The beginning of my sermon is dedicated to the 3rd and 4th grade midweek students. Since Lorie their regular teacher wasn't able to be with them this past Wednesday, I got to teach them. As some of you parents have no doubt heard, I don't stick too closely to the workbook, preferring to explore some of the things surrounding the particular lesson covered in the book. We were looking at the times when Jesus appeared to His followers after He rose from the dead. I told them, there is something strange going on. People who knew Jesus well, didn't recognize Him. What gives?

Jesus comes to Mary Magdalene and she thinks He is the gardener. Now, we could say she was crying, or she had the sun in her eyes, or she wasn't looking up but there is definitely more than that going on. O.K. We'll cut her some slack, but still something is kind of weird.

How about the time when Jesus is out on the shore the morning after the disciples figured they should go back to fishing again. That was another time, but the big one is the disciples on the way to Emmaus. That's when it is absolutely unmistakable something is going on. You can't miss this one. That's the picture we have in our fellowship hall. Maybe we should take the screen down for a little bit so you can look at it again.

Two of Jesus' followers were on their way to Emmaus-seven miles from Jerusalem. Jesus catches up with them and begins to talk to them. How long does it take to go to seven miles? Figuring they're kind of depressed since their guy has just been killed, they walk slowly. Let's say about three hours. Maybe a little less. Jesus is talking to them. Do they know who He is? No. They're His followers, for crying out loud. Don't you think they would know who He was? For three hours He talks to them. He even sits down to eat with them, but can they figure out who He is? Not a chance. Did they expect Him? No. But how long should it take for them to figure out it was Him?

I asked the class, if they thought I was on vacation, and then I showed up at the grocery store here in town, how long did they think it would take for them to figure out it was me? Now, they're pretty sharp, because they didn't think it would take nearly as long as those followers. In fact, they figured they would know it was me immediately. Jesus followers, though, who aren't that dull, still can't figure out who Jesus is, after 2 or 3 hours, and He is talking to them the whole time. Something is strange, wouldn't you say?

There's got to be a reason people don't recognize Jesus. He must have something up His sleeve. He does, and we see what it is in our reading today. He's teaching them to see He is not the one who is going to be talking to them anymore-at least, it won't look like Him talking to them. They should look for Him but not the way they used to. He will be doing the same work He was doing before, but it won't look like Him. Instead, it will look like ordinary men when He is doing His work, ordinary men, which are His pastors.

And He starts with the ones who are wrapping up their seminary training. They had been walking around with Jesus for three years while He has been teaching them, and now graduation is coming up. They are soon to be sent off.

He rises from the dead and practically the first item of business is to give them the Office of the Keys. This is high priority. They barely know what is happening, and before they realize it, He breathes on them and gives them the Holy Spirit.

I can imagine the conversation they had right after He left. What just happened? I'm not sure. I think Jesus just visited us. Yeah, I'm sure that's what it was, and then He just gave us the authority to forgive sins and to withhold forgiveness.

Yeah, yeah, yeah; that's what I thought all along. Yeah, now I know. (Pause) Uhh-what does it mean?

I'm not sure, yet. But it definitely was important, because Jesus breathed on us when He gave it to us, so something really special just happened. "I thought so."

Maybe they didn't have that conversation, but what happened that night was something really special. They experienced what Ezekiel saw in a vision. You remember the first lesson today. Ezekiel has a vision of a valley of dry bones. They don't come to life, however, until the breath of life is given to them. They were dead until that point. Even with the muscles and skin covering their bones, even though they looked like they were alive; they weren't alive until the breath came.

And now, Jesus breathes on His disciples. His church is soon to experience new life. And it will come through His pastors doing what they have been called to do-deliver His Word. Speak Christ's Word. Peter does it on Pentecost. He preaches, and the bones that had been dried up, that actually did look alive, receive the breath of life, the breath of the Holy Spirit and come to life, eternally alive.

Now, who was speaking to them that day? It wasn't just Peter. Jesus had said, "He who hears you, hears me." Who were they hearing that day? They were hearing Jesus.

So, who are you hearing? Well, on one level, it's just me, your pastor. I'm the one who sat down and looked at the text and prayed, asking, "What should I say to your people, Lord? I'm the one who sat at my computer and typed out the words, and yet, they are not just my words. Hear who hears you, hears me.

How convenient, that one of the statements on that sheet you were given before church addressed exactly this. "Despite how I feel about the man in the pulpit, I should hear the Lord speaking to me through him." It was a couple weeks back when the elders were given about 30 statements and from they chose these four. That was weeks ago. It seems unfair to talk about this statement, I mean, I'm already giving you the answer from the Bible, but some of you may not believe me, and won't mark it the way I'm saying it. So be it.

It takes quite a bit to believe it. That's why right before the absolution in the Maundy Thursday service, I asked, "Do you believe that the forgiveness I speak is not my forgiveness but God's? God is actually forgiving you, even though it sounds like your pastor's voice.

But that is what is going on, that night. Jesus breathes on His disciples and He gives them the authority to forgive sins and to withhold forgiveness.

Think about what that means. You may have trouble believing it, but if it really were true, wouldn't that be something else? God Himself speaks to you, winning and warning you.

First, the winning. God Himself is telling you, you are forgiven. The one you always offend, no matter how you sin, is the one who is saying, "I forgive you." "I forgive you because I have already punished my Son for your sin. He has taken your penalty." You aren't left wondering. You have heard Him speak. This is definitely winning.

At the same time, He doesn't take sin lightly. This is the warning. Surely, if the Father is going to put His own Son through the torments of hell because of our sin, He doesn't want any of us to take our sin lightly. Therefore, at the same time He gives the authority to forgive sin, He also gives the authority to deny forgiveness, if someone is not willing to acknowledge they are sinning against Him. If someone wants to treat sin as though it were no big deal, to make excuses for it, that's up to them, but He doesn't want them to think His Son's death was the same-no big deal. No, instead, He gives to the Church the authority to withhold forgiveness, to actually say to someone "You should not be forgiven." To say, "You are hurting yourself, and you don't even seem to know it. Since you won't listen to your conscience, and you won't heed the written word, then perhaps you will listen to the Lord speak through His called servant. The same one that speaks forgiveness, has the same authority to deny it."

Granted, this is an unpopular teaching, and not often practiced, but to allow people to continue to hurt themselves, is hardly loving. We want to be loving but the way to do it may not always appear that way. To knock a person off their feet who was walking on the street, minding his own business, seems really rude. But what if he was about to be hit by a car, and this was the only way to avoid it? It changes the whole story, doesn't it? To speak God's Word of warning hurts, but to let the impentitent go on in his sin, is asking for him to incur deeper injury.

And so, the Lord speaks. He speaks today. He wins and He warns. With the keys that speak of forgiveness, He wins. With the keys that discipline, He warns.

And it doesn't feel anything like He is speaking, because it can seem so mundane.

Friday night, I was speaking with a high school student from out of town. He was looking for an emotional experience from God, some kind of message from Him that He was actually there.

I directed him to his pastor because this would be the Lord speaking to him through him. I also directed him to where the Lord puts Himself, in the sacrament of His body and blood. Here is where the Lord actually gives us the flesh and blood, He had when He was born and when He died. Think about it. What a connection He makes with us! But I acknowledged it may not seem like a mountaintop experience-something which he was actually looking for since his sister had one when she climbed to the top of a mountain.

And what was it that Jesus said to Thomas? "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe." Thomas may have doubted but when he saw he believed, and he made his bold confession, "My Lord and my God."

We may not ask to see, to actually use our eyes to see Jesus, but we want some kind of experience to verify what we have been told. We want to know it is true. Maybe that experience comes, but don't count on it. Instead, He gives His sure and certain Word, a Word that doesn't change. He gives us the message of the cross and the empty tomb. He gives you a man, your pastor for Him to speak all these things to you.

Visions, so-called mysterious messages from God, and mountaintop experiences aren't reliable. It is better to trust something that is trustworthy-His Word. Hear Him Himself deliver it to you, using a word of winning but also a word of warning, but still truly His Word. We often crave these extra-ordinary experiences. Instead, crave to hear His Word, something we know we can trust.

AMEN