Easter 5 Cantate – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. John 16:5-15 “Convicted to Sing His Praises”
May 18, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, through Your Son You promised us Your Holy Spirit, that He should convince the world of sin, of righteousness, and of judgment: We beseech You, enlighten our hearts, that we may confess our sins, through faith in Christ obtain everlasting righteousness, and in all our trials and temptations retain this consolation: that Christ is Lord over the devil and death and all things, and that He will graciously deliver us out of all our afflictions, and make us forever partakers of eternal salvation; through the same, Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 156)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 16th chapter of the Gospel according to St. John. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
[Jesus said:] “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. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who has done the work necessary for our salvation, and in reverence and awe, we come before Him in mercy, with praises on our lips, dear fellow redeemed:
When going on a road trip, it is a known fact that whoever is sitting shotgun, will be the person with the acquired job of the DJ. It is an important job because the music will set the tone for the trip. It must be catchy to keep the driver awake. It must be good to sing along with, so the drive time will pass by quicker. Music can make any job or task easier to do. Maybe it is classical Lutheran music for writing sermons, or maybe it is the upbeat, fast-paced music for completing a workout. As we see how important music is during our time outside of church, we also see how important it is inside of church. We are considered the singing church and we are putting that practice to use with the Lutheran Chorale service today. Singing in church can go all the way back to temple worship in Israel and there is good reason for it. As we witness the marvelous acts He has done for us, we are convicted to sing His praises.
Now to worship Him with reverence and awe means we are acknowledging it is a miracle we can come before Him. We pray we continue to be blessed with this miracle. There was a time where the world had rejected this miracle so much, God had it in His mind to destroy it. Then the LORD said, “My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh” (Genesis 6:3). From this point in history to the timeline of our text, nothing has changed. We see how the work of God’s Spirit is ignored, and the mercy of God never ceases. The mercy of God is the Father sending His Son into the world to save His people, and then He would have to take Him back. This is the chief event for the world to rejoice. As we heard last week, the world instead rejects the Spirit and rejoices in what looks like a botched plan of salvation. The disciples instead of rejoicing in the great mercy of God, they are filled with sorrow.
[Jesus said:] “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.” Now knowing what is going to happen to Jesus, it looks like we can agree with how the disciples are feeling. It is sad knowing that Jesus, the One who loves us so much and saves us, must die a horrific death. Jesus also said this earlier in His ministry. “You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I” (John 14:28). Sound familiar? Jesus hasn’t been speaking like a man of wisdom and just dropping wisdom on His disciples. He is a teacher. He has been teaching them for three years. His most important message is what is going to happen to Him during the greatest week of history. Two times He points out they should be happy that it is taking place. Instead, they are struggling to understand what is happening and are full of sorrow.
Now there are a few different kinds of sorrow. The sorrow the disciples have is not sorrow because of what is going to happen to Jesus. He is telling them He will leave them. They know how special Jesus is. Why should Jesus leave them? They have been faithful and have confessed His name. They have gone out when He told them to. This misunderstanding of Jesus’ mission is still out there. “Jesus should just stick with us and make our lives better and happy.” We hear Jesus then tell His disciples what sounds like an even harder truth to grasp. “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.” The disciples witnessed Jesus do great things. Why is a “helper” needed if Jesus would just stay with them? Us hearing all that Jesus has done, it can be tempting to think the same, that it would be better if Jesus was with us now if we could just hoard Him to ourselves. As we also heard last week, Jesus is coming soon. David gives us words of wisdom for our lives. “Be angry, and do not sin; ponder in your own hearts on your beds, and be silent” (Psalm 4:4). Can we give up sinning? Can we have patience as we navigate our lives?
We should be able to do both, but we know the answers to these questions. We know that though we are commanded, we never give up sinning, and our patience runs thin. As our sins take over our lives, and can shut down our joyous singing, we get more information about our “Helper.” This information should ease our conscience. “But if I go, I will send Him to you. And when He comes, He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment: concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see Me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.” This is a law and gospel message. He reveals our sins and how the one who caused them is destroyed by His work. The trick is having the patience to dwell in this message every single day. With a lack of patience and great sorrow, it is easy to look for those who make it look like there is a way to make it easier. Those who “tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger” (Matthew 23:4) What appears harder is easier, because it is relying on the “Helper.” Jesus says, “For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).
How is Jesus’ yoke easy and burden light for which we sing His praises? It is easy, light, and you rejoice because He sends those who believe what He has done His work through the Helper. Jesus says, “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.” It is this declaration that causes the disciples to make it through the greatest week in history. Their sorrows turn to rejoicing as the Helper guides them to the truth from their teacher’s message. He died but is raised from the dead! They see with their own eyes the message Jesus had been teaching them.
Jesus teaches them the great message of law and gospel that convicts their hearts and through that conviction, they are convicted to rejoice and give Him praise. They can’t help it when they see their beloved Teacher in the flesh alive and well. They see the marks of death, and they see the triumph over death. The Helper will then guide them to understanding once Jesus departs from them. Through Christ’s Word, they continue to be strengthened, and then they go out and preach what their Savior taught. Their sorrow is turned to patience. They see the Helper, God’s Spirit, do the job for them. With His conviction, everyone who hears this good news sings the praises of the Savior. This conviction is so strong that it can’t be their own, as it takes them to their graves to see their Lord again.
The news of the apostles and how they overcame their sorrow and impatience is uplifting for you to hear. You hear how great their miraculous conviction is. A miraculous conviction you now have. Jesus continues, “All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.” He declares to you how your sins were taken upon Him. He carried them, not having sorrow for Himself. He carried them, not running out of patience for God’s plan. He then takes this great work of His life that ended with His death on the cross and He gives it to you. A free gift that reveals to you God’s mercy. This mercy is undeserved, yet here it is for you. You grab this sweet relief from your sorrows, but you grab it not on your own. The teaching you hear, is how Jesus sent you the Person who makes you grasp this relief. The work of the Son that the Father has is given to you and resides in you by His Spirit. It is in this truth of the Gospel that you rejoice and sing His praises.
Your praises continue to rise, as you hear more good news from your Savior. The enemy who wants you to have sorrow, to believe there is not enough patience, and who tries to convince you to find your own way out is defeated. Jesus confirms his great collapse when He says, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18). Already, as Jesus walked on earth, He watches the devils defeat as He is on the doorstep of fulfilling the plan of salvation. With the devils fall, he suffered another blow as Jesus called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction (Matthew 10:1). Jesus saves you from the deceiver. He limits his assaults, and when you are under attack, He brings you relief through the convictions of the Helper. He helps you through temptation and in your fall, points you to His perfect work you rejoice in. The work of the Easter Gospel.
As the Easter Gospel continues to be taught, its beautiful hymnody is sung in our churches. Through the divine service and the Lutheran Chorale, the world sees your hope and joy. It sees the conviction of your hearts by the Gospel. A history of your failings forgiven by the cross of your Savior. As the world will try to show you the power of rejection to God’s Spirit, St. Paul writes how powerful God’s Spirit is working for you. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:15) Through the Spirit of God, you receive a gracious blessing. The blessing of a miracle in your heart. Your God with great love has placed in you a conviction to sing His praises. With new songs, you will continue to sing them, and when you have been added to the great heavenly choir, forever you will sing on. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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