Author: Brent Keller

Dear saints, today we hear of a time a teacher of God’s people comes to Jesus by night. Nicodemus is an educated man. Because of his position, he is revered and has power. Yet we also see fear and hesitancy in him. After all, he does not come to Jesus in broad daylight. He wants his meeting with Jesus to remain covered by the night and unseen by his peers. In the conversation, we see some basic understanding from him. He says that he and the others realize that Jesus is from God. This is quite the statement. They recognize the power that Jesus has and that this power comes from God. So, they are trying to reconcile a man with power and authority from God – like a prophet – in a time where prophets were thought to have vanished.

Now it could be that Nicodemus is not sincere in what he says. He may be just trying to butter Jesus up. But whether Nicodemus is sincere or not does not matter. Either way, Jesus cuts right to the point: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Understandably, Nicodemus is taken aback by this. He is a Pharisee. To use the language of today, he is a part of the Church. Not just a part, but a leader in it. He’s what people would consider a good person. He keeps the Law and the Tradition. He and those like him, of all people, would certainly see the kingdom of God!

We heard of another this morning who had an encounter with God in the His throne room. In the sixth chapter of Isaiah, we hear of his call to be a prophet of God. He sees the Lord sitting on a throne and a robe that filled the temple. It truly had to be a frightening sight! Seraphim with six wings; earthquake and smoke; a Trinitarian call of Holy, holy, holy…. It is no wonder that Isaiah reacts as he does: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Now think about these two accounts. Both Nicodemus and Isaiah come face to face with the Lord. They both are confronted with the fact that they are unworthy to be where they are. They both look their God in the eyes and should realize that they deserve nothing but condemnation right then and there. But I also want you to notice the difference in their reactions to this truth.

Isaiah is brought to the Lord that he would be called as a prophet. He sees the glory and majesty and knows he doesn’t measure up. He isn’t worthy to be there and, erroneously, thinks that God is about to condemn him. Nicodemus comes to Jesus under the cover of darkness unsure of exactly who Jesus is. When Jesus tells him that he cannot see the kingdom of God unless he is born again; born from above, Nicodemus is either confused or playing dumb. He asks how a man could literally be born again from his mother. He thinks the kingdom is already his.

Here we see a stark difference between these two men. One is a faithful Israelite who, when confronted with the glory of God, is afraid of wrath and judgment. He knows that he is hopeless if it is left up to himself to stand righteous before God. The other thinks himself righteous because of his works and status and Tradition. I suppose it isn’t too much of a mystery why each reacts as they do.

Isaiah cries out in despair. He knows he deserves judgment because he knows he has not kept the Law with all his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Yes, he believes in the Lord. But he also knows he constantly sins against him. But condemnation isn’t why the Lord brought Isaiah into his throne room. To show this, one of the seraphim takes a lump of burning coal and touches it to Isaiah’s lips. Through the sacrifice burning on that altar, Isaiah is purified and made righteous.

On the other hand, Nicodemus doesn’t get it. He doesn’t see that he is a ‘dead man walking.’ He doesn’t get that even the best of his deeds are a blight in the eyes of God, for they are done without faith. But that doesn’t mean that Jesus has come to condemn Nicodemus. Not at all. Jesus seeks a rebirth even for Nicodemus.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.” This is why Jesus responds to Nicodemus as he does. Jesus is showing him that he isn’t righteous for his status and deeds. Rather, he is fallen, sinful, and wretched because he is born of the flesh. “That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” We are by nature sinful and unclean, as we confessed together this morning. We are naturally far from God and his kingdom. And worse, there is nothing we can do to make things right. Note the word born is passive. It is not something you choose to do or not do. It is done to you.

If we were to find ourselves in the throne room of God right now, we would recognize our sinfulness and iniquity just as Isaiah did. We would think we would be ruined. But we wouldn’t have coal put to our lips. Why? Because we have been born from above.

Yes, we were conceived in sin. Yes, we are by nature sinful and unclean, by nature creatures of wrath like the rest of mankind. Yes, we deserve to be cast into outer darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

But we are washed. We are sanctified. We are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. Just as Isaiah is declared righteous by the coal from the sacrifice on the altar, you and I (and Isaiah!) are made righteous by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. There on the cross, Jesus has carried your sinful weight on his shoulders and born the weight of your flesh. He died in your place and was put in a tomb because of our rebellion and sin.

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.” Just before Jesus dies, he cries out, “It is finished.” Only after all has been completed does he yield and hand over the Spirit. That Spirit descends at Pentecost and some 3,000 are born again; born from above.

Nicodemus leaves Jesus that night, but not before he is given more insight into who Jesus is. Jesus tells Nicodemus that not only does God love the world, but exactly how he loves the world: he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

We don’t know when Nicodemus began to trust in Jesus for his righteousness rather than himself. It may have been as he left that night. It may have been by the time he seeks a fair hearing for Jesus in John 7. It may have been during Jesus’ trial, for he is at the tomb with 75 pounds of myrrh and aloes.

What we do know is that Nicodemus believes and is not condemned. He is born of the Spirit. So are you. Baptized in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, you are washed clean in the blood of Christ. You are born not only of the flesh, but that flesh is redeemed in your birth by the Spirit. Look, therefore, to the cross. See your Savior hanging there suspended on the pole. Stay firm and believe that in him you have been saved. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

Dear saints, many people and businesses in our Union are beginning to come out of either self- or government-imposed lockdowns. Churches around the country that have been empty for weeks, if not months, have begun to come together again. When we look at our reading in Acts, it appears that the disciples were still in a type of lockdown. It makes sense. After Jesus is arrested, the disciples scatter, and when they see their Rabbi put into a grave, they go into hiding. When he is reported as risen from the dead three days later, they remain locked up.

The locks kept other men out, but it did not keep our Lord from entering. When he does, he gives them his peace. Before his betrayal and death, he teaches and prepares the disciples. He tells them he is going away and will return. This comes to pass quickly. And then for forty days, he continues to teach them and prepare them for another type of leaving. This occurs at the Ascension. Though Jesus takes his physical and bodily leave, he does so with the promise that the Holy Spirit would soon be sent.

The disciples are told to stay in Jerusalem until the Spirit comes, and so this morning we find them together in one place. Perhaps locked up in the Upper Room. And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

The commotion drew a crowd. And since it was Pentecost, one of the three major feasts which required a pilgrimage to Jerusalem for worship, men from numerous nations were present. The crowd of these many nations and different tongues each hear simple Galileans speaking in their own language. No wonder they were amazed and astonished. Some ask, “What does this mean?” while others mocked them, even saying, “They are filled with new wine.”

But Peter speaks up. He addresses the crowds gathered for the feast and then around the commotion. As he begins to speak, he quotes the prophets of old and speaks the first sermon of a newly born Church. The reading this morning culminates, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

That Peter, or any of the apostles, would speak or preach or proclaim the Word of God at Pentecost shouldn’t surprise us. Jesus had told them to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit had come, and from there they would take the Gospel to the ends of the earth. This is why they had remained in Jerusalem. And when the Spirit comes, what Jesus says is fulfilled: “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.”

I think we all catch the obvious miracle. Everyone sees that it is a miracle that an Egyptian can hear a Greek-and-Aramaic-speaking Galilean in his native language. Especially when the Mede and Libyan and Phrygian can do the same. This is a great miracle. It’s not that the curse of Babel is reversed, but rather that all languages are sanctified. The gospel will now be carried to all nations for all people.

And this brings us to the greater miracle the Holy Spirit works on this day. Just before our Lord ascends, he tells them the Holy Spirit would come and fill them with power from heaven. It is true the disciples spoke in tongues through the power of the Holy Spirit. But the power spoken of here by Jesus is the power of salvation for all who believe. It is how St. Peter ends the section of the sermon we read today. Everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.

Everyone who believes upon the name of the Lord has the peace that he leaves with and gives to the disciples. We won’t have the peace the world gives, a peace that is fickle and simply ‘forgets’ something for a time, only to be brought up and used against you later. Nor is it the political peace that is tenuous and can crumble at any time. The Peace we have with God is a Peace of remembrance. A Peace of reconciliation with God. For this peace is based upon and is secured for you through the death of Christ on the cross. It is sealed in death – Christ’s on the cross and yours in your baptism. It is guaranteed in his rising from the grave. And it is known to you in the sending of the Holy Spirit to the church and to you.

I expect no wind today other than that of the air conditioner. But the Holy Spirit still works today as he did on Pentecost. You simply need to look in the right places. Look at the Word and the Sacraments. He speaks to you in the Word. He acts in the washing of Baptism. He feeds you Christ in the Holy Supper. Hear the peace brought to you in them and in the absolution: You are forgiven in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

What amazing peace we have. What glorious grace we are shown. To know that the promise of God is attached to simple water and was put on you to cleanse you and unite you in a death and a resurrection like Christ’s. To hear his words, “Take and eat; This is My Body. Take and drink; This is My Blood. Given and shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” and know that is exactly what takes place.

Jesus tells the disciples in the Upper Room that the ruler of this world is coming. He has come and he has been defeated. But he still fights as if he can win. This is because he can still tempt and trick and deceive. He has the world, and so he sets his sights on you. He wants you. So remember that you have been claimed. Remember the Name that is placed upon you and who is placed upon your tongue. Remember and keep his commands, pleading his mercy and forgiveness when you fail.

After all, dear Christian, Christ has died for you. He has conquered sin, death, and the devil already. This is your peace. Rest and rely and fix your eyes upon him. In doing so, what’s the worst that can happen? Ridicule on Facebook? Losing your job? Catching a virus? Trust in Christ and the ‘worst’ thing he can do to you is cause you to awake in the very presence of your Savior. As if that is a bad thing.

In your baptism, you have a peace that can never be taken from you. No matter your station in life: young or old, healthy or sick, depressed or lonely, rich or poor…whatever…you belong to Christ. The Name of the Almighty God is placed upon your head and your heart and He has marked you as one redeemed by Christ the Lord. And nothing can take that away from you. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

Dear saints, the Introit this morning begins with a request: “Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud.” There seems to be some burden on the Psalmist as he continues, “Your face, Lord, do I seek; hide not your face from me.” As the words of Jesus in the gospel reading come to pass, perhaps these words came to the minds of the disciples. Jesus tells of an hour coming where they will be excommunicated from the synagogues. A time coming when they would be hunted down by their own people and killed. For what reason? Because those doing the persecuting think they are actually serving the Lord by their sinful actions.

This message of Jesus wouldn’t be new to the disciples. It has been in his teaching since the Sermon on the Mount. And since they knew the Old Testament, they would know it has been the plight of the servants of God for centuries, even millennia. This excommunication from the synagogues happened. It is all over the book of Acts. The message of Christ crucified was preached in them until the messenger was kicked out. They kept teaching and preaching this message at the riverside and in homes. They took it to the next town and repeated the scenario over and over.

The Jewish leaders who did not receive the Gospel and repent were not happy. And they sought to stop the preaching of this gospel to anyone. So not only did they excommunicate the messengers, they began to kill them. I direct you again to the book of Acts. St. Stephen boldly proclaims an unbridled and pointed message to the leaders culminating in this truth: in their sinful unbelief and resistance of Jesus they showed themselves to be a stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears and always resisting the Holy Spirit. Today this would be called a ‘hell-fire and brimstone’ sermon, but his goal was still to see the hearts of the hearers cut and have them repent of their murder of Christ, trusting in him for forgiveness, life, and salvation.

The council is cut to the heart. But it is not the cutting that the hearers at Pentecost have. This is a cutting that enraged them to the point they bare and grind their teeth in hatred. Stephen is seized and stoned. The words of Jesus come true. The hour is already underway.

And that time has not come to an end. It continues and will not end until our Lord returns. Sometimes the fiery trial that St. Peter mentions in the Epistle comes from blatant enemies of the church. Sometimes it comes from enemies within the visible church. And sometimes that trial comes from people who are ignorant that they are persecuting the church of Christ, but think they are representing it. And the reason this happens is because they have not known the Father, nor the Lord Jesus.

We could spend hours listing the times and ways and circumstances of Christian persecution around the world then and now. But instead, let’s focus on why Jesus tells the disciples and us these things are going to happen. Did you catch the reason? He lets you know these things are coming to keep you from falling away. Our Lord wants you to be prepared for betrayal. For hardship. For humiliation, arrest, even death at the hands of those who hate you because they do not know and hate the Father. Because he wants you to stay faithful and keep your faith.

A few days ago, the church celebrated the Ascension of Our Lord. Just before Jesus lifts his hands, blesses the disciples, and ascends, he opens their minds to understand the Scripture. He tells them that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem. At the end of St. Matthew’s account, he says that all authority has been given to him in both heaven and earth. And so, he sends the disciples out to preach the gospel where they would baptize and teach all that Jesus had given them.

Once the promised Holy Spirit comes at Pentecost, the disciples begin to carry out this sending. They begin in Jerusalem and take the message of Christ to all the world. That message still spreads today. And you, dear Christian, who believe this message – believe and trust that Jesus Christ is the Son of God; he was born of the Virgin Mary; he suffered under Pontius Pilate; was crucified, died, and was buried; that he rose from the dead and ascended to the Father; that he will come again in glory where we look for the resurrection of the dead – are the beneficiaries of these words of our Lord too.

While we do not suffer persecution as the early church did and, indeed, other parts of the world even today, it is also not right to say we have no troubles. Christians are targeted and labeled all sorts of nasty things because they believe the words of our Lord. They are fired, discriminated against, and threatened. This should not surprise us. The world hated Jesus enough to kill him. It isn’t surprising that the world would hate us too.

Yet the death of Jesus changed everything. In that death, the world is reconciled to Christ. He dies the death we all deserve and suffers the punishment we are owed. Now that he has conquered death, he sends the Holy Spirit to strengthen, guide, and protect us. Though we were like sheep scattered with no shepherd, he sought each of us out and brought us to himself. He cleansed us in the waters of baptism. He has removed your old heart of stone and replaced it with a heart of flesh. He has given you life and warned you of what will certainly occur so that you will endure and live with him to eternity.

Yes, Jesus was talking to the disciples in our text, but his words apply to us too. He tells you these things are going to happen so that you do not fall away. Jesus has died and paid for all the sins of all who have, are, or will live. But because they do not know him, they reject this gift. Because they do not know him, animus directed at God is also directed to us. And as St. Peter reminds us, when we are insulted and put under hardship for the name of Christ, we are blessed. Blessed because the Spirit of glory and of God is upon us. So remember: Jesus has redeemed you. He has cleansed you. He is your light and your salvation. Because of him, not matter what is done to you, you have nothing to fear. For the Spirit that resides in you enlightens you, sanctifies you, and keeps you in the true faith. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

A sermon for Rogate, based on Numbers 21:4-9 and John 16:23-33. It was filmed for and will air on Main Street Living’s Sioux Falls, SD market today, May 17, 2020. Main Street Living is weekly television program broadcast in the North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Nebraska, and Minnesota. It is funded by donation from its viewers and the local congregations of the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod.

Dear friends, in this morning’s text, we find Israel roughly forty years after the Exodus. The generation that disbelieved and refused to enter the land of Canaan has died, just as the Lord had said they would. This next generation will take this land, but we see that their faithfulness isn’t any better than their parents and grandparents. They can’t go the direct route, so they start going around the land of Edom. And as it is easy to do on long journeys, the people got impatient. “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this worthless food.”

Perhaps I shouldn’t, but I find this humorous. The people say, “Moses, we are out here with no food and no water. And the food that we do have, food that comes from the Lord himself, is worthless.” After 40 years of wandering the wilderness because of your parents, you turn around and act just like they did. They are more mindful of delighting their taste buds than being thankful to their God for sustaining them with a miraculous food.

This defiance and rejection of God’s good gifts, his daily bread to his people, has a consequence. Just like all sin does. This time, the consequences are fiery serpents coming into the camp. People are bitten. Those people die.

Looking around and seeing what is going on, the people of Israel realize that they have sinned. They see death around every corner and know any wrong step may spell their end. And so, they go to Moses, go to their mediator, and ask him to pray for them. “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord, that he take away the serpents from us.”

Moses takes their petition to the Lord. And because your God is a loving God, full of steadfast love, he hears their prayer. And he answers their prayer. But the answer isn’t the answer they expect. He does not take the snakes away. Instead, he gives his people a sign. A promise. Moses is to make a fiery serpent and put it on a pole. I wonder if it resembled a cross. And everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.

And so, it was. The fiery serpent was made, it was lifted onto a pole, and all who were bitten would look at this bronze serpent, remember the promise God made to them when he answered their prayer, and they would live.

It is easy to see the parallel of the serpent on the pole and Jesus on the cross. I think many of us would make the connection without Jesus giving it to us in John 3. Yet it is Christ on the cross that brings us back to the Gospel text. Jesus speaks of his hour coming and even having come when the disciples would be scattered. And yet even with this scattering and the fear and hiding and, in the case of Peter, denying that would occur, Jesus says these things to them so that they would have peace. So, despite the tribulation that would come after his Ascension, they would take heart for he has overcome the world.

The church celebrates the Feast of the Ascension on Thursday. As Jesus returns to his Father, he does so not only as our brother and risen Lord, but also as our mediator. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

Like Israel, we look at the gifts we have from our Father and treat them with disdain. And perhaps I’m just speaking for myself here, but the gift of prayer is one of the easier ones to overlook, take for granted, sometimes perhaps unconsciously ignore. But what a great gift we have in prayer! We are invited to come to the Father and unload our feelings, our desires, our fears. To confess our sin and beg for mercy and forgiveness. And know that, on account of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is given to us.

Jesus is indeed our mediator. He is the one who cut a new covenant between us and God. He is the one who was lifted up and died in our place. His blood atones for our sin. Because of this new covenant, we may boldly approach our Father and ask anything of him because the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and believed that I came from God.

This morning, Jesus invites us to “Ask.” Ask, and you will receive it. Ask, and your joy will be made full. For your Father loves to hear what his dear children have to say. He loves to answer your prayer. What a great and generous promise we have. God listens to and answers our prayer.

So let us pray: O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

A sermon for Cantate, based on John 16:5-15.

Dear saints, our Lord tells the disciples, “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.” But what are the “these things” which Jesus speaks of? We should remember that our Gospel reading picks up in the middle of Jesus’ discourse to his disciples. The full context is the Passover in the Upper Room mere hours before Jesus is arrested. But the more immediate context is Jesus explaining what is soon to come not only to him but to the disciples.

He tells them, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.” He says, “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.”

It’s no wonder that the disciples were filled with sorrow. Jesus just told them he would be betrayed by one of them. He spoke of his impending death, but it doesn’t seem the disciples picked up on it. He told them the world would hate them, persecute them, and even kill them   thinking they were serving God. Wouldn’t you be sorrowful if you sat with Jesus and heard this?

I think what Jesus says next would be just as shocking: “It is to your advantage that I go away.” It seems hard to believe. Hard to fathom. Imagine hearing this as one of the Twelve: You’ve spent three years with Jesus. You’ve watched him heal the sick and cast out demons. You’ve heard him teach with authority and command the wind to be still…and feel and hear it be still. You’ve heard him tell you that he must die and rise. But it is still a shocking and sorrowful thing to hear.

But why is it to their advantage (and to ours!) that he goes away? It is so the Holy Spirit would come. The text says that the Helper, the Holy Spirit, can’t come; is not able to come until Jesus goes. Not until, on the cross, Jesus cries out in victory, “It is finished!” It is there that St. John says Jesus hands over the Spirit.

Just as Jesus said, the disciples do not see him for a short time, and then they do see him again. During those forty days with the disciples, Jesus will begin to go into the many things that he had to say to them that, at the time, they could not bear. St. Luke tells us just before the Lord ascends, he opens the minds of the disciples so that they would understand the Scriptures.

And, on Pentecost, the Spirit is sent. He comes and begins to convict the world. He begins to reprove and rebuke the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. The work of the Holy Spirit is to expose us to ourselves. God already knows us better than we do. He knows our faults, even the ones we don’t know we have. And so, the Spirit comes to enlighten us.

But notice that this convicting is of the world. It is true that we are convicted of our own sin as the Spirit shows us where we have failed to keep God’s Law. And because he keeps us in the true faith, we are led to repentance. We realize we have no righteousness of our own and look to Christ for our righteousness. We rejoice and sing because we have been judged righteous because of the blood of Christ shed for us. We, by the grace of God, have faith.

But the world does not. The world believes it can dictate what is and is not sin. The world believes it is righteous based on what it does or doesn’t do, think, or say. The world thinks it is clear of any judgment because of its own righteousness. And this is what the Holy Spirit comes to reprove and rebuke. He comes to show the world that this is not the case.

Yet we can narrow the work of the Spirit even further regarding the conviction of the world toward sin. The specific conviction the Spirit brings against sin is because the world does not believe in Jesus. Of all the sins possible, this is the worst. It is the chief sin and trumps all others. No matter how heinous a life someone lives, no matter what evil they have done, it is unbelief that tops it off. Remember what our Lord says to Nicodemus in the night: “He who believes in him (in Jesus) is not judged. He who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.”

The purpose John has in writing his gospel account is so people would read it, hear it, and believe in Jesus as their Savior. When you or anyone else hears the Word of God, it is the Spirit who works through it. When someone believes and is convicted, it is the work of the Spirit ensuring that the Word does not return to the Lord without accomplishing what it set out to do. So also, when the Word is rejected and unbelief tragically continues, it is the Spirit who judges that unbelief and unrighteousness.

Jesus is risen and he is ascended. His righteousness is laid upon all who call upon him and trust in him as Lord and Savior. Here the world is convicted concerning righteousness because it is only Christ who is righteous. The world, persisting in sin and unbelief, is unable to possess any true righteousness, no matter what good deeds they do in the eyes of men.

Finally, the Spirit convicts the world concerning judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. Satan is defeated. It is not that he was truly the ruler, but that he had acted as if he was, representing himself as the world’s ruler. That much of the world is under his influence shows the power he has despite his defeat. But this is the work of one already defeated and condemned. He knows he’s lost, so he’s trying to take as many as he can with him.

But you, dear Christian, are not of the world. It is why the world hates you. You are different. You are not under a judgment of condemnation but have been judged and declared righteous. You are not under sin and the penalty of unbelief but have been given the greatest gift possible: faith and life in Jesus Christ.

Know today that the Spirit of truth has come and is still here. He continues to guide us into all truth, which includes correcting us when we sin and lose our way, bringing us again to the Lord in repentance. And he does this for you because Jesus went away for a little while. After all, Jesus was crucified for you. He does this because our Lord ascended to the right hand of the Father where he rules and reigns. So, let us sing to the Lord, for he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear saints, the Latin name for today is Jubilate. It means, “rejoice!” Yet, the gospel text this morning doesn’t seem to lend itself to a lot of rejoicing. Rather, it lends more to sorrow. The Epistle isn’t much different. We are urged to abstain from the passions of our flesh as sojourners and exiles. We hear that people will speak ill of us for being Christian and we have suffering and sorrow to look forward to for trusting in God.

In the Gospel, we find ourselves again in the midst of Holy Week. Actually, we will be in the Upper Room with Jesus and the disciples through the Day of Pentecost. Saints Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us the institution of the Lord’s Supper; St. John gives us more of what else occurred during that remarkable Passover Meal. At or near the end of the meal, Jesus says to the remaining disciples, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

Jesus is speaking of his crucifixion and death. Yes, even in the season of Easter, the death of Jesus is prominent. He had spoken of it many times before. He had predicted it and plainly told his disciples that he must die and rise. But they did not put it together. They see what Jesus does and hear what he says in the Upper Room on that Holy Thursday, yet they are still confounded by it. They ask each other, “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’?”

Jesus knows they want to ask him about this. He knows they want more information, more understanding. And so, he says to them, “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.” He keeps going, and as he does, I am sure that the disciples grow in confusion. For they are not able to understand what is going on that side of the cross.

But Jesus knows exactly what is going on and what is about to happen. He is about to be handed over into the hands of sinful men. He is about to be put through a farce of a trial and be crucified. He knows that his beloved disciples will scatter and mourn. He knows they will be full of sorrow. And he knows that those who perpetrate all this will be full of joy. They will think they have won and defeated Jesus.

Yet after a little while, they will see Jesus again. Then their sorrow will turn to joy. Of course, this is exactly what happens. We have seen this through the first half of our Easter season. Did you realize we are already at its midpoint? So far, with the disciples, we have rejoiced in Christ’s resurrection. Heard the peace that he brings. Heard what it means for Jesus to be our Good Shepherd.

But in another little while, the disciples will again, in a sense, be separated from Jesus. We are quickly approaching The Ascension of our Lord. It isn’t that he leaves them or abandons them; they just won’t see him as they have the past three years. And though this will also be a sad time for them, it is also a time for joy. For on Pentecost, the promised Helper will come upon the Apostles. They will boldly proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the world will be turned upside down. And through them, the Lord will grow his Church.

For this reason, we have much to rejoice about. Christ is risen from the dead. Death is defeated. Our sins are paid for – we are forgiven. Through baptism, our old man has been drowned and we have been born from above. The good work the Holy Spirit has begun in us is being and continues to be worked.

The enemy has been defeated, but he still howls and prowls among us. The victory is won, but the battle is not over. And because of this, despite all we rejoice about, we still lament and have sorrow. Our flesh, made new in baptism, still pulls us in every direction but the direction we ought to go. The world acts as if Jesus were still dead or as if it just doesn’t care what he said and did. And that’s if they think he was ever here at all. Many hold open animosity toward Jesus and his Christians.

This is why our Lord tells us we will weep and lament. We will and must suffer just as Jesus did. Just as his apostles did. None of us will be spared our own cross, however different it may be for each one of us.

Even still, in our weeping and lamenting of our sins and whatever our enemy throws at us, we are comforted by the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as he said he would be, he was taken from the disciples for a time. Then, after that little while, he rose, and they saw him. And even though they had failed him, he was not angry with them. For he had died for them. He came to them in mercy and with love for those who were most precious to him. Upon them, he gave his peace and established the Office of the Keys.

Like the disciples, we fail our Lord. We fear many things in this life: the loss of health, sickness, a lack of financial stability. We may fear being ridiculed or being called out for what we believe and confess. In these times, we are tempted to fear, love, and trust in a god that is not in the God, our Heavenly Father who sent his Only Begotten Son and lives in us through his Holy Spirit. We sometimes are scattered like sheep.

In these times, godly sorrow comes upon us. Such sorrow hurts our conscience as we recognize our transgression of God’s good and eternal Law. We realize it is our sin that caused Jesus to ascend the cross. And so, we turn to him and beg his mercy. We plead that the Father would cover us in the blood of his Son, healing us and washing us clean of our iniquity.

Such godly sorrow brings repentance, which brings joy. For in the absolution we hear God through the voice of the pastor. He forgives you. He gives you his peace, his salvation. And he even lets you see him, though it is dimly and hidden within the Sacrament. You know him there where you see his Body in the bread and Blood in the wine. One day we shall see him fully in his resurrected and glorified body. We will see him with our own eyes in our own resurrected and glorified bodies, as will all the world. It is then that your joy will be full. It is there that our anguish and sorrow will be no more. There, where no one can ever take our joy again.

O Lord have mercy on us! Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Amen.

Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

Dear saints, today is commonly known as Good Shepherd Sunday. It is the day we hear John 10 and Jesus showing himself to be our Good Shepherd. He is the Good Shepherd because he lays down his life for us, his sheep. It is also called Misericordias Domini. The mercy, or goodness, of the Lord. Our lessons help us to see just how good and how merciful our Lord is.

The people of Israel were shepherded by their leaders. Some were good and faithful. Moses and David are prime examples. They were shepherds of both actual sheep and were also called to shepherd the people of God. While both were flawed and sinful men, they were still faithful in their leadership and their leading of Israel. But other shepherds of Israel were not. In the days of the prophets Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah many of the shepherds, both the political and religious, were unfaithful. They are what Jesus would label as hired hands.

Those shepherds led the people away from God rather than to him. They promoted worship of and sacrifice to the pagan gods of the people around them. As a result, the Lord sent to these leaders and the people his own shepherds in the form of prophets. These brought the Word of the Lord to the people. They called them to repent and return to the Lord their God. But these warnings were not heeded. In the end, God exiled his people from the Promised Land as he said he would if they abandoned his covenant with them.

But that doesn’t mean he abandoned them. Instead, he declares that he will search out his sheep himself. He says that he will rescue them; he will bring them out and restore them to their country. He will feed them in both good pastures and on the mountain heights. Perhaps you are reminded of the 23^rd Psalm?

And the Lord does just what he says. He sends Jesus to be the shepherd of his people. God takes on flesh to seek out his lost sheep. Just like the prophets he sent, Jesus comes and calls the people to repentance. Some hear, see, and believe; others hear but don’t hear, see but remain blind, and turn away from their Lord, thinking him to be an imposter or liar. And at the end of his earthly ministry, Jesus lays down his life for his sheep.

He does what earthly shepherds just don’t do. After all, sheep are for raising, selling, clothing, and eating. Yes, you protect them, but you protect them because they are your cash source. But this is not how the Good Shepherd treats his sheep. Rather than seeing his flock as a commodity, he sees them each as a precious child who has wandered off. His search to find and recover them consumes him to the point he dies to recover them.

You and I are part of ‘them.’ We are part of the sheep who were lost and Christ sought out. We are those who were caught up in dangerous valleys or stuck in bushes. Some wind up there because they have strayed on their own. Others have listened to false shepherds and were led away by false teaching. No matter how you strayed, he has gathered us up in his arms and brought us back to the herd.

And it is here that we see and recognize the mercy and steadfast love of our God. It is us who rebelled. We are the ones who wandered off. We are the ones who put ourselves upon a pedestal and make ourselves God. We’ve been doing it habitually since Adam and Eve were deceived. God did not owe us anything. All he had to do was give us the eternal condemnation that we deserved and earned.

Instead, he fills the earth with his steadfast love. The One who spoke creation into existence takes on the very flesh that he created and saw rebel. As our Good Shepherd, he lays down his very life for us on the cross and takes it back up again to show he has delivered us from sin, death, and the devil. Through the shedding of his blood on the cross, he has made his sheep, his people, righteous.

So, shout for joy in the Lord. He has delivered your soul from death. He is your help and your shield. He has borne your sins on the tree. By his wounds, you have been healed. He has washed you clean in baptism. He leads you to eat and drink for your forgiveness in his Supper. Praise be to our Shepherd and Overseer of our souls. For we straying sheep are restored to him. Amen.

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.

TTT Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. TTT

Dear saints, as I was reading and preparing for today, I remembered something from our midweek series. After our Lord institutes his Holy Supper, he and the Twelve disciples (minus Judas) sang a hymn and go to the Mount of Olives. Once there, he says, “You will all fall away, for it is written, I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.” It should not be surprising that this happened. In fact, it happened that very night! The disciples were scattered, Peter denies the Lord three times, and it is only John who is at the cross as his Savior suffers and dies.

Only a few days later, the Eleven were back together. Well, ten of them were together. They had gathered behind locked doors and were afraid. I suppose they had multiple reasons to be afraid. First, the Jews who killed Jesus might come after them next. And second, that same Jesus, whom they had called Lord, was said to have risen from the dead. Like he said he would. After they scattered and abandoned him. Like he said they would. No wonder they were afraid. It was a fear on at least two fronts. A locked door might keep out the Jews, but it fails to keep out the risen Jesus. He simply stands in their midst.

And if the appearance of an angel causes fear and strife, imagine the Lord – that God himself – just appears before you. The typical greeting of the angel is, “Do not be afraid.” Our Lord’s greeting to the disciples is, “Peace be with you.”

This greeting is important. What is it to have peace between a sinful human being and the crucified and risen Messiah? How can sinful humanity, responsible for the death of the Christ, have peace with him? This peace comes to us because he has reconciled himself to us. Because Jesus died in our place, he has redeemed us and made peace with us. We may now come before him and not fear being smite-ed. Rather, we come and receive even more from him.

On the evening of his resurrection, Jesus came to the disciples with both peace and a gift. He appeared and comforted them, reassuring them that there is no animosity between them. There is only peace between Jesus and his disciples. Because he has worked and won their salvation, there is peace.

But he is also there with a gift. And it is a gift we should continue to cherish today. “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.”

This gift is not just for the apostles; it is for us, too. The gift isn’t to an individual; it is to the church. We call it the Office of the Keys. It is to the apostles that our Lord gives the authority and responsibility to teach, administer the sacraments, and to forgive sin. As they went out, they appointed pastors to continue the work. And that work continues through today.

We continually fail in our lives. Every time we sin, no matter what commandment it is that we break, we are breaking the First Commandment. In a sense, we forsake and flee from him at every sin. And when we realize our sin and feel remorse, it is likely that we also fear. We might want to hole ourselves up and hide.

But we can’t hide from God. He knows the things we do that we don’t know that we do. And he is there for his dear children, even when we think it better that he stays away. Instead of staying away, he sends the Son in the flesh. Jesus keeps the Law perfectly for us. He dies for us. He rises for us. He has redeemed us.

And he has sent his apostles and pastors to tell and remind us. Sent them to declare to us that our sins are forgiven. This is what I declared to you today: Almighty God in His mercy has given His Son to die for you and for His sake forgives you all your sins. As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It is not my forgiveness; it is God’s forgiveness. It is not my baptism; it is God’s baptism. It is not my supper; it is our Lord’s Holy Supper. It is not my word; it is the very Word of God. I am but a messenger sent to declare it to you. And so, hear it: God sent his Son into the flesh to redeem you from your sin. He died on the cross and rose from the grave. He sends his Word that you would believe and have life in his name. He washed you in baptism and gave you new life. He gives you the Supper to feed and nourish your soul. He absolves you of all your sins for the sake of your Lord Jesus Christ. Peace be with you. Amen.

TTT Now may the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. TTT

Rev. Brent Keller 
Peace Lutheran Church 
Alcester, SD  

©2020 Brent Keller. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.