In May of 1845, One Hundred and Seventy-Five years ago, the General Synod gathered in Philadelphia. The General Synod was a loose federation of regional Lutheran church bodies — Synods, Ministeriums and Conferences. It promoted what it called an “American Lutheranism,” which left behind what it saw as European culture and doctrine for one which was in harmony with American denominations of a Reformed heritage. Among the things discarded were the liturgy, the saving nature of Baptism and the real presence of the body and blood of Christ in the Lord’s Supper. It promoted “new measures,” revivalist worship styles, evangelistic techniques and camp meetings.
When Friedrich Wyneken came to America, he fit well in the General Synod. He was a part of the Germans Awakening, a pietist movement concerned that Christians cultivated a personal relationship with Jesus and lived a holy life. He was not alone — most of the fathers of the Missouri Synod were pietists in their youth. In a war of words with German Methodists and with time to think on a voyage to Germany, he became convinced that Confessional Lutheran doctrine was more faithful to the Word of God. As he traveled Germany, recruiting pastors to serve in America, he told everyone how Lutherans in America had abandoned Lutheran doctrine to embrace Reformed and Arminian teaching and practice.
When he returned to America, Wyneken implemented Confessional Lutheran practice and taught according to the Lutheran Confessions in his parishes. Before his own Synod of the West, he argued for the truth of the Lutheran Confessions and won them over. The Synod of the West sent him as a delegate to the next General Synod convention.
Wyneken arrived late to the convention. He challenged the body to answer concerns about their orthodoxy by sending copies of works which represented their theology to Lutheran leaders in Germany. After much debate, the proposal failed. Wyneken then introduced a second resolution, that the Synod reject as heterodox those works. This measure also failed. After that, he left for home. Wyneken was to remain a member of the Synod of the West until it dissolved in 1846.
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
Giovanni de ‘Medici was the second son of Lorenzo “the Magnificent” de’Medici, ruler of the Florentine Republic. As was customary for second sons, Giovanni was groomed for a career in the church. His father was one of the great patrons of the Italian Renaissance and very adept at the very volatile politics of late medieval Italy. While playing the part of the first citizen, he gained for his family near royal powers, prestige and riches. Much of that power came from the family business, running one of the major banks in Europe. Giovanni thus received one of the finest educations of his time and became a lover of the finer things of life — especially the arts and hunting. Think of father and son as princes of the type described by the father of political political science — Niccolò Machiavelli — who grew up to be a Florentine diplomat and a lieutenant of the Medici family .
He was consecrated a Deacon and a Cardinal at age 13, although not allowed to function as a Cardinal until he was of age. He studied theology and canon law at the University of Pisa from 1489 to 1491. In 1492 he joined the College of Cardinals, but had to move back to Florence at the death of his father. In 1494, when politics in Florence turned against the Medicis, he went into exile, traveling throughout Europe until 1500 when he moved to Rome. When his older brother Piero died, he became the head of the Medici family. In 1512, when his younger brother regained Medici rule in Florence, Giovanni was the actual power behind the throne. The rest of his life, he would leverage family power to promote his relatives in gaining control throughout Italy.
In 1513, Giovanni was elected pope, even though he was not a priest. In the following days, he was first ordained, then consecrated a bishop and then coronated as Pope Leo X. As a pope, he was a relatively moral shepherd. He spend his own, his family’s and the papacy’s money on turning Rome into the center of the Renaissance for his time. He commissioned one of his father’s clients — Michelangelo — to paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling in St. Peter’s Basilica. He skillfully played France and Spain off against each other, maintaining a percarious balance that kept Italy relatively free of war during his reign.
However, he is remembered chiefly for underestimating Martin Luther and the thirst for reform in Western Christendom. During the critical years in which the Reformation took root, he first thought of it as a squabble between the rival monastic orders — Luther’s Augustinians and Eck’s Dominicans. He was not concerned (until 1520!) about most of the issues raised by Luther. He alternately tried humoring him, getting his superiors in the order and his prince to rein him in and issuing dire threats. The one sticking point for him goes to his nature as a Medici — Papal authority which Luther’s theology threatened. His last card he played on June 15 — the bull Exsurge Domine.
Five Hundred years ago, Martin Luther completed his Treatise on Good Works, explaining several of the key insights of Lutheran theology. It went to the printers sometime from the middle to the end of May 1520 and was in the hands of Philip Melanchthon by June 8. Originally, the reformer intended it to be a sermon for his Wittenberg parish, but grew into a little book at the urging of his prince, Frederick the Wise through his secretary, Georg Spalatin, Luther’s good friend.
Luther feared that, as much as he had already published, it would not be read. He was very much mistaken. It was reprinted eight times by December 1520 and six more times in 1521. Before long it was translated into Latin. very quickly it appeared in English, French, Dutch, and Low German. This treatise has received very little attention, given that, very shortly after it was published, Luther produced a work that denied the Pope was the vicar of Christ, followed by others that taught all Christians were priests and had a leadership role in the church, that there were only two, or maybe three, sacraments and that Christians were at the same time free and subject to no one, but slaves of all, subject to all.
In this work, Luther explains that salvation and faith are not earned by good works, but that good works flow from salvation and faith. Because Christians naturally love God and want to please him, they do good works without giving them a second thought. No work done apart from faith is truly good. And for a Christian, living in the vocation that God has given to him or her, everything they do is truly a good work.
Martin Luther also redefined in this treatise what “Good Works” actually were. In the Middle Ages, good works came to mean religious actions such as attending mass, making pilgrimages to holy sites, prayers, purchase of indulgences, pledging to God that you would remain celibate and a host of other spiritual exercises. Dr. Luther explains that none of these things that were recommended by the church, impressive in the eyes of people as they were, are not good works at all. At best, they distracted from performing true good works — those commanded by God.
The Treatise on Good Works took the form of an extended commentary on the Ten Commandments. Many of Luther’s observations in it will sound very familiar to Lutherans — Dr. Luther would repeat many of them a decade later in his Large and Small Catechisms.
One comment the reformer made sounds strange to Lutheran ears. He teaches that faith is the first and greatest work a Christian does. In it are all other works. Theologian Norman Nagel used to explain that early on “Luther was not a Lutheran. the goose is in the oven, but he is not quite cooked yet.” And so it was. Luther and his friends would soon come to understand faith as purely a gift of God, created in the heart of believers by the Holy Spirit when he saves them in the waters of Holy Baptism and by the power of his word. Faith, we now believe is a Christian’s trust in God to keep his promises.
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
I am delighted to announce another regular contributor will be joining our blog. Rev. Jason M. Kaspar was a fieldworker and vicar at my home parish while he was at seminary. I believe you all will enjoy having another voice to speak about things Lutheran. Here is his bio, which is also at the blog site, linked to the “About What Does this Mean? page.
I am a Confessional Lutheran Pastor, a member of the Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod (LCMS). I was born in Houston, TX. I grew up, the son of a Lutheran teacher. We were always on the move. I lived in 12 cities and towns in the states of TX, KS, MO, MI, MS, and CO. I was a member of 11 LCMS congregations before attending the seminary.
I studied music education at Concordia (University) Ann Arbor, MI and voice performance at Colorado Mesa University, Grand Junction, CO. I served as a cantor, choir director, and vocal coach at multiple congregations in the LCMS alongside my careers including mover, CDL driver, sign installer, and oil field cementing and fracturing lab tech.
Currently, I serve as Sole Pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool, La Grange, Texas. I was ordained on June 16, 2019 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Battle Creek, Michigan and installed at Mt. Calvary on July 31, 2019. I am a product of the Alternate Route ordination program at Concordia Theological Seminary and revel in the service opportunities the Lord has granted me at this stage of life.
I am also blessed by the Lord by his allowance for me to participate in a local congregational mission plant in Bastrop, TX. There are three other LCMS pastors from my circuit participating in the mission plant from Smithville, Warda, and Winchester. The four of us rotate duties weekly at Epiphany Lutheran Church of Bastrop, TX, which meets at the 7th Day Adventist Church of Bastrop on Sundays at 11:30 am. Since we all 9 am churches, this minimally impacts our current calls. The impact on Epiphany is highly beneficial. She began meeting together for the Divine Service with the Lord’s Supper every Sunday on February 6th, 2022, inexpensively renting space and local pastors as well.
My doubly great grandfather, Rev. Jacob Kaspar, was a Lutheran pioneer missionary pastor from Switzerland to central Texas, serving from 1867-1900. The first church he planted in Freyburg, TX is 12 miles south of us. All three of his calls are less than 80 miles from my current congregation. He rests in Christ at Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church (LCMS) in Anderson, TX. My maternal grandfather is Rev. Melvin R. Boehlke, retired from Bethany Lutheran, Huston, TX. He also served Prince of Peace Lutheran, Belton, TX before receiving his eternal reward.
I’m an avid shooter and an aspiring hunter and fisherman. I’m and experienced cook, enjoying the new culinary frontiers in Central Texas. We recently discovered that the Kaspars are related by my paternal great grandmother and her mother to the Texas Wendish Lutheran immigrants to Serbin, TX of 1854. My doubly great grandmother, Marie Magdalena (Moerbe) Werner was born in 1856 in Serbin, TX, in the second year of the original settlement of Texas Wendish Lutherans. That’s a significant, unknown familial connection to the origin of the Texas district and the Lutheran churches of Fayette, Bastrop, and Lee Counties.
My lovely wife, Mandy, and I were married in 2006 and are enjoying our new lives in Texas.
Rev. Jason M. Kaspar Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool La Grange, TX
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
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
Program note: As I published this morning’s post, it all of a sudden occurred to me that many of my friends may be unaware of my one published hymn on the subject of forgiving a neighbor his sins. (Call me a one hymn wonder!) So, I’ve put the hymn on the blog site in case you are interested. It is “Remember Christ Our Savior.” Feel free to use it or forget you ever saw it.
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
