Easter 7 Exaudi – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. John 15:26-16:4 “Jesus is with You Through the Promised Comforter”
May 12, 2024 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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Lord God, heavenly Father, we give thanks to You, that through Your Holy Spirit You have appointed us to bear witness of Your dear Son, our Lord Jesus Christ: We beseech You, inasmuch as the world cannot endure such testimony and persecutes us in every way, grant us courage and comfort, that we may not be offended because of the cross, but continue steadfastly in Your testimony, and be always found among those who know You and Your Son, until we obtain 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. 157)
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 15th and 16th chapters of the Gospel according to St. John. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
[Jesus said:] “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
“But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you. I did not say these things to you from the beginning, because I was with you.”
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who died, rose, and reigns at the right hand of the Father, sending you the Holy Spirit to bring you this truth and placing it in your hearts so that you may believe, dear fellow redeemed:
You’re outside on the playground at recess. The game that is going to be played is kickball. The teacher picks two children to be the team captains. As this is happening, the anticipation is rising if you weren’t picked to be one of the team captains for one reason and one reason only. The prayer that you have is that you are not picked last. This is a big deal for a child, especially when it comes to being accepted by peers. No one wants to be picked last, cause if you are last, then you run the risk of being singled out. In the world today for Christians, not only are we singled out and not accepted, but we could suffer harshly because of the name. As the world, sin and the devil come against us on an allied front, we have an ally of our own. When we cry out for the Lord to seek us out of our troubles, He does seek us through the Comforter. It is through this Comforter that we hear and see our Savior Jesus.
The Comforter reveals to the disciples their teacher hadn’t left them. He would especially be needed for the days ahead as the disciples weren’t children on the playground. They were dealing with the outcomes of life and death. They were told by Jesus, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with Me from the beginning.” As they listened to Jesus’ every word, there were many things they did not understand. The Helper was promised to come to them from the Father. He would bring them the truth that Jesus had been teaching them and it is because of this truth they will be able to witness to strangers too. This truth would combine with all Jesus did, providing them with much clarity.
For the disciples it is great news that they will be getting this clarity. Jesus however is telling them this for another reason as well. “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.” The emphasis of following Jesus and carrying a cross to do it was going to be the disciple’s future. Before they could do it with strength and willingness, they would have to watch what their Savior was going to do first. As they struggled with this, Jesus tells them it will be alright. The devil will sift but He will not claim them because of all Jesus has done and told them and they believe it is so. Even as their faith faltered, Jesus was with them, providing them forgiveness and comfort.
This forgiveness and comfort would make sense as they realized how much danger they were in from the world. Even though they were told by Jesus what was going to happen concerning His death, who would have thought the religious leaders were capable of death. The religious leaders are supposed to be there caring for the souls of the people. Instead, they were the leaders of the enemies of the early church. They were looking for any way to stamp them out. The world continues to be a nasty enemy against the church. While we are thankful to be living in a country that does have the practice of religious freedom, there are many Christians all over the world suffering death and persecution for the sake of the name. We aren’t suffering death, but we do realize that if we are Christians then we are not accepted and for some that is enough to not want to hold onto the faith.
The struggles with having our faith and not being accepted are old battles since the fall into sin. To be a Christian is a life of service and to be in the world could potentially be a life of power, fame, and wealth. As those in the world step on top of each other to achieve what they believe is greatness, they perceive the work of service as a threat. This threat reveals the truth, service toward God and our neighbors is primary, the rest are blessings that God may give us according to His gracious will. They are not there to achieve selfish gain. The law of God looks to curb our desires as St. Paul writes, What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet” (Romans 7:7). The law is good, but it points out how we struggle with it which is why we don’t like it. As the world waited for the Christ, this is what they had, the law and promise. With Jesus, we have no excuse for unbelief in His Words of truth. When the world closes in on us, instead of relying on the Comforter sent to us by Jesus Himself, we will do our best to rely on ourselves or we will do what we can to be accepted.
As the law points out our sins and the world points out that we are not accepted, Jesus instructs His disciples they will be driven out and killed, but they can take heart as their names are written in the book of life. They can face the world, the devil and death itself because of what will come and dwell inside of them. St. Paul writes, “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him” (Romans 8:9). The disciples will not be alone in their endeavors. The Holy Spirit points them to the truth of Jesus’ Word and it reminds them of all that He has accomplished. They will soon have the realization of the ministry they witnessed.
Over the last few weeks, we have listened and heard as Jesus has been preparing His disciples for what is to come. He taught them how the kingdom of God was upon them. He prepared them for His death on the cross and His glorious resurrection. Now He is preparing them for what will come. They can rejoice because as they cry out for their Lord to seek them, their Savior will continue to come to them through the promised Comforter. Even as they are arrested, beaten, and their enemies rejoiced when they kill them, thinking they are doing a service to God, the disciples rejoiced, sang in their cells, and they shared the Gospel for the good of all mankind. As the Savior was their example, being truthful even to death, the disciples did the same.
Like the disciples, as you are hearing the Word of God preached to you, you can be certain that your Savior is with you through the promised comforter. You know the whole story because of His work. As the law points out your sins, you see there is no excuse for unbelief because as you fail, you know that your Savior is victorious. It is through His victory that you are clean as the prophet Ezekiel prophesied, “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:25-27). As the world tries to get you to question yourself as they question themselves about what is right and wrong, you know that in your failings, it is the love of God that saves you.
Jesus has not left you alone in this sinful world. You hear this sweet message through the Holy Spirit, the promised Comforter. Your Savior went to the cross with you in mind. The world will work against you, but you stay anchored. You find your comfort here today as you celebrate and rejoice in hearing, seeing, and receiving your Savior in the Means of Grace. You have been chosen since before the foundation of the world was laid and no one can take that away.
The promised Comforter’s message is for all those who hear and believe. While Jesus is ascended and physically here no longer, it is because of His ascension that you and the world may know He is always here as He promised. Next week you will celebrate the coming of the promised Comforter. He did come, bringing you the constant truth, that Jesus died on the cross for your sins and is risen from the dead. It is because of this message that you can share it with others in this hostile world. St. Peter writes, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:7-8). It is hard to believe that the world fights against a message of love, but no matter what we say, it is Christ speaking through us, bringing comfort to those who need it. Comfort of the love of God, who takes away the sins of the world.
In this fallen world, that wants us destroyed, our God tells us to call out to Him. He will hear our prayers. The promised Comforter takes our prayers to Him. He then brings us an answer that suits are needs. He points us to the faith He brings. Faith that brings our Savior into our hearts and always through the promised Comforter. We do not need to be worried about being picked last at recess, God has picked you. So, as you cry aloud to the Lord to be gracious to you and to seek your face, knowing that He is with you in all that you do, you can confess to others, “The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1). “Of whom shall I be afraid?” 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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