Trinity II [Luke 14:15-24] (26-Jun-2022)

                

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today in our Gospel reading, Jesus tells a parable about a great banquet. This reading is in Luke 14, and before we read this reading, we have a few things that happen which give us some insights into how we understand the parable. At the beginning of the chapter we read: One Sabbath, when [Jesus] went to dine at the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, they were watching him carefully. The Pharisees were known as the religious rulers and experts of Jesus’ time, and yet, when Jesus began to teach and do all kinds of things, they were upset about it, because all of a sudden, here was a man who taught in such a way which completely overshadowed them. And not only was Jesus’ teaching powerful, but many people would go and listen to him. Great crowds were following him, the kinds of crowds that the Pharisees would never have seen for themselves. And so, they became jealous of Jesus, and were often looking to catch Jesus out in something that he had done or said, and then they would be able to say: “Aha! We’ve got you!” And then they could discredit him.

Anyway, while Jesus was at this Pharisee’s house, we read: there was a man before him who had dropsy. And Jesus responded to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?” But they remained silent. Then he took him and healed him and sent him away. And he said to them, “Which of you, having a son or an ox that has fallen into a well on a Sabbath day, will not immediately pull him out?” And they could not reply to these things.

So, we read about Jesus actually caught them out, and they were unable to say anything. Twice in this section, it says: But they remained silent. They could not reply to these things.

And so, Jesus tells a parable about a wedding feast, where a person who sits at the lower place is encouraged to come and sit in a higher place. And also, Jesus tells the Pharisee who had invited him that he shouldn’t invite his wealthy and rich relatives and neighbours, but invite the poor and needy when he has a banquet.

And so, we come to our reading for today, which begins with these words: When one of those who reclined at table with him heard these things, he said to him, “Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God!”

Here we read about this man, who is sitting there, and listening to Jesus. At first, it seems as though this man has something devout and pious and significant to say, but in actual fact, probably not. After all, he has been there with these Pharisees, watching Jesus carefully, to catch him out in something that he said. After a while, Jesus starts to preach, and then this man thinks: I can preach too! I’d like to say something!

When Jesus preaches the parable, it’s as if he’s addressing it against this man. The man says: Blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God. At the end of the parable, Jesus says: For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet. So, it’s as if to say, that Jesus is saying to to the man, “Yes, blessed is everyone who will eat bread in the kingdom of God, but watch out, and make sure that you are there! You’re invited to my banquet, but will you make an excuse and not come?”

So, let’s read the parable that Jesus tells. He says: A man once gave a great banquet and invited many. And at the time for the banquet he sent his servant to say to those who had been invited, “Come, for everything is now ready.” But they all alike began to make excuses. The first said to him, “I have bought a field, and I must go out and see it. Please have me excused.” And another said, “I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to examine them. Please have me excused.” And another said, “I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.” So the servant came and reported these things to the master. So, we can see so far in the parable, that no one whom the man invited at first came, and this happened because they all made their own excuses. Then we read: Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, “Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.” And the servant said, “Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.” And the master said to the servant, “Go out to the highways and hedges and compel people to come in, that my house may be filled. For I tell you, none of those men who were invited shall taste my banquet.”

So on one hand, we have the first people who were invited all refusing to come. And then the servant brings in the poor, crippled, blind and lame, and then he goes out and compels people to come in, so that the house may be filled.

Now, this parable has many layers, as many of the parables do. Now, there’s an obvious interpretation in this parable, which first of all is talking about the Jews and the Gentiles. We see how Jesus was sitting there eating in the house of a ruler of the Pharisees, with the lawyers, and all kinds of religious experts there. Jesus was their Messiah, and yet instead of receiving them, they watched him carefully, making all kinds of excuses as to why they shouldn’t receive him. And so, they are unable to enter the heavenly banquet. Instead, Jesus sends out his words and gathers in all kinds of needy people, from all nations, including the Gentiles, into his kingdom.

Now, we, who are Gentiles, are also recipients of this wonderful invitation from Jesus, and we have been gathered into the kingdom of God. In the Book of Acts, we see how Paul and Barnabas were being heckled and contradicted by the Jews in a certain place. We read: And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.”

Now, of course, there were many people in those early centuries, who were from the Jewish people, who converted to Jesus. And many Jewish people all throughout history, including in our modern times, have also converted to Jesus. However, there are many Jewish people, who have the Old Testament, they have Moses, the Prophets, the Psalms, and yet they don’t receive the Messiah which is prophesied there.

Now, also, today, there are many people in all kinds of other cultures, and countries, and nationalities, who also have heard the Gospel, and yet they don’t receive Jesus. Even, we might say, there are many churches and congregations all throughout the world, who call themselves Christians, and yet don’t receive Jesus.

Now, what we have described in this parable is the wonderful way in which Jesus himself, the man who gives a great banquet, sending out his servant to invite people to his banquet. Notice that Jesus doesn’t speak about the man sending out multiple servants or many servants, but only one servant. Actually, we read that on the day of Pentecost, that Jesus anointed with the Holy Spirit his apostles, and sent them out throughout all the world, and then all throughout history there have been many, many pastors and missionaries who have gone forth to bring the message of invitation to come to Jesus, and to his banquet.

But Jesus only speaks about one servant, which shows us that there is only one message. Even though we know that throughout history there have been many, many messengers, all of those messengers have only one thing to say. There is only one Jesus, there is only one banquet, there is only faith, there is only one word of invitation. There is only one Saviour, there is only one Messiah, there is only one Redeemer, and he is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. And nobody comes to Father except through him.

Now, what is the banquet that we’re talking about? Now, some people take this to be the Lord’s Supper, but in a very crass kind of way. They say, here’s the Lord’s Supper, and we need to go out into the highways and byways, and just compel anyone and everyone to come into the church, as if we were just to go out on the street right now, and without explaining anything or instructing people, just have them all waltz up to the altar, and receive the Lord’s Supper.

But this is a complete misunderstanding of the Lord’s Supper, and the banquet, and salvation, and Jesus, and it’s a complete misunderstanding of where we fit in the story.

First of all, there are different people in this passage. There is the man who prepared the banquet. There is the servant. And there are the people who were invited who refused to come, and the people who were invited who did come.

Let’s go through each of these people. First of all, there is the man who prepared the banquet. This is Jesus. He is the true Son of God, who is equal to God the Father and the Holy Spirit, who created the world together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. At a particular time in history, around 2000 years ago, the Son of God entered into this world, descended from heaven, and took on human flesh from the womb of his mother, the Virgin Mary. This man, Jesus Christ, who is both true God and a true man, lived a perfect and sinless life on this earth, teaching and performing many miracles. Then, he endured such tremendous suffering and anguish, and was crucified and killed on a cross. Three days later he rose from dead on what we call Easter Sunday. Then he ascended into heaven and was seated at the right hand of God.

Now, there is a reason for all this. First of all, every member of the human race since the time of Adam and Eve fell into sin, has also been tainted, and completely corrupted and poisoned and diseased with sin, in such a way that all of our thoughts, words and actions are completely corrupted by sin. God has revealed his law in the 10 commandments, and we have broken them. And because we have broken the law of God, we deserve his wrath, his displeasure, his punishment, and condemnation.

However, Jesus came to earth and lived among us, and suffered and died, so that he could stand in our place. The justice that we deserved for our sin was put on him, in such a way that he took our sin upon himself and died for us. He poured out his blood and his life in such a way that it was a complete and perfect sacrifice and atonement for our sins, and so all of our sin and the guilt and punishment is completely atoned for. The debt that we owed is paid in full, and so we have everything we need, and we trust in Jesus as our only Saviour. We are free from condemnation, our sin has been forgiven, and we have been given the promise of eternal life.

When Jesus rose from the dead, he said to his disciples: Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.

Here is the banquet, who is Jesus Christ. Jesus is the man who prepares the banquet, and he is also the banquet itself. He is the Passover Lamb of God who was slain. And now, what is it that Jesus sends out his servant to say: to proclaim the repentance and forgiveness of sins in his name. This is what is means to go out and preach: Come, for everything is now ready.

Come, for everything is now ready, which the servant sends, isn’t just a message to invite people to church. There is a difference between inviting people to church, and inviting people to meet Jesus. Now, of course, the two things are connected, because we actually really do meet Jesus in the church. Jesus actually baptises us with water and the word to make us living members of his kingdom. Jesus actually speaks to us the forgiveness of our sins through the absolution spoken through the pastor. Jesus actually speaks to us his word, and preaches his word, and encourages us with his word. He actually leads us as our High Priest in our prayers, because he lives to intercede for us, at the right hand of God. He prepares for us a wonderful banquet in the Lord’s Supper, and actually gives us to eat and to drink his true resurrected and glorified body and blood, given and shed for us for the forgiveness of sins.

So, when it comes to mission work, and evangelistic work, how do we invite people? What are we inviting people to? Well, as I said before, there’s a difference between inviting people to church, and inviting people to meet Jesus. For example, in recent years, I have seen some terrible things written on this topic. At worst, people think that the church is struggling in its finances, and so we need more people in, so that we will have more money on the plate, and we’ll be able to keep the institution alive. Some churches are so fixated on this, that they will do anything possible, just to get people in and sitting on the seats, and sacrifice everything good about the church service, even sometimes Jesus himself.

But people will come to church when they know what they are coming for, why they are coming, what it is that we are coming to. In Hebrews it says: You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to innumerable angels in festal gathering, and to the assembly of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word that the blood of Abel. We can’t even begin to imagine what it is that we participate in when we come to church, and enter into the heavenly sanctuary and throne room of God.

But in our parable, there were three people who refused to come to banquet, and made excuses. I have bought a field, I have bought five yoke of oxen, I have married a wife.

The simple reason why they didn’t come is that they didn’t know their need. Now, on a simple level, there are many people who are not Christians and don’t attend church, and they don’t come to Jesus and they don’t come to church because they don’t feel as though they need it. And how wrong they are!

But then also, all the excuses that these people made were all because of good things. There’s nothing wrong with buying a field, with buying some oxen, there’s nothing wrong with marrying a wife. They are all good things—but they can all be bad things when they stand in the way of us coming to Jesus.

Even, these Pharisees at the house where Jesus was didn’t come to him, because they thought they had everything they needed, and didn’t have a need to come to him. Can you imagine the irony of this? For centuries, they were all looking forward to the coming of the Messiah, and when he finally comes, they don’t notice him, because they don’t need him.

But then, there are also people who come to church, but have never really come to Jesus. They do all the outward things, they are part of the outward external fellowship of the church, and they think that this is all well and good, but their religious life actually makes them feel sufficiently self-righteous, that they don’t need a Saviour. Even sometimes we see this strange dichtonomy that Christianity isn’t a religion, it’s a relationship. But there’s good religion, and bad religion. There’s right relationships and wrong relationships. Either way, the Pharisees had both a religion and a relationship with God, but they still refused to come to Jesus and his banquet. And so, there are many people who have never brought their sin to Jesus, and never sought from him the forgiveness of sins.

And so, this is why Jesus sent out his disciples to preach repentance and the forgiveness of sins. When we preach repentance, we are preaching the law. We are showing to people their sin, which is new and fresh for people every day. We do this because if we are to come to Jesus, we need be shown our need for him, otherwise we will make excuses as to why we don’t need him, and won’t come to him. We won’t come to Jesus for the forgiveness of sins, if we don’t acknowledge our sin. We won’t come to our Saviour, if there’s nothing to be saved from, and we think we can save ourselves. We won’t thank Jesus for his atonement, and paying the price for of our sin with his blood, if we don’t think there was anything we needed to pay.

So, imagine going to someone and saying: “Why don’t you become a Christian! Jesus has died and risen for you.” But the person will say: “I don’t need someone to die and rise from the dead for me.” They think they don’t need a Saviour, that they are perfectly righteous by themselves, thank you very much. It’s like saying to them: “Good news! Someone has paid your speeding fine!” And then they say: “But I don’t have a speeding fine!” But then, you explain, they received a massive speeding fine, they were caught doing 100km in a 10km zone, out the front of the kindergarten at home-time, and didn’t realise it, and got caught. They realise they could have killed a child. Then we realise, but someone has paid my fine. Then we are so grateful for it! They we realise that someone has done something really wonderful for me.

This is how things are with Jesus! He invites those to his banquet like you who are needy. He brings in poor and crippled and blind and lame, and compels people to come in, the people who realise they have nothing to offer. He speaks the forgiveness of sins to those who know that they are sinners. He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds. This is how he invites you to his banquet, and what a great banquet it is! Let’s thank God for our wonderful Saviour, for the wonderful banquet, and for his wonderful invitation! Amen.

 

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.    

Trinity I [Luke 16:19-31] (19-Jun-2022)

               

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in a like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today in our Gospel reading, we read where Jesus tells the story of Lazarus and the rich man.

We read about a man, Lazarus, who is exceedingly poor, and about another man who is exceedingly rich. But then we read about what happened to these men: one went to heaven and one went to hell. Which was which? The poor man went to heaven, and the rich man went to hell.

Now, let’s think for a moment about this. Is Jesus telling us in this story that rich people in general go to hell, and poor people in general go to heaven? Sometimes, there is an idea, which probably comes from Marxism, that if you are poor, you must be oppressed and, in the right, and if you are rich, you must be the oppressor and therefore in the wrong. However, we know from our everyday life, that there are many wonderful people who are rich, and many wonderful people who are poor. There are many fine Christians who are rich, and there are many fine Christian people who are poor. And there are many terrible people who are rich and many terrible people who are poor.

However, there are temptations that come with being rich, and there are temptations that come with being poor. For example, notice that in the reading it says the man was clothed in purple and fine linen, and who feasted sumptuously every day. And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man’s table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores. One temptation that comes with having a lot of money, is that people see themselves as being blessed by God because they have wealth, and therefore poor people as being cursed by God because they don’t have wealth. So, if there is a man like Lazarus there, they think that it’s their own fault, and they don’t deserve any help. So they don’t help them.

Also, sometimes wealthy people think that because they have money, they therefore have a right to rule people, even though they are not appointed to it and called to it. In our reading, we see that the man was clothed in purple, which was a colour reserved only for royalty. The man thought because he was rich, that he was a king. Now, the same thing happens today—we could easily think of many billionaires throughout the world that constantly interfere in the realm of politics and government, even training world leaders to be their stooges. If you do what we say, we’ll fund you. If you don’t do what we say, we’ll defund you. There is some unspeakable evil that has happened all throughout the world because of rich men who dress in purple.

Sometimes, we hear about Christian preachers too, who preach what we call, the “prosperity Gospel”. They say, if God loves you, he wants you to have an abundant life. They quote from John 10, where Jesus says: I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. They say, if you want something, you should name it and claim it in Jesus’ name. It’s already yours before you have it. If you want the Mercedes Benz convertible, just name it and claim it, and God already has one on its way to you. These preachers say, if you put more money on the plate, God will reward you with these material blessings. And so, these churches become very wealthy because people are wanting stuff. This kind of preaching simply isn’t the Gospel, and is a false kind of preaching, and gives people false hope and false comfort.

Jesus gives many warnings to those who are rich. He says: How difficult it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God! For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God. Even the very fact that we live in Australia means that we live in a wealthy country, with many material blessings. And Jesus’ words are a warning to all of us. There is a reason why in a wealthy country such as ours, there is tremendous ungodliness that dominates our every day life. On the other hand, in poorer countries, in third-world countries, there is often a great hunger to hear the Gospel.

Now, it’s true, that wealth is a blessing from God. But if a person doesn’t have much wealth, that doesn’t mean that they are cursed. In our reading, who does Lazarus meet when he is carried by the angels to heaven? He is carried to Abraham’s side, or as it reads properly in the Greek, Abraham’s bosom.

Now, if all the rich people are in hell, what’s Abraham doing in heaven? After all, we read in Genesis 13, verse 2: Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold. So obviously, Abraham had not found himself in hell because he was rich. Actually, although being rich has its temptations, and being poor has its temptations, salvation has nothing to do with being rich or being poor. Whether we go to heaven or hell has nothing to do with our wealth or lack of it.

It just so happened in our story that this particular rich man went to hell, and this particular poor man went to heaven. Nothing is said about how they got there, except for the fact in heaven, Lazarus was reunited with Abraham, and we know how Abraham got there. We read in Genesis 15, verse 6 that Abraham believes the LORD, and he counted it to him as righteousness. It was not his wealth that was counted to him as righteousness, but his faith.

So, when we talk about faith what do we mean? Well, we know that each and every one of us comes under the condemnation of God’s commandments and his law. We are sinners, and we know this because we have not kept the commandments of God. We have sinned against God, and therefore we should acknowledge this before him, and repent and lament of our sins. Because of our sins, we deserve God’s wrath, we deserve his displeasure with us. The fact that we are all going to die, is a testimony to God’s justice against our sin: The wages of sin is death, says St Paul. Because of our sin, we deserve the punishment of hell, like the rich man in our reading, the eternal torment, the anguish in the flames, as it says in our reading.

So, do we hope to be saved? And if so, what is our hope? Well, our hope is not our purple and fine linen, it is not our sumptuous feats. It is not our silky pillows, and comfortable beds, and it is not the delicious macaroni cheese, or duck liver pâtés or camemberts, that we have stocked up in our fridges! It is not the columns of money we have in our bank accounts, or the tinned food we have stored up for a rainy day in the shed. We worry about these things when we don’t have them, and we are comforted when we do. But just like us, it has an expiry date. Just like going through the fridge, we throw out the things that are expired. And one day, you too will expire, and you will need to be thrown out. You will die. What will you do? What is your hope?

Our hope is our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who has suffered and died for us, who has paid the full atonement for us with his blood and with his life. The debt which you have owed to God has been paid for, and it has been paid for in full. God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him, will not die, but have eternal life. Jesus paid for the sin of Abraham, and he paid for the sin of Lazarus, and he paid for your sin too. And when you trust in this Saviour, the only God, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, this salvation is yours, the forgiveness of sins is yours, eternal life is yours. Our great hope and our great salvation is our Lord Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice and his blood and his life, and in no-one and in nothing else. And when we trust in this Jesus, who is both God and man, and our only hope for salvation, then this faith is counted to us as righteousness. It’s as if we are in court, and not just “as if”, but in actual fact, God really is our judge, and we are on trial. In this life, if we were in court because we had a stack of fines that we couldn’t pay, the judge could let us go free if someone else came and paid for them. In God’s court, Jesus has really paid what we have owed to him with his own blood, and so there is a legal basis upon which God can cancel our debt. God doesn’t just forgive us, because he feels like it: he does it because it is right, and the justice has been satisfied. We trust in Jesus to be our Saviour, our Advocate, our Redeemer—who is the Way, the Truth and the Life, and this faith is counted to us as righteousness. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and the bosom of Abraham, the door of heaven and the gates of Paradise, and is open to us to simply walk in and rejoice in it.

Now, in our Gospel reading today, there is a conversation that then takes place between the rich man in hell and Abraham. And this conversation is enlightening in many ways.

First, let’s talk about hell. I have heard it said by many Christians over the years that hell is just something made up by the church to scare and control people. They go through the bible and do all kinds of studies on various words that are used for hell: like in the Old Testament, “Sheol”, and in the New Testament, “Gehenna”, “Hades” and “Tartaros”. They show that sometimes some of these words are not used always in the sense of hell, and eternal punishment. In the end, they conclude, there is no hell, and all you people that do believe that hell exists are all worried about nothing.

Actually, this isn’t true. The person is the bible who speaks and teaches most sharply about hell is actually Jesus himself. And this passage in our Gospel reading is one of the sharpest descriptions. We read where it says: The rich man also died and was buried, and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. And he called out, “Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.” We read about the flame, about anguish, about torment. Now, does Jesus make this up, because he wants to scare us? No, he doesn’t make it up. But does he want to scare us and make us fearful? Well, yes. He wants you to know the truth about things, and he describes it. Now, fear isn’t always your enemy. If you’re in a plane that is about the crash, and you open the door, and see the ground thousands of feet below you, you will be scared. It is fear that is going to make you grab a parachute. As we face death, Jesus is the parachute we need to grab. Jesus wants us to be afraid of hell, but not to despair, but so that we run to him. There is hope and there is salvation, and he is it.

I saw a video in the last weeks, where a man in Africa somewhere was looking all depressed and was preparing to hang himself. Then, he hears gunshots nearby, and immediately, runs away and jumps over the fence. Turns out he does fear death and he did fear getting shot. His natural instincts when he heard the gunshots was to run away from death. He was afraid, fear kicked in, and it saved his life. So, take what Jesus talks about hell seriously here, but then run to him.

Second, Abraham wants Lazarus to something for him. He says: Send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue. He wants Lazarus to come from heaven over to hell to comfort him. Abraham replies: Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in a like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here and you are in anguish. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.

We learn something from this exchange, and that is, that there is no purgatory. Purgatory is an idea which some people believe in—it is an official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and also Muslims believe in something called Al-‘Araf—which is a kind of half-way between heaven and hell. So, some people think that you might not be good enough to go to heaven, but you might not be bad enough to go to hell, so you need to go to a half-way place, so that you can be sufficiently cleaned up and purified or purged (hence the word, “purgatory”) before going to heaven.

What happens when people believe in purgatory, is that they end up with a false view of sin. Actually, Jesus says: No one is good except God alone. In Romans 3 it says: None is righteous, no, not one… All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. So, we shouldn’t think that we are not deserving of eternal punishment. Also, James says: Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it. But then, also purgatory leads to a false teaching called “universalism”, that means, that basically at the end of the day, everyone is going to go to heaven.

It’s not true. Jesus says: Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Now, it cannot be said strongly enough that this doctrine of purgatory and universalism is a completely destructive and soul-destroying plague, and if it is allowed to have a foot in the church, it makes the whole place stink. The errors of purgatory and universalism is like a stewardess on a crashing plane, that comes out and says: “Ladies and gentlemen, please relax. Everything’s going to be all right.” And then – boom! These things also come about because people don’t read the bible, they don’t believe the bible, that it is God’s Word, his word of truth, which cannot be broken, which is inspired in its every word by the Holy Spirit, they start to cherry pick their favourite bible verses, they talk about the mean nasty “god” in the Old Testament and the lovey-dovey “god” in the New Testament. Then become “Bible scholars” at the world’s great universities, and they say: “Jesus obviously didn’t tell the parable of Lazarus and the rich man, because the real historical Jesus wouldn’t talk like that.” They say: “All the top scholars agree that this passage isn’t genuine.” Any books that speak about the law and judgment and condemnation and hell, like the second letter of Peter or the letter of Jude, obviously wasn’t written by the real Jude the Apostle and the real Peter the apostle… I say, get out of here, you false prophets, you stupid, useless plane-stewards, and give me the parachute! St Paul says in Colossians 2: I say this in order that no one may delude you with plausible arguments… See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy or empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.

This is what Jesus teaches here. He says: There is a heaven, there is a hell. There is no half-way. There is no second chance after death. This is the time of grace and salvation, in this life, now. As St Paul says in 2 Corinthians: We implore you on behalf of God, be reconciled to God… Now is the favourable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. As it says in Psalm 95: Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.

So the conversation continues between the rich man and Abraham. The rich man says: Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father’s house—for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come to this place of torment.’ But Abraham said, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.’ He said to him, ‘If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.’

What do we have in this life that gives us the way of salvation? Abraham says: Moses and the Prophets. What does he mean? The Scripture. Even, we have Moses and the Prophets and the Apostles. But the rich man thinks that if someone goes back to his family from the dead, they will repent.

What does he want to happen? If Lazarus goes back, will they think they saw a ghost? Plenty of people believe in haunted houses, go on cemetery ghost tours—they don’t necessarily believe in Jesus or go to heaven. In fact, many people who don’t have Jesus, have a desire for spiritual things that are not good, so that go to the occult. They seek out ghosts and demons, and all kinds of things. They want spirituality, but they end up with evil. They seek to conjure up the dead, like King Saul, when he went to call up the prophet Samuel from the dead. Saul didn’t repent, but he died in his sins.

But even so, Jesus is not a ghost, he is not a spirit, he is not a figment of the disciples’ imagination. When he rose from the dead, he ate fish and honeycomb, he shows them the wounds on his hands and on his feet, and he says to them: See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

Here is Jesus who is truly and really, physically and bodily, risen from the dead. And yet, many people don’t believe it. John writes: These things 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.

We have the Word of God. We have the resurrected Lord Jesus. Hear the Word, receive it, keep it, and trust in him and his blood and his sacrifice for your salvation. We believe in one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, we receive the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper given for you and for the forgiveness of sins, and when the time comes for you to depart from this life and to die, the angels will carry you to heaven, to be with Lazarus, Abraham and all the company of heaven, to be with your Saviour Jesus, in whom you trusted as your only hope, who is Lord of heaven and earth. Amen.

 

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.    

Holy Trinity [John 3:1-15] (12-Jun-2022)

              

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today we celebrate the Sunday of the Holy Trinity. In some sense, every Sunday is Holy Trinity, in that we come to meet our God, who is the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But on this particular Sunday, we have a special focus on this doctrine, the fact that we worship one true God, who was revealed himself in three persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 

The doctrine and theology of the Trinity is something that is often neglected by modern day Christians, and people don’t care much about it. Perhaps the reason for this is that people find it difficult to get their head around – but then, we are talking about God, and why should we even think for a moment that we can get our head around God? The most important thing for us is to confess this truth, that there is one God, who has revealed himself as three persons, and when say “persons”, we don’t mean three human beings, but three divine spiritual beings. Of three persons, only the Son has taken on human flesh. The Father and the Holy Spirit do not have human flesh, but only a spiritual being, or spiritual essence.

We confess that there is only one God, because all throughout the bible it says that there is one God. Right back in the book of Deuteronomy, for example, it says: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Also, in the New Testament, we read many passages where the Father is spoken of as God, the Son is spoken of as God, and the Holy Spirit is spoken of as God. So Christians have always confessed that it is impossible for us to worship three gods, but that there is one God.

Now, we could spend all day talking about the fine details of the way in which Christians should talk about the Trinity, and what we should believe about it. However, I’d like to come to our Gospel reading, from John chapter 3. This Gospel reading is the Gospel reading from old times for this Sunday, and it is a very choice that early Christians made to read this reading on this Sunday. Nowhere in the reading are the Father, Son and Holy Spirit mentioned, but rather, Jesus is teaching Nicodemus about the new birth, the birth from above, of water and the Spirit. And yet, at the same time, the Holy Trinity is everywhere in this reading. Of course, in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus is also teaching about the new birth of water and the Spirit, and sends out his disciples to baptise and teach, he tells them to baptise in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So, we can see that these two things, new birth and the Holy Trinity, are connected.

So, first of all, God willing, we’re going to go through this reading quickly, and point out the references to the Holy Trinity. Then we’ll go through the reading at face value to learn about what Jesus teaches there.

Firstly, Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Firstly, notice that Jesus speaks about the kingdom of God, meaning God the Father. But then also Jesus says, I say to you, he is the one who speaking, who is promising by oath, who is God the Son. And thirdly, Jesus speaks about being born of water and the Spirit, the Spirit being the Holy Spirit. We almost blink and miss the three persons of the Holy Trinity in this verse. But here they are: It is the Father’s kingdom we are called to enter, it is the Son who teaches us how to enter it, and it is the Holy Spirit who empowers us and gives the new birth in order for us to enter it.

Later, Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. Notice, that Jesus says: I say to you, but then he says, we speak of what we know. Why does Jesus say “we” here, when there is only one of him? Sometimes, kings and queens have spoken like this, as when Queen Victoria said, “We are not amused” – we call this the royal “we”. And yes, Jesus is a king, and in our reading he is speaking about the kingdom of God. But at the same time, it is not obvious in our reading that Jesus should be talking like this. But what we do know from other parts of the Gospel of John is that Jesus says: I and the Father are one. It also says: In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The fact that Jesus says, “we” here testifies to the fact that Jesus never speaks alone, but that he speaks the Word of God from the Father, and that his words are filled with the Holy Spirit. Jesus says: We speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen.

As Christians too, because we learn about the teaching of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, we can go back to the Old Testament and see little glimpses of this there. For example, when God created human beings, he said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness. We see here that there is one image and one likeness that God creates us in. But also, he says: “let us”. He says: “our own image”. Here, we see right from the beginning of the bible, that just as Jesus says in our reading: We speak of what we know, and gives a witness to the reality of the Father and the Spirit who are invisibly behind him and with him, so also, in Genesis, we see that these words in creation give a witness to the reality of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit at work in creation.

So, let’s come to our Gospel reading, and read it together, and see what Jesus is speaking about. We read: Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Nicodemus is a Jewish leader, but he is worried about people, and particularly is probably worried about his fellow Jewish leaders. And so, he is interested in what Jesus has to say, but he comes to him secretly, and night time. He wants to meet Jesus, but doesn’t want to be seen with him. And so, he testifies to the fact that he is double-minded.

And he says to Jesus: Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him. Now, notice here that Nicodemus, just like Jesus later one, uses “we” instead of “I”. Nicodemus is saying to Jesus, either that there is a group of us that believe like this, or else, he is saying that everyone in the Jewish council thinks like this. The question is: if everyone thinks like this, then where are they? And why are you coming by yourself at night? Why can’t you and all these people say this in the daytime?

He has also heard or seen some of Jesus’ miracles, and recognises that God is with Jesus, but at the same time, he recognises that Jesus is only a teacher. He thinks that to have the right faith, that it is only necessary for his salvation to have Jesus as a teacher, and nothing more. He doesn’t understand that Jesus is actually true God, and not just working with God as a teacher, but in unity with God the Father and his only Son. This Jesus who is standing in front of him is actually the true God of heaven and earth who has descended from heaven, and taken on human flesh from the Virgin Mary, in such a way that he is God and man in one person.

We meet many people like this even today. They might be interested in the Bible, they might acknowledge that there are some helpful teachings there, they don’t want to say too much in public about it, they might recognise Jesus as a good moral teacher, but to receive him as their true God, as the object of their worship and their devotion, and to confess him with the Father and the Holy Spirit as one God, is a completely different thing.

And so, Jesus says to him: Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

Here, it’s as if Jesus says to Nicodemus, faith isn’t want you think it is. Jesus isn’t about having a polite intellectual conversation with another polite intellectual. Instead, actually, God’s will is that a person be filled with the Holy Spirit, and be transformed from a citizen of this earth into a citizen of God’s heavenly kingdom.

Now, this word, “born again”, can also be translated, as “born anew”, or “born afresh”, or also, “born from above”. When we translate it, “born again”, it indicates that our rebirth needs to happen, but when we say, “born from above”, it indicates the origin of this new birth, that it is not from this life, and not from this world, but it comes from heaven, from God.

Now Nicodemus doesn’t understand this at all. He says: How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?

For Nicodemus, this makes no sense. When Jesus speaks about being born again, and born from above, all he can do is imagine a womb, with a mother, and birth pains, and all of that kind of thing. Even for the Jews, there was birth, but then there were all kinds of things that was required of them so that they could enter God’s presence, and be clean. But also, many Jews thought that simply because they were from the lineage of Abraham, that everything was fine. However, we see many times in history how the Jewish people had turned away from God, even though they were his chosen people, and even exiled into Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

But Jesus says: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

First of all, Jesus says: Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. Here Jesus describes this new birth more specifically, and he says that being born again, or born anew, is being born of water and the Spirit. Here we can see that Jesus is talking about Holy Baptism.

Now, before we go on, it needs to be said that there are many Christians that don’t believe that Baptism really does anything. They believe that it is an outward testimony of their personal conversion. And so, they see baptism with water as a kind of empty thing, and being born again as having nothing to do with water, but having to do with their personal conversion. For this reason, they don’t baptise babies, because they say that because babies can’t experience a personal conversion, or can’t demonstrate that they are repentant, or their faith, they shouldn’t be baptised.

This is really important for us to understand, because these “born again Christians” are reacting against something, and their reaction isn’t entirely wrong. The problem is that they throw the baby out with the bathwater, or the baptismal water, if you like!

Now many churches—even sometimes Lutheran churches—treat Baptism as a kind of dead thing. People come and bring their babies to be baptised, and then they say, “I’ve had my kid done!” They never come to church ever again, they are not interested in the Word of God, in Jesus, in his suffering, in his death, in the forgiveness of sins, in righteousness, in heaven, in eternal life, in the resurrection of the body. And if Christians really believe that some ritual performed when they are a baby saves them, and that there is no need for anything else in their life, then there’s a problem. I think, this is what the “born again Christians” are reacting against.

All these things are important—the Word of God is important, the absolution, the preaching of God’s word, the Lord’s Supper, confessing the faith, praying to God for ourselves and our world. The life of Jesus is important, his suffering, death and resurrection is our life. Our life should constantly be one of repentance, where we confess our sins to God and receive his forgiveness constantly and afresh and anew. Righteousness is important, heaven is important, eternal life is important, conversion is important—all these things are the most important and most wonderful things that we could have in the whole world and in this life.

When we are baptised, we are not simply washed with water. The Word of God is attached to that water, and that Word of God means something. On the one hand, all the gifts of God’s Spirit and of his grace are given to us in baptism, not because of the water, but because of the Word. Throughout our life, we grow in that same Word, and are shaped and formed by that same Word. In Ephesians, St Paul calls baptism, the washing of water with the Word. Here Jesus calls it the new birth by water and the Spirit. And so, baptism is the wonderful gift where we receive the Holy Spirit and we receive the forgiveness of sins.

However, it is of no use to us, if we don’t believe in it. Baptism is not a kind of works righteousness. We’ve done it, we’ve ticked it off, and now we’re fine. No: Baptism is a gift from God where he gives us his new birth, and we receive it in faith, and faith which is also given to us by the Holy Spirit. Faith is nurtured and sustained and given life by the Holy Spirit through the Word of God. So we must always stay close to Jesus by hearing his Word.

When we read the Word of God, when we repent of our sins, and trust in Jesus for our forgiveness, we are given new desires and a hunger and thirst for righteousness. We Christians are never perfect in this life, but we must always be seeking to flee from our sin and running to Jesus. Of course, when we look into our own heart, we will often and only see our own darkness there and our own sinfulness. Then we would question ourselves and despair. Am I really a Christian? Am I really born again from above? It is then that we need to turn to Baptism as our solid rock, which Jesus has given to us. Then we can look to Baptism as that occasion in our lives when Jesus poured out his Holy Spirit, his forgiveness upon us, in such a way that it is completely outside of us and completely separate from all of the problems in our own hearts. The water that landed on us in Baptism and the Word that was spoken upon us is just as solid as the blood of Jesus which fell to the ground on Good Friday.

Jesus says: That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Here Jesus is saying that when we are born in the natural way, because of sin, we are all corrupted by sin, and so come under God’s judgment. We have no right to enter heaven and eternal life. But then, God also gives a new birth by the Holy Spirit, so that our sins are washed away, because of the work of Jesus. And we trust in Jesus, we are able to enter into heaven clothed in his righteousness, and not in our own righteousness.

Jesus says: Do not marvel that I said to you, “You must be born again.” The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Here we see that Jesus gives a parable about the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Just as we can’t see the wind, but can hear its sound, so also we can’t see the Holy Spirit, but we can hear the sound of the Spirit. When we hear the Word of God, this is the living voice of the Holy Spirit, who then leads and guides us in our lives wherever he chooses. As Jesus says: So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Let’s briefly read the last part of our reading. Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who has descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.

Here we see the content of this new birth, what it is that we should believe as people who are born again by the water and the Spirit. Jesus teaches us that he is not simply a teacher come from God, as Nicodemus said, but that he is the Son of Man, who has descended from heaven, and teaches and speaks not from this earth, but from heaven, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And why has he descended to this earth, so that he may be lifted up, just like the serpent in the wilderness. He is lifted up on the cross in mockery, but then raised from the dead and lifted up to heaven, and seated at the right hand of God, so that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. This is a wonderful and amazing promise that Jesus makes.  

So, on this Holy Trinity Sunday, let’s praise the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit for their powerful and mighty work in our lives, by giving us new birth by water and the Spirit, so that we may live by that same Holy Spirit, trusting in Jesus Christ, the true Son of God who was lifted up for us—trusting in him for eternal life—so that we may enter the kingdom of God. And may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

 

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.    

Pentecost [Acts 2:1-41] (5-Jun-2022)

              

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Today we are celebrating the Day of Pentecost, which is a really wonderful festival in the church year, where we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit. 

So, first of all, today, let’s go through the events of the Day of Pentecost, and call to mind what actually happened. These events of the Day of Pentecost are recorded in Acts, chapter 2.

Pentecost was an occasion which already existed in the lives of the Jewish people. We read at the beginning of Acts 2: When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. The day of Pentecost was already an occasion when people gathered together, and this year, they happened to be doing what they normally would do. In the Old Testament, Pentecost is called the Feast of Weeks, and it was a harvest festival where they presented a grain offering of new grain to God. The word Pentecost comes from the word “fifty”, and refers to the fact that it was 50 days after the Passover. On this occasion, too, the Jewish people often celebrated the event where Moses received the Ten Commandments. So, just as the Jews celebrated the receiving of the Law of God in the ancient times, so also Christians celebrate the same festival, Pentecost, as the time when the apostles first preached the Gospel.

So, let’s look at what happened on this day. First of all, we read that there were a number of impressive miracles that occurred. We read that there was a mighty rushing wind, and that tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them, and that they began to speak in other tongues, or languages, as the Holy Spirit granted to them.

We read that there were all kinds of people there who had gathered from all different parts of the world where Jews had been scattered, all the way from modern day Iraq, Turkey, Egypt and other parts of north Africa, Arabia, Crete, and even from Rome. Some of these people were Jews, because of their family lineage, and some of these people were Jewish converts—or as they are called, “proselytes”. We know, that even today, there are many Jewish people, who don’t live in region of Israel in the Middle East, but there are Jewish people in Europe, and in Russia, and America, Australia, and in all kinds of places all throughout the world. In a similar way, there were Jews who were living in all kinds of different parts of the world even back then, and they had travelled to Jerusalem for the festival. And although they all spoke different languages, depending on where they were from, they were able to hear in their own language. This is the miracle that is spoken of in our reading.

A little comment: some people in what we call “Pentecostal” churches speak about “speaking in tongues” as a kind of way of speaking to God, which is their own language, which is not necessarily understood by anyone. Sometimes when they gather together and pray, people “speak in tongues”, and go into their own ecstatic way of speaking. What happened here on this occasion was not something like that, but rather, the apostles were actually speaking in actual languages that people could actually understand, just like if someone today were speaking French, German, or Arabic, or something like that. What happens in our read is something like the opposite of what happened at the Tower of Babel. On that occasion, people wanted to build a tower all the way up to God, but God confused their languages and couldn’t understand each other. Here, God comes down to meet them, and instead of confusing their languages, he enables people who all speak different languages to be able to hear the Gospel in their own language. The question of the people here make it very clear what was going on. They said: Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language?... We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.

Another little comment about what is called “speaking in tongues”. Perhaps it would be a good idea on another occasion to really study this issue together as a congregation and understand what the New Testament says about these things. There are a few different passages which speak about this, in the Book of Acts, and also in some of the Epistles, like 1 Corinthians. However, we all know that there is a thing called “Pentecostalism”, which over the course of the last 100 years, has almost taken over as the most dominant form of Christianity in the world. We cannot ignore it, and it is really worth our while to understand it. However, there’s a couple of things to say about it: the Pentecostal movement as we know it is really a thing that has only about 100 years. Before that, hardly any Christian writers talk about speaking in tongues. There were many wonderful preachers in the centuries before who certainly were not in any way without the Holy Spirit. But also, something which is very common to see, is that there are many people who claim to “speak in tongues”, however, they actually don’t know what they are saying. On the Day of Pentecost, all kinds of people from different countries, all knew what was being said in their own language. Sometimes, in Pentecostal churches, people are encouraged and trained to “speak in tongues” by just saying something and getting their lips moving, until it happens. This is all very dangerous, because there are similar things that go on in Hinduism and other pagan religions. If you don’t know what you’re saying, how do you know that what you’re saying isn’t from the evil one? Let me say it again: what these people do just isn’t what happened on the day of Pentecost.

On the other hand, we are shown something here that is truly amazing. It shows us that the Gospel really isn’t confined to the Hebrew language, but should go out to all people, from all nations, in all languages. We should pray that this would happen more and more, and that the Holy Spirit would bless and empower all kinds of people with the gifts needed to be able to bring the message of Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sins won by him to people who haven’t heard it before, and even in new languages.

Now, it turned out that on this occasion, that some people were amazed by this whole occasion, and wanted to know what was going on, and wanted to know about the significance of this occasion. And at the same time, there were also people there who thought that the apostles were drunk, and they said: They are filled with new wine.

Once again, it is very clear what was going on from. There are some people today, in some Pentecostal and charismatic groups, who talk about being “drunk in the spirit”. They carry on as if they are drunk, and laugh, and make jokes, as carry on in a kind of silly way, and then preach like this, and flop around, roll on the floor, and all kinds of things like that. This is not what happened on the day of Pentecost. There are movements and things like this which do amazingly untold damage to the Christian church. What happened is that there were people there who saw that the apostles were speaking to people from all kinds of different places in their own languages, and yet, these people didn’t believe it, and so they just dismissed the whole thing and said that the apostles were drunk.

By the way, I should say, that there are many people who do attend Pentecostal churches who are wonderful Christians, who can sometimes be great people of prayer, who read the Bible regularly, attend church regularly, and who do all kinds of good works, and engage themselves as Christians in politics, and all kinds of things. I’m not trying simply to criticise these people in a general way—we all know that there are many Christians in other churches that have all kinds of things right, and do many good things, and sometimes, can be our very good friends. However, it’s important for us to be clear about what happened on the Day of Pentecost and what didn’t happen. The Bible speaks very clearly about what happened, and sometimes, we are so used to Pentecostals talking about these events, but in such a way that they almost carry on as if there were certain things that did happen that really didn’t happen. So, we have to be careful that we don’t rewrite history, but that we stick to the text of the Scripture, of the Bible, and listen to what it actually says.

So, also on the Day of Pentecost when these things happened, Peter stood up and preached a sermon. And there are many wonderful features about this sermon, and what he spoke about. First, he explained what was happening. He refuted the accusation that they were drunk—they weren’t drunk. After all, it was only nine o’clock in the morning, the third hour of the day. But then he said that this occasion was prophesied in the Prophet Joel: a day when God would pour out his Spirit on all flesh.

Secondly, in this little sermon, he quotes the Old Testament a number of times. He quotes the Prophet Joel, but also Psalm 16 and Psalm 110. This reminds us the occasions where we read at the end of Luke, after Jesus rose from the dead. It says: And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, [Jesus] interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Later these people say: Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures? Later, when Jesus visited another gathering of his disciples, it says: Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. So, we read on the occasion of Pentecost, how Peter and the Apostles became Spirit-filled interpreters and preachers of the Bible. It means for us, that if we want to understand the Old Testament, we should interpret it through their Spirit-filled interpretation.

Thirdly, we read that Peter preaches about the life of Jesus. He speaks about the fact that Jesus came and lived a life just like us among everyday people, and performed great and wonderful miracles. But then he was crucified, was killed, he died, and was buried. And then, he rose from the dead, and was raised and ascended and exalted to the right hand of God the Father. He also mentions that what is happening, on the Day of Pentecost, is the gift of Jesus Christ which he was poured out on us today. He says: Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

But then, the last thing about this sermon of Peter is that he accuses them with the Law of God. He doesn’t just say to the people who are listening that Jesus was crucified, but he says: You crucified him! He says: This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. Then at the end of the sermon, he says: Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.

Now this is a very important part of the events of the Day of Pentecost. There are many Christians, and what we might call “liberal” Christians, and this is almost a much more frightening, much more terrible and destructive error, which has done so much damage to Christianity, even over the last 2 or 300 years. But it is a different spirit, and it is not the Holy Spirit. There are many things that we could say about this, but there are many people who read the Bible, but they don’t believe that it is the inspired, holy Word of God. They don’t believe that it is the Holy Spirit’s inspired Word which should transform them by the renewing of their minds. And so, instead, they read the Bible but only in such a way that they agree with things in it which they already believe. If there’s something that offends them, or calls them to change their minds, they reject it. They read the Bible no differently from if they were reading Shakespeare. Sure, if I read Romeo and Juliet, there are plenty of things I agree with, and plenty of things I don’t agree with, and that’s it. Who cares!

What is the thing that is most commonly rejected in the Scripture? What is the thing that many Christians just throw out, sometimes without knowing it? It’s the Law of God. There is a word for this, which is “antinomian”, or “antinomianism”, which means “against the Law”. It is a pernicious, destructive curse in the church. Because the Law of God is good, and we are bad. It is not that we are good, and the Law of God is bad. We need the Law of God to show us our sin, the depth of our sin, the extent of our sin, so that we come to see our great need for Jesus Christ, who is the world’s only Saviour, and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. If we don’t know our sin, we won’t see our need for salvation. Sin is always sin—it can never be just given a different name and changed into virtue.

And so, we see that Peter at the end of his sermon, makes an accusation. He points to the crowd, and he says: You did it. You are in the wrong. Look at what you’ve done. And the same thing applies to us: we weren’t there in these times. But we share the same sinful heart that all of the Jewish people and the Romans had. Jesus died for their sin, and he died for our sin. Our sin was also borne by Jesus on the cross, and also, our sin did it, it pinned there, it caused it, even though the crucifixion happened in the past, and we are in the future. Yes, just like them: you did it. You are in the wrong. Look at your heart and see what you have done. It’s as if Peter says: God has done something wonderful and amazing, but you have done something terrible.

And so, what do we also read happened here on this Day of Pentecost? We read that the people repented. It says: When they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” And we read that Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptised every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of our sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise if for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” So those who were received his word were baptised, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

So, let’s look at what Peter does and where he points these people. He tells them to repent, to confess their sin to God, to acknowledge that they were in the wrong, and to turn from their own hearts and to turn to the living God.

And how should they meet the living God? He tells them to be baptised in the name of Jesus Christ, and that they would receive the Holy Spirit.

Now, this is this another important thing, which is so misunderstood today. There are many people who separate two things—they say, water baptism and Spirit baptism. They treat water baptism as a kind of empty thing, but which is a testimony to people that they have repented and received Jesus as their Saviour. There are many people who think like this, but also some people who further and say that what is important is a kind of “Spirit baptism”, a kind of supernatural spiritual experience, where they feel God’s presence in a special way. Sometimes, people even say that this Spirit baptism has to include speaking in tongues, but not the kind that actually happened on the day of Pentecost.

Now, it’s true that the events of the Day of Pentecost are called by Jesus a baptism with the Holy Spirit. He says: for John baptised with water, but you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit not many days from now. The Holy Spirit was poured out on them like water. In Joel, it says: I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh. But then, when these people asked what to do, what did Peter say? He told them to be baptised, with water, water connected with the Word, in the name of Jesus Christ, and that when this happens, he says: you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

So, the gift of baptism is not an empty thing. Yes, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the apostles in an amazing way, which happened on this occasion. But then in the power of that same Holy Spirit, they told the people to be baptised, and promised them to receive the Holy Spirit through it. This is just what Jesus meant when he spoke to Nicodemus about being born again by water and the Spirit.

They receive the Holy Spirit, because the Word of God is connected with the water, and Holy Baptism enables people to come into the kingdom of God, and in such a way that they can point to something where God worked on them, that didn’t involve all the complicated sinful goings on in their heart. Just as the blood of Christ landed on the ground on Good Friday, so also the water landed on you on the Day of your Baptism. The water was applied to your body however it happened—whether you were washed or immersed, or had water poured on you, or sprinkled on you—and the word of God entered your ears and the ears of all the people who were there to witness it. And then our whole life then is a life of repentance: of confessing our sin to God, and trusting in Jesus for the forgiveness of sin.

Even Peter says on this occasion: For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. Many of us were baptised as little children, because our parents brought us to be baptised according to this promise: for you and for your children.

And so, we read that on the Day of Pentecost, that those who received Peter’s word were baptised, and that there were added about three thousand souls.

And so, let’s remember a few things about this Day of Pentecost. We see that on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit was poured out on the disciples and the Apostles: to show the authority which Jesus had given to the apostles, and to show the great blessing of the church gathered around the teaching of these apostles, as the living eyewitnesses of Jesus. We should also keep the apostles, whose writings we have compiled in the New Testament, as our teachers, and that in their teaching is the wonderful blessing of Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Second, the Holy Spirit was poured out on them to empower them in their preaching and evangelism and mission, just as happened here with Peter. We should also pray for our pastors, that the Holy Spirit would empower them in their preaching, in their speaking, and the whole church in our conversations and discussions with people.

Thirdly, the Holy Spirit was poured out so that those who heard this preaching empowered by the same Holy Spirit would believe it, receive it, keep it, rejoice in it. We see that many people did receive it—not as an automatic thing, because many people didn’t receive it, but mocked the apostles. And, so we should also pray that the Holy Spirit would fill all of us as we hear the Word of God, that we may also receive it, and become living temples of God’s Word and the Holy Spirit.

And then, also, we see that the Holy Spirit was poured out so that people would repent and convert to Jesus Christ, and believe in him, for the salvation of the souls. And so, we should also pray that the Holy Spirit would fill the hearts of many more people, just as he has filled us, that they would receive Jesus as their Saviour, that they would be baptised, and be gathered in the church around the preaching of God’s Word in its truth and purity and in the right administration of the sacraments.

So, let’s thank God for exalting our Saviour Jesus Christ to his right hand, and that the Father and Jesus Christ have poured out the Holy Spirit upon the church, even including us, so that we might believe in Jesus Christ, trust in him for the forgiveness of sins, and receive the wonderful promise of everlasting life together with him in his kingdom. Amen.

 

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus.    

Wedding of Matthew Dutschke & Sophia Wright [John 2:1-11] (30-May-2022)

    This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 5pm.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Today we just read in this reading that Jesus attended a wedding, and turned water into wine, and that this was the first sign or the first miracle that he performed. And this is something very significant for us to consider.

At the beginning of the world, marriage was the first thing that was established between Adam and Eve. They were brought together in marriage, even at a time when there was no sin in the world. 

When Adam and Eve sinned, then sin came into the world, and into marriage came a certain amount of hardship as a result, the kinds of hardships that weren’t there before. Sin has infected and corrupted us all completely and totally, as members of the human race, and we all stand condemned by the perfect law of God, and need a Saviour, who is Jesus Christ, who has paid for and cancelled the debt that we owed to God with his sacrifice and his blood, so that when we trust in him, our sin is completely and totally washed away and forgiven. It’s a wonderful thing to celebrate a wedding, and the coming together of a man and a woman in marriage. But at this wedding in the town of Cana, in the reading, their wine ran out, and it would have been a great embarrassment to them all, and would have really put a dampener on the celebrations. I think this little detail and event where the wine ran out, shows us the terrible deficiency and lack that we have, and even that we have in our marriages too, without the presence of Jesus and without the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And so, Jesus, it turns out, performed his first miracle at this wedding—his first miracle at the celebration of the first arrangement that God set up between human beings right from the very beginning. Even in the Scriptures, we read that Jesus and the church have a relationship as a groom and a bride. The kingdom of God is a continual wedding banquet, a continual wedding celebration. Jesus himself lays down his life for the sinful people of the world, pouring out his blood and his life as the one perfect, sufficient sacrifice for sin. And just as at the beginning, a woman was formed and shaped out of Adam’s side and brought to him, so also when Jesus was on the cross, a soldier pierced the side of Jesus, and blood and water flowed out. From the side of Jesus is formed the church, through the water of baptism, and through the holy and precious blood of Christ. And in Ephesians, we read: Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her. Here, we see that there is a wonderful picture in marriage of the way in which Christ loves his church, died for her, washes her, and becomes united with her in one flesh and spirit.

So, it’s no wonder that Jesus performs his first miracle, then, at a wedding. Because the marriage between a man and a woman shows us the wonderful relationship which he himself will enter into with his holy people, his holy church, his holy bride. Jesus promises to bless marriage, and to sanctify it, and make it holy, and also in such a way that when we go through the hardships of marriage, he is always willing and at hand to change water into wine.

And so, we come together today with great joy and reverence to bless this couple with the blessing of God, and to pray for their life together as husband and wife, as a picture and a witness of that wonderful heavenly marriage of Christ and his church. Amen.    

Easter VII [John 15:26-16:4] (29-May-2022)

             

This sermon was preached at St Peter’s Evangelical-Lutheran Church, Public Schools Club, Adelaide, 9am

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

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.

Prayer: Let the words of my mouth, and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

 

Today we are celebrating a very special and unusual Sunday in the church year, because on Thursday night we celebrated the Ascension of Jesus, 40 days after Jesus rose from the dead, and next week we celebrate the wonderful occasion of Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, when the disciples received the Holy Spirit. 

Today, we are thinking particularly about that time in between, when Jesus had departed from the visible company of the disciples, and had told them to wait for the Holy Spirit, but the Holy Spirit had not yet been poured out on them.

Let’s have a look at a passage first of all from the Gospel of Luke, which talks about the ascension of Jesus. Just before Jesus ascended into heaven, we read that he said: Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. Then we read: Then [Jesus] led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.

So, we see that Jesus says: I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high. When Jesus says: I am sending the promise of my Father upon you, and that they will be clothed with power from on high, he is talking about the Holy Spirit, and the Day of Pentecost, when he sends the Holy Spirit.

At the beginning of the Book of Acts, we read that the apostles also during this time before Pentecost elected Matthias as a replacement apostle, because Judas had killed himself.

So, this is the strange character of this time, when Jesus has simply instructed his disciples to stay in the city, to be patient, and to wait for that time when the Holy Spirit comes upon them. And also, the Holy Spirit does not come upon them in such a way that they do something and it happens, but it comes upon them completely and totally because Jesus organises it, he sends the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit comes in God’s time, not in their time, and not because of their doing.

However, there’s something also that strange about this whole thing, because on Easter Sunday evening, when the disciples were gathered together, and Jesus came and stood among them, we read that he breathed on them, and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld. So, we might ask the question: if Jesus breathes the Holy Spirit out on his apostles here at this time, why do they need to wait for the Holy Spirit to come down on them at Pentecost?

Well, this shows us the strange and mysterious way that the Holy Spirit works. Even the very fact that the apostles and the disciples had followed Jesus, and listened to his words, means that the Holy Spirit had worked in them. But also, it’s not as if the Holy Spirit is simply received once, but in many ways, and for all kinds of different purposes. The Day of Pentecost was the day in which the Holy Spirit came down upon the disciples in a wonderful and miraculous way, and was the real beginning of the mission and ministry of the apostles, and the first gatherings together of the Christian church after the resurrection of Jesus.

So, also, when we were baptised, we received the gift of the Holy Spirit, as a number of passages in the New Testament describe. And also, during our lives, at many times, we pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit, for all kinds of reasons and for all kinds of purposes. So, for example, when people confess their faith and are confirmed, we often pray for the gift of the Holy Spirit upon them. It’s not as if they never had the Holy Spirit before, but we keep praying for the gift of the Holy Spirit. When a pastor is ordained, for example, we pray for the Holy Spirit to come upon him, and when a missionary is sent out, or something like that, we will also pray for the Holy Spirit. It’s not as if they never had the Holy Spirit before, but we pray for the Holy Spirit to help them and lead them and guide them.

Actually, even as we pray for each church service on a coming Sunday, we should also pray that the Holy Spirit would fill the pastor’s mouth so that he preaches and teaches the Word of God. And also, we pray that the Holy Spirit would gather the church around Jesus Christ, around his word and Sacraments. And we also pray that the Holy Spirit would bring to our church each person that he wants to gather, and that when they come, that each person would be filled with the Holy Spirit, so that they become living temples of the Holy Spirit, and of the Word of God. The whole church everywhere is gathered and called together by the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of mission in the church. The Holy Spirit is the one who converts people to the truth, and brings them to Jesus. The Holy Spirit convicts people of their sin, and of the fact that have not lived according to the commandments of God. The Holy Spirit brings people to repentance. But then also, the Holy Spirit shows to people their Saviour Jesus Christ, who died and paid for their sin with his own suffering and death and blood. The Holy Spirit works a living faith in people so that they trust in Jesus. So, you can see, that although we already have the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit has already been at work in all kinds of wonderful ways in our lives, we don’t stop asking for the Holy Spirit, but we keep praying for the Holy Spirit.

So, in our Gospel reading today, we read where Jesus speaking about the Holy Spirit, and particularly about the way in which he is coming. Jesus says: 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. And you will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Now, first of all, let’s remember the situation when Jesus was speaking these words. He was speaking to his disciples on Maundy Thursday night, the night when he was betrayed, and the day before he died, in the upper room, after he had celebrated his Last Supper, and had washed their feet. Let’s think, first of all, about how these words apply to those people who were there, and then second how they apply to us.

Jesus says: 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. And you will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Notice, first of all, what is said about the Holy Spirit. Jesus calls him the Helper. This word in Greek is parakletos, from which we get the word “Paraclete” which sometimes turns up in our hymns, as referring to the Holy Spirit. It can also mean: Comforter, or Advocate. So the Holy Spirit comes along side of us, and helps us, strengthens us, also pleads for us, defends us.

Jesus also calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth. This is very important for us to think about, especially in a time when “truth” is constantly being put to one side. Even in the news and in the media, with all kinds of issues, there are sometimes some things at which we scratch our heads and think: that’s not true. There’s spin on things. There’s often two sides of a story who are trying to push some propaganda, and it’s sometimes very difficult to ascertain what the facts are about this issue or that issue.

Remember that when Jesus spoke to Pontius Pilate about the truth, Pilate said: What is truth? Even back then, amongst the Romans, and probably amongst all kinds of people, there were many who just thought either that truth wasn’t important, that it didn’t even exist, or that it was a such an impossible task trying to find the truth, that it was just too hard even to think about it. Today, we have so much information thrown at us. It’s not all true.

When Jesus calls the Holy Spirit the Spirit of truth, he’s not saying that the Holy Spirit is true for some people and not true for others. No, there is a truth, there are facts. People should search and seek for the truth, and if they do so, they should also know that there really is truth to be found, in the Father and in the Son and in the Holy Spirit, and in the precious and holy Word of God, that the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, has inspired and breathed into being.

So the Holy Spirit is the Helper, the Comforter, the Advocate, and also the Spirit of truth. The Holy Spirit doesn’t help us apart from truth, doesn’t comfort us apart from truth, or advocate for us in a way that is not true. There is nothing fake or misleading or untrue or ingenuine about the Holy Spirit.

Jesus then also says that He himself will send the Holy Spirit, and that the Holy Spirit will proceed from the Father. You can see the wonderful way in which the Father, Son and Holy Spirit all work together.

And then Jesus says something about the Holy Spirit and Himself. He says that the Holy Spirit will bear witness about me. And then he says about the apostles: You also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.

Do you see here that the Spirit of truth…bears witness about Jesus. No wonder Jesus says: I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. All these things go together, and connect back to each other, and are intertwined.

Now, the apostles will bear witness. Jesus is talking about the future, on the Day of Pentecost and afterwards, when the apostles are going to begin their ministry and testify about Jesus in Jerusalem and to the ends of the earth. The Holy Spirit will bear witness, and also the apostles bear witness. Now, these two things that Jesus says really shows to us the character of this time between the event where Jesus ascends to heaven, and before the Holy Spirit comes down at Pentecost.

The apostles can’t witness about Jesus, the can’t testify to the truth about anything, they can’t speak and preach this wonderful good news about the death and resurrection of Jesus, and the forgiveness of sins and eternal life, by themselves. Jesus already says to them: Apart from me you can do nothing. They can only do this work together with Jesus, and with the Holy Spirit empowering them to do it. And so in this time before Pentecost, not a lot happens with the apostles. Of course, not much happens, because they can’t do anything without the Holy Spirit empowering and guiding and strengthening their mission. They can’t speak without the Holy Spirit giving them the words, they can’t go anywhere without the Holy Spirit sending them, they can’t do anything without the Holy Spirit working it through them.

And so, there is a time of waiting for the apostles. A time where they are shown by God their great weakness, their great uselessness, their great helplessness, and their complete and total insufficiency, and emptiness, without the Holy Spirit having come upon them.

And this is very important for us to know too. So, for example, we have started a little church here in Adelaide. And nothing can happen with it without the Holy Spirit. The building of the church, the growth of the church, the strength of the church all happens by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Now, many Christians think about these things all over the place, because many churches in Australia and in western countries are shrinking and dwindling away. Of course, every church that has ever been gathered together by the Holy Spirit will dwindle and fade away. That’s just the way it is. We’re all going to die, and when we die, the Holy Spirit gathers us into a more glorious church. But of course, we ask the question in the meantime: we want the Gospel to go out, and to go out into our communities and we want people to come to church. How do we reach out to people?

There are many ideas about these things that are simply not from God, which simply corrupt and destroy the church. For example, I have seen articles written about mission, which basically say: Statistics show that the churches that are growing numerically are ones that plant other churches. So, if we want to grow, we should plant churches.

The problem with this talk is this. Where’s the zeal for souls? This attitude simply says, we want people to plant their bottoms on our seats, so that we can survive? By having their money. So whatever it takes to get people in, and have their money on the plate, that’s what we’ll do. No, no, no. That is the devil’s way of building a church.

People coming to church is the fruit of them having met Jesus. Our first task in our mission is not to bring people through the door, but to have them meet Jesus Christ. People need to see the great depths and magnitude of their sin, and their hopeless condition, and therefore they need to run into the arms of their Saviour. These arms of the living Lord Jesus are only accessible to anyone because they have pointed to them and shown them by the Holy Spirit.

But, for us, it’s not an easy job and not an easy task, simply to talk to people about the Christian faith, and about salvation by faith in Jesus alone, especially in our country and in our times when there’s so much talk against Christianity.

So, we need to ask for the Holy Spirit’s help. We need to ask the Holy Spirit to fill us for the task. We need the Holy Spirit to send us to his school, to that we learn his way of being the church, and unlearn all the false ways. We will know so many people throughout our lives that are completely hardened to the Gospel, and to straight talk about the needs of their souls. Many people won’t listen. And so, we need the Holy Spirit’s help, and we need the Holy Spirit to guide and direct us, and point us in the right direction. We need the Holy Spirit to send us to meet someone, and for the Holy Spirit to open our lips in our conversation, and for the Holy Spirit to direct our conversation, and move the person’s heart.

And so, what do we do? We ask for the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus has promised, and then we wait. We wait just like the disciples waited between Ascension and Pentecost. We need to wait and learn just how helpless and weak we are when we try and do anything in our way, on our terms. Our pride must be brought down and crushed. Our ideas must be scattered to dust. Our desire of always wanting to liked must be washed down the sink. And sometimes it takes some time for that to happen. But we leave the matter in the hands of the Holy Spirit, we leave it for him to make us useful in his time, and we leave it to him to use us as he wants to use us in building the mission of his church and the church of Jesus Christ.

And so, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit, will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning. And so, a Christian, is someone who has been moved by the Holy Spirit, and awaked by the Holy Spirit, so that they believe the witness of these apostles, who testified with their own eyes, that Jesus Christ, truly and in fact and in deed, suffered, died, and rose from the dead. And that when we trust in him, our sins are forgiven and we are promised the gift of eternal life.

Even in the church today, these things are applied personally to us through the gift of Holy Baptism, where we are gathered and made part of Christ’s church. We are also given the Lord’s Supper, the holy and precious body and blood of Christ, where we are strengthen and blessed for the battles and the journey ahead.

In the meantime, then Jesus something to the apostles: 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. 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.

This is exactly what we were talking about. We know that it is difficult to testify about Jesus, and to talk about our faith. We can only do so with the power of the Holy Spirit, and we must wait for the Holy Spirit to empower us in his time to make us useful in whatever corner of the world we find ourselves.

But where there is the Holy Spirit, and where there is renewal in the church, where there is faithfulness to the word, where there is the growth and strengthening of true Christianity, then there is a conflict. The conflict will come from those people who know neither Jesus, nor the Father, Jesus says. There are many people in this world, who were in the Jewish synagogues, who are even part of the outward fellowship of the church, who sometimes have no interest in the Holy Spirit and his Word. They only believe what they think they already know. Anything new from the Word of God they reject, because they don’t believe that this Word is from the Holy Spirit. They only believe in a spirit that agrees with their own spirit, not in the Holy Spirit that transforms them by the renewing of their minds.

And so, we see here Jesus wonderfully preparing them for the Day of Pentecost coming in the future, and also for the many conflicts and troubles that they will have in their life and in the future. In a similar way, we ask our heavenly Father and Jesus to send us the Holy Spirit, to keep us always in the Word of God, and close to Jesus, and to make us temples of the Holy Spirit. And also, we ask the Holy Spirit to make us useful in Jesus’ kingdom in whatever way he wants to lead us and direct us. In the meantime, we wait for the Holy Spirit to act. We wait for him to tear us down where it is needed, and to build us up in his time. Psalm 115 says: Not to us, not to us, O Lord, but to you name be the glory! That’s the way things are in the kingdom of God. Let’s follow after Lord Jesus, ask him constantly to send us the Holy Spirit, and to fill us. Amen.

 

And the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds safe in Christ Jesus. Amen.