Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

“Jesus, remember me, when you come into Your Kingdom.” Those are the words of the song we just finished singing.

“Jesus, remember me, when you come into Your Kingdom.” Those are not new words, but old words. Those are not just words of a song, but the words of the Bible. Those were the words spoken by the thief on the cross crucified alongside Jesus.

“Jesus, remember me, when you come into Your Kingdom.” Those were the words spoken in faith as little Kyle Robert Knight was carried forward in the arms of his parents and sponsors to the baptismal font and received adoption into the family of God in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Why do we sing those words? Why did the thief on the cross speak those words? Why did the Knight and Snedden families think those words? Because we can! Because he could! Because they could! Because of who Jesus is!

I probably don’t have to tell you that we live in a day and age where the role and the power and the authority and the supremacy of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, is greatly diminished in the hearts and minds and lives of people. Today, Jesus Christ seems to be just another prophet among many, a man with some awfully good ideas but a man who can be either followed or not followed with no serious consequences.

The name “Jesus Christ” is heard negatively as a cuss words expression from the lips of many people walking on today’s streets and acting in today’s movies. And that use of Jesus’ Name is accepted by so many people. It doesn’t even just “slip out” anymore. It’s become standard. It’s become accepted.

And sadly, when you think about it, the name “Jesus Christ” is often heard more often from people who are non-believers in Him who are using His Name as an expression of exasperation than it is often heard from the lips of people who call themselves His followers, His children. A survey of worship practices in Christian churches across all denominational lines would today find that the Name “Jesus Christ” is used less frequently in sermons, less frequently in spoken liturgy and less frequently in songs and hymns than it has ever before been used.

We live in a day and age where the role and the power and the authority and the supremacy of Jesus Christ, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, is greatly diminished in the hearts and minds and lives of people.
Today, I’d like to change that among us. Today – right now – I’d like all of you to say the Name “Jesus Christ.” Today – right now – I’d like all of you to again say, “Jesus, remember me, when You come into Your Kingdom.”

Now I know that those types of emotional responsives from the congregation are typically unLutheran. In fact, someone walking by this church right now might mistakenly believe they’re passing a Baptist church or a holy roller non-denominational church hearing all that yelling and screaming of the Name of Jesus Christ. Why did I ask you to repeat that Name of Jesus and that phrase originally spoken by the thief on the cross? Because we can. Because there is power in the Name of Jesus Christ. (And you can say “Amen” to that.) Because there is authority in the Name of Jesus Christ. Because of the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Because Jesus Christ is the Kings of kings and the Lord of lords.

That’s the message preached not by Pastor Christopher Schaar at Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena on Sunday 25 November 2007. That’s the message preached by St. Paul to the Christians gathered in the first century village of Colossae almost two thousand years ago. That’s a message that was preached with passion and with first-hand experience. Listen again to that message preached:

“For He has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the Kingdom of the Son He loves, in Whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He [Jesus Christ] is the image of the invisible God, the Firstborn over all creation. For by Him [Jesus Christ] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He [Jesus Christ] is the Head of the body, the Church. He is the Beginning and the Firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him [Jesus Christ] to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in Heaven, by making peace through His Blood [the precious Blood of Jesus], shed on [Calvary’s] Cross.”

Think of it in this way, my friends. When you go to your family doctor, your general practitioner, and he or she sees something on a test or a lab report that he or she doesn’t like, what’s usually going to be your next step? Often it’s a trip to a specialist, an expert, someone who deals with that all the time, someone who will know better than a general practitioner what is going on.

A couple years ago when my Pontiac supposedly needed brakes, I dropped it off at one of those brake places that is well known and well respected as being brake experts. It’s where I’ve always brought my cares for brake work. The car came back to me in worse condition than I had brought it to them. The brakes would literally lock up and send me fishtailing all over the road. Their answer was that it needed about $1400 in additional work, on top of the $700 I had just paid. The car went right onto a flat-bed tow truck and was brought right back to the dealer, the company who had made the car, the company who knew the car. The $700 in work done just days earlier was replaced by $400 in work by the dealer and the brakes have continued to work perfectly to this very day.

Do you see what I am getting at? Don’t run to anyone but Jesus with your problems – no matter what those problems may be. Jesus Christ is the only Supreme One. THE NUMBER ONE. This is His world. He dreamed it up and put it together. You also are His hand-made creation. He envisioned you. He breathed His own breath of life into you. He’s put you right where you are with a reason and for a purpose. Nothing happens to you without His knowledge – not even a hair of your head falls without Him knowing it. And His goodness and grace and mercy is not just for this world, either. He has planned and prepared a place for you in Heaven, completely guaranteed you because of His suffering, death and resurrection, personally made yours through the waters of Holy Baptism.

“Jesus, remember me, when you come into Your Kingdom.” Why do we say and sing those words again today? Because we can. Because Jesus Christ is our King of kings and our Lord of lords. Because Jesus Christ answers each of us like He answered the thief the cross and like He today answered Kyle Robert Knight – “Today, you will be with Me in Paradise.’ Jesus Christ is the only One Who can answer in that way. Jesus Christ is the only One Who will answer in that way.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.

Pastor Christopher Schaar
Historic First Lutheran Church of Pasadena