is joy in worshiping together as we sing, pray, hear the Word, and celebrate the Lord’s Supper together. The disciples were together when Jesus appeared to them, and so we need to be together as much as possible as a congregation of believers to celebrate and to be in contact with our triune God.

We might ask at times, “Why is it so important for me to be here in church?” Each member of this congregation is important … each visitor is important. Some, of course, feel their presence may not be that important. “I am just one sole person.”

We need to be light in our church. We need to be lights in a dark world, sharing the message of a risen Jesus, who is our Lord and Savior. Through our belief in Jesus, we will inherit eternal life in heaven someday. We must get that message out to others whenever the opportunity arises.

We come here on Sunday morning, and at other times, to be renewed so we can go out during the week and shine our light as a disciple. When we cannot be in church for some reason, we can be alive as we talk to the Lord through prayer, read the Scripture and study it, or read a devotion. Our faith needs to lead us to visit someone who is in the hospital or visit a shut-in, make someone a meal, send someone a note, a card, or a text. Say a kind word or share a smile or hug on the street, in a store, or at work. Our faith needs to be in action as we keep our fire burning.

Why? Is it because we have to? It is because we want to because of what Jesus did for us through His suffering, death, and resurrection. We are no longer dead to sin, but we are alive in Christ. So, here at St. James and beyond – let’s put another log on the fire, let our light shine, and through our love for a risen Savior Jesus – let’s keep the fire burning … keep our faith burning …. 

In Jesus’ name. Amen.