APRIL 27, 2008  SERMON ARCHIVE

Grace, mercy and peace to you from God the Father Almighty, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, AMEN

Dear friends, the text for our meditation today is the Gospel Lesson for this sixth Sunday of Easter, John 14:15-21. There we read these words:

(John 14:15-21) "If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever-- 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

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

You know what? The Lord knows His disciples so well! Today in the text He says: "If you love me, you will keep my commands." And He just knows they will. They will hold on to His words the way that children hold their mother's hand in an unfamiliar place. They will hold on to His Words the way a baby clings to Mommy when a stranger nears. And that will be their comfort. Their security.

But He also knows that will also be the start of many woes. For what the Lord commands is simple: "You just go on preaching Me and teaching my disciples how to put their cares and sins and sorrows all on Me. Watch over My Word and Sacraments so my kids'll always have Me with them, forgiving them and feeding them the very best I've got to give. And look past one another's faults the way I look past all of yours."

And it is pretty simple, isn¡¯t it. In fact, it¡¯s a no-brainer, really; like keeping your kids safe and healthy; like wanting to sleep in your parents' bed when it's thundering and lightning. And still, no sooner had the Lord departed, than false teachers started adding to the words and works of Christ, trying to get the Lord's disciples to let go His hand and find their comfort someplace else.

Oh, sure, they still preached "grace", but they also said that a person should also be circumcised in order to be a Christian; a person ought to give up certain kinds of food and drink in order to be saved. In time, some taught that Jesus wasn't really God. Others began to teach that Baptism didn't really save. Some even claimed that "is" cannot mean "is," and that the Supper was some ordinance or sacrifice that you must do in order to serve the Lord, it was not the Lord's own feeding of His children.

Jesus knew that His disciples would be in for lots of trouble, that theirs would be a rough lot holding to His words the way He knew they would, the way an infant holds on to its mother, or a mother holds her child. Jesus knew that folks would have a time with that! "They're gonna wonder what your hang-up is and why you're so intolerant and rigid. They'll call you names, as if you're spoiling all the fun."

You children know the way that goes; how kids say things like: "Aw, come on! Your folks'll never know. Or, they won't care. Or, what's the big deal?" And you mothers know the way it is when you're the only parent who says "no" and all the other moms say "yes." "Jimmy's mother lets him watch R-rated movies. And Cheryl's mother lets her stay out late!"

Jesus knew the pressure that would come upon His little ones who love Him, who cling to His commands. He knew how unpopular it would be for them to act as if His Words are life and any changing of them meant their death. He also knew the popularity of those who bent His words to suit the age; who tolerated the devil's lies; who preached the broad and easy road of saying: "What is truth? And who's to say what's right or wrong?"

And so He prays for all His little ones; prays for those who just will not let go of what He's given. He says: "I'll ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. I know how all the world will trouble you, the devil and your sinful flesh as well. But I don't want you troubled, and neither does My Father. We're agreed that you should be at peace, and so we'll send the Spirit and He will speak of Me. You have enough enemies who want you to let go of what I've given. You need a friend. Someone who will tell you you are baptized and forgiven; who will turn the tables on the devil and the world and your own sinful flesh."

And yet, your heart often betrays you, doesn¡¯t it? So often, your heart does not want you to be sure that all is well, that God is really happy. Your heart seems sometimes to want you to be worried about your failings, terror-stricken by the world, and so it loves to counter every Word from God with: "But you aren't really safe; and you aren't really sorry; and you aren't living right; and that disaster could take place right here."

Such a silly, unbelieving heart! You must teach your heart, as did David in the psalms: "Why are you so downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God." Peter teaches you to do the same this morning, saying: "In your hearts set Christ apart as Lord." Which means your thoughts and notions are all lies, for they won't let God be the kind and friendly Father that He is, and they refuse the Comfort He provides, insisting you be troubled.

So teach your heart the art of being silent, and tell it: "Don't confuse me; Jesus died and rose again for me, and He prays for me, and He promised to send me Comfort from the Father. And if God and all the angels smile on me, then why should I be worried?" My friends, you have no cause for fear or sadness, but only for joy and a cheerful defiance of the world, the devil and everything that's evil. If only you believed this!

But because the world does not see this Comforter you have, because it cannot see that you are holding on to One whose promises defeat the devil, death and all your sin with but a whisper; because it only sees some measly little water, some paltry little bread and wine, a silly little pastor who seems to think his words have life and all of heaven all wrapped up in them, you start to tremble.

How can so many be wrong and we be right? Aren't other people just as caring, just as loving, just as virtuous and right as we are?

To this Christ says: "Do not be troubled. The world cannot accept My Spirit. It neither sees Him nor knows Him, and so there must be many - even pious, godly, wise and loving people, who will fume against My Word. Do not despair, despite how few you are among so many. You just continue with that little group who hears My Word and has a steadfast Spirit."

And how can you be sure where that may be? "Where everything revolves around Me," Christ says. "Where all My work for you in dying, rising and ascending is all that they can talk or think or sing about; where the only dish that's served is Me, Me, and more of Me. I know that's boring. But that's the way I want it. You're my kids after all. I gave you birth through My own Word. I washed you with My Water and I nursed you with My Spirit. I've set a Table for you with My Body and My Blood.

So, if anyone should ask: 'Did someone say McDonald's?" you just leave them to their Happy Meals and come on in where I've promised to be with you."

You see, Jesus simply won't let you wander from the place He is, nor will He go so far that He won't be right here for you. Yes, He went to Calvary to die an orphan, abandoned and rejected by His Father, but He won¡¯t leave you on your own. He can plumb the depths of hell and rub the devil's nose in it. He can even go back to His Father's side, but He's just got to be right here for you. It's what He promised: "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

And so He just won't let His little ones go wandering away from where He is, because He's wrapped Himself up good for each of you right here within the Baptism that most certainly now saves you, just as surely as the ark saved Noah.

Right here within the Absolution, or forgiveness of sins by which He seats you on His Father's lap.

Right here where He keeps putting on your tongue the very price He paid for your salvation.

And He does that just to make sure you are not some pawned off children, left in the hands of strangers, but always and forever children in the hands of Him who is your Comfort and your Peace.

Now, in good Lutheran Fashion, "What does this mean?" Dear friends, all this means that you don't ever have to listen to the devil or the world or to your sinful hearts again. You don¡¯t have to listen to strangers who only want you looking somewhere else than where Christ promises to be. The true Lordship of Christ is not in how you live or what you do or think or feel. The true Lordship of Jesus Christ is the fact that even now, He rules over your troubled hearts and lives with peace and joy and comfort.

The true Lordship of Jesus Christ is the fact that He promises not to heap insurmountable Laws on you, rather that you can live within His love, which means, you live within the hearing of these words: "I forgive you all your sins, and so, My Father is your Father, too, and He is just as pleased with you as He is pleased with Me."

Dear friends, this means that if you are hearing those words, if His water has been splashed onto your heads, if His Body and His Blood are laid upon your tongues in bread and wine, then you are in Him and He is in you, and the Father and the Spirit, too. And therefore, you will never ever be abandoned. Rather, you are loved by God, and He is busy doing just what He has promised: showing Himself to you in all that He has given.

What does this mean: It means nothing more than the fact that Christ Is Risen. And He will not ever leave you desolate even for one moment. Christ Is Risen.

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