Title: All authority

It has become popular for folks to say, when someone is experiencing something very difficult or bad, "God is in charge." I’ve witnessed this quite a bit, recently, and, honestly, I don’t think the people on the receiving end were too fond of hearing it.

Of course it is true; God is in charge. Better said, Jesus has all authority over all things. All authority was given to Jesus Christ because He fulfilled His Father’s good and gracious will by taking on our human flesh in His being conceived of the virgin Mary, taking in our sins and dying on the cross, and then taking up His life in His resurrection from the dead.

After His resurrection, Jesus remained on the earth for forty days, showing Himself to His disciples and to at least five hundred others, proving that He had, indeed, achieved the unimaginable, coming back to life after being nailed to a cross.

On the fortieth day, He ascended to heaven. Before He ascended, He continued to teach His disciples, and He gave them direction as to how to proceed after He left. As we heard in the Gospel lesson, the Lord assured these men that, though He was leaving, He would be with them always. This was the promise of the sending of the Holy Spirit, on Pentecost.

Through the indwelling of the Spirit, the Savior Jesus would be present, working through the believers and the faith in Jesus which the Spirit would create and sustain through the proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus’ death and resurrection, and the administering of the sacraments of Baptism and Communion—the Means of Grace through which Jesus truly is present in the world and, specifically, in the hearts and lives of the people of His Church.

Jesus, the Christ of God, is Lord and Savior and King by virtue of fulfilling His Father’s good and gracious will. As Lord and Savior and King, the Father has given Him all authority, in heaven and on earth.

This means that every single thing that happens in the world, or that seems to fail to happen, does or does not happen under the authority of Jesus Christ. By itself, that doesn’t sound any more helpful than the hackneyed, "God is in charge." But, what do we know about Jesus Christ so that, when we ponder His authority, we can be comforted and strengthened?

We know that Jesus is God, and God is good. Thus, Jesus is always good. Jesus is God, and God is love. Thus, everything Jesus does is out of love. These truths teach us that everything Jesus governs—in the Christian Church, for our country, in third world nations, in the lives of individual people—because Jesus is love and Jesus is good, everything He governs is done out of love and for our good.

This includes the stuff which we call good, and this includes the stuff we call bad, and this includes the stuff we want to have nothing to do with.

It’s easy to put this to good use, thinking about our ten years together. I only need to look back over the last two months, which have included the most challenging pastoral work I’ve ever had. I only need to remind you of the tragedies and difficult circumstances that we have endured, over our decade together, beginning right after I moved here.

God is in charge? That doesn’t sound too helpful. But, how about this: Jesus Christ has all authority, in heaven and on earth, and Jesus demonstrated how good and loving He is by taking on our earthly flesh so that He could die for our sins, and having been raised from the dead He has put death to death and brought life and immortality to light.

Jesus is God, and God is love and God is good, so Jesus is love and Jesus is good. This means that everything Jesus has allowed and placed into our lives, He has done it out of love and for our good.

But, how can these tragedies and difficulties—these events which have, on too many occasions, merited front page newspaper headlines—how can these things be for our good?

If I only told you that God is in charge, you might respond—and, I would suggest, rightly so—that He is either asleep, or mean, or both. But, when we drench ourselves in the purpose of life, and focus on Jesus Christ, then we come up with something completely different, and answers which actually comfort and strengthen us.

How do we drench ourselves in the purpose of life, focusing on Jesus Christ? How about with the Word of God? How about this one, the verse on which I preached—can it be almost exactly ten years ago?—at the funeral of our little sister, Carly Reinke, where the Lord Jesus said, "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world."

It was true then, it has been true for the last ten years, and it will be true until the day that Christ returns, that you will have trouble. Jesus guarantees it. Thus, when trouble comes to visit, don’t think that something strange is happening, or that Jesus has forgotten about you.

You live in a fallen and messed up world and in a sinful flesh. Of course, your lives are going to be fallen, messed up, and filled with sin and evil. But, what do you know about Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior and King, who has all authority and, by virtue of His ascension, governs all things? You know that Jesus is love and Jesus is good.

Therefore, when you are in the spot to speak to a brother or sister in Christ, who has fallen on hard times, you have the privilege of reminding him or her that Jesus knows all about their troubles and, by His death and resurrection, He has overcome all of their troubles.

By being baptized into Jesus, they and you are clothed with the victory flesh of Christ. By eating and drinking His body and blood, you are nourished with the same body and blood which defeated death, the devil, and damnation.

Yes, you’re going through tough times. Right now, yours might be terrible, and mine might not be so bad, but let’s talk again in a few years, and yours won’t be so bad and mine will be. Jesus guarantees it. But, Jesus has all authority over these tough times. He died so that these tough times are but for a moment. He lives so that we have the sure and certain hope to live in the new world of heaven on earth—the eternal Paradise—where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.

Yes, that takes a lot more than three words to say, but your brothers and sisters in Christ are worth it. The good news is that, your Lord Jesus, having ascended to heaven, has the authority to back up your words with His gifts of forgiveness, life, and salvation, which He keeps giving you through the Gospel, Baptism, and Holy Communion.

He’s in charge, and that’s a good thing. Jesus’ possessing all authority means that the God of love and goodness is your God, your Lord, your Savior, your King, both for the troubles of this life while He is ascended, and for the joys of eternal life when He returns. Amen.