Sermon April 27th 2008

Sunday, April 27 2008 @ 11:29 AM CDT Contributed by: jared Views: 156 Sermon April 27th 2008 Jared Rakness Sermon April 27th 2008 First Reading Acts 17:22-31 Second Reading 1st Peter 3:13-22 Gospel John 14:15-21 “The Indwelling and end of Works” Dear hearers of the Word of God, Grace and peace to you from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen. Let us pray: Gracious God, though we do not see you physically, by faith we know that you are here, that you are present to your people. Through your Word and Sacraments you strengthen and affirm that faith, and by the indwelling of you and your Holy Spirit you sustain us and keep us ever faithful. Keep us assured of this Lord, assured that we are not abandoned or orphaned, but that you are here with us, comforting us, and giving us life, for it is in Jesus name that we pray, amen. Today we continue to work with John’s Gospel the fourteenth chapter, commonly referred to as Jesus’ “farewell discourse”, or as we saw last week, it can also be seen as Jesus’ Final Will and Testament, his handing over to you in the here and now of his promises, himself as it were. With this comes the forgiveness of sins and eternal life in the present. As we continue to read this Gospel text, think about the context in which Jesus is saying these words. Here we have a rag tag group of disciples who have left everything to follow this man Jesus who they believe is the messiah. So what will their world be like when he is crucified and dies? Well first you would begin to question your faith, you may ask yourself if you backed the wrong horse perhaps? Was this man maybe a shyster, a false prophet and messiah perchance? If you have placed all of your hopes, and all of your faith in this man and he dies and leaves you, then your only recourse is to abandon your faith in him and find someone else. So you can see how important these words would be to the disciples, and why it is that Jesus would make sure they knew that he would not abandon them, that he would not leave them orphaned. He did all this so that their faith would not fail, so that despite his death they would not abandon him. Luther puts it this way: “These are the words of him who is about to depart from his disciples and now bids them farewell. He gives them comfort and exhorts them not to be frightened and saddened by his departure, as though he were to say: I must now go from your sight. Therefore I tell you this as my farewell and Godspeed. You must not become afraid and fearful; but believe in me, and take to heart what I am telling you, for I will not leave you without comfort and help, even though you find no comfort and help in the world.” So what exactly does Jesus leave with the disciples in today’s Gospel text. First He gives them the comforter, the advocate or as John writes in the Greek, he gives them the paraclete. For Jesus must now go to the Father, to assume his power and his reign and then to manifest these in you. And though Jesus departs from them physically, he shall send them another comforter from the Father no less who will always remain with them, for Jesus knows that they cannot abide in this world without a comforter. It is now this comforter, who will stay with them forever; and neither the world nor the devil will deprive them of him, no matter how they rant and rave. He will strengthen them and make them courageous and bold, far better that Jesus could now do by his physical presence. But what about these first words of Jesus, “If you love me and keep my commandments.” The dear Lord definitely foresaw that unrest would be afoot in Christendom after his departure, particularly among the preachers and teachers, writes Luther. Jesus knew that they would not remain in agreement but would be split into schisms and factions. He completely abolished Moses or the Law for his Christians, and now he does not want us to be encumbered again with the intolerable burden of the law. For when law reigns there is no end to it, first there are a few rules and laws, commands and precepts. But one law leads to a hundred new one, and these hundred multiply into a hundred thousand. Therefore Christ says “I do not impose anything else on you. I ask and demand no more than this one thing that you faithfully preach about me watch over my Word and Sacrament, show affection and harmony among one another for my sake, and patiently bear the adversities that this entails for you. Christ tells you that you are to love him, and keep his commandments, not those of Moses, but his commandments. Do this for my sake Jesus says, the one who has shed his blood and given his life for you. Do this for my sake, live in harmony and friendship with one another. At the same time adhere steadfastly to me in your preaching, bear with one another in love and so do not introduce schisms and factions. Love one another, not with the intolerable tolerance the world today teaches, but with true love, agape love, love that adheres to Christ, love that extends all the way, even to our enemy. Love that does not bear false witness against our neighbor, but explains their actions in the kindest way, love that gives and hands over to the neighbor your very self, not because you must, but because you are able. Christ knew the kind of world he was sending his disciples into; Christ knows the type of world that you live in today that is why He has sent for you and the world the advocate, the Holy Spirit, who comes to give you courage, who comes to accomplish all things in and through you. But you here know that the Holy Spirit, the Advocate does not moonlight, for where Christ goes there the Holy Spirit is present. So now you can understand the next part of this text, for Christ tells you that not only will he be with you through the Advocate, but he will also be with you himself, for where the Holy Spirit is, where faith is, there Christ is present. For as Paul writes in Gal. 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me, and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me”. You no longer only live in faith, for it is now Christ who lives in you through faith. For you have been crucified with Christ, so it is no longer you who lives, but it is Christ who lives in you, your life has ended, today through the hearing of these words. And now that very word of Christ resides in you, giving you peace and comfort, making you not fearful or feeling abandoned. But this faith now gives you grace and peace, the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This faith gives you Christ, who alone accomplishes this in all of you. There is nothing you can do to obtain it, there is nothing you can do except sit back and believe all that Christ tells you. So do not be troubled this day, love Christ and keep his commandments, for you have been given the Holy Spirit who comes and gives you comfort and peace in this life. Do not worry, but believe, for you have not been orphaned or left alone, for in faith, Christ himself now resides in you and you in him. So be comforted this day, comforted to love God and your neighbor, amen.

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