Easter VI [John 16:23-30] (22-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.

Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

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 reading, Jesus teaches us particularly about prayer. And once again, just like the previous two Sundays, our reading comes from that portion of the Gospel of John where Jesus is teaching his disciples on Maundy Thursday, the night when he was betrayed. 

Now, there are a number of places where Jesus teaches about prayer. For example, in Matthew 6 and in Luke 11, we read about where Jesus teaches his disciples that wonderful prayer, which we call “The Lord’s Prayer” or sometimes it is called “The Our Father”. And then, all throughout the Gospels, we find all kinds of passages where Jesus teaches about prayer, how we should persevere in prayer and not give up, and all kinds of things like that.

But let’s have a look at our reading for today where Jesus says: In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

This passage starts in the middle of a longer passage where Jesus has been talking. At the beginning of our reading, we read where Jesus says: In that day you will ask nothing of me. What’s he talking about when he says: In that day? What’s the “day” that he’s talking about? The verses just before our reading are the reading we read a couple of weeks ago, where Jesus says: When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. And then, Jesus says: In that day you will ask nothing of me. So, Jesus is talking to his apostles here, and he is talking about that day, or we might say, that time, when Jesus will see them again after their time of sorrow. He is talking about the time after his resurrection, when he restores the joy of his disciples, and they realise that his death has not been in vain, but has been the wonderful sacrifice and atonement for sin, and that he has defeated and destroyed death for all those who believe in Jesus.

Now, why does Jesus say, that they will ask nothing of me? This seems very strange to us, because, of course, we pray to Jesus. Jesus says: Come to me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Even in the Book of Acts, we read when Stephen died, for example, that he prayed: Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And there are all kinds of examples where Christians were praying to Jesus. And of course, we should pray to Jesus. So, why does Jesus say, you will ask nothing of me?

Sometimes, when we read the Bible, and we hear the words of Scripture, we often immediately think that Jesus is speaking directly to us, and forget to take into account the situation which is being reported in the Gospel itself. For example, here in our reading, Jesus is actually speaking these words to his apostles, on a certain occasion, at a particular time and at a particular place. So, first of all, before we apply these words to ourselves, we should think about how they apply to his apostles first, and then think about how they apply to us. In their case, they had been walking around with Jesus on a daily basis, and could see him. They had been asking Jesus about things, they had been talking to him about things, they had been asking Jesus for help, for advice, for guidance, for teaching, for all kinds of things.

But all of this has been in full sight of Jesus who has been standing there in front of them. Now, Jesus is preparing them for a life of faith, where Jesus is going to be removed from their eyes, but still working with them. Even now, since the death of the apostles, Jesus has been working with his people and his church, and Christians trust in Jesus and look to him in faith.

So, Jesus says: In that day – at that time, after we see each other again, following that time when I have died and risen – you will ask nothing of me. Jesus then says: Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

So, Jesus is saying, I will not be standing in front of you, like I have been. Many times, you have seen me go to the top of the mountain and have seen me pray to the Father. And then I come back down, and you ask me about things. But there will come a time, when you will not see me anymore. I will be ascended into heaven, but then you and I together will pray to the Father. I will not be praying in such a way that I am by myself and then you come and ask me afterwards. But you will come and join in with my prayers, and together we will pray to the Father.

And so, we have many things in these verses, which give us wonderful encouragement in prayer. First of all: Jesus gives us a command to pray. He says: Ask.

Many people philosophise too much about prayer, and ask silly questions, like, “What really is prayer?” “What is the point of prayer if God already knows what we need?” and all that kind of thing. Put your philosophy to bed – nobody cares about it. When it comes to prayer, and why we should pray, the first reason is that Jesus tells us to. He says: Ask. He says: pray. Just do it, because Jesus says so. If you don’t do it, and you neglect it, it’s sin. So do it.

But then we say: But how do we do it? I’m not very good at it. Often when I pray, I feel as though I can never find the right words, and I stumble, and fumble around. I’ve heard some other Christians pray, and the words just seem to roll off their tongue, but with me, I never quite know what to say, and what to do.

Well, first of all, remember how many years it takes a baby to learn how to talk. But the most important thing in all of this is how we view prayer. Prayer is not some kind of performance, or even some kind of skill on your part. It is the simple task and the simple of joy of talking to your God.

But then, you need to know a very important thing. Why are you allowed to simply go up to God and pray to him? What gives you the right to knock on God’s door and present your requests to him? This is a very important question, and this is often the reason why people don’t pray, or are scared to pray.

Jesus says: Whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. The most important thing about praying is the name of Jesus. Jesus is the Son of God, and he is equal with God, and is also true God himself. But he is also a true man, a true human being like you and me. And so he is our mediator. He has shed his own blood, in such a way that we are now pure and holy, and have also been adopted as God’s own children through his blood. When we were baptised in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, we were actually made children of God, just like Jesus is God’s Son. We share in Jesus’ status, if you like. He makes us his brothers and sisters. And so, because of Jesus, and because we pray to the Father in his name, we have full access to the Father, and to his throne room.

In the Book of Esther, we read about how there is a discussion about the fact that Esther put her life on the line when she went in to talk to the king about the Jewish people who were in danger. Nobody could just waltz up to the king and ask something – to do so would have put them in danger of death. Many people look to God like this. They think: I can’t just pray to God, and waltz up to him.

But Jesus can, and you are with Jesus. And so, although when we pray, we don’t pray as we should, we mess up the words, we sometimes don’t ask for the right things, we stumble and stutter, and all that kind of thing, when we pray in the name of Jesus, our prayer is completely perfect. To pray in the name of Jesus, is simply to join in with his prayers. You know, when we’re at school and we do a test, and then the teacher gets out a red pen, and marks our test. When we get the test back, we see what’s right, and what’s wrong and what the correct answer is. Things are a bit like this with Jesus, when we pray. When we pray in his name, he gets out his own red pen, and he puts his blood all over our prayers and cleans them up, and tidies them up, in such a way that they are completely perfect. It’s almost like there is some kind of fax machine or photocopier where you feed a piece of paper into it. You put you prayer in, and then when it comes out, you see that everything is clean. When you use a photocopier, often the copy that comes out isn’t as clean as the original. But with prayer, it’s the opposite, we make our prayers with all of our problems mixed into it, with all of our imperfections, with all of our sin even, and then when it goes through Jesus and is covered with his blood, it comes out all clean, and perfect.

So often the reason why people don’t prayer, is that they think that their prayer must be perfect. But it’s not going to be perfect if it comes from you! Let Jesus make it perfect! And so, when you pray, are you prepared to actually show God who you really are? To be in his presence, and to feel weak, and stumble and stutter? He already knows who you are – and he already knows you better than you know yourself. But it is a wonderful joy to God when you ask him for things, because he is your Father, and he cares for you.

So Jesus says: Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Of course, sometimes, we say: I’ve asked many things in the name of Jesus, and God hasn’t given them to me. Am I doing something wrong? Well, when we pray in the name of Jesus, remember that this means that we are always together with Jesus, and in accordance with his will. Even Jesus, when he was in the Garden of Gethsemane, said: Abba, Father, if it be possible, take this cup away from me. But not as I will, but as you will. In actual fact, it wasn’t possible – Jesus’ suffering and death was needed, necessary. What a terrible thing it would be for us if Jesus hadn’t offered himself as our sacrifice and as our atonement, and as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. It would be a truly terrible thing! And yet, of course, it was a real sacrifice and struggle for Jesus, one that he really felt in his inmost being. It was a sacrifice that he willingly and gladly made for us, but also the suffering that it entailed was difficult for him, as we know.

And so, Jesus is not saying here: If you ask for a brand-new Mercedes Benz, or something, you will just immediately magically find one waiting in your driveway with a gold ribbon on it. Sometimes, we will go to God and pray like this, and God is happy to receive these prayers too. But our prayers are in the name of Jesus, and so they go the Father through the blood of Jesus, and cleansed by Jesus. And so, we often God ask what we want, but Jesus cleans up our prayers in such a way that we receive what we truly need. And so, we should always come to God in prayer, trusting that He knows in all situations what is best for us.

And so, even in Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, where he says: But not as I will, but as you will, there is a wonderful joy in this. Jesus truly receives a wonderful answer to this prayer, in such a way that he goes through death to the joy of the resurrection and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God at his ascension. There is a tremendous joy in the answer to Jesus’ prayer.

Another example of this is in the book of Acts, where Stephen is martyred, and while they are stoning him to death, he says: Lord, do not hold this sin against them. Well, who was there at Stephen’s death? The man who later became St Paul. And so, the Lord really didn’t hold his sin against him. He met and converted Saul on the road to Damascus, who then took on the name Paul, and was baptised, and then wrote all the most wonderful books that we have in the bible about the Lord not holding our sin against us. Paul, of all the writers in the New Testament, teaches most clearly about the forgiveness of sins, and about justification by faith, and the way in which because of Jesus’ blood and his sacrifice, the Lord does not hold our sin against us, because Jesus has paid the price which we owed to him.

And so, in our reading, Jesus says: Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. Don’t ask, and then sulk, when things don’t turn out your way. Ask, and then keep asking. Ask Jesus to teach you to pray, stay close to him, ask him for the Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you. Ask Jesus to show you how he has given you an answer to your prayer when you haven’t even noticed it. But when you see the answer to your prayer, then thank God for it, and rejoice in it.

The Lord’s Prayer, which Jesus has taught his disciples, of course, is a wonderful prayer, where Jesus not only gives us the words, but also gives us so much instruction about what we should pray for, and how we should think about it. Even a child can say the Lord’s Prayer, and it takes a lifetime even just to begin to plummet it depths. In the meantime, we should always remind ourselves that we are God’s baptised children, and that he continually feeds his people with his Holy Supper, and speaks the forgiveness of sins for us so that we can actually hear it and believe it in the church. God gives us these wonderful means of grace. When we pray, we are simply receiving the wonderful gifts that God has given to us.

So, let’s commend ourselves to our heavenly Father today, in the name of Jesus. Jesus has come to this earth, he has become a true human being, a true man, and has sacrificed himself for us, and risen from the dead, and has now been enthroned in glory at the right hand of God the Father. And Jesus has now given us full access to the Father, through his sacrifice and through his blood. We are now able to enter into God’s throne room together with Jesus and present our needs and requests to him. This is a wonderful privilege, and a wonderful joy. Let Jesus take the burden of your prayers, let all of that rest upon him. He will lead you and guide you, and fill you with the Holy Spirit. Let the weakness of our prayers be completely compensated by his strength. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. Amen.

 

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

Easter V [John 16:5-15] (15-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.

When [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

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.

 

Our Gospel readings at this time of the church year come from a wonderful sermon that Jesus preached on the night before his death, or Maundy Thursday, as we call it. In John, chapters 14, 15 and 16, we read these wonderful words that Jesus spoke to his disciple after the Supper, and after he had washed the disciples’ feet. And also, in chapter 17, we read a wonderful prayer which Jesus prayed, which we often call the “High Priestly Prayer”.

 

Particularly in our reading today, Jesus talks about the Holy Spirit. But let’s read the first part of our reading, where Jesus says: But now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

 

Firstly, Jesus says: Now I am going to him who sent me… Also he also says: It is to your advantage that I go away.

 

What exactly is Jesus talking about here? To us, when Jesus speaks about going to the Father, it sounds like he’s talking about his ascension into heaven, when he left the disciples and was taken into heaven and hidden from their eyes by a cloud. And yes, that’s true. But remember, that Jesus is actually speaking these words on the night that he was betrayed, on the night before his death on Good Friday. So, yes, he is talking about going to the Father, and ascending into heaven, but all of that does not take place, until he dies and rises again.

 

Actually, there are a number of places, where Jesus’ crucifixion, his death on the cross, and his ascension into heaven, where he sits at the right hand of the throne of God, go together. It’s like they are the opposite side of the same coin.

 

For example, in Hebrews 12, we are told to look to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Do you see here? There are two events mentioned: enduring the cross, and sitting at the right hand of the throne of God.

 

In Philippians, we read: And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name. Notice here that he goes straight from talking about Jesus’ death, to God exalting him. He doesn’t say, therefore God raised him from the dead, but therefore God has highly exalted him.

 

Also, in John 12, we read where Jesus says: And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. To us, this sounds like Jesus is talking about his ascension into heaven—that when he ascends to heaven, he will draw people to himself. But in John’s Gospel, it says just after these words: Jesus said this to show by what kind of death he was going to die. And so, we learn here that when Jesus is lifted up from the earth on the cross, he will draw all people to himself. There’s a kind of double meaning to these wonderful words of Jesus.

 

Also, even when Jesus was on trial before the high priests, he says: From now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God. Right in the middle of his trial, Jesus speaks these words.

 

Now, it’s strange: today, we often celebrate Good Friday and Easter Sunday as the two major events: the death and the resurrection of Jesus. But many times in the Gospels, we see that Jesus connects his death and his ascension. The Christians of ancient times also recognised this, in the way that, just as we are doing today, they read these readings from Maundy Thursday in the time in the church year between Easter—when we celebrate the resurrection—and the Ascension.

 

There’s something very special about this connection between these two events. On the one hand, Jesus was lifted up on the cross: on the other hand, at his ascension, he will be lifted up to heaven. On the one hand, when Jesus was crucified, he was crowned and enthroned as our king, but under the cloak of suffering and mockery. On the other hand, when Jesus ascended, he was crowned and enthroned, but in glory and majesty.

 

So, on the one hand, Jesus’ crucifixion is his true coronation on this earth, where as our king and our Good Shepherd, he lays down his life for the sheep. But in the resurrection and in the ascension, we see that this sacrifice and atonement is acceptable to God, that it was not all in vain, and that there is now a celebration in heaven for the victory over sin and death and the evil one.

 

So, in our reading, when Jesus speaks about “going to the Father” and “going away”, we see how this begins on Good Friday, almost at the time of his arrest, when he taken away by himself, and the disciples flee. Even Jesus requested safe passage for his disciples at the time of his arrest. He says: If you seek me, let these men go. So, then, Jesus leaves the company of his disciples, and goes to the cross by himself. But then, he rises from the dead by himself, he ascends to heaven by himself, but then also, He himself sends the Holy Spirit upon the disciples as the Lord and King of heaven and earth.

 

For us, it means, that in all the loneliness and suffering in our life, we are never by ourselves, but we are always with Jesus. When we die, we do not die by ourselves, but we die with Jesus. And then with him, we share the joy of his company in heaven with all the angels. So, for example, when we see Stephen martyred and killed for his faith in Acts chapter 7, in his time of great suffering where the crowd of his listeners grinded their teeth and turned against him, his great encouragement at that time, was that he saw his ascended Lord Jesus. He said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.

 

And so, we see this wonderful connection between Jesus’ death on Good Friday, and his ascension into heaven. And this gives us tremendous encouragement for our future death, whenever it may be, and our entrance into heaven to be with Jesus.

 

So, in our reading, Jesus says: Now I am going to him who sent me, and none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

 

When Jesus ascends into heaven, Jesus is removed from the company of his disciples. But also, he does not go away in such a way as though he is absent. Many Christians actually believe that Jesus is really quite absent from his church. When Jesus “goes away”, he goes away from them in the sense that he is no longer visible to their sight. But this does not mean that he is absent. There are many passages, where Jesus makes this clear. He says: I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Also, at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, just before he ascends into heaven, it says: All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them observe everything that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age. Also, in Matthew 18, Jesus says: Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them. At the end of Mark’s Gospel, it says: Then the Lord Jesus, after he has spoken to them, was taken up into heaven and sat down at the right hand of God. And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them and confirmed the message by accompanying signs.

 

In all these passages, it speaks about Jesus specifically. He is not talking about the Father and the Holy Spirit, but Jesus. Now, of course, when Jesus is at work somewhere, the Father and the Holy Spirit are always with him. Of course, this is the case, because they are three persons in one God. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are always together. The point I am making is that many Christians often see Jesus as being absent, and in heaven in such a way that he is almost in a box, and stuck there. In actual fact, Jesus is constantly leading and guiding his church, and sending the Holy Spirit.

 

So, for example, it’s not true to say that Jesus gone away to heaven, and therefore can’t be in the Lord’s Supper, because he’s not here, but in heaven. Also, it’s not true to say that Jesus has gone away to heaven, therefore he is not ruling his church, but we need a pope to lead the church. No—Jesus is present in his church in the preaching of his word, and in the administration of the Sacraments. He’s actually here, and being here, he sends the Holy Spirit. We get a wonderful picture of this on the day of Easter, where Jesus stood among his disciples, and breathed on them, and said: Receive the Holy Spirit. When Jesus sends the Holy Spirit—whether it was to the apostles at Pentecost, or upon us, when we were baptised, or when we hear the Word and are constantly renewed by the Holy Spirit—Jesus stands right in the midst of us and breathes his Holy Spirit.

 

But also, remember that Jesus after Easter said to Thomas: Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed. The Holy Spirit actually creates faith in our hearts. And so, the Holy Spirit is poured out on the church, on the Day of Pentecost, not while the church can see Jesus visibly before their eyes, but when he is hidden from their eyes. And so, Jesus says: It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.

 

And so, the Holy Spirit, the Helper, comes and creates faith, and is sent by Jesus.

 

Now, in the next part of our reading, Jesus says: And when [the Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

 

Jesus gives a truly wonderful summary here of the work of the Holy Spirit. First of all, we see that the work of convicting people of sin, righteousness and judgment is not our work, but it is the Holy Spirit’s work. So, for example, for me as a pastor talking to you, it is not I who convict you of anything—I just preach the word, the Holy Spirit is the one who creates faith in your hearts. This is also an important principle when it comes to evangelism: we might have a conversation with someone about the Christian faith, but it is not us who convert them, but it is the Holy Spirit. Sometimes, we might think: I shared the Gospel with this person, but they didn’t believe it. Therefore, we think: maybe sharing the Gospel “doesn’t work”. Well, it’s true: your work doesn’t work, but the Holy Spirit will convict the person in his own time, not in our time. We simply speak when we find ourselves in a situation to speak, and to pray for the person’s conversion. We commend people to God, and ask the Holy Spirit to renew and convert their hearts.

 

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convict people of sin, righteousness and judgment. He explains these things one after the other. Concerning sin, because they do not believe in me. Isn’t this strange? Of course, we see our sin revealed to us in the 10 commandments. But Jesus tells us that the most important sin, if you like, is that people don’t believe in him. This is at the heart of the 10 Commandments, because the first commandment says: You shall have no other gods. And Jesus reveals himself to his disciples as true God, just as Thomas says to him: My Lord and my God. But also, when we don’t have Jesus, we are still in our sins. We have no Saviour from sin. We have no atonement from sin, no forgiveness of sin, no promise of heaven and eternal life. All we have is the judgment of God upon us and our lives. So, of course, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, because people don’t believe in Jesus. When we recognise our sin, that we are sinners, that everything we think and do and say is tainted with sin, then we are able to recognise our need for a Saviour. Then we need Jesus.

 

So, then Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will convict concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer. Here Jesus is pointing to faith. Jesus is removed from our eyes, and we see him no longer. But he leaves us with His word, with his forgiveness, with baptism, with the Lord’s Supper, with preaching, and all these things, in such a way that the Holy Spirit uses them and creates a living faith in us. And when we believe in Jesus, and recognise that he is our Saviour who has paid the full price of our sin before the Father, that he has suffered and died for you, then this faith is counted to us as righteousness. The blood of Jesus covers over our sin. The debt is paid for on our behalf, and we are set free, and can stand righteous before God, not because of our righteousness, but because of Christ and his righteousness, which he gives to us freely, and which he charges to our account in such a way that we have nothing to owe and nothing to pay, because he has done it. And so, Jesus says that the Holy Spirit, will convict concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you will see me no longer.

 

And the third thing Jesus says is that the Holy Spirit will convict concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged. Here Jesus is speaking about the evil one, the devil, the tempter, Satan. Because of sin, the devil is called the ruler of this world, not because he always was the ruler of this world, but because human beings were tempted by him, fell into sin, and invited him to be their ruler. At the end of John’s first letter, he writes: We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. Also, remember when Jesus was in the wilderness, the devil tempted him by showing him all the kingdoms of the world, saying: All this I will give you if you bow down and worship me.

 

Here we have been given a wonderful insight into how things really are, not to cause us despair, but to point us continually to God, and not to the evil one and his empty promises. There are many people today who are realising that there is tremendous evil in the world, that many people in very high places have done something terrible to get there. But remember at the beginning of the reading: Jesus points to his cross, and to his ascension. Jesus doesn’t rule the world by selling his soul to the evil one, and by making a deal or an agreement with the evil one, but by suffering and dying and rising and ascending into the heaven, and therefore judging the evil one. And, so, despite the fact that we have struggles and suffer in this life, despite the fact that so many people seem to be turning away from true Christianity, and directing hatred towards Christians, the victory is not theirs, but ours. We have passed out of death into life. As St John says: Everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

 

And so, the Holy Spirit convicts concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged, and what a wonderful blessing it is that Satan is judged. When we are with Jesus, there is no judgment any more upon us, but upon the evil one.

 

Now, there is also a third part of our reading, which we will leave for another time. Jesus says: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine; therefore I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

 

So, let’s commend ourselves to Jesus today, with all the sorrows and the sadness that we often feel from all our sin, and struggles in life as Christians. Jesus uses all these things to turn us away from ourselves, and to strengthen our faith, in the power of the Holy Spirit. It is to our advantage that Jesus removes himself from the sight of his people, so that he can send us the Holy Spirit to help us, and be our Helper, and to create a living and active faith in our hearts. Thanks be to Jesus for his wonderful kindness and his mercy and his grace towards us! Amen.

 

 

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

Easter IV [John 16:16-23] (8-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.

So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.

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.

 

Jesus is always pointing us forward to look ahead to the next life – to our life together with him in heaven.

And in our reading today, on the one hand, Jesus says: A little while, this will happen, and a little while, that will happen. But then on the other hand, he says: No one will take your joy from you.

On the one hand, Jesus shows us what happens in our life here on earth: it changes, it’s moody, it’s up and down. But on the other hand, Jesus shows us what happens in our life to come in heaven: it is fixed, it is stable, it doesn’t move around. It’s reliable. “No one will take your joy away from you.”

And so at the beginning of our reading today Jesus says: “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

And this little expression confuses the disciples. They say to each other: What is Jesus talking about? What’s he mean when he says “a little while”?

First of all, here, he’s talking about his death and his burial. Jesus is speaking these words with his disciples on Maundy Thursday, the day before he dies on the cross, the Thursday night before Good Friday. So the very next day, he is going to go and die for them, and he will be buried. And he will stay there through Friday night, and all day Saturday, and no one will see him again until Sunday morning when he will be risen from the dead.

So he says: “A little while, and you will see me no longer.” – In a short time, in fact, tomorrow, I will die, and then you will see me no longer. Then he says, “And again a little while, and you will see me.” Wait a couple of days, and then you will see me again on Easter Sunday morning.

But at this stage, the disciples don’t know what Jesus is talking about. We read: “So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, “A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me”; and “because I am going to the Father”?” So they were saying “What does he mean by “a little while”? We do not know what he is talking about.” Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, “A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me?”

It’s strange that the gospel is so repetitive here! But we see here just how significant these words are. The disciples had no idea what was going on the night before Jesus was killed. We know the full story, so we can look back at what happened and put it into context. But let’s listen to what Jesus says when he explains himself:

He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.”

Here he talks to the disciples in a secretive kind of way. He’s talking about his cross and his resurrection, but at the same time, he doesn’t mention it explicitly. Instead he says: You will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice.

When I go the cross and die, it will be sad for you. You will weep and lament. But when I am killed, those who wanted to get rid of me will rejoice. Some people will celebrate. The people who wanted Jesus killed will be happy.

But Jesus says: You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.

He says: You might be sad for a little time, but you won’t be sad forever. Because I’m going to rise from the dead. And when that happens, then there will be a time to be happy again.

Now this is what Jesus was telling disciples so many years ago. But he also says the same thing to us today.

Many people think that to be a Christian, you have to be happy all the time, and that you’re never allowed to be sad.

But this isn’t true. We are not saved because we are either happy or sad. We are saved simply because we are baptised, and because God has come and given us salvation. God has come and covered us with the blood of Jesus Christ.

But in the meantime, we are people who fluctuate with all kinds of different emotions. We are happy sometimes, sad sometimes, angry sometimes, gentle sometimes, impatient, patient – you name it! The fact that we might be in a certain mood doesn’t alter the fundamental fact that God loves us.

Sadness, sorrow, pain, suffering—all these things come about because of sin. If there were no sin, there would be no suffering in the world. And each of us is corrupted by sin. Each person who has ever been born into the world, including you and me, is stuck in sin. Even when we do something good, there is still some sin in it. If we help someone, or do something good for someone, we want to take the credit for it, and we want people to notice us.

The catechism says that each of us is a “lost and condemned person.”

So it’s “normal” then for us (in a sense) that we should feel many times in our life what it’s like to be lost, and feel like we’re a million miles away from home, and a million miles away from God. It’s kind of “normal” (even “logical”) that sometimes we will feel what it’s like to be condemned, and feel like we’re stuck in hell and we can’t get out of it.

But not only is it normal or logical that we should feel like this sometimes, but Jesus actually promises it. He says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament. You will be sorrowful.”

And many places in the bible we read about those times in our life where God hides his face from us, and leaves us in the dark for a while. But he doesn’t do this because he hates us, he does this because he loves us and he wants us to look to him again.

And so, just as Jesus promises that we will be sad and sorrowful, he also says: “But your sorrow will turn into joy.”

Think about when Jesus rose from the dead. All the sadness of the crucifixion, all the pain of Jesus death was finished. All there is now is joy, happiness, gladness. Jesus is risen from the dead. He’s never going to die again. And for the rest of eternity, he will always be risen. Jesus will always be alive. This joy, this happiness, this gladness that comes with the resurrection simply never ends.

And so, Jesus says: “Your sorrow will turn into joy.”

In this life, many times we will be sad about something. Sometimes we’re weighed down by pressure on us, or because someone has died, or because someone has treated us badly, or something like that. But Jesus always promises that the sadness will end.

There will always come a time when we turn the corner, and we will find Jesus waiting for us, with the nails in his hands, and blessing us. Remember Mary Magdalene when she went to the empty tomb: She was weeping, she was sorrowful, but Jesus turned her sorrow into joy.

Jesus in fact gives a little example from life about what he’s talking about.

He says: “When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.”

Now, it’s true that sometimes women get together and tell their birth stories, and how long their labours went for. But honestly speaking, even though some women do remember their labour stories, and tell them, as the months go on, the years, mothers don’t talk about that. There’s so much more to talk about! There’s a child, and the child grows up into the teenager, and then an adult! All this is so much more interesting that their birth!

In the same way, Jesus has risen from the dead. The time of sadness is over. The sins of the world have been paid for. Many times in our life we had sadness, and Jesus wants us to see our sin and acknowledge it. But at the same time, he wants to forgive it, and he wants to raise us up from the dead, he wants to lift our heads up high again, and encourage us with his Holy Spirit. And the joy that comes with the forgiveness of sins far outshines the pain that came with the sin.

In Psalm 23 we read: “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

Yes, many times we will experiences the pain and the effects of sin. Many times we will suffer and be sorrowful. Many times we will walk through the valley of the shadow of death. But the psalm says: “I will fear no evil, for you are with me.”

And so Jesus says: “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.”

Many times in our life we will experience some happiness—we are never sad all the time. We are also never happy all the time either. When the good times come, we should thank God for them, and realise that they are a little foretaste of what is to come in the next life. They are a little entrée course before we enter the great wedding banquet of heaven.

We do have sorrow now. We have sorrow because we live with sin. But when we die, this will be the first time ever in our whole entire lives when we will be free from sin. We are baptised. Jesus has given us the Holy Spirit. He has given us the forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation.

But when we are taken from this life to God in heaven when we die, it will be the first time when we finally stop sinning. This doesn’t happen simply because we die—death doesn’t give us joy. Death doesn’t give us any happiness.

Jesus gives the joy, he gives the happiness. He has risen from the dead. He has passed through death and come out the other side. We will see the face of Jesus! We will see him again! We will know him, just as he has known us all of our lives! That’s why we have hope. That’s why he can stare at death in the face and say to us, “I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you!”

So as we come into the presence of Jesus today, to pray, to receive the Lord’s Supper, to present ourselves to him in our sinfulness, suffering and sorrow, let’s continually remind ourselves: He is risen from the dead! Your sorrow will turn into joy! No one will take your joy from you!

Amen.

 

Lord Jesus Christ, we thank you for dying for us on the cross and taking on yourself all our suffering, sin and sadness. And we thank you for the joy that comes with your resurrection. Comfort us with the joy of the Holy Spirit, and keep us strong in the faith. Amen.

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

Easter III [John 10:10-16] (1-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.

I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

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.

 

In our Gospel reading today, there are two animals: the first animal is a sheep, the second animal is a wolf. Now it’s quite an easy life being an animal, as long as you can eat. And so Jesus talks about two animals – a sheep and a wolf – and these two animals are similar in that they like to eat. Sheep like eating, and wolves like eating.

But these two animals are very different also, because they eat very different things. Sheep like to eat grass, but wolves like to eat – sheep! Wolves have got no interest in eating grass – they don’t want grass; they want blood – they want to eat sheep.

Now in our reading today, you are a sheep. You are a sheep that belongs to God because He created you. He has formed you and shaped you as his wonderful creation. He has created you to live in a peaceful field, a green meadow, and not only has he created you but he also preserves you and leads you and guides you and gives you his wonderful word to feed on each and every day.

But there is a problem – sin has entered the world. The devil was created by God as one of his holy angels. But he didn’t want to feed on God’s word anymore, and the more he didn’t eat, the more hungry he became. The devil has a wonderful position as an angel, so that he could sing praises to God forever. But he wanted more – he was hungry for glory, hungry for power, hungry to become like God. But here’s the problem – the devil becomes hungrier and hungrier. But God is not hungry, he doesn’t need to eat! God is the one who feeds! And so as the devil gets hungrier, and wants to be like God, he falls into darkness and sin, because he is not God and he is nothing like God.

And so, God feeds the sheep. We people, we human beings, were created in God’s image, and he has given his wonderful word to feed on. The devil, though, is a wolf – he doesn’t want to feed on God’s word, but wants to make himself into God. But because he is not God, he is hungry, not hungry for beautiful, fresh, green grass, not hungry for God’s word – but he is hungry for the only other thing which is in the field. He is hungry for sheep, and he is not satisfied until he sinks his teeth in and devours the sheep.

We see in the Garden of Eden, how the devil went and destroyed Adam and Eve, and also tricked them into joining him to be hungry to be like God. He wants Adam and Eve not to feed on God’s life-giving word, but he wants them to become hungry like him, to take away their life, to take away their food, to take away their happiness and contentment, and he turns them from being alive like God into being dead like him. The devil turns them from being living sheep who eat, into dead sheep for his own food.

So we are sheep and the devil is the wolf. And yet, now, because of our sin, the bible says that we are dead. Ephesians says: You were dead in [your] trespasses and sins. And if we are dead, then we are the devil’s food. But the problem is that we think the devil is our friend, because he shares in our hunger. He is hungry, and so are we – but the only thing that can satisfy us is God’s word. But as sinners we have turned away from God’s word, we don’t realise that we are dead, dead sheep, ready to be eaten by the wolf, by the devil.

So how are you going to survive? A wolf is much stronger than a sheep. His appetite is furious. He sees the sheep from a distance, and a sheep has nowhere to go, and before he knows it, he is the devil’s dinner. How are you going to protect yourself from the devil?

If we were to try and work out the answer, we would have no idea what to do and where to go. And so, Jesus himself tells us what the answer is, and this answer is completely beyond our understanding. This is an answer that simple sheep like us would never think of.

Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Jesus is our good shepherd. Hang on a minute? Isn’t Jesus a human being like us? Isn’t he one of God’s creations like us, another sheep like us? Actually, no. Yes, he is a human being, he’s a real man. But Jesus is also the God who created us; he is the one who made each and every sheep with his own hands. But also he entered into the world as a human being – he is both true God and true man. This man Jesus is our good shepherd. So why did our maker become a man? Jesus explains this too: he says: The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Jesus is our good shepherd. He made us and he feeds us. He is the one who makes us like down in green pasture. And instead of the wolf eating you, Jesus gives himself as a sacrifice, and lets the wolf eat him instead. The devil was hungry for power, so Jesus came to be like us, one of his sheep. And the devil’s hunger is not satisfied until the blood of this lamb, the blood of Jesus, the Lamb of God, drops to the ground and devil licks it up like a dirty, hungry wolf. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

But this is not the end of the story. Jesus didn’t simply lay down his life for nothing. He laid it down for the sheep. The devil licks up the blood of Jesus, but this blood is a poison to him. But for the sheep the blood of Jesus is a medicine. So Jesus lays down his life just so he can make for himself a church with his blood. And so Jesus puts his blood on us when he baptises us and then he gives us his word to feed on and says: I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. So when you feed on this word, like a sheep eating grass, you can be strengthened in the fact that your sins are forgiven and the devil has nothing to feed on anymore, you are rescued from the wolf’s power and you will never be a dead sheep ever again for the devil to feed on. This is not because of you, but because your Good Shepherd has laid down his life for you, his sheep.

But you know, the devil wants to keep trying to attack us right inside our hearts and our minds and wants to trick us into thinking that Jesus’ blood only lands on the outside of our bodies, like the water in baptism washing off of us. But it’s not true. The water hits the outside of our bodies, but God’s word enters right into our ears and into our hearts. And so Jesus wants to stop us hungering anymore, so he gives us his body and blood to eat and drink. Our Good Shepherd lays down his life and gives his body and blood for the sheep to feed on. This is such a wonderful gift! And when we take our Good Shepherd into our bodies, his body and blood destroys our sin for the devil to feed on, he destroys the devil’s work within us, and makes us living sheep feeding on his word again just as he is living and he lets u share his victory over the devil. The Lord’s Supper is a poison for the devil and all the devil’s work in us, and yet for us, his sheep, this same Lord’s Supper is a wonderful, powerful medicine and it is our most precious food. And with this wonderful supper, Jesus lets us also feed on his powerful words: Given for you. Shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. What a wonderful rich gift Jesus our Good Shepherd gives to us! Hosanna in the highest! Thank you, Jesus, our good shepherd.

Now, in our reading, there’s a problem. Jesus is our good shepherd. He is our true God. He has died for us, risen for us and has baptised us, so that we belong to him and he owns us.

But there is something also which is called a “false god”. A false god is something that has not created us. In fact, even false gods are created by God, but he didn’t create them to be gods but to serve him, the true God. So when we make a false god, we make something which God created into a god. We replace God with something that He made. And when we do this, then we make an idol.

Jesus is our good shepherd. But an idol is not a good shepherd. Can Jesus protect the sheep from the wolf? Yes. But can an idol, a pretend Jesus, protect us from the devil? No. An idol has no power at all. It has no power to forgive us, no power to rescue us and save us. If we have a false god, an idol, instead of Jesus, the good shepherd, then the devil will make mince meat out of us.

So what’s your idol? What you fear more than Jesus? What do you love more than Jesus? What do you trust more than Jesus? Is it money, your honour, your family, your health? Is it a false prophet who promises you wealth, health and success instead of forgiveness?

You see, an idol is a false god, and every false god demands a sacrifice. We have to pay something to this false god to protect us from the wolf. A false good does not feed us, but is hungry and wants to rob us. He wants to be paid.

And so, Jesus calls a false god a hired hand. The false god is not an eternal creator like Jesus. He is just on a contract until his payment is paid. When the contract is over, he runs away. He doesn’t care about you.

So Jesus says: He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

Jesus, on the other hand, he does own you – he made you his in baptism. When the wolf comes, Jesus poisons the wolf with his blood, blood which condemns the wolf and saves the sheep. Instead of running away, Jesus stays with you. Jesus is not under contract, he is the eternal God. He can never be fired from his job, because all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him. Instead of letting the sheep be scattered, Jesus gathers them together. He baptises them in his name and takes them up in his arms, just like he did for you. And he will be with you always to the end of the age, and he will never be fired. A hired cares nothing for the sheep. But with Jesus, you can cast all your anxieties on him because he cares for you.

So Jesus says: I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.

Jesus says: I know my own and my own know me. Sometimes we might think, maybe Jesus doesn’t know me and maybe I don’t know him. Maybe I really belong to the devil after all, and I’m just waiting for him to feed on me, and to sink his teeth into me.

But you know, only Christians worry about sin and temptation and the devil. The unbelievers don’t worry about these things at all, because the devil has already done his work on them. But Christians make the devil jealous, and hungry. But you can say to the devil – you might be a wolf, but to me you are just a baby kitten. Jesus has baptised me, and I belong to him. He knows me and I know him. He became a man, a human being just like me, and He is also true God – he knows the Father and the Father knows him. And this Jesus, who baptised me, this Jesus, who is my good shepherd – He laid down his life for me. He laid down his life for the sheep.

You see – our faith doesn’t rest on our feelings, but it rests on his word. We know he is here, because we hear his voice in the Scriptures.

Jesus also says: I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will—do what?—they will listen to my voice. Isn’t it a wonderful thing to listen to the voice of Jesus?

Today in our church here we heard our pastor speak the absolution, the forgiveness of sins. This is not his voice, but the voice of your good shepherd, Jesus. This voice of Jesus is the voice that forgives your sins, and everything we need for our Christian life comes from this forgiveness. And so when we come to listen to this voice of Jesus, in the pulpit, in baptism, in the absolution and in the Lord’s Supper, we are brought together as one flock with one heart and one mind. Jesus says: They will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.

But then, sometimes, maybe we think Jesus really isn’t a good shepherd? It’s one thing for him to say this, but can he really do it? The church often looks so small, so weak, so poor, and yet the unbelievers are much richer, much larger, much stronger.

But what do you think? Did Jesus die so that his bones would stay in the grave? Is Jesus still dead? No—Christ is risen! He is risen indeed.

Jesus says: For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.

Yes—Jesus is risen from the dead. He wants to be your shepherd, and he loves his sheep, and he has the power to do it. He is risen from the dead, and all the authority in heaven and earth belongs to him.

He says: No-one takes [my life] from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.

So, have no fear, little flock. You have a good shepherd, our Lord Jesus Christ. He has laid down his life for you, and he has taken it up again. He is our good shepherd, and he has laid down his life for the sheep.

Amen.

 

Dear Lord Jesus, our good shepherd, strengthen our faith, and send us your Holy Spirit so that we may feed on your living voice from the Holy Scriptures, which promises us the free forgiveness of all our sins. Thank you, Jesus, for laying down your life for us, and for taking it up again. Amen.

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

Easter II [John 20:19-31] (24-Apr-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.

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

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.

 

This wonderful Gospel that we have read today begins in a way that strikes us as a bit strange: it begins with fear. We read that the disciples were altogether there on the evening of Easter Sunday, on the evening when Jesus rose from the dead, and the doors were locked and they were fearful, they were scared of the Jews.

Later on, we can go and read in the Book of Acts how the disciples went and preached with boldness and confidence and fearlessly, but here there is no boldness and confidence—there is only fear.

This is important because we have to realise that Jesus did not choose his twelve disciples because they were confident and bold and fearless. No – he chose them in all their hopelessness, in all their uselessness, in all their fear.

But you see, Jesus doesn’t want disciples who are already strong and confident in themselves. People like that are no use to him. Jesus only chooses weak people and then when he gives the Holy Spirit, he gives all the strength that the disciples need.

This is so important – but we might ask: Are the disciples really all that weak? Well, they didn’t always think so. When Jesus was going on his way to die and before he was arrested, the disciples said: we are going to be strong for you, Jesus. We are going to make a decision to follow you, Jesus. Peter says: Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away. Even if I must die with you, I will not deny you. And we read: And all the disciples said the same.

But Jesus has a different plan for them. He says: You will all fall away because of me this night...but he also gives them a wonderful promise of comfort and says, but after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.

And so what happens to the disciples? As soon as the first sign of danger comes and the crowd comes with swords and clubs, they all run away. And then Peter also denies Jesus three times. And we read that when the rooster crowed to remind Peter of Jesus’ prophecy, Jesus turns from the other side of the room and looks at him. And Peter goes out and weeps bitterly. He goes outside and cries like a baby.

Jesus turns and looks at Peter as if to say to him: You are a sinner, and I am your Saviour. There is only one Lamb of God and that is me—it is not you. I do not need you to come and die with me—I will die by myself and I will be the Saviour of the world. And if you are going to be saved by me, you cannot be a Saviour with me—you must be a sinner. There’s only two possibilities in Christ’s church—there’s only two categories. Either we have to be a Saviour, or we have to be a sinner. If we are a Saviour, then we are a church withoug Jesus. It’s as if to say: Who needs Jesus, if we are here? But if we believe that we are sinners, then we are a church with a living Jesus.

And so, here we see the disciples gathered together and they are scared. They have locked the doors to hide themselves from the Jewish people. Jesus was dead, and he was crucified—maybe they thought—we are next. And so our reading begins with these disciples gathered together, fearful, failures, sinners.

And then a wonderful thing happens. Jesus arrives. Jesus came and stood among them and says to them: Peace be with you. I have died for you. I have made peace between you and God through my blood, and now I have risen from the dead and come and bring my peace to you.

Now, how did Jesus get into the room if the doors were locked? He didn’t break the door down. He simply came and stood there. Jesus has a human body and he is a real man. Normally, a man can’t walk through a wall or a door. But Jesus is also true God and he can do whatever he wants. Already, he had walked through a closed door. When he rose from the dead, the angel rolled the stone away, not to let Jesus out, but to show that he wasn’t there. Jesus had already risen from the dead, and now he had walked out of the tomb through the closed tomb.

And now, on Easter Sunday evening, Jesus walks in through a closed door, and he says: Peace be with you. Maybe the disciples thought—this is a ghost. Maybe they thought—only ghosts can walk through doors and through walls. But then Jesus shows them that he is not a ghost. We read: When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Maybe the disciples thought—“We are failures! We have let Jesus down—and now his ghost has come to punish us!” No—Jesus doesn’t say, “You rotten fools—now I’ve got you!” He says: Peace, peace be with you. And he shows them where this peace comes from: he shows them his hands and his side. Jesus shows them the wounds that bled for them and in the wounds of Jesus, we have all the peace we need.

What a wonderful gift! What a wonderful Saviour we have here! What a gentle, loving shepherd we have who comes and speaks his peace to his sheep. Even today, Jesus comes and stands among us—he enters through the doors and the walls to stand right here. And he meets with you with all your sin and with all your failure and all your guilt. But Jesus wants you to know that he is here—so he makes sure that you know this by speaking to us. Jesus puts his pastor here to speak not his opinions, but the words of Jesus. He speaks: I baptise you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He speaks: I forgive you all your sins. He speaks: Take, eat, this is my body given for you, and my blood shed for you for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus has walked through closed doors, and now as true God and true man he walks into the bread and wine through his word, to speak and to bring his peace to you. What a wonderful Lord Jesus we have! We read: the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord.

Now, we read something very special. It says: Jesus said to them, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit! If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.”

I remember hearing from a friend of mine how he was walking with someone around North Adelaide. And my friend was trying to encourage the other person in their faith. And they came to St Peter’s Cathedral up there and were going to walk past it, but my friend said: Why don’t we go inside and we can say a prayer together. And the person said to him, “I can’t go in there! The walls would fall down on me. The roof would cave in on my head.” And my friend said, “No—Jesus is here, and we can go in with him.” And so they linked arms, the two people, and they went into the church together.

This reminds me of our reading here. If we are going to enter into God’s presence, anyone would think he would destroy us. God is perfect—we are not. Even if there were the tiniest drop of sin, God should destroy us and punish us. A cup of water with one drop of poison needs to be thrown out. But, there’s more than a drop—don’t you know it? Our whole heart, our whole life, all our thinking has been poisoned by Satan, and we have no right to come to God and enter into his presence, and to pray, and to be saved and go to heaven. We sinners have no right.

The only way any of these things are going to work is if Jesus actually forgives us. And he does. And now, he sends his apostles out everywhere to speak this forgiveness. Jesus is true God, and when he speaks forgiveness, this is God the Father’s forgiveness, and it comes with all the power of the Holy Spirit.

And so now, Jesus gives the same Holy Spirit to the apostles. He breathes on them and says: Receive the Holy Spirit. Jesus and the Father have linked arms. Everything they do they do together. And now Jesus says, As the Father has sent me, even so I am sending you. And so now, Jesus links arms with the apostles. They are going to speak the word of Jesus. Whoever hears them is going to hear Jesus. St John says: We are from God. Whoever listens to God listens to us; whoever is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

And so now, we pastors—what are we supposed to preach and teach? Well, we link arms with the apostles and we speak the same thing they did. And when we speak the word of the apostles, then we are speaking the words of Jesus with the power of the Holy Spirit. And all of us who come and listen in the church? How do you know that this word you are speaking is from the Holy Spirit? Well, this word must be the same word that Jesus gave Peter, James and John, and all the apostles to speak.

But Jesus doesn’t send them out to say anything. He sends them out and said: If you forgive the sins of anyone, they are forgiven; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld.

Now, are the apostles called to be tyrants and to say—today, I’m going to forgive you. But not you! No—they are called to administer this forgiveness—but with a proper basis, not according to their own ideas. So what is this basis?

Well, let me say something about the devil. The Word of God comes with all the power of the Holy Spirit. But the devil’s power also comes from God’s Word—but from twisting it. So in the Garden of Eden, God spoke His Word to Adam and says: The tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die. And then the devil comes and says: Did God really say? He sows doubt in God’s word. And then he twists it so that it says exactly the opposite of what God says. The devil says: You will not surely die.

And so, when we look at God’s commandments, we say: Jesus, I was wrong, but you are right. I am a sinner, you are my Saviour. If this is what we say, then Jesus promises his forgiveness to us. And he says to us: You are a sinner—that’s true. But I have a new word to speak to you—the forgiveness of sins. And I don’t want you to imagine this forgiveness. I want you to hear it. I’m going to put this word into your pastor’s mouth, so that his forgiveness is my forgiveness.

But if we want to say: no—God’s commandments are wrong and I am right, if we say—no God, you need to change your commandments, and listen to me, then we don’t need Jesus. And if we don’t need Jesus, there’s no forgiveness for you. And Jesus puts this word into the mouth of his pastors too—he wants people to be called to repentance.

But then, maybe we think—I am weak in faith, I want to do better, but I keep on falling. I’m not a good Christian yet, maybe Jesus rejects me.—Don’t despair. The devil doesn’t want you to know and feel your sin. Only Christians know this—and if you worry about your sin, then this forgiveness if sor you, in fact, it’s precisely for people like you. Jesus has risen from the dead. He has won this forgiveness for you with his blood and with his wounds. He has died a sinner’s death so that he can link arms with you and present you to the Father. Now he wants to show you his wounds, and remind you of them, that these hands, these feet, this side shed the holy and precious blood that paid for each and every single sin. But this wonderful fact is not kept quiet in heaven. Jesus wants God’s will to be done on earth as it is in heaven. Jesus doesn’t simply want the angels to know that he died for you—he wants this forgiveness to be spoken to you, so that you can hear it and believe it. And when in all your weakness, you hear your weak, sinful pastor say to you, “I forgive you all your sins”, then you can be certain that this is God’s will on earth as in heaven. You have everything you need and you can go in peace.

You were baptised for the forgiveness of sins. We are going to receive Christ’s body and his blood today. But what are these things for? They are given for you and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.

But one last thing. Thomas was not there. And he thinks—I’d like to have this forgiveness too, but I don’t want pretend forgiveness. I don’t want a false prophet who says, “Peace, peace, where there’s no peace.” There’s no forgiveness if Jesus’ bones are still in the tomb. A dead Jesus is no use—and a ghost is no use. If you say you saw Jesus, I want to make sure it’s the real one.

So Thomas says: Unless I see in his hand the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe.

Thomas! Come on! Isn’t it enough for you to see Jesus, but you want to stick your finger in his wounds and have a poke around!

And so, Jesus comes again next Sunday, one week later. And Jesus repeats his words: Peace be with you.

And then he says to Thomas: Put your finger here; and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe.

All the time Thomas was whinging and complaining, Jesus was there, listening to it. Jesus knew exactly what Thomas wanted to do and now he lets him do exactly what he wanted. And so what does Thomas find in Jesus wounds? What does he find in there when he has a poke around? Forgiveness of sins, life and salvation. And we don’t want to put our finger in Jesus’ wounds—we want to hide our whole bodies and souls, and everything that we have in those wounds. In baptism, we enter into those wounds, and in the Lord’s Supper, we draw all of the blessings from them. We preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

And so Thomas makes a wonderful confession of faith. My Lord and my God! Jesus is a true man with real wounds, born of the Virgin Mary, but he is also true God, raised from the dead, and filled with all the living power of the Holy Spirit to forgive your sin.

And no, here at the end, we learn something very special. Everyone who ever lives after the apostles is going to have take their word for it that Jesus rose from the dead. The difference between the apostles and we pastors today is this: I have not seen Jesus risen from the dead, but the apostles did and were sent to give an eyewitness. So when they went out they said: We have seen the Lord. But we say: The apostles saw the Lord, and we trust that what the apostles said is true, so that it is not the word of a man, but the word of God.

Thomas was called to be an apostle and so Jesus allowed him to see his wounds. But Jesus says: Everyone else after you will not have this luxury. They will have to take your word for it. Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.

This is a great encouragement to us. What do we see in the world? Christians being killed here and there. People falling away from the faith. Faithful pastors falling foul of church politics. What do we see in our hearts? Sin, failure, weakness. But Jesus sees all of this, even if we can’t say him. And yet he gives us his word, so that in this life we hear him and believe in him, and in the next life, we will see him in heaven, face to face, with all of our sin completely washed away and all of our wounds transformed and transfigured and glorified into badges of victory, just like his wounds which poured out for us his holy and precious blood.

And so John writes at the end of our reading: Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Amen.

 

Dear Jesus, we believe that you are the Christ, our Lord and our God, and we ask that you would send us your Holy Spirit so that believing we may have life in your name. We confess that we are sinful, and that all our thoughts, our words and our actions are tainted, stained and poisoned by sin. But we confess that you are risen from the dead, so that we can have peace and forgiveness through your wounds. Strengthen our faith, dear Jesus, and turn all our fear into gladness, all our sorrows and troubles and worries into joy, the perfect joy of the resurrection. Thank you, Jesus. Amen.

 

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

Easter Day [John 20:1-18] (17-Apr-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.

Mary Magdalene went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord”—and that he had said these things to her.

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.

 

There is one simple thing that we are gathered together here to celebrate today: the fact that Jesus is risen from the dead.

Every year for the around the last 2000 years or so, there has been some place in the world where these words have been said: Christ is risen! These simple words are the backbone of the Christian faith. There is no Christian faith without these words. There is no salvation without these words, there is no eternal life without these words. There is no forgiveness of sins without these words.

And so churches throughout the world have said for centuries this simple little phrase: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

On Easter Sunday, notice that we don’t say that Christ is alive. Sometimes churches have signs that say, “Jesus lives”, or something like that. Now, it is true: Jesus is alive. But this message is not the clear message of Christianity yet. You see, sometimes when a person dies, people say that they still live on in their hearts, or something like that. That is not what we’re talking about at Easter.

We are talking about the fact that after Jesus died on the cross, they wrapped his body up with cloths and anointed his body with spices. On Good Friday, he breathed out for the last time. And then on Easter Sunday he sat up, stood up and walked out of the tomb. The most important thing for us to come to terms with on Easter Sunday is the simple fact that the resurrection happened. Jesus actually rose from the dead.

Jesus is risen from the dead, he is completely risen from the dead, and nothing less than risen from the dead. Christ is risen, and in this way, and only in this way, can we say that he is alive.

When Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit, the angel Gabriel said to the Virgin Mary: “Nothing will be impossible with God.” On this occasion the angel was saying that it was not impossible that Elizabeth, Mary’s relative, should conceive and give birth to a son, when she had been barren all her life and now was old. It was also not impossible that Mary herself, a virgin, not having had any relations with a man, would conceive and give birth to the Son of God.

But this little motto – “Nothing will be impossible with God” – is a kind of summary of the whole of Jesus’ life. Every thing that Jesus says and does is coloured by these words.

And right up to Easter Sunday, we stand here today in the presence of God with the same motto on our lips, with God wiping all tears from our eyes, speaking our faith in the presence of the angels and against the world, confessing with confidence the most impossible thing that could happen: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

And so in our Gospel reading today from St John, we are put in the shoes of Mary Madgalene. We read: Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, and said to them, “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

Sometimes people talk as if there are two types of Christians: Good Friday Christians and Easter Sunday Christians. Basically, this amounts to happy Christians and sad Christians, as if being someone who is sad is a bad thing in the sight of God, and being someone who is constantly happy is what it really means to be a Christian. If you hear this sort of thing, then walk away and let the devil make those sorts of distinctions. It’s all rubbish, and just some silly attempt to undermine your faith because of whatever emotions you might feel.

As I heard a pastor recently put it like this: “Without the resurrection, Jesus is not the crucified one, but merely the one who was crucified and is still dead. But since he rose from the dead, He lives as the crucified one. Jesus risen is Jesus crucified. So every faithful pastor preaches Christ crucified!”

What we notice in our reading here is that Mary did not go the cross on Easter Sunday morning. She went to the tomb. She knew that the cross was empty. But she didn’t know the tomb was empty until she got there.

You see, often Lutheran churches have a crucifix in them. And people say—wrongly—that because Jesus is risen, the cross should be empty. But the symbol of the resurrection is not an empty cross, but an empty tomb. The message of Easter is that this Jesus crucified on the cross is the one who is risen from the dead.

But in our Gospel reading today, we notice that Mary Magdalene is crying, she is worried, she is distressed.

She goes to Peter and John and she says: “They have taken away my Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.”

She brings her problems and her distress to Peter and John.

And what happens? We read: So Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb.  Both of them were running together but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other disciple, who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed; for as yet they did not understand the Scripture, that he must risen from the dead. Then the disciples went back to their homes.

Notice all the detail here: the little race that the disciples have, the linen cloths, the face cloth by itself, Peter looks in first and then John.

Mary leads Peter and John to see what she saw for themselves. But what good does this do for Mary?

We read: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb.

She is still crying, she is still anxious, she is still distressed.

She is still without comfort. Her soul refuses to be comforted, and so it should.

The apostles by themselves cannot do a single thing for her. They cannot comfort her. Fellow sinners can bring no comfort from their own minds to fellow sinners. No amount of “cheer up”, “it’s all right”, “don’t cry” can stop Mary Magdalene’s tears from flowing.

So it’s very important how we think about Jesus here: do you think he’s just another man, like any other man, like the Peter or John? There are plenty of people today who deny that Jesus is true God and true man in one person. But you see, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit from a virgin, he was both God and man together. If you don’t believe that Jesus is truly God, then what are you left with? Nothing better than Peter or John—a man like any other man. And then we read: But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. Peter and John can offer Mary no comfort. And you believe that Jesus is simply just another “good man”, a “nice guy”, a “pretty good sort of bloke” like Peter and John, then there is no comfort for you. That sort of Jesus is simply not capable of wiping Mary’s tears away.

Then we read: And Mary saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.”

Here we see also that even angels from heaven are not capable of wiping Mary’s tears away. You would have thought that it was an amazing thing that she had seen such a glorious vision from heaven. But she doesn’t want them. She doesn’t want to see angels: her concern is her Lord: “They have taken away my Lord”.

Jesus isn’t an angel either. He isn’t some sort of ghost, or spirit. He has a real human body. If you think that Jesus is just some sort of wafty, nebulous ghost, then you haven’t met the real Jesus. Jesus didn’t become a ghost after his resurrection. He got up and walked out of the tomb. There are Christians today who say that Jesus didn’t physically rise from the dead. They basically make Jesus out to be some sort of angel, or spirit, or ghost. No! Jesus is truly human, a real man who took flesh and blood from his mum, who had real nails go through his hands and feet. He is a high priest who sympathises with you in your weakness.

Out with Jesus, if he is only just a man like Peter and John! Throw Jesus out, if he is merely a spirit, like these two angels! Chuck Jesus out if he is not true God, and just a “good bloke”! Chuck Jesus out if he is not true man, and is just some sort of spirit! Give the impostors the heave-ho! Any “Jesus” like this is the devil in disguise and is not welcome in our church on Easter Sunday. Even two men and the two angels disappoint Mary and leave her in her tears.

So we read: Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away.” Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means teacher).

And finally, we read that Mary’s tears dry up and her heart rejoices, not only when she is standing in the presence of her risen Saviour, but when he calls her by name.

Jesus, our risen Saviour, true man and true God, our Lord, our teacher, calls you by name today. He calls you to follow him, to worship him, to trust in him. And when Jesus calls you by name, and when he allows you to recognise him as your resurrected Lord, then he comforts you. Jesus is the one who says, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” No human being can say this, no angel or spirit can say this. Only Jesus can say this, only Jesus can wipe away our tears from our eyes, because only he is the Son of God, only he is our Immanuel, our God with us, only he was crucified on the cross, and only he was risen from the dead. You are in the presence of the risen Lord Jesus in this church today! This is a reality, a fact—don’t mistake him for a gardener, but recognise him for who he is: he is calling you by your name!

Only he can turn our mourning into dancing, as it says in Psalm 30. Only he can loose our sackcloth and clothe us with gladness.

So St Paul says: If Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain… If Christ has not been raised, your faith it futile and you are still in your sins… But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.

And so Mary says: “I have seen the Lord!”

Christ is risen! He is risen indeed!

Amen.

 

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.