Exaudi - The Seventh Sunday of Easter (Easter 7)

(Audio)

John 15:26 – 16:4; 1 Peter 4:7-14; Ezekiel 36:22-28

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Because of their idolatry, apostasy, and unbelief, the LORD delivered the children of Israel into exile in Babylon. Yet, more than their idolatry, apostasy, and unbelief, what incensed the LORD against His people was that they profaned His Name among the nations. Rather than being the holy people they were called to be, set apart from the nations by their obedience to God’s Law, instead they adopted the culture, the religion, and the practices of the nations around them, and they blended in with them, and did not glorify the LORD. Thus, when the LORD disciplined them by delivering them into the hands of their enemies, the Babylonians chided the Israelites and derided their God saying that He was unable to help them, or that He couldn’t be bothered to – they profaned and blasphemed the Name of the LORD. Therefore the LORD commanded the Prophet Ezekiel, “Say to the house of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of My holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came. And I will vindicate the holiness of My great Name, which has been profaned among the nations, and which you have profaned among them. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the LORD God, when through you I vindicate my holiness before their eyes.”

The past several weeks we have heard Gospel readings from Jesus’ Farewell Discourse from St. John’s Gospel, chapters fourteen to seventeen. Making up nearly twenty percent of John’s Gospel, our Lord delivered these words on Holy Thursday during the course of the Last Supper and in the Garden of Gethsemane before His betrayal by Judas and arrest by the Temple Guards under authority of the Sanhedrin. This may seem somewhat out of place in the weeks following the Church’s celebration of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, but they serve a crucial purpose in our life together in this world after Jesus’ Ascension until His Parousia and return on the Last Day. In this discourse, Jesus was preparing His disciples then, and now, for what we would face after His Ascension: “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away.”

For, our Lord knew that we would be tempted by, and that we would succumb and capitulate to, our world and our culture, that the temptations would be strong and severe, and that our fear would be great. Indeed, like the children of Israel, we too have profaned the Name of the LORD in idolatry, apostasy, and unbelief. We too have adopted the culture, the religion, and the practices of the world, and have acquiesced and blended in with them. Not only is divorce accepted among us, for example, but no one bats an eye when a couple cohabitates and fornicates outside of marriage. Many of us turn a blind eye towards abortion and justify it as mercy and compassion for an unwed mother, for a mother lacking the financial means to raise a child, for a child who is expected to suffer severe abnormalities or a short and painful life, or for victims of rape and incest. We support our children to participate in sports, the performing arts, to study, or to simply to sleep in and get some rest on the Lord’s Day, and then we wonder why they don’t believe that church attendance is important, and why they adopt the language, the culture, and the practices of their peers. But, we do all these things with good intentions, right? Yes, yes, truly our Lord Jesus was right – in doing these things, we think we are offering service to God. Would we be more merciful than God Himself and, in so doing, set aside His clear Law and commands? No, but God’s Word must be the only rule and guide of our faith and life, the only lamp for our feet and light for our path.

“But when the Helper comes,” says Jesus, “whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” Because we have profaned the LORD’s Name among the nations, we have been poor witnesses. We have not been a light shining in the darkness or a city sitting on a hill, but we have assimilated the culture and values of the world and have blended in with the darkness. Nevertheless, we will be the LORD’s witnesses, not for our sake, but for the sake of His Name, Jesus. Jesus has said all these things to us to keep us from falling away. Truly, the temptation to compromise and to acquiesce, to bend the truth of God’s Word, to, in the best intentions of course, bless what the LORD does not bless and speak peace where there is, and can be, no peace, is intense. Indeed, to stand firm in the Word and commands of our LORD is uncomfortable and, at times, perilous, inviting ridicule and mocking, hatred and derision, and defaming and reputation-staining accusations of bigotry, racism, misogyny, homophobia, xenophobia, and more. “Indeed,” Jesus says, “the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor Me. But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”

Just this week, Muslim extremists besieged a caravan of Christian pilgrims in Egypt and ruthlessly murdered twenty-eight of them in cold blood and hatred, believing they were serving God. A New York times article about that horrible attack says that, “In its determination to kill Christians, whom it gleefully terms as its ‘favorite prey,’ the Islamic State [ISIS] has underscored its intent to wage a war of sectarian bloodshed in Egypt akin to the one it inflicted on Syria and Iraq.” Coptic, Egyptian, Christians, in particular, seem to be a favorite target of these enemies of Christ and His Church. We must not only pray for these brothers and sisters in Christ, but we must rise to their defense in any godly way possible and not ignore their plight, casually going about our comfortable lives. To paraphrase the words of the Lutheran pastor Martin Niemoller following the Holocaust in World War II, “First they came for the Jews, and I remained silent because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Syrian Christians, and I remained silent because I was not a Syrian. Then they came for the Coptic Christians, and I remained silent because I was not an Egyptian. Then they came for me, and there was no one to speak for or defend me.” Now, in no way do I mean to suggest that the trials, tribulations, and persecutions we now face, or are likely to face in the foreseeable future, are to be compared to the religicide our Syrian and Egyptian brothers and sisters in Christ are suffering, but only that we must stand with them against a common enemy and not make their martyrdoms seem inconsequential or insignificant. Yet, we do precisely that when we fail to stand firm upon God’s Word and commands and acquiesce and capitulate to our pagan culture. We trivialize our faith, we trivialize their martyrdoms, and we trivialize our God, and so we profane His Name among the nations.

“It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act,” says the LORD, “but for the sake of My holy Name, which you have profaned among the nations.” “Through you I will vindicate my holiness before their eyes. I will take you from the nations and gather you from all the countries and bring you into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My statutes and be careful to obey My rules. You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be My people, and I will be your God.” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, our LORD and God has done this for you and to you in Jesus’ death, resurrection, and ascension. You have each received this work of the LORD personally in your Holy Baptisms. The LORD has washed you clean of your sin, guilt, idolatry, and apostasy, and He has removed your heart of stony unbelief and replaced it with a heart of flesh. He has breathed into you His Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth to guide you into all the Truth. Yes, you stray, often daily, and you will sin much in thought, word, and deed. Yes, you will succumb to temptation and are weak to stand before those who mock, ridicule, hate, and persecute you because they mock, ridicule, hate, and blaspheme your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Therefore, return to the LORD in humility and repentance and be restored, daily, to holiness and righteousness in Christ our Lord. And, gather here with the body of Christ, the Church, around His Words and His Holy Wounds, that you may be forgiven, renewed, strengthened, equipped, and sent to be His witnesses, His martyrs, before the nations to the glory of His Great and Holy Name.

Jesus Christ has ascended to the right hand of His Father in heaven where He reigns and rules over heaven and earth and fills all things. He has sent His Holy Spirit upon His Church, upon you. The Holy Spirit bears witness about Jesus, and He causes you to bear witness about Jesus too in your words, in your deeds, in your lives, and in your deaths. Jesus has given you the Holy Spirit that you might not fall away, for, as St. Peter warns, “the end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” And, “Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share in Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when His glory is revealed.”

The LORD has vindicated you, not for your sake, but for the sake of His Holy Name, for the sake of Jesus. But, this is good news for you! The LORD has vindicated you, not because of your faulting prayers, not because of your imperfect works, not because of your grudging obedience to His commands, not even because of your weak and little faith, but because of His Holy Name, because of Jesus’ faith, prayers, works, and obedience unto death for the sake of His Holy Name. You will be His witnesses for the sake of His Holy Name. When the fiery trial comes upon you, remember that the Lord has said this to you in advance, and that they do these things because they do not know the Father, nor Jesus. In your witnessing, in your martyrdom, in your selfless love and sacrificial service to all, let them see Jesus that His Name may be glorified. In this way you die every day and are raised to new life in Christ. For, to live must be Christ, and, therefore, to die is gain.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord

(Audio)

Mark 16:14-20; Acts 1:1-11; 2 Kings 2:5-15

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It is a most unfortunate fact that The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord has become neglected and all but forgotten among most Christians today. Undoubtedly, that the Feast never falls on a Sunday, but always on a Thursday in the middle of the week, is a significant contributing factor to its neglect. And yet, The Ascension of Our Lord is one of the three most important Feasts and celebrations in the Church’s Year of Grace, just as important as are Christmas and Easter. Indeed, our Lord’s Ascension is the ultimate goal of His Incarnation, which the Church celebrates at Christmas, and is the completion of our Lord’s work begun in His Incarnation. Likewise, the Ascension is Jesus’ coronation as King over heaven and earth, which the events of Holy Week and Easter prepared the way for. When Christ ascended in glory to the right hand of God the Father in heaven, He began His reign over heaven and earth, and now He fills all things, thus fulfilling His Great Commission promise, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

If Jesus had not ascended, then the fruit of His death and resurrection would not be fully realized for us. For, not only was Jesus raised up from death in His true, fully human, flesh and blood body, but He ascended back to His Father in heaven in that very same true, fully human, flesh and blood body. This is as significant as it is astounding, for, up until Jesus’ Ascension, no man could see God and live. Sinful man could not stand in the fullness of God’s glorious presence, but he would be destroyed in God’s holiness and righteousness. Indeed, that is why Isaiah despaired of his life when he beheld the glorious vision of God on His throne in heaven saying, “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” That is why every man or woman who had an encounter with one of God’s holy angels was stricken in fear and had to be reassured by the angelic messenger, “Do not be afraid! You have found favor with God.” Truly, as the preacher to the Hebrews confesses, “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” However, now, in Jesus, a true, fully human, flesh and blood man stands in the fullness of the glorious presence of God and is not destroyed, but shares in God’s glory, holiness, and righteousness. And, you and I, the Church of Jesus Christ, His body and Bride, also stand in God’s glorious presence in and through Jesus. Because of Jesus’ Incarnation, His flesh is our flesh, His life and death are our life and death, His Resurrection is our resurrection, and His Ascension into the glorious presence of God the Father is our ascension into the glorious presence of God our Father. As Jesus is God’s Son, so in Jesus are we God’s adopted sons and daughters. Jesus is there, with God the Father in heaven, now, and we, not yet, but when He returns in His Parousia on the Last Day, where He is now, there we shall also be: Where the head is, there the body must also be.

Too many Christians think of Jesus’ Ascension only in terms that He has gone away from us physically and is now with us spiritually through Word and Sacrament. While that is most certainly true, that is not even the half of what is true concerning our ascended Lord. In truth, Jesus is closer to us now than He was with His disciples in the flesh. That is why Jesus repeatedly taught them that it was to their benefit that He go away, for if He did not go, He could not send to them the Holy Spirit, but if He went away, He would send His Spirit to guide them into the Truth. Jesus did not leave us physically in His Ascension, but He ascended that He might fill all things and truly fulfill His promise to be with us always – spiritually, and physically, fully divine and fully human in one person. Thus, once again, the Ascension of our Lord is the fulfillment and the ultimate goal of His Incarnation, that He may truly be with us always.

In His Incarnation in the womb of the Virgin Mary, the eternally begotten Son of God assumed a true and full human nature, “perfect God and perfect man, composed of a rational soul and human flesh,” as the Church confesses in The Athanasian Creed. The two natures of Christ, His divine and human natures, are so personally united, yet distinct and not confused, that He is truly and fully one person from the moment of His Incarnation, through His life, suffering, and death, and in His Resurrection, Ascension, and coming again in glory on the Last Day. Jesus Christ, our Lord, is God and Man in one person, perfectly, permanently, and forever united as one person. Thus, when Jesus ascended to His Father, our human nature ascended also, and a real and true human man now reigns and rules over heaven and earth in the glory of God the Father and fills all things, at all times, and in all places. For us, Christ’s Church, right now, and until He comes again, this is the greatest source of hope and comfort and peace, for Jesus, who fills all things as both God and Man, surely fills His Church through His Word and His Blessed Sacraments: Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, Holy Word, and Holy Supper. Thus, both Calvin and Zwingli were wrong when they reasoned that Jesus could not be bodily present in the Supper because He is bodily present at the right hand of His Father in heaven, and that even if He could be bodily present in multiple locations at the same time, the finite elements of bread and wine and water and word cannot possibly contain He who is infinite. Here we must not cast aside our reason, but we must utilize it and submit it to the Word of the LORD who blessed us with the wonderful and precious gift of reason and believe and trust the Word of our LORD God who gave and preserves in us this First Article gift. For, ultimately, the Incarnation, Ascension, Resurrection, and Parousia of our Lord Jesus Christ are great and glorious mysteries and sacraments. What reason cannot, alone, comprehend, faith and trust apprehend and count as knowledge, certainty, and truth.

However, there is another reason why The Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord is neglected and forgotten in our day, and it is nothing other than the handiwork of the devil: Popular Christianity follows in the footsteps of the Pharisees of Jesus’ time in turning the Law of God into moralism and the Gospel of Jesus Christ into law. For many Christians, the import of Scripture ends with the death of Jesus on the cross. After all, there He said,  “It is finished,” and that must have been His final word, right? No, wrong! If Jesus’ death were the end of His Word and Promise to us then we Christians, as St. Paul has concluded, are the most to be pitied of all men, for we are still in our sins and are bound to fulfill God’s Law with no hope of justification. As a result, too many Christians view the Scriptures as a rulebook on how to please God and merit His favor. That is certainly the way the Pharisees understood it, believing that they were righteous by their works according to the Law. They did not trust in God’s mercy and grace, nor in Jesus the Messiah, but they trusted in their own works, prayers, rituals, and piety. Satan encourages such thinking today as then, and he delights in distracting your minds and hearts away from Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension and, consequently, from the full meaning of His Incarnation.

In His parting words to His disciples, Jesus reassured them saying, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” In ten more days we will celebrate Jesus’ promised sending of His Holy Spirit upon His Church. The Holy Spirit has sealed us in Christ through our Holy Baptisms and has created and daily sustains our faith and trust in Him and His Word and Commands. On the Day of Jesus’ Ascension, His disciples stood gazing up into the heavens, their hearts aching that Jesus had left them alone, but on the Day of Pentecost, their fear was cast away and they were empowered to proclaim the Good News of Jesus before kings and emperors and all the world without fear, even unto persecution, suffering, and death. They had the promised Comforter and Guide, and they had Jesus with them always, and especially and particularly when they gathered together in His Name to receive His Word, His Baptism, His Absolution, and His Supper. In Christ’s Church, through these means, the signs of Jesus’ real and true presence are as active and vital today as they were two thousand years ago: Demons are cast out in the Name of Jesus in Holy Baptism and Holy Absolution; the Gospel is proclaimed in all the world in all the tongues of men; the attacks and blasphemies of the Satanic serpent cannot harm us; and those afflicted by the poisonous venom of the devil and sin are healed in Holy Absolution and the laying on of holy hands in Jesus’ stead and by His command.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, our King Jesus has ascended back to His Father in heaven. He has not left us as orphans, but He has raised us with Him, not only in victory over sin, death, and hell, but to Sonship and Kingship with Him in His kingdom. He has not left us alone, therefore do not stand idle gazing up into the heavens, or gazing downward into yourselves, but outward towards His kingdom in which we reign and rule with Him. Go and tell all who inhabit His kingdom the Good News and bring them to their King by bringing His kingdom to them – making disciples by baptizing and teaching them all He has commanded. Therefore, how you live and act, what you say and do, matters, for when they hear you, they must hear Him. Do not live as though you are alone, left to your own devices, but live as people who have been set free in Christ, for that is what you are. And, gather here in His sanctuary with all the members of His body, the Church, where He is present, filling the font and the pulpit, your ears and your mouths with His forgiveness, life, and salvation. For, in Him dwells all the fullness of God bodily, and He dwells bodily with you for the life of the world to the glory of His Father and in His most Holy Spirit.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Rogate - The Sixth Sunday of Easter (Easter 6)

(Audio)

John 16:23-33; James 1:22-27; Numbers 21:4-9

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

“In that day you will ask nothing of Me,” says Jesus. Now, what on earth could He possibly mean? What Jesus means is that, because of His death and resurrection in your place and for your sake, He has, literally, given Himself to you. You are He, and He is you, flesh of His flesh, bone of His bones. He is your holy Bridegroom, and you, the Church, are His holy Bride. Therefore, all that belongs to Jesus belongs also to you, for you are His body, and He is your head. Remember Jesus’ words that you heard in last Sunday’s Gospel? “All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that [the Holy Spirit] will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” There is nothing that you could possibly ask the Father to give you that is not already yours in Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jesus says, “You will ask nothing of Me,” but “Whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you.”

“In My Name” is key, however. The Name of Jesus includes everything that is godly and good, everything that is in accordance with God’s Word, His Will, and His Commands, everything that your God and Father would want you to have and readily gives you whether you pray to Him or not. Are new cars, expensive college educations, and winning lottery tickets in the Name of Jesus? Perhaps, but not likely. Are healings, recoveries, and protections from evil in the Name of Jesus? Most definitely, but they are not promised to be granted at all times, or in any particular time frame. What “In My Name” most certainly is not is a magical incantation that you simply tack on to the end of your prayers to make God answer them in the affirmative and as you desire. That would be to make God like unto some divine vending machine: Insert coin, pull lever, dispense gift. Thank you Jesus! No, but the Name of Jesus is Jesus Himself, indeed, the entire Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. As we heard from St. James last week, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Jesus Himself is, first and foremost, that good and perfect gift of the Father, and whatever you ask of the Father that is in Jesus’ Name, that is, that is in Jesus, He will surely give you – in His time, in His way, according to His will and knowledge of what is best and good.

Therefore, we must examine what true prayer is and what it is not, for there is surely much confusion among Christians today concerning prayer. First, prayer is not an option, but you are commanded to pray. Thus, to pray is to obey. This is truly nothing more or less than obedience to the Frist Commandment, “You shall have no other gods,” for, when you pray, you pray to God, you acknowledge Him to be God and consequently confess that you are not god. This, in itself, is good for you, for it is the proper order of things, realignment between Creator and creature. Prayer is a return to God, your Father, much as the prodigal son returned to His gracious, loving, and forgiving father. God is there for you always, watching, waiting, and calling for your return, no matter how long and how far you have strayed, no matter how hatefully and wickedly you have treated Him, rebelled against Him, and considered Him an enemy. Pray to Him because He is good, and He is God, regardless of any expectation of whether He will grant you what you ask. That simply is not the point. Pray. That is the point. Just pray. It’s good for you, it glorifies God, and He has promised to hear and answer your prayers in Jesus’ Name.

But, what should you pray for? Truly, there is no better instruction and guidance in this matter than the very prayer our Lord Jesus taught us to pray. We should pray that God’s Name would be hallowed, that it would be received, confessed, and called upon as holy among us, His children, in our lives, words, and deeds. We should pray that His kingdom would come among us, that we would desire its coming and recognize and confess its presence among us in how we worship Him and live our lives to His glory in our God-given vocations in the world, but not of the world. We should pray that His will be done, not our own will, and that we would “think those things that are right” and “by [His] merciful guiding accomplish them,” as we prayed in today’s Collect. We should pray for Him to provide us daily bread, that is, everything that we need and require for our bodies and our lives in this world, and for our immortal souls. We should pray that He would enable and inspire us to forgive others with His forgiveness poured out upon us in Jesus Christ, that others would know the love, mercy, grace, and forgiveness of God and glorify His Name with us. We should pray that He would lead us not unto temptation, but deliver us from the evil one; that is to say, that He would protect us from the temptations and assaults of the devil, the world, and our own fallen flesh and reason. Do you not see how all of these petitions are necessarily and absolutely in Jesus’ Name?

In the Catechism’s explanation of the Second Commandment concerning the proper use of the Name of the LORD, Luther says that we should “call upon [God’s Name] in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” As is typical for Luther, particularly in the Catechism, in a few well-chosen words he communicates all that needs to be said: Pray for what you need and to glorify the LORD. There is no confusing and distracting talk of when to pray, or how to pray, what words to say when you pray, what posture you should adopt when you pray, where you should pray, etc. Luther simply says to pray. Likewise, St. Paul says that you are to pray without ceasing. Oh, the ink that has been spilt and the spiritual damage that has been wrought in misunderstanding and misinterpretation of these words! Why must every command be defined with a limit? “How many times must I forgive my brother who has sinned against me?” “When is it appropriate to not love?” “When is it appropriate to not give or help or pray?” Our sin-corrupted reason and flesh hates and despises and fears the LORD’s open-ended commands to pray, to love, to forgive, and to give. “When?” We want ask. “Always!” The Lord replies, “There is no limit!” “But, I can’t do that!” you protest. “Yes you can, and you must!” the preacher answers. After all, you manage to breathe without ceasing, isn’t that right? If you’re not breathing, you’re dead. For Christians, prayer should be like breathing. You do not have to think to breathe because the atmosphere exerts pressure on your lungs and essentially forces you to breathe. That is why it is more difficult to hold your breath than it is to breathe. Similarly, when we are born into the family of God, we enter into a spiritual atmosphere where God's presence and grace exert pressure, or influence, on our lives. Prayer is the normal response to that pressure. As believers, we have all entered the divine atmosphere to breathe the air of prayer. Unfortunately, many believers hold their “spiritual breath” for long periods, thinking brief moments with God are sufficient to allow them to survive. But such restricting of their spiritual intake is caused by sinful desires. The fact is that every believer must be continually in the presence of God, constantly breathing in His truths, to be fully functional. Thus, St. Paul exhorts you to pray without ceasing. Breathe, pray, and live.

For, your life is a prayer to God. Thus, St. James exhorts you to be “doers of the Word, and not hearers only.” As the air you breathe nourishes your body, enabling you to live, so does prayer nourish, enliven, and enable you to live both spiritually and physically. As the saying goes, “You are what you eat,” so you are what you breathe, you are what you pray, what you take into yourself, and what you give out in your lives, words, and deeds. Therefore, bridle your tongue and keep yourself unstained from the world and undefiled before God the Father. In this way you may have peace, the Peace of God which passes all human understanding, in Jesus Christ our Lord. “I have said these things to you,” says Jesus, “that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

“Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” Jesus is the good and perfect gift the Father gives to you. And, in Jesus you have everything you could possibly ask for that is in His Name: Righteousness and holiness, Sonship with the Father, a share in Jesus’ reign over the kingdom of heaven and earth, victory over sin, death, and the devil, everlasting life that can never die or fade. You do not have to ask of Jesus, but whatever you ask in Jesus’ Name His Father will give to you that your joy may be full, for the Father Himself loves you, because you love Jesus and are bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh. If your flesh and reason, the world, and the devil tempt you to doubt this, then know that this is a chief reason that your Lord Jesus left you this Sacrament, that you may, in a physical, visible, touchable, tasteable way, be reminded that you are in communion with Him, that you are His body and He is your head. He gives you His body to eat and His blood to drink for the forgiveness of your sins, the strengthening of your faith, to equip you and send you forth bearing His fruits, and to keep and to protect you from the assaults of the evil one. You are in Jesus, and Jesus is in you. Therefore, your prayers in Jesus’ Name are heard by the Father as Jesus’ own prayer. Rogate – ask, pray, in Jesus’ Name, that you may have peace, and that your joy may be full.

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.

Cantate - The Fifth Sunday of Easter (Easter 5)

(Audio)

John 16:5-15; James 1:16-24; Isaiah 12:1-6

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Our Lord’s talk of leaving them and of going to His Father filled the hearts and the minds of His disciples with such great sorrow and fear that they could not be comforted by the good news of where He was going and why, but they were overcome by sorrow and fear of what might happen to them once He was gone. And, you are no different. Indeed, just like Jesus’ disciples, you are prone to fear, sorrow, hopelessness, and despair because, though you hear the LORD’s Words and Promises, you do not believe them, wholly, and you do not trust in them, but you believe that you are on your own and have to fend for yourselves. Therefore, Jesus’ Words to His disciples are also His Words to you this day: “It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you.” This Word is meant to direct you away from your fallen reason, wisdom, and deceptive emotions, to His sure and certain Word and promise. Jesus has not left you alone. There is no reason for fear and sorrow and despair. Jesus has sent you a Helper, His Holy Spirit, who “will guide you into all the truth.”

In today’s Gospel, your Lord Jesus provides you the clearest, most direct and forthright description of the Holy Spirit’s work in all of Scripture: The Holy Spirit “will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.” That word convict, in this usage, means to expose, to prove, or to convince of the Truth. Hence Jesus proclaims, “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth, for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak, [….] He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” However, men do not often like to hear the Truth. Indeed, today people are want to believe that there is no such thing as Truth, but only human constructs, opinions, identities, and beliefs. Therefore, the work of the Holy Spirit is a much resisted and rejected work. What the Holy Spirit exposes and proves and convinces of is denied and rejected and covered up by people who prefer the darkness to the Light of Truth.

The Spirit of Truth will convict the world concerning sin. He will expose, convince, and prove to us that we are all sinners who have fallen short of the glory of God. Now, no one likes to have their imperfections and failings exposed, how much less to be shown that they have sinned and are sinners throughout. We often react in anger and self-defense when someone tells us that we are wrong. However, the conviction of the Holy Spirit is much more serious than the conviction of men. Those who accuse us and expose our failings eventually go away. Not so the Spirit of Truth, but He is always with us, always convicting, always, exposing, always proving to us that we have sinned and that we are sinners. We experience this work of the Holy Spirit as conscience, and it makes us feel guilty, because we are guilty and are stained by sin. Surely this is an uncomfortable and unpleasant feeling. We do not like it, and, generally, there are two likely reactions: Deny the accusation, justify ourselves and insist that we are correct and not wrong, and convict, judge, and condemn those who convict us. However, when the one who convicts us is the Holy Spirit, to convict, judge, and condemn Him is to call good evil and evil good – which is nothing less than the unforgiveable sin against the Holy Spirit and unbelief. And, ultimately, that is precisely what the Spirit of Truth has been sent to expose. The proper response, of course, is to accept the conviction, to repent and humble oneself before the mercy of the LORD. For, the purpose of the Spirit’s conviction is not to drive you into unbelief, but to drive you to repentance and faith in Jesus Christ that you may receive forgiveness, salvation, and eternal life. Needless to say, this is an extremely important and necessary work of the Holy Spirit, for, as we confess in the Catechism, in the Explanation of the Third Article of the Apostles’ Creed, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith.” We need the Holy Spirit to convict us of sin, that we may repent and be forgiven and live. This work of the Holy Spirit is a precious and vital gift of the LORD for which we must be thankful and praise His grace and mercy, and glorify Him in repentance and humility, faith, and love.

The Spirit of Truth will also convict the world concerning righteousness. He will expose, convince, and prove to us that there is no one who is righteous except the LORD. Once again, this is not something that our sinful nature likes to hear or wants to believe. We like to think that we are good people, at least better than most. After all, we go to church, we are generally kind to others, we give to charity if sometimes grudgingly, we often let someone merging into traffic pass in front of us, but two is enough, after that no one’s getting in, etc. Ha! Do you see how absurd our justifications and self-reassurances of our goodness and righteousness are? Even the things we boast of doing that are good have extremely low limits and thresholds before we consider that we are right in withholding from others. Our self-righteousness is a lie perpetuated by the devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh, a lie that can keep us from repenting and seeking forgiveness in Jesus. After all, if you are alright on your own, then what do you need Jesus for? That’s what Satan wants for you. He doesn’t need to terrify you and tempt you to worship him. No, he doesn’t need to do anything that obvious and flamboyant. All he needs to do is to get you to believe that you are alright, just the way you are. And, he accomplishes this by tempting you to have an eagle eye for the sins and failings of others, but to be virtually blind to those of your own. Indeed, Jesus teaches us not to judge others, not because judging itself is bad, but because when you judge others for their sins and failings you are unable to see those of your own. “First take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” Jesus has gone to His Father and is no longer with us to teach us about the dangers of self-righteousness, therefore He has sent the Spirit of Truth to expose, prove, and convince you of your own unrighteousness that you might place your fear, love, and trust in the righteousness of God revealed in His Son Jesus Christ and receive His righteousness as your own, even as your brother and sister in Christ, your neighbor, the stranger, and even your enemy must receive their righteousness. Once again, this work of the Holy Spirit is a precious and vital gift of the LORD for which we should be thankful and praise and glorify Him.

Lastly, the Spirit of Truth will convict the world concerning judgment. He will expose, convince, and prove to us that the ruler of this world, Satan, is judged. If the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to get us to believe that he doesn’t exist, a similar trick is to get us to believe that he has won, and therefore we should simply go along with the ways of the world as if nothing truly matters. St. Paul puts it this way: If Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile and we are still in our sins. We are of all people the most to be pitied. But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth, for He will not Speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak [….] He will glorify Me, for He will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” In His death and resurrection, Jesus won the victory over sin, death, and the devil. When Satan sunk his venomous fangs into Jesus’ heal, the Son of Man crushed that serpent’s head and destroyed his power. Therefore, the last enemy, death, has been defeated and has lost its sting. Death and the grave could not hold Jesus, and they cannot hold you. Therefore, if even death and the grave cannot hold you, why do you live as though this mortal life is all there is? Why do you live each day in fearful selfishness, greed, and hatred, fearful of what you don’t have or of what you might lose? These are the chains of hell and Satan from which you have been freed. If you give yourself over to fear, selfishness, greed, and hatred, you willfully bind yourself with chains that Jesus died to set you free from.

Yes, the Spirit of Truth will make you uncomfortable. That’s a good thing! That discomfort is a gift from the LORD to remind you that this world and this flesh are not your home. You were created for full communion with your Holy, Righteous, and Just God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That communion has been damaged and destroyed by sin, the original sin of our First Parents, and your own personal and actual sins that you have committed and continue to commit daily in thought, word, and in deed. If Jesus had not sent you His Spirit, you could not know Him, come to Him, or believe in Him. But, the Spirit has come, and He is with you as a Helper, a Counselor, and a Guide that you may receive, believe, and trust in Jesus, and share in His Holiness, Righteousness, Justice, Life, and Sonship with His Father. And, the Spirit of Truth comes to you through the Word of the LORD, and though the Sacraments, which are the Word of the LORD made flesh, visible, hearable, touchable, and tasteable. Therefore, do not be deceived. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Lights who never changes. Therefore, be quick to listen to His Word, and slow to speak in judgment and anger. And put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness as you receive the implanted Word of the Spirit of Truth, which is able to save your souls. This is the Holy Spirit’s work: To convict you, to expose to you, to prove to you, and to convince you concerning your sin, the righteousness of God revealed in Jesus, and the judgment of Satan.

Blessed Cantate! Sing to the LORD a new song. That is, sing a song of freedom in Christ to the praise and glory of God! Sing of His grace, mercy, and love shown to you in Jesus’ death and resurrection. Sing of His Spirit who testifies of Christ and His victory over sin, death, and Satan. Sing to the LORD a new song, for He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. Alleluia!

In the + Name of Jesus. Amen.