Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost

John 14:23-31  +  Genesis 11:1-9  +  Acts 2:1-21

We have entered the period of time known as “the last days.”  As Peter quoted from the prophet Joel, “In the last days, I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”  These are the last days.  They began on Pentecost and will conclude with the great and glorious day of the Lord when he comes to judge the earth.  From the Day of Pentecost until the last day, the crucified, risen and ascended Lord Jesus, seated at the right hand of the Father, pours out His Spirit into the world to rescue sinners from everlasting destruction and condemnation.

How are we to know this Third Person of the Holy Trinity?  How are we to see Him in the world?  We can’t see Him.  Spirit means “breath” or “wind.”  You don’t see the wind. You don’t see breath.  But you can see people breathing and living as a result of the breath they breathe.  And you can see trees swaying in the wind or dust moving across the sky or whole forests being wiped out as the wind drives the fire from one tree to the next.  You know the wind by its effects.  And so it is with the Spirit of God.

The Spirit was known by His effects on the Day of Pentecost.  No one saw the Spirit.  But they heard the sound of the rushing wind announcing the arrival of Him who is the wind.  They saw the tongues of fire on the disciples’ heads and heard the Gospel of Jesus from the tongues of men, in all the languages of the people gathered in Jerusalem that day, announcing to the world that this is how the Spirit of God will blow across the face of the earth and kindle the fire of faith—through the tongues of men, through the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus.

And what is the Gospel? That men have earned nothing from God but his wrath because of their sins.  But that God loved the world and sent His Son to redeem it; that men rejected the Lord of glory, whom the Father sent, and they crucified Him; but that God raised Jesus from the dead, seated Him at His right hand and made Him both Lord and Christ.

Now, there is this great treasure for mankind seated there at God’s right hand. There is salvation.  There is peace for the sinner.  There, in the Person of Jesus, every benefit for mankind is piled up: forgiveness of sins, eternal life, salvation, adoption as God’s children, an eternal inheritance in the new heavens and the new earth.  How does any sinner have access to that treasure?

The Spirit divvies it out.  The Spirit brings it down to us from heaven, brings us Jesus with all His benefits.  He brings it in the preaching of the Gospel. “You have sinned against God with your idolatries and adulteries. Be saved from this perverse generation! Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of the Lord Jesus, for the forgiveness of sins.”

See the effects of the Spirit.  See the effects of Pentecost.  3000 unbelievers became believers in Christ that day and were baptized.  Millions more have joined the ranks of baptized believers since then.

See the effects of the Spirit. You have joined the ranks of Christians around the world who call on the name of Jesus.  You have gathered here around His Word and Sacrament—sinners who deserve nothing from God, and yet here you are receiving the outpouring of His forgiveness and life and salvation.

See the effects of the Spirit.  Families like yours who have just as many struggles as any other family in the world are consoled by the Holy Spirit with joy and peace, even in the midst of hardship.  See the effects of the Spirit. In defiance of the multitudes to whom baptism—and especially the baptism of an infant—is just plain foolishness, one more Christian family has brought a child to the waters of holy baptism today, adding his name to the names of the 3000 who were baptized on that Day of Pentecost long ago.

Here is the Spirit’s miracle.  Here is the Spirit’s building, the Church of God, not this structure of stone or wood or stucco, but the one made of living stones, people who actually believe the words of this Bible to be literally true, people who call on the name of the Lord to be saved, sinners who have been saved by no worthiness of their own but by faith alone in Christ, men and women and children who love Jesus.  See what the wind has done. See the effects of Pentecost.

Is that you? Do you love Jesus?  I don’t mean, “Do you think he’s really awesome?”  I mean, are you devoted to Him because of the great devotion He showed to you in giving His life as a sacrifice for your sins? If so, you have the Holy Spirit to thank for it, because by nature, no one loves Jesus, and no one can.  The Word of God that tells of Jesus’ love is still foolishness and ridiculous to the flesh. But see the effects of Pentecost! The Holy Spirit is poured out on all flesh in the words of the Gospel.  He is in the word.  He is working powerfully through the Gospel, in all who hear.  Those who resist Him and cling to their sins have only their own stubbornness to blame. Those who are brought to love Jesus through the preaching of the Gospel have the Holy Spirit to thank. Love for Jesus is one of the effects of Pentecost.

And as Jesus said in the Gospel, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.

See the effects of Pentecost. If anyone loves Jesus, who is devoted to Jesus, will keep Jesus’ Word, will believe Jesus’ Word, will hold onto it as something dear and put it into practice.  He doesn’t need commandments to whip him into shape. The Spirit doesn’t rule in the hearts of Christians by force or by threats.  “You’d better keep Jesus’ Word if you want to be saved!”  On the contrary, the Spirit has taught you to love Jesus freely, and that love produces the fruit of willing obedience and works of love in those who love Jesus, so that we gladly hear His Word, gratefully receive His Sacrament, and serve our neighbor in humility.

But all this is the work of God in us. And as we love Jesus and keep His Word, so we also have Jesus’ promise that “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”  How do Father and Son make their home with the one who loves Jesus?  Through the Spirit of God.  Paul said to the Corinthians, “You are God’s temple.   Your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit.”

See the effects of Pentecost.  See what God gives in Holy Baptism! God, the Maker of all things, His only Son who gave His life for you on the cross, the Spirit of God who brings Jesus to you in Word and Sacrament has now made you His home until he brings you safely to your home in heaven with Him.

In the same way, Jesus says, Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.

Where there is no love for Jesus, there is no keeping of His word.  When a person doesn’t love Jesus, he intentionally doesn’t come to church to hear Jesus’ word.  He intentionally stays away from the Sacrament of the Altar.  He lowers the priority of Jesus’ Word in his home. He does no good works at all, as far as God is concerned, because good works only flow from love for Jesus.  Where there is intentional sin against Jesus’ word, there is no love—no devotion to Jesus.  Where there is no devotion to Jesus, there is no faith, and where there is no faith, there is no salvation.

Can a Christian fall into that?  Fall out of faith?  Absolutely.  It’s a constant danger. And so the Christian life is lived under this constant tension, this constant bouncing back and forth between despair on the one side and self-confidence on the other.  We see sin and lovelessness in ourselves, because of our flesh, and are frightened by it; or we grow self-secure in our forgiveness so that we no longer watch out for temptation or worry about falling away.

And once again, we are brought to our knees in helplessness. And once again, we see the effects of Pentecost as Jesus, God’s own Son, makes this promise:

But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.

Here comes the Helper, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.  God has sent Him to you again today.  Listen to Him! He speaks of Jesus and brings Him to you now with all His mercy and comfort.  If you were living self-secure, he calls you back to repentance and calls on you to seek your security only in Christ.  If you were living in despair, he calls you back to repentance, and  reminds you that Jesus’ blood has swallowed up your sin and washed it away, that, as long as it is called today, if you hear His voice, if you hear this Gospel, it is meant for you and He wants you to be saved.

To the secure sinner, Jesus has nothing more to say.  But to every troubled sinner, Jesus says, Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

That’s your Savior talking to you.  That’s the Spirit of God bringing His voice to you, and His peace.  Peace I leave with you, Jesus said before he turned His face toward the cross, in loving obedience to the Father, to suffer and die.  Not, “Anger and bitterness I leave with you,” but “peace.”  “My peace,” Jesus says.  And what other peace matters—either for eternity or for today?  Jesus does not give as the world gives.  There is no price to His peace, no cost.  To the world, peace is given when all the problems are taken away.  But when Jesus gives peace, he gives it to the heart even though the world may be crumbling around you.

Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.  See the effects of Pentecost in yourself as the Holy Spirit burns His way through your troubles and through your fear and brands the image of Christ onto your heart, Christ crucified for you.

All of this—all the benefits of Christ are yours in this Word of Christ.  This is how it works in the New Testament. Jesus cares for you today and tomorrow and until your dying day by sending you His Spirit, by speaking to you through the tongues of men.  And in this Word of Christ, spoken from the pulpit and from the altar, the Helper is present with the same power he displayed on Pentecost.  See the effects of Pentecost in the peace of sins forgiven. Amen.

Sermon for Exaudi – Sunday after the Ascension

John 15:26 – 16:4  +  Ezekiel 36:22-28  +  1 Peter 4:7-11

St. Paul says, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.”  Faith in the heart and faith on the lips always go together.  But without the Spirit of God, without the Helper, neither would be possible.  And so Jesus promises his disciples today that the Helper will come to help with faith and its confession.

You might think that the eleven apostles had it easier than we do when it comes to faith in Jesus.  But they didn’t.  Seeing Jesus face to face never created faith in anyone’s heart.  Look at all the people who saw Jesus and hated him.  And hearing Jesus speak in person did create faith in him in the hearts of some people, but in most people, it just caused more hatred, because Jesus taught things that are foolishness to the world.  He taught that all the works of the world are sin before God, and that only faith in him, the Son of God, saves.  It was foolishness to the world, and the world hated Jesus, even though they could see him and hear him in person.

Even the eleven disciples doubted. Even after Jesus’ resurrection, some still doubted.  Even the faith they did have in Jesus would be worthless if they didn’t remain in faith until the end. See, faith is not like turning on a light switch and forgetting about it.  Faith is like dangling over the edge of a cliff and holding on for dear life.  Jesus’ disciples were sinners, like you and me, sinners who couldn’t hold on much longer.

Jesus knew that his apostles would need divine help in order to stay believing in him.  They would also need divine help in order to know Jesus rightly and to be able to preach him rightly.  And so Jesus promised that the Helper would come.

“But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me.”

The Helper did come on the day of Pentecost, which we’ll celebrate next week.  The work of the Holy Spirit is presented so simply here by Jesus.  He comes to help God’s people by bearing witness to them about the truth. He first bore witness to the apostles and inspired them to preach and to write the whole truth. And now he bears witness to us of that same truth, through the word of the apostles.

And at the center of the truth is Jesus.  I am the way, the truth and the life, Jesus said.  Sin destroys.  Lovelessness kills. Our sins incur the wrath of God, the anger and punishment of God.  But the Spirit of truth reveals Jesus to us, sent by the very God whom we had offended, who bore the world’s sins on the cross and opens heaven to us by his death and resurrection.  The Spirit of truth convinces us that we have a loving Father in heaven because Jesus has blotted out our sin by his blood and washed us clean in his baptism.  The Spirit of truth directs us in repentance to look away from ourselves, away from our works, away from our sins, and points us to Jesus and assures us, “You are safe here.  You are loved here. You are forgiven here; sheltered here.  Stay here.”

To know your sin and to want God’s forgiveness for Jesus’ sake, to trust that God forgives you your sins for Jesus’ sake — that’s faith.  And the Holy Spirit does more than just help you along to that kind of trust.  He bears witness.  God the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son is the one bearing witness about Jesus.  No power of yours could ever grasp him.  But when God bears witness about his own Son by means of his own Spirit, now people who never would have believed believe. And the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that, through faith in God’s Son, we are children of God.

And where there is faith in Jesus, there also is the confession of faith, the response of faith, the bearing witness publicly to what you believe.

And you also will bear witness, Jesus told his apostles, because you have been with me from the beginning. If you remember this verse in the NIV, it came off a bit differently. The English Standard Version here is better than the NIV.  In the NIV Jesus says, “You must bear witness.”  There is no “must” in the text.  “You will bear witness,” Jesus said.  Of course you will! You have been with me.  As Paul says, “I believed, therefore I have spoken.”  Where there is faith, there is confession of faith.  That’s why we do it publicly, here in our Divine Service, every single week.  That’s why we take the time to say together the words of the Nicene Creed.  We say what we believe, because we believe it. But where there is doubt or unbelief, there is silence. Or worse, where there is doubt or unbelief, there might be a lot of talking or singing without saying much of anything.

But confessing faith in Jesus, bearing witness about him in the world would be the hardest thing the apostles had ever done, and so Jesus warns them ahead of time. “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” The world can tolerate just about every form of wickedness that exists.  But the world cannot tolerate the straightforward message of Christ or those who confess it.

And notice here in Jesus’ words where much of the persecution will come from.  It will come from the “godly” people.  It will come from people who claim to believe in God, from the synagogues and those who profess to worship God. Jesus isn’t only referring to the events of the First Century, either.  From the Jews of the First Century who stoned and plotted against the apostles, to the Muslims who kill Christians and think they’re offering service to God in the process, the prophecy of Jesus has proven true.

But also in Christian churches, preachers of the truth have over and over again been persecuted, excommunicated, slandered and tossed out into the streets. It happened often in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. It happened to Luther.  And sadly, it also happens in Lutheran churches today.  That doesn’t mean there aren’t good reasons for removing pastors.  There are.  But sometimes the reason is just that people don’t want to hear the truth.  They look for a preacher who will tell them what their itching ears want to hear, as the Apostle Paul says, and they will not put up with sound doctrine.

Now, those who preach the gospel as pastors in the apostolic office of the holy ministry, those who earn their living from the Gospel are especially endangered when they confess the faith of Christ.  But whatever your vocation is, you stand to suffer for your confession of faith, too. Faithful Christian laymen can also be “put out of the synagogue” or excommunicated for unscriptural reasons. And you can be hated and mistreated in yours homes and schools and workplaces, too.

Who would ever bother confessing their faith under these circumstances?  Wouldn’t it just be easier to believe quietly, to have faith in Jesus in our hearts and not so much on our lips?  Well, yes, it would be easier.  But then, it wouldn’t be faith.  Faith alone saves, without works.  But faith is never alone.  There is no such thing as faith in Jesus that doesn’t produce good works.  In the same way, there is no such thing as faith in Jesus that doesn’t confess Jesus with the lips.

To be honest, the situation seems hopeless for us, because for as much as we may want to confess Jesus and the Truth about him in our New Man, in our reborn nature, our flesh is too strong.  Our flesh hates the cross and hates the consequences of confession, just as the apostles themselves were helpless to stand against the world with this confession of Christ.

But that’s why Jesus promised a Helper, to them and to us.  The Holy Spirit of God helps with the confession of faith.  Only God’s Spirit can make us bold to proclaim the Truth.  Only God’s Spirit can make us men and women of conviction, to speak with knowledge and with wisdom and with courage and with love.  He can, and he will.

The promise isn’t only for the apostles. As Peter said on the day of Pentecost, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call.”

You have Jesus’ promise of help from the Helper. You have his promise that the Spirit will help with faith and with its confession.  Believe his promise! But don’t sit around twiddling your thumbs and waiting for the Spirit to speak to you or to strengthen you or to embolden you.  That’s just another false doctrine that the devil has sown in the world, as if God gave his Spirit without means, without the Word.  God gives his Spirit in the written Word of the Gospel to read and discuss in your homes, with your families, in the preached Word of the Gospel here in his church and in the Holy Sacrament of the body and blood of Jesus. Here is his help.  Here is his strength.  Here is his teaching and his Truth. Receive the Holy Spirit again, and let your faith and your confession be renewed.  Amen.

Sermon for Rogate – Sixth Sunday of Easter

“Ask, and you will receive!”

John 16:23-30  +  Numbers 21:4-9  +  James 1:22-27

We missed it again this year.  A week and a half ago, on Thursday, May 3^rd, we missed the national day of prayer, or at least, we missed it as a congregation. I don’t know what you did on your own.  Actually, we didn’t just miss it.  We skipped it.  I intentionally didn’t encourage you to join in the national day of prayer.

You know why?  Because nations aren’t given permission to pray.  “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” is the motto of the national day of prayer movement.  They want America to be that nation, but that’s a complete twisting of Holy Scripture.  The only nation in history whose God was the Lord was the nation of Israel, until they rejected Christ.  Now the Lord calls men from every nation, tribe, language and people to be His, and he promises to be the God of people from every nation, tribe, language and people—of all who look to Christ as their Savior from sin and death.

Only Christians, then, are given permission to pray to the One God, the only God, the true God, the God of heaven who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit.  No one else is authorized by this God to pray to Him, and any prayer that is said to a different god is nothing but more idolatry.

So, a national day of prayer is nothing but an encouragement toward idolatry. You want proof?  The organizer of the national day of prayer, Shirley Dobson, James Dobson’s wife of Focus on the Family, came on the Glenn Beck program in advance of the national day of prayer in order to advertise it.  And she reveled and rejoiced in the fact that Glenn Beck was joining her in prayer on the following Thursday.  Glenn Beck is not even a Christian.  He is a very outspoken Mormon, who uses the name of Jesus but means the Jesus taught by Joseph Smith, a different version of Jesus and a different Heavenly Father than the one proclaimed in the Bible. So to encourage national prayer is to fool people into believing that there is more than one God, or that the one God can be approached apart from the name of Jesus Christ.

Now, I thought you needed to hear that this morning on Rogate Sunday, with prayer as our focus, because we live here in this great country of America surrounded by people who confuse our national identity with a Christian identity, and that’s dangerous, because they’re not the same. And that very nationalism, that very desire to set up an earthly kingdom of Christ is the very thing that kept the Jews out of the spiritual kingdom of Christ.

But for the one who does acknowledge Jesus as Lord, for the one who prays for His spiritual kingdom to come, for the Church that confesses His name, our Gospel today is full of comfort and joy. Because in it, Jesus reveals Himself to us as a good and gracious Mediator—the one Mediator between God and man—the man Christ Jesus, who has invited and authorized us to approach our Father in heaven above and ask Him to hear us.

In that day, Jesus says, you will ask nothing of me. In that day…which day?  We learned about it just a couple of weeks ago.  Jesus was leaving His disciples for a little while to go to the cross and the grave.  But after a little while—just till the Third Day—he would see them again and their hearts would rejoice.  In that day, from that day on and forevermore, every believer in Jesus has direct access to God the Father.

How?  Because as of the Third Day, resurrection day, Jesus accomplished His work of redemption.  As of the Third Day, Jesus had presented His once-for-all sacrifice for sin and had presented that sacrifice in the heavenly Temple, as the Book of Hebrews explains.  He entered the presence of God in heaven as both holy God and righteous Man, and by His own blood opened heaven for all believers. As of the day when Jesus rose from the dead, there has been a living Mediator in heaven to make all the prayers of the saints pleasing and acceptable in the sight of God.

See how Jesus explains that in that Gospel: Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. What does it mean to ask the Father in Jesus’ name?  It means to dare to come before the holy God with prayers and praises, with thanksgiving and petitions—not as “you the sinner,” but as “you, the believer in Jesus, you the forgiven sinner, as the one who has been clothed with Jesus Christ.”  You see again the connection to Holy Baptism where all of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ?

This, by the way, is why we begin every Divine Service with the words, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” Those are the words of Baptism, our baptism.  Those are the words that branded us with the name of Jesus, branded us with water and with the Holy Spirit’s fire. We have come into the presence of a great King, of a holy and righteous and unapproachable God who threatens punishment and condemnation of sinners.  But we are sinners!  How do we dare approach Him?  Only through Baptism.  Only through the name of Jesus.

Baptism is our access to God as a loving and gracious Father.  Now you can go to him as your Father, too. Yes, you’re unworthy, but Jesus is worthy, and you bear His name.  Now you can to go Him and pray to Him and ask Him questions and ask for answers.  Now you are a holy priesthood, and that entitles you to bring your prayers and petitions before God at all times.

I’ve encouraged all of you to use these devotions, Daily Prayer and Meditation in your homes.  Here on the back of the service folder, you find it again for this week. And every week it says at the top, “The sign of the cross may be made by all in remembrance of their Baptism.  Then say, In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”  (I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to see my children, right down to my 3-yr-old, marking themselves with the sign of the cross, the same sign with which they were marked at the time of their baptisms.)  This is why.  We wish to come before God in prayer, even in our home, and we only dare to do it in the name of Jesus, as baptized believers who bear His holy name.

And he will give it to you. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.  What do you ask for in Jesus’ name?  Well, you’re not asking in Jesus’ name if you’re asking for things Jesus would never ask for, are you?  Think back to the example of the Israelites from the Old Testament lesson today. They, the chosen people of God, asked something of God, too.  They could have asked for His help.  Instead, as a community of unbelievers, the people spoke against God and against Moses, “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.” There they were, praying not in Jesus’ name, not trusting in God’s mercy, praying not as believing children, but as ungrateful, selfish wretches who hated God.  He didn’t let them get away with it, did he? He sent the serpents into their midst, because sin kills.  Selfishness and ingratitude flow from unbelief—not that they didn’t know God existed.  They witnessed his mighty power in Egypt.  But they didn’t look to Him for mercy, and their unbelief would condemn them eternally.  And so God sent the snakes, but also salvation from the snakes, the serpent on the pole, the picture of Jesus, hanging on a cross, so that all who look to Him were saved—are saved from the serpent’s bite.

So again, what to ask for so that you may receive it?  How do you know what Jesus would ask for?  It’s kind of like Mother’s Day.  How do you know what your mother might want?  What does she like?  What doesn’t she like?  You know that by knowing her.  And the better you know her, the better you know what she wants.  The same is true with Jesus.  The better you know Him, the better you know how to ask in His name.  And you know Him in the words of Holy Scripture.

There’s a reason why we sing the words of the Introit toward the beginning of the service.  There’s a reason why we include the Gradual or the Verse of the Day.  There’s a reason for every phrase and response in our liturgy.  They’re drawn from the Word of God, mainly the Psalms, in order to teach us how to pray, how to ask, and what to ask for.

The Psalms especially are useful for teaching how to pray and what to ask for, because they are already prayers, prayers taught by God and inspired in his Word.  They are the words of Jesus, just as the Lord’s Prayer is the prayer Jesus taught us.  We read the Scriptures not only to listen to what God has to say to us, but also so that we know how to pray back to Him, how to speak His Word back to Him, how to ask and what to ask for, so that we learn to know Jesus better.  Then we’re able to pray in His name and know that the Father will hear and grant our requests.

So what to ask for today?  Can we pray in Jesus’ name for the mothers here among us, or for our mothers, wherever they may be?  Yes we can.  God Himself honors mothers in His Word, and we even have the example of Jesus caring for His mother.  What do we pray for? First and foremost, we pray that they be brought to faith in Christ and kept in faith in Christ, because the Lord knows how many temptations there are for moms to stop trusting in our Father’s grace and love in Christ, and to start focusing on themselves—either on their sins and faults, leading to despair, or on their own worthiness before God for all the sacrifices they’ve made for their families, leading to self-righteousness and unbelief.

What else does Jesus ask us to ask for—be it for mothers or for ourselves or for anyone? We ask our Father in heaven that they may know Christ and power of His Resurrection. We ask that he grant them patience with their husband and with their children. Protection. Love. Wisdom. Compassion. That they may bear up under the cross, that they may be strengthened in godly living and serve as examples of piety for their children and for all.  And finally, that they may be granted a blessed end and rest from their labors in the kingdom of light.  God promises to hear such prayers from His children, and He promises to grant them for Jesus’ sake.

The name of Christ, branded on all you who are baptized and believing in Him, gives you great privileges in the Kingdom of God, even the Father’s friendliness and love and His promise to grant our requests made in Jesus’ name.  Make every effort to know Jesus better by studying His Word and receiving His Sacraments, so that you know better and better how to pray.  Do you lack wisdom?  Ask! Do you lack understanding?  Ask! Do you lack courage or strength or joy?  Ask!  Stand in the name of Jesus with your baptismal covering. Stand in the humility and the joy of Jesus’ resurrection and ask.  And trust that you are heard, according to Jesus’ own promise, and trust that your Father will answer.  Amen.

Sermon for Cantate – Fifth Sunday of Easter

“Sing to the LORD a new song!

John 16:5-15  +  Isaiah 12:1-6  +  James 1:16-21

We go back to Maundy Thursday again today, back to the upper room where Jesus had some final instructions to give his disciples before he was betrayed.  The eleven disciples were heartbroken and sorrowful, because Jesus had just broken the news to them that he was going away, and he meant more than his departure to the cross and his resurrection on the third day.  Yes, they would see him again after a little while when he rose from the dead. But very soon He would return to the Father, just 40 days after his resurrection.  And they wouldn’t see him again—not for a little while, not until they themselves would lay down their lives as martyrs.  For as long as they lived on earth, they wouldn’t see Jesus again.

Of course that made them sorrowful! Where Jesus is, there is life and forgiveness and mercy to be had in abundance. Where Jesus is, there is truth and teaching and authority. Where Jesus is, there is peace and protection against every evil, even against the Evil One himself. Where Jesus is, there is access for sinners to God.  Where Jesus isn’t, there is no access, and no protection, and no truth, no heavenly authority, no divine teaching, no mercy, no forgiveness, no life.

Yet, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, Jesus told his disciples. How on earth can that be?  For if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. Now, for this Helper—sometimes translated Comforter or Counselor—to be better than having Jesus there in person, He must be pretty awesome.  If Jesus can say that it’s better to have the Helper there than to have Jesus himself there—what kind of Helper could He be?

The Helper is the Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, the Third Person of the most holy Trinity. And it is to our advantage that Jesus has gone to the Father and has sent this Helper to His Church.  Because, if Jesus had remained in that mode of existence in which he lived with His disciples and went from one place to the next, bringing mercy and forgiveness and life wherever he went, then we would be on our own whenever we weren’t there with Jesus. But now Jesus has gone to the Father, and this is His gift to us: He sends the Helper, and The Helper brings Jesus to the world.

Everywhere—all at once, when and where the Word of God is proclaimed in its truth and purity and the Sacraments are administered according to Christ’s institution.  The Helper brings Jesus to us with his mercy, peace, life, forgiveness, grace, protection and access to the Father.  And so God’s people sing for joy that Jesus has gone and has sent back to us His Holy Spirit.  No, it’s not the same as having Jesus here visibly.  But in a way, it really is better, at least until the Helper’s work is done.

And what is that work? Jesus tells us. When he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

He will convict the world.  Let’s break that down first.  First, the world.  Here Jesus is making a distinction between His believers and the unbelieving world. Second, he will “convict.”  He will show the unbelieving world its fault, its guilt, its wrongness.  That doesn’t mean everyone will repent and believe in Christ. It does mean that the world is left without excuse, because God Himself in the person of the Holy Spirit has come and has presented the evidence to the world, so that the world is without excuse.

And third, “He” will do the convicting—not you.  The Helper doesn’t need your help. It’s the other way around, isn’t it?  The Holy Spirit is not a coach who encourages you to do your best at convicting the world.  He is not a crutch that supports you as you walk through the world, trying to convict the world.  He’s more like the person pushing you around in the wheelchair.  That’s the kind of Helper we have in the Holy Spirit.

Let’s pause here for a moment and consider this a little further. Some will say, “A really good preacher can convince a lot of people.”  That may be true when it comes to earthly things, but when it comes to spiritual things, it’s an absolute lie.  Neither a preacher’s eloquence nor his level of sincerity nor his friendly personality will move people a hair’s breadth closer to Jesus.  Nor will his lack of those things prevent the Holy Spirit from doing His work. Some will say, “If you really engage the world, attract the world, impress the world, give the world some of what it wants, then you’ll convict the world.”  That’s a lie.  Some will say, “If you ‘do church’ a certain way, if you worship in a certain way, then you’ll convict the world.”  That’s a lie.  The Holy Spirit convicts. 

Ah, but some others will say, “Right on! The Spirit convicts.  But!  He expects me to gather him an audience.  He depends on me to get people through the door, so that he can do his work.” That’s a lie. The Spirit convicts the world.

The Helper convicts the world through the weak and powerless mouth of Jesus’ apostles.  He chooses the weak things of this world to shame the strong, and the despised things to shame the noble things.  The Helper brings Jesus to the world in the humble message of Christ crucified and risen.

He will convict the world concerning sin…, because they do not believe in me. What is sin?  Ask the world what sin is, ask a lot of Christians what sin is.  What will they say?  At best, they’ll agree that breaking the Ten Commandments is a sin, although most people aren’t even convinced of that anymore. When more than half of our country can’t even admit it’s a sin to kill a little baby in her mother’s womb, it’s pretty clear that the truth about sin has gone out the window.

What is sin?  Sure, it’s the abuse of drugs and alcohol, it’s gang violence, rape and murder and theft and sex outside of marriage.  It’s also greed and lust and hatred and bitterness and grudges. 

But Jesus doesn’t mention any of these here.  What is sin?  “They do not believe in me.”  That is the chief sin, from which all other sins flow. Not to believe in Jesus, the Son of God, the seat of God’s mercy. Because where there’s faith in Christ, he wipes out all sin.  Sin can’t exist where Christ is.  He forgives it all, because he paid for it all.  The righteousness of Christ cancels out all sin in those who believe in him.  So not to believe in him leaves a person guilty of everything.

He will convict the world…concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer.  Who would have thought?  That righteousness does not consist in giving to charity.  Righteousness does not consist in making lots of money or in nice and proper speech or in standing up for women or for children, for rich or for poor.  Righteousness does not consist in a dedicated prayer life or in going to church.  Righteousness consists in Jesus Christ and him crucified, buried, risen and gone to the Father and reigning at his right hand.  He is the world’s righteousness, if the world wants him.  But either way, the world stands convicted by the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness before God is faith in the ascended Christ. And where there’s faith, then the heart that didn’t want to do a single good work now produces good fruit as naturally as an apple tree produces apples, or a grapevine produces grapes.

Who would have thought that righteousness is not something we are to offer to God, but rather is something that Christ has done and now offers to us, like a gift wrapped up in Jesus? Again the works of the world are condemned.  The righteousness of Christ is only handed out by the Holy Spirit in the Gospel.  That’s part of his work as the ascended Lord Christ. To send out His Spirit to hand out his righteousness through the Gospel, to faith.

Finally, he will convict the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  What a horrifying message for the world: its prince, the devil has already been judged. Judgment happens here and now.  The Spirit convicts and announces the judgment—condemnation for the devil and for all who are found in his kingdom. All false belief stands condemned.  All adding to or subtracting from the Scriptures stands condemned.  All the works of the world stand condemned.  Not by you or by me, but by the Spirit of God. 

And as He convicts the world concerning judgment, His Word is always effective—it always produces some result.  Either people will be convicted and enraged, or they will be convicted and brought to repentance and faith in Christ Jesus in whom there is now no condemnation, no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, in whom there is no judgment or answering for sins, because his blood answered and blotted out sin for all who believe in him.

This is the Spirit’s work.  This is the gift Jesus sent back to his disciples from heaven. The Spirit of Truth, the Helper brings Jesus to the world.

You realize, don’t you?, that this is better than if Jesus himself were walking around, going from here to there and preaching His Word?  Because this way, by the help of the Helper, Jesus can be here with you today, with each one of you, and wherever his Word is preached and wherever his body and blood are given to eat and to drink.  This way, Jesus doesn’t have to come through town one time to preach the Gospel and then leave you to go somewhere else.  Instead, he takes up residence here in His baptized believers and never leaves.  This way, you don’t need to fly to the land of Israel to receive mercy from Jesus.  Instead, the Holy Spirit brings His mercy to you, so that all who look to him for mercy receive forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. 

The Helper has brought Jesus to the world and will continue to bring him until His work is done and the world is convicted and those who have been called out of the world to faith in Christ are brought home safely. You and I have never known Jesus in any other way than by the work of the Helper in the Gospel.  And if we can know Him and love Him here and now by the work of His Spirit without seeing Him, just think of the joy there will be when we do see Him face to face.  If we sing for joy now, we will truly sing for joy then.  Amen.

Sermon for Jubilate – Fourth Sunday of Easter

John 16:16-22  +  Isaiah 40:25-31  +  1 Peter 2:11-20

A little while. A little while. A little while. A little while. A little while. A little while. A little while. Seven times in just four verses of today’s Gospel the Holy Spirit repeats it, drives it home and drums it into our heads so that we can’t forget.  One word in the Greek, “Mikron.”  A micron.  A little while.  What is it that lasts only a little while?  The Christian’s time of sorrow, and the world’s rejoicing.

“A little while, and you will see me no longer;

Today’s Gospel, and the Gospels for the next four Sundays after today, are all taken from St. John, chapters 14-16, all from Jesus’ words to his disciples on Maundy Thursday evening, after Judas had left to go betray Jesus. Three years Jesus had been with these eleven disciples. Now the little while ends up being just a matter of hours before Judas catches up with them in the Garden of Gethsemane with the guard of armed soldiers to have Jesus arrested.  Just a little while of having Jesus with them, and then he would be arrested, tortured, tried and crucified.  He would be buried. And they would see him no longer.

and again a little while, and you will see me.”

Just a little while.  That “little while” ended up being just three days.  Just until the third day – or for Thomas, one week after that. But Jesus doesn’t say that here.  He doesn’t spell it out for his disciples or for us or give us a countdown.  “This many days or that many hours until you will see me again and rejoice.” He just calls it “a little while.” And that’s all you need to know.

But the disciples couldn’t understand even that yet.  They were too sad, too sorrowful, too wrapped up in their dashed hopes and dreams for earthly happiness, with Jesus sitting on his throne in Jerusalem and making everything OK on this earth.  According to Jesus words, that was not going to be the case, like they thought it would.  Not yet.  Not for a little while.

What does he mean, “a little while this, a little while that”?  What does he mean “because I am going to the Father”?  “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We don’t know what he’s talking about.”

Do you know what he’s talking about?  Do you want to ask him?  That’s OK.  This isn’t just a private conversation between Jesus and the Eleven.  This is inspired Holy Scripture recorded for our learning, too.  Jesus’ words are meant for you, too.

Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

The disciples did weep and lament when Jesus was taken from them for a little while.  And the world rejoiced that Jesus was dead.  But it was only for a little while, and then the disciples saw him again and rejoiced.

Of course, the world still rejoices, because the world still thinks Jesus is dead.  The world can’t tolerate Jesus, because Jesus lumps all the works of the world together and calls them all wicked.  He condemns the wickedness of man – all of it.  The false religion.  The hypocrisy. The gossip and the hatred and the staying home from church, as if God had never commanded sinners to hear and honor his Word.  He condemns the good works of men who offer their goodness to God in exchange for his favor and grace.  Jesus insists on being the only way to God, the only righteousness for mankind, the only goodness that counts before God.

So the world rejoices now, for a little while, while Christ is hidden from view. And Christians mourn now, for a little while, when times of suffering and tribulation come and Christ moves away for a little while so that you don’t feel his comfort or notice his presence.  He allows you to be sorrowful and to mourn—for a little while.

Why?  In order to devastate the free will that we wrongly imagine that we have; in order to pull the rug out from under human powers and good works, so that we place no confidence in them, so that we realize again that we are powerless to comfort ourselves, powerless to face life in this godless world where the prince of demons is still the prince.

It’s part of the Lord’s discipline.  And the point isn’t for you to ask, What did I do wrong? How can I fix this sorrow and get it taken away?  No, no, no.  It’s not about you and your works or about fixing yourself or your life.  You’re hopelessly broken.  That’s the point.  You’re a hopeless victim against the devil and sin and the world.  Without Christ you are nothing.  And so he uses affliction to drive us again to Christ, to show that all is worthless and hopeless and lost without him. Only with him is there joy and comfort and safety.

But the promise of Christ is that the sorrow caused by his absence will only last for a little while.  That’s a promise you can cling to.  Your sorrow doesn’t mean he loves you less or that he has somehow gone from being risen again to being dead again.  His death on the cross paid for your sins, even if that fact doesn’t comfort you at the moment.  Jesus rose from the dead and lives, whether you feel it or not.  Even when you don’t feel the tiniest bit of divine comfort, even when the fact of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead doesn’t seem to matter, you have this word and promise of Jesus that it will last only a little while.

So wait patiently for him.  He will return with his comfort and joy.  He will sustain you and hold you up with his Word of forgiveness and with his body and blood, even when you don’t see him or feel him doing it, and after a little while, you will see him again – you will experience his comfort and his joy in the Gospel.  Only don’t lose hope.  Don’t run away from the very Word and Sacrament that are his only tools for sustaining you in times of sorrow.  And don’t doubt him.  See, he tells you ahead of time how it’s going to be.

He tells you it’s going to be just like a woman giving birth.

When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

The pain has to come before the childbirth.  The sorrow has to come before the joy.  The cross has to come before the comfort.  That’s the way it is.  And aren’t you glad it’s that way, and not the other way around?  Aren’t you glad that the sorrow is for a little while for the Christian while the joy is eternal?

Is Jesus talking about the here and now or is he talking about when he comes again in glory and we see him face to face?  The answer is Yes.  The answer is both.  The Christian life is full of sorrow that won’t be completely erased until Christ is revealed at the end, and then there will be nothing to take your joy away from you.  But even now the risen Christ comes to you in his Word and promises to help you here and now, to help you even by allowing times of sorrow and mourning to come into your life, so that he can come, after a little while, with his comfort and joy. And you will see him and understand better than before that Jesus is a faithful and loving Savior, and that his resurrection from the dead really is the truth that gets you through today and tomorrow, so that, even if you don’t have a smile on your face, there can always be joy in your heart.  Amen.

Sermon for Misericordias Domini – Easter 3

John 10:11-16  +  Ezekiel 34:11-16  +  1 Peter 2:21-25

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. There are so many shepherd images of God in the Bible.  The shepherd walking through green meadows with his sheep walking close behind him, leading them through green pastures, guiding them up to a gently flowing stream where they can drink and quench their thirst.  There’s the shepherd image of Jesus feeding his little lambs.  There’s the image of the shepherd comforting his sheep, carrying the little ones in his arms.  There’s the image of the shepherd leaving behind the ninety-nine to go out searching for the one that strayed, searching until he finds it and puts it up on his shoulders and brings it home.

But no shepherd image is as striking as the one before us in our Gospel—the image of bloody shepherd.  The shepherd who places himself between the sheep and the wolf.  The shepherd who takes his stand, even as all the hired hands see the wolf coming and run away to save themselves, leaving the sheep to be attacked and slaughtered.  The Good Shepherd doesn’t run away.  He stays.  He confronts the wolf.  But he doesn’t fight it off.  Instead, he opens his arms and makes himself the wolf’s target.  The wolf pounces on him, and he embraces it. He allows the wolf to injure him, to gore him, to eat him alive.  And there’s blood everywhere.  He lays down his life for the sheep.  And then, after the shepherd lays down his life for the sheep, he stands up again.  That’s what the word “resurrection” means – to stand up again.  He stands up again, still bloody, but no longer bleeding.  Still scarred, but no longer injured.  Having died, but no longer dead.  The wolf is still there, threatening the sheep until the very last day of planet earth’s existence.  But the Good Shepherd is still there, too, between the sheep and the wolf.  Always.

This is the image that saves, the Good Shepherd as the bloody Shepherd.  This is the image that comforts the sheep more than any other.  This is the image that creates faith in the Shepherd and brings the sheep into his flock, the image that creates Christians.

Without this image of the bloody shepherd, the words of Psalm 23 ring hollow.  All the people in the world who love the 23^rd Psalm, “The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want,” without believing in Jesus as the bloody shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep—they’re all fooling themselves. The Lord isn’t their Shepherd. If you don’t want the bloody shepherd, Jesus, for your shepherd, if the blood on his clothes, if the scars on his hands and side are repulsive to you, then the LORD is not your shepherd.  Because the bloody shepherd is the LORD Jesus. The Good Shepherd is the bloody shepherd.

Who or what is the wolf?  What threatens you?  What seeks to devour you?  There are many wolves out there.  The devil himself is one of them.  What pleasure, what comfort, what blessing can he dangle before your sheep-eyes to get you to look away from your shepherd and wander off?  What tragedy, what evil, what suffering can he send your way to turn your love for Jesus into hatred and bitterness?  What fault or sin of your neighbor’s can he hold before your eyes so that you’re so consumed with anger or apathy toward your neighbor that your shepherd is no longer in view?

Who or what is the wolf that threatens?  It’s the world with its empty morality and hollow philosophy.  It’s the world that hates the light of the truth, because its own deeds are evil, and so it threatens your family, threatens your career, it laughs at you and rejects you for being a Christian, for following Jesus.

Who or what is the wolf that threatens the sheep?  It’s false teachers who darken the Shepherd’s words with their lies that sound so sweet.  It’s temptation.  It’s sin.  It’s death.  And while you’re busy looking around and focusing on all those wolves, what you don’t realize is, that the wolf is also you.  You – your sinful nature is your own worst enemy. It’s what separated you from God in the first place and made you an object of God’s wrath.  And it’s still always there, always dragging you away from God, dragging you off to serve yourself, to live for yourself, to love only those who love you and care only for those who care for you as you want to be cared for.  It’s your sinful nature that can turn you into a wolf toward your fellow Christian, to treat them so poorly, to injure them so badly that they never want to know another Christian or step foot in another Christian church as long as they live.

How many wolves are gathering, circling?  You can’t even see them.  But your Shepherd can.  And who has let you down?  A parent?  A relative?  A teacher?  A pastor?  The Good shepherd isn’t like any of them.  Even if all of your protectors and guardians run away, the Good Shepherd never will.  He puts himself in the way and shields you with his arms, with his body, with his blood.  All of your enemies, everything that threatened you, including the wrath of God itself, all of it fell on your Good Shepherd.  He intervened between you and the wolf, opened his arms on the cross, and he laid down his life for you.  The bloody image of Jesus dying on a cross is your shield and protection from any and every wolf, from sin and death and the devil, from fear and depression, from everything that seeks to harm you.

The bloody Good Shepherd lays down his life but then stands up again on the third day and keeps fighting, and this time, he can’t ever die again.  He comes back to life to keep on shepherding his sheep forever.

The Good Shepherd has brought you here today. He has gathered you around himself in order to place himself between you and the wolf.  Because he is here in this Gospel, warning the impenitent so that they do not die eternally.  He is here in this Gospel, forgiving the sorrowful, comforting the sad, carrying the weak.  Jesus calls his sheep together to be served by him, the good shepherd: to hear his Words, to be led by his teachings, to be fed by his life, by his body and blood.

Jesus knows how hard, how scary it is to face the wolf.  But see, the sheep aren’t the ones who have to face the wolf.  They wouldn’t stand a chance.  The sheep aren’t the ones who have to be brave against sin and death and the devil.  Sheep are too dumb to even see the wolf coming until it’s too late.  No, the Shepherd is the brave one. He’s the one who does the fighting.  And his blood-stained body proves that he will fight for you and never give up.  He knows his sheep.  He knows where they’re vulnerable, and he knows how to protect them.  So don’t pretend that you’re strong or that you need to be strong enough to stand against the wolf.  Your Shepherd does that for you.  Trust in your Shepherd.

He won’t leave you vulnerable, even when he goes out looking for his lost sheep.  There are still lost sheep in the world that he has to find with his Word and call into his flock.  Some of them are Christians who have strayed away from his Word, and therefore, away from his kingdom.  Others have never yet heard the Shepherd’s voice.  But they will.  They still don’t know the image of the Shepherd who bloodied himself in order to protect his sheep from the wolf.  But when they hear it, they will believe.  Not all will believe, but some will, and it won’t take any gimmicks or tricks or seduction to bring them into Jesus’ flock.  Just the message about the bloody Shepherd – that’s all it ever takes.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  The Lord isn’t your shepherd unless the Lord you mean, the Lord you believe in, the Lord you follow in faith, is the bloody Lord Jesus who laid down his life for the sheep and took it up again.  If he is the Lord whom you call your shepherd, then you shall not want for anything. You don’t have a healthy body?  You lack nothing.  You don’t have a happy marriage?  Friends?  Money? Security?  You lack nothing.  He gives you all you need.  He knows what you need before the thought enters your mind.  He has given you good things – even his own body thrown between the wolf and you, even his own flesh as food and his blood as drink.  He is a good shepherd.  He is THE good shepherd, stained in his own blood, but victorious.  Those who trust in him have nothing to fear from any wolf.  Amen.

Sermon for Easter 2 – Quasimodo Geniti

Ezekiel 37:1-14  +  1 John 5:4-12  +  John 20:19-31

It was from death to life last Sunday on Easter.  It goes from death to life again today.

First it was the dead, dry bones that God showed to Ezekiel in that famous valley. Those bones didn’t just represent death.  They represented fear, despair and hopelessness on the part of Israel.  Israel was destroyed. Judah was in exile. And there was no possible way they could come out of it – no solution, no plan of action.  And they despaired.  And that was wrong.  They had a faithful God who had never lied to them. But the devil got them to forget all about God’s faithfulness and kindness and turn inward on themselves, on how bad things looked for them.  Humanly speaking, there was no hope for them.  No human solution could save them.  They were dead.

But where there’s death, that’s where the Spirit of God goes to work.  See, the Spirit of God doesn’t like to help people along, to cooperate with them and work together with them.  No, the Spirit of God likes to take dead things, hopeless things that can’t move a muscle to help themselves and do all the work himself. A valley full of dead, dried up bones?  Perfect!  Prophesy, son of man!  Prophesy to the breath – to the spirit! And by the simple words spoken by God’s called spokesman and prophet, Ezekiel, the dead, dry bones – those hopeless, fearful Israelites came to life.  There was death in that valley.  But then, there was life.

There was death in the upper room on Easter Sunday evening.  There was dead, dried up faith on the part of Jesus’ ten apostles who were there. There was fear and despair and unbelief – they go together.  They despaired.  And that was wrong.  They had a faithful God who had never lied to them. But the devil got them to forget all about God’s faithfulness and kindness and turn inward on themselves, on how bad things looked for them – and for Jesus.  As far as they were concerned, their God was dead.

But then he wasn’t.  He wasn’t dead anymore, as of that Easter morning.  The women had seen him.  John saw the empty tomb and believed, but remained silent.  Peter sometime that day saw Jesus. Other reports were coming in – two disciples from the road to Emmaus had returned to Jerusalem and reported the news to Jesus’ disciples.  He isn’t dead anymore.  He’s alive!

In that upper room of death, there was life breaking in by the word of Jesus’ resurrection.  And then life stepped into the room. Right through the locked doors.  Nothing can hinder this Person, this life-bringer.  He spoke words of life, “Peace be with you.”  The Son of Man was crucified but now is risen.  Peace be with you.  You all doubted me and replaced the faith I gave you with fear and despair.  But now, peace be with you.

That’s a powerful word when it’s spoken by the very Son of God, the crucified and living one.  Wouldn’t you like to hear it from his lips?  But that’s just the thing.  If you want to believe in Jesus at all, then you have to take him at his word. And what does his word say?  As the Father sent me, so I am sending you.  He breathed on his disciples and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgiven anyone his sins, they are forgiven him.  If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” 

How could Ezekiel bring dead bones to life?  Because God commanded him to.  Because God put his words into Ezekiel’s mouth, so that when Ezekiel spoke life into those bones, it was really God speaking.

In the same way, Jesus wants to come to you today, not with a personal, visible appearance, but in the words of those whom he has sent.  It’s the same life, the same power, the same forgiveness.  He gives authority on earth to declare peace to repentant sinners, to wipe away sins and to bring the dead to life with a word.

There is great peace and comfort here.  There is literally death all around us, and fear and despair and hopelessness.  But here is life stepping into the room – to be handed out in words.  Jesus lives.  Peace be with you.

And those who believe are comforted.  And whoever does not believe will be condemned – unless the Lord of life brings life to the unbelieving before it’s too late, as he did with Thomas.

Stubborn Thomas.  Whose fault was it that he didn’t believe all the eyewitness reports he heard?  Whose fault was it that he didn’t believe Jesus’ own words promising his resurrection?  None but Thomas was to blame.  Stubborn and unbelieving.  Stubborn and needing to be convinced by reason, by science.  I won’t believe unless I see and touch and handle.  That’s death.  That’s hopelessness and despair.  Because that is unbelief.

Now, maybe you’ve disbelieved and lashed out like Thomas, too.  Even lifelong Christians can fall into the grievous sin of despair.  But your despair or your disbelief doesn’t change the truth.  Jesus was crucified, whether you believe it or not. He died and paid for all sins, including your sin of despair.  He was buried.  He rose from the dead, whether you believe it or not.  He lives. He reigns. He keeps his promises.  He loves his saints – and by saints, I mean, you sinners and sinful doubters who look up to him again for mercy.

So you might as well believe it. 

Do you really want to experience the shame that Thomas must have felt when Jesus confronted him on the Sunday after Easter?  I won’t believe unless I see for myself the nail prints in his hands and feet and put my hand in his side.   And then life walks into the room again.  Peace be with you.  And then right to Thomas. OK, Thomas.  Put your finger here and here and here and here. Put your hand here.  Don’t be disbelieving, but believing.  And the only thing that kept Thomas from running out of the room in shame over his shameful despair and unbelief was the word of Jesus, “Peace be with you.  Believe.” And where there was unbelief, now there was faith.  Where there was death, now there was life – they go together.  And then Thomas did what faith does.  It confesses, “My Lord and my God.”

And then, it’s almost as if Jesus looked up from Thomas, across time and space and right into this room, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Those words are spoken for you, you who have not seen and yet have believed.  You are blessed.

And you need to hear those words over and over again, because you don’t get to see in this life.  You don’t get to see the resurrected Jesus.  You may see trouble and sickness and suffering.  You will see temptation and your own sinful nature pulling you back into yourself, dragging your eyes away from Jesus, so that you forget about God and his faithfulness and despair of his help.

But God has left us a witness on earth that’s just as good as seeing Jesus.  Really, honestly, just as good as seeing Jesus.  Actually, it’s even better.  How many people saw Jesus and still disbelieved?  But the Spirit of God testifies, and we talked about it already on Good Friday: The Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.  For there are three that testify:  the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. The Spirit of God always and only works through the Word of God, whether it was the word spoken by Ezekiel, or the word spoken by Jesus, or the word spoken by his apostles, which, today, means pastors.  What is the Spirit’s testimony?  And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

Believe his testimony about the risen Lord Jesus and the life he gives and the forgiveness of sins he pronounces to you penitent sinners.  Believe his testimony in the water, that you have been washed in the blood of Jesus and clothed with him.  Believe his testimony in the blood of the Sacrament, that it was shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

If you won’t believe that, then you’re making God out to be a liar, and that would be foolish, so don’t do that. 

There’s plenty of death all around us, and there is not a lot of life.  Death is everywhere.  It spreads like gangrene.  But life – life is found, life exists, life is given only in a place.  Life is in Jesus alone.  And Jesus comes to you in his Word alone, and his Word is enough. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.  Amen.

Sermon for Easter Sunday

Mark 16:1-8  +  Psalm 16  +  Job 19:23-27  +  1 Corinthians 5:6-8

Brothers and sisters, fellow believers in Christ Jesus: Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed.  Alleluia! Jesus lives!

He really does, you know.  He lives – not in our hearts, not in our dreams or in our imagination.  The real Son of God, with his real flesh and blood, born of the virgin Mary, who truly suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried has really come back to life, stepped out of his tomb, and appeared to his disciples, who were all very surprised and overjoyed to see him alive again.

It really shouldn’t have surprised them quite as much as it did.  He told his disciples how he would be killed and rise on the third day, which was the very same thing that was prophesied about the Christ in the words of King David in Psalm 16 a thousand years before, “I have set the LORD always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure. For you will not abandon my soul to the grave, or let your holy one see corruption.”

As the apostles pointed out to the Jewish crowds later on, King David, who wrote those words of the Psalm, most certainly died and most certainly decayed in his grave.  But the Holy One about whom he was writing, the Son, the offspring of David, the Christ – he was not abandoned to the grave or left in the tomb.  He was raised from the dead.

That’s what the angel announced to the faithful women who went to the tomb that first Easter morning to finish taking care of Jesus’ body, which, they assumed, was already beginning to be corrupted by decay.

How wrong they were!  Instead of the big stone blocking the entrance to the tomb, they saw it rolled away and an angel waiting there to give them the good news.  Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him.

Wouldn’t you like to have seen it, too?  The place where they laid him?  The stone rolled away, the empty tomb, the folded linens, the angel sitting where Jesus had been?  Or what if you had seen the empty tomb?  Then what?  Then you would have been just as alarmed, just as terrified as those women were.  Because an empty tomb, all by itself, isn’t good news.

The fact that Jesus’ tomb was empty, the fact that the offspring of David, Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ, rose from the dead is neither good news nor bad news.  It just is.  It’s a fact.  It happened.  But what does it mean? Is it a fact that saves or is it a fact that damns? The only way to know what it means is to hear what God reveals about it in the preaching of the gospel.

And what does God reveal in the gospel about the offspring of David, Jesus Christ, risen from the dead?

In the words of Psalm 2, Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. So those who take refuge in the risen Son of God are blessed! But those who do not seek refuge in him will perish.

According to the gospel, then, the empty tomb of Jesus means that his enemies and all who hate him had better be very afraid.  The resurrection of Jesus is terrible news for the devil and his demons.  It’s terrible news for the one who wants to get to heaven by serving some other god, or by offering God his own merits. It’s also terrible news for all who refuse to repent of their sins. Because if Jesus is dead, then you get to decide what’s right and wrong for your life, and then when you’re dead, you’re dead. That’s it. But if Jesus is alive, then there will also be a resurrection of all the dead and a Judgment Day for all.  So for the impenitent and unbelieving, the empty tomb of Jesus is cause for fear.

But for those who want a sure refuge from God’s wrath, for those who want to be reconciled to God, for those who want Jesus for a Savior, the gospel reveals this truth: that Jesus was delivered up for our sins and raised to life for our justification. His death was sufficient payment for all sin, for every sin, for the worst sinner, for his most bitter enemy; and his resurrection means that all who hope in him, all who trust in him, all who look to him for forgiveness of their sins are absolved before God’s courtroom in heaven.  The empty tomb means the justification of all who believe in the risen One.

And with justification comes every gift and benefit of Christ: the adoption as God’s children, the full acceptance into eternal life, the daily forgiveness of sins in this Christian Church, and the promise of your own empty tomb when Jesus returns, for judgment against all who refused to repent, and with salvation for his believing people.

No, Jesus’ empty tomb all by itself is still a scary thing, and those faithful women who visited Jesus’ tomb on Easter Sunday remained afraid until, later that day, they saw Jesus for themselves and, more importantly, heard his gospel, his word of peace.  Then they rejoiced with a joy that even the bitterest persecution couldn’t take away.

You have to see Jesus for yourself, too.  But not with your eyes.  Blessed are they who have not seen and yet have believed, Jesus said.  Believed what?  Believed in the empty tomb?  No.  Believed in God’s promise of forgiveness in Christ.  Believed in his Gospel.  Believed in the word of God the Father who emptied Jesus’ tomb by raising his Son from the dead.  This word from God that he has commissioned me to preach to you today is better than seeing a thousand empty tombs.  Because here in the Word you don’t see the place where Jesus isn’t.  You actually get to see Jesus.  Because here in the Word of God, here in Sacrament of Jesus, the risen Lord Jesus comes to you today with a message intended for you:  “I was delivered up for your sins and raised to life for your justification. Repent and believe in the good news that He who believes in me will live, even though he dies.  And whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”

All week long in our Holy Week services, I’ve been giving you certain things to remember above all else. Today it’s very simple. Today I tell you, as I told our confirmand last Sunday, in the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel.

Let his enemies remember and repent!  Let his people remember and rejoice! Amen.

Welcome to this new day – the day of our Lord’s resurrection from the dead!   Jesus rose on the first day of the week, which began at sunset tonight.  And since then, every first day of the week has been blessed.  Since then, every first day of the week has become a celebration of Easter as the Church gathers around her risen Lord in Word and Sacrament until he comes again in glory to raise all the dead and to bring us into that great wedding banquet that has no end.

Today is also the Third Day – the Third Day of the Paschal Triduum, the blessed Third Day about which Jesus said, “The Son of Man is about to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him, and he will be raised on the third day.”

Today has also been called “The Eighth Day” – the day of the new creation.  For God made all things in six days, and on the seventh day he rested. And Christ labored for the six days of Holy Week and on the seventh day his lifeless bones rested in the tomb.  But now he rests no more.  Now he is risen from the dead and that changes everything.  You can’t just start over again counting the days of the week as man has done since the beginning of creation, because this creation is waxing old, like a garment.  This creation is destined for fire, because the sin of man – the sin of us all – has ruined it.  We’ve ruined everything, and so everything must pass away; everything must be destroyed.  Everything – except for the living Lord Jesus.  He has already conquered sin and passed from death to immortality.  He is the beginning of the new creation, a perfect creation, and the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.  He is our doorway out of this dying world and our entrance into the life of the next.

And we enter through that doorway through Holy Baptism.  It’s no accident that ancient baptismal fonts were octagonal – eight-sided – in shape.  Because the Church understood what was really going on in that Sacrament, what was really happening in the spiritual realm.  The baptized is being drawn out of this dying world and into the new creation of Christ, being clothed with Christ and with his resurrected life, the life that belongs to all of you who have been baptized and believe in the risen One.

So welcome to this day, fellow believers! Today is a new day with the dawning of new life and the beginning of the destruction of death. And whether we remember it as the first day, or the third day, or the eighth day, let us remember with the Psalmist that this is the day that the Lord has made.  Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Ps. 118:24)!  Amen.

Now the first Holy Day of the Three Holy Days comes to a close and a new day begins now at sunset – a special Sabbath Day for the Son of God, a day of perfect, undisturbed rest for his dead body in Joseph’s tomb.  And just as God rested from his whole work of creating the universe on the seventh day of creation, so the Son of God rested from his whole work of salvation on the seventh day of that first Holy Week.

It had been quite a day, with all the suffering and death that the whole world of sinners had coming to them, now poured out on the sinners’ Substitute – all in a single day.  And yet, even after as he died and before he was buried, God already pointed to the three gifts that flow out of Jesus’ death.  Of all the things to think about and remember as Good Friday comes to a close, remember the Spirit, the water and the blood.

With his Passion – his suffering – complete, with his work of redemption finished, Jesus breathed his last and “gave up his spirit.”  Then one of the soldiers pierced his side, and out came blood and water.

The Apostle John points us to those three things in his Gospel, and explains it in his first Epistle, This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify:  the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.

What do these three agree about?  Well, they agree that Jesus really, truly and actually died. He gave up his spirit, and blood and water flowed out of his side when it was pierced.

But they agree on more than that.  Because, John says, not that they testified when Jesus died, but that they testify now.  To what?

To exactly what Psalm 130 says:  If you, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.  O Israel, hope in the Lord! For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.  And he will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

That Psalm is fulfilled on Good Friday, at the great “It is finished!”  The Lord did redeem Israel from all his iniquities.

But how is that redemption applied to you?  How is it the forgiveness Jesus won applied to you so that you may be justified?  How does the forgiveness that is “with the Lord” get to you so that you are forgiven, so that you can stand before God?

It’s by the Spirit, the water and the blood.

On that very first Easter Sunday, the risen Jesus would appear to his disciples, breathe on them and say, “Receive the Holy Spirit!  If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  The Spirit of Jesus hands out the forgiveness Jesus won on the cross in Holy Absolution, in the forgiving word spoken by the ministers of Christ.

It’s also by the water, by which the Spirit plunges us back through time and unites us with Christ.  What did Peter say on Pentecost?  Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins!

It’s also by the blood.  What did Jesus say at the very beginning of that first Holy Day, “Take, eat; this is my body. Take, drink; this cup is the New Testament in my blood which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins. Do this…”

All the benefits won by Jesus on that Good Friday, all the treasures of his life and death – forgiveness, life, salvation, victory over sin, death and the devil, a Father’s love, a place with him in Paradise – all of it comes to us now through Word and Sacrament, through the Spirit, the water and the blood.  And it’s no accident that they were all there on Good Friday, just like it’s no accident that John recorded it, just like it’s no accident that you, here, in this place, have been reached by the Spirit, the water and the blood.  God’s love for you and his desire for your salvation are from eternity.  And just as he elected us in Christ since before the foundation of the world was laid, so he also planned Good Friday from eternity, so he also planned how and where and when the Spirit, the water and the blood would come to you to bestow on you the forgiveness purchased by the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

And just as Christ entered his Sabbath rest on that first Good Friday evening, so there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, according to the writer of the Hebrews.  Let us strive to enter that rest, he says.  And how will we do that?  Through faith alone in Jesus Christ.  And how will God sustain that faith in us until the end?  Through the Spirit, the water and the blood.  Remember.  Amen.