Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Trinity - Isa 6:1-7

                                                                                    Trinity

                                                                                    Isa 6:1-7

                                                                                    6/7/20

           

            As we looked around this week, it was hard to avoid the impression that we are living in troubled times.  The pandemic continues to disrupt life as we live with various restrictions placed by the state governor.  Perhaps worse than the virus itself has been the way it has polarized people with respect to the government and one another.  Certainly the economic devastation caused by the shut down of stores and businesses only grows.

            And then on top of that, we have seen rioting and looting in the cities of our nation.  A cruel act of murder – condemned by all because it was obviously so unjust – has been used as justification to riot, loot, beat bystanders and set fire to buildings.  And in a bizarre turn of events city officials have ordered police not to do the very thing Romans chapter 13 says a government is supposed to do – restrain sin and maintain order.

            But troubled times are nothing new.  In fact, in a fallen world they are always going to be a regular occurrence.  We find evidence of this in our Old Testament lesson for the Feast of the Holy Trinity.  Isaiah begins our text by saying:  “In the year that King Uzziah died.”  Uzziah had ruled in the southern kingdom of Judah for around forty years until his death in 742 B.C.  The impact of his death was compounded by the fact that four years earlier the king of the northern kingdom of Israel, Jereboam II, had also died.  Now normally that would no big a deal, because the kings in the northern kingdom were getting killed all the time.  But Jereboam II had also ruled for around forty years. The stability provided by the long reigns of Uzziah and Jereboam II had created a time of trade and great prosperity. Things had been really good.

            But with the death of Uzziah all of that stability had come to an end.  And as if the internal uncertainty wasn’t problem enough, anyone paying attention to the international scene could see that a tremendous threat as coming.  Judah and Israel had been able to prosper because the superpowers on each side of them – Egypt and Assyria - had been divided and distracted.  Yet now the Assyrian leader Tiglath-pileser III had things on track, and he was looking to conquer.  He had just led a brief campaign in nearby Syria.  There was no doubt that he would be back with an army that Israel and Judah couldn’t hope to beat.

            It was in the midst of this situation that Yahweh called Isaiah to be a prophet.  Isaiah describes his call in our text today. He says, “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple.”  Apparently Isaiah had some kind of visionary experience in the temple.  He saw Yahweh sitting on a throne. God is often described as sitting on a throne in the Old Testament because he is the King – he is the ruler of his entire creation. The exalted character of God is indicated by the fact that he was high and lifted up, and train of his robe filled the temple.

            What was more, Yahweh was attended by the heavenly host. Six winged seraphim – angels – were above Yahweh.  They flew and called out to each other, “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”  They declared that Yahweh, the ruler of the heavenly armies, is the most holy One. There is no one and nothing who can compare with him.  Indeed, his glory fills the earth.

            Isaiah found himself before the Creator of the universe. The King was seated on his throne, attended by his angels who proclaimed the ultimate character of his holiness.  And Isaiah tells us that, “the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke.”

            Isaiah was overwhelmed by the experience.  However, we need to pay attention to why he was overwhelmed. It was not fear because he the creature was standing in front of God the Creator.  Instead he said, “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!” What struck Isaiah was his uncleanness – the fact he was not holy. 

            Standing in the presence of the holy, holy, holy God – the very most holy God – made Isaiah painfully aware of his own sinfulness.  He knew that he did not belong there - that he could not be there. This experience of the holy God in his call certainly made a great impression on Isaiah.  Within the Book of Isaiah, the prophet refers to Yahweh as the “holy One” twenty six times, while this phrase occurs only six times in all the rest of the Old Testament.

            As we hear about Isaiah’s experience and reaction to it, we must recognize that what he expresses is true for every one of us.  God is holy – the most holy One – the One who is completely set apart.  We on the other hand are sinners like Isaiah.  We are fallen people who have no business being in the presence of the holy God.  We are people who put own interests before God. We come first, and God comes second … or maybe sometimes even third.  We are people who embrace anger and hate. We are people who lust and covet.

            Isaiah was completely undone as he stood before the holy God and perceived his own sin.  He said ““Woe is me! For I am lost.”  But then Yahweh did something to allow Isaiah to stand before him.  The prophet writes, “Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: ‘Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.’” 

            Today we are celebrating the Feast of the Holy Trinity. The reason we are celebrating the Holy Trinity – the reason we know about the Holy Trinity – is because God acted to take away our guilt and atone for our sin.  He acted in a way that was a fulfillment of all the sacrifice and atonement provided to his people in the Old Testament.

            In the Old Testament there is one central fact that God reveals about himself.  Moses announced to the people, "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.”  Israel knew that Yahweh was one.  There was only one true God.  The nations around them had many different gods. But these were all false gods. They were nothing.  There was only one true God, Yahweh the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

            But in order to give forgiveness and salvation to all people, God acted in a way that revealed new knowledge about himself.  St. Paul told the Galatians, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.”  When the fullness of time arrived – when the exact moment in history willed by God was present – God sent forth his Son.  He sent forth his Son to be conceived in the virgin Mary by the work of the Holy Spirit.

            The Father sent the Son to be the atoning sacrifice for sin. And at the moment when Jesus Christ took on the role of being the suffering Servant – the one who would be the sin offering for all – the Father, the Son and the Spirit were all revealed. At his baptism, Jesus the Son stepped into this role.  As he did so the Father said, “This is my beloved Son with whom I am well pleased,” and the Spirit descended upon Jesus like a dove.

             It is the incarnation of the Son of God that has revealed God’s triune nature to us.  God is one.  There is only one God. Yet we have learned that the Father has sent forth the Son, as he was incarnate by the work of the Holy Spirit.  Through the incarnation, God has revealed more about himself.  God is one, but he is not just one. There is a complexity within the unity of God.

            The Father sent the Son to die on the cross as the atoning sacrifice for our sin.  Paul told the Romans that we are “justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” 

            Jesus died as the sacrifice for our sins.  He received the judgment we deserved.  And then he was buried. But on the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead.  This too was a work of the triune God, for the Father raised the incarnate Son through the work of the Holy Spirit.

            The Scriptures teach us that there is only one God.  But through the saving action of the incarnation God has revealed that the one God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  We learn that the Father is true God. The Son is true God. The Holy Spirit is true God.  And yet there is only One God. God is God, and we are not. The how of this blows our minds. As St. Paul exclaims in the epistle lesson, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

            And while we certainly cannot understand the how of the Holy Trinity, we must never lost sight of why we know about it.  We know about the Trinity because of God’s love for us. God’s action to save us through Jesus Christ, the incarnate Son of God, has revealed the triune nature of God.  Our knowledge of the Trinity bears witness to God’s love for us.

            The apostle John wrote, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

            God loved us and acted to give us forgiveness and salvation. That’s why we know about the Holy Trinity. That’s what the Holy Trinity tells us about God. And as the children of God, this love can’t stop there.  John goes on to say, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” The love of God revealed in the Trinity has been given to us through the work of the Spirit. And now the Spirit prompts us live and act in love towards one another.

            God’s saving love in Christ has been given to all people – including you. And so now this love of God that we share is also directed towards all people.  Our actions prompted by God’s love have no limitations or boundaries – neither the color of a person’s skin nor their economic status.  In fact, this love is not even limited by whether others are nice to us.  For the Lord Jesus said, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven.”

            On this Feast of the Holy Trinity we ponder the mystery of our one God who is three persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Yet while we cannot understand how God is three and one and the same time, there is no doubt about why we have this knowledge. It is because of God’s love for us. It was love that prompted the Father to send forth the Son to be incarnate by the work of the Holy Spirit. It was love the led Jesus Christ to offer himself as the sacrifice to give us forgiveness and salvation.  It was love that caused the Father to raise up Jesus through the work of the Spirit, and begin the resurrection that will be ours on the Last Day.  And it is God’s love that has now been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us – love that we share with others through what we do and say.

    

    

             

             

             

Pentecost Tuesday

During the octave (the eight days) in which we celebrate the Feast of Pentecost, today is Pentecost Tuesday.  We continue to rejoice in the gift of the Holy Spirit, whom Christ poured out upon the Church on Pentecost.  The text for today tells of how the Spirit dramatically showed that the Gospel was to be preached to non-Jews in Palestine - the Samaritans.

Scripture reading:

 Now when the apostles at Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent to them Peter and John, who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit, for he had not yet fallen on any of them, but they had only been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then they laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14-17).

Collect of the Day:

Almighty and ever-living God, You fulfilled Your promise by sending the gift of the Holy Spirit to unite the disciples of all nations in the cross and resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  By the preaching of the Gospel spread this gift to the ends of the earth; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Sermon for the Feast of Pentecost - Acts 2:1-21

                                                                                                Pentecost

                                                                                                Acts 2:1-21

                                                                                                5/31/20

            “I baptize you with water, but he who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire.”

            This was John the Baptist’s preaching as he was in the midst of his ministry.  It was certainly a message that had a “fire and brimstone” feel. And this was for good reason, because John declared that the coming one would bring God’s end time judgment. However, he also proclaimed that this one would baptize with the Holy Spirit, and based on what the Old Testament prophets had said this could only mean the end time salvation from God.

            John the Baptist was so right.  But his location in time meant that he could not understand how he and why he was right.  During the forty days that Jesus was with the apostles after his resurrection he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

            Jesus promised that they would be baptized by the Holy Spirit.  He said this was important, for in this way they would be “clothed with power from on high.” And this power had a purpose. The Lord said in Acts chapter one before his ascension: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 

            It had been ten days since Jesus had spoken those words. For ten days the disciples had been waiting for this to happen. Then, when the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. Suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting.  Divided tongues as of fire appeared 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 thte ability.

            It was the fulfillment of John the Baptist’s words – just not in the way he expected.  The Spirit was poured out and there were flames.  But the flames were not a destroying fire of judgment.  Instead they accompanied the outpouring of the Spirit who enabled the disciples to proclaim what God had done in Christ in many different languages.

            There were faithful Jews from all over the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world living in Jerusalem. As they heard the sound of the apostles speaking they were drawn to the location. They were amazed that these Galileans, who as far as they were concerned were from a rather backward part of the world as far as they were concerned, were speaking in their own languages. It was such striking thing, that some mocked saying, “They are filled with new wine” … they are drunk.

            But Peter addressed the crowd and brushed aside the accusation.  It was absurd, since after all, it was only nine in the morning.  Instead, something amazing was happening. He said, “But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.’”

            Peter declared that God had poured out his Spirit in fulfillment of what he had said through the prophet Joel.  This meant that they were living in the last days – the end times of God’s work to bring salvation and judgment.  God had given his Spirit so that his people could prophesy – so that they could speak his word.

            Today we are celebrating the Feast of Pentecost.  Naturally Pentecost makes us think about God’s gift of the Holy Spirit. Yet Peter’s sermon goes on to make it clear that the Spirit was given on Pentecost because of what God has done in Jesus Christ.    His sermon goes right for the jugular as the apostle directs a nuclear strike of law.  He said, "Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know-- this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.”

            This law strikes us no less than they.  We too crucified and killed the holy One by the hands of lawless men.  It was our sin that caused Jesus to go to the cross. It was the Father’s plan to save us.  But for our sins to be forgiven, Jesus the Son of God had to take our sins as his own.  He had to take our place in receiving God’s judgment.  That’s what happened on Good Friday as Jesus suffered and died for your every angry word; your every covetous thought; your every action that puts God second in your life.

            On Good Friday, Jesus dead body was buried in a tomb. However the events of Pentecost were happening because Jesus did not stay there. Peter declared: “God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it,” and he added that he and the apostles were all witnesses that God had done this.

            Ten days ago we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord.  Peter referred to this event as he went on to say, “Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”  Jesus Christ has not only been raised from the dead.  He has been exalted to the right hand of God in the ascension, and as the exalted One he has poured out His Spirit upon the church.

            Peter concluded his sermon by saying, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” The people were cut to hear and asked, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter told them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” 

            Pentecost was an event that happened ten days after Jesus ascended into heaven.  But its meaning did not stop there because the Spirit’s work did not stop that day.  Instead, Pentecost was the beginning of the Spirit’s work in these last days that started in by the Son of God’s incarnation life, death and resurrection.

            You have received the forgiveness of sins through Holy Baptism.  And in that baptism you received the Holy Spirit.  St. Paul wrote in Titus chapter three that God “saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior.” Paul says that God poured out the Spirit on us in baptism. In fact, he uses the exact same Greek verb found in the verse from the prophet Joel quoted by Peter: “I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh.”

            You have received the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Now the primary purpose of this, as described in the book of Acts, is to empower the speaking of the Gospel.  Jesus told the disciples that through the Spirit they would receive power to be his witnesses. 

            This remains a central work of the Spirit in our lives, and we must ask whether we are embracing it. Do we see being a witness for Jesus Christ to be an important part of our life?  If we don’t, then we need to ponder whether we are ignoring and squandering the Spirit’s work within us.  After his resurrection Jesus said, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.”  You have received the Holy Spirit to empower your part in this work as it now takes place in Marion, Carterville or wherever you live.

            And at the same time, the gift of the Spirit is not only about the work of witnessing.  Immediately after the Pentecost account, we hear a description of the early church in Jerusalem.  Luke tells us: “And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.”  This is a description of what it means for the Church to have received the Spirit. 

            We are to be people who are devoted to the apostles’ teaching.  Those who have received the Spirit want to listen to what the Spirit says in the Scriptures. They want to study God’s Word for there we have the apostles’ teaching – a teaching that gives the blessing of salvation, and guides us as we live as the people of God.

            We are to be committed to receiving the Sacrament of the Altar.  The Spirit who has made us a new creation in Christ – who has created the new man within us – continues to feed the new man through food of the true body and blood of Christ.

            As we each receive the body and blood of Christ, we are joined together as the Body of Christ. We are united in communion – in the fellowship of Christ’s body.  But this fellowship is not something that merely exists at an altar in church.  Jointed together as the Body of Christ, we are led by the Spirit to love and support one another out in the world. We care for each other; encourage each other; love each other because we have received the Holy Spirit.

            And finally, the gift of the Spirit enables us to dedicate ourselves to prayer.  If we are to pray, we need to know what to pray about. This again means that we see our lives as part of the fellowship created by the Spirit in Christ.  We seek to know what is happening in the lives of our fellow believers – their struggles; their sorrows; their challenges; their joys.  And we then take these up in prayer as we go to our heavenly Father in the name of his Son.  Those who have received the gift of the Spirit are enabled to take up this Christian service on behalf of others.

            At Pentecost, John the Baptist’s words were fulfilled in a way he did not expect.  And yet at the same time, Pentecost reminds us that they will yet be fulfilled exactly as he expected. It is the ascended Lord who poured forth the Spirit. And the Lord who has ascended will return in glory.

            The Lord Jesus is the coming One who will sit in judgment and unleash eternal punishment on those who have rejected him and his forgiveness as they remained in their own sin. And at the same time the Spirit he has given to believers is the means by which we will be raised and share in Christ’s resurrection.    St. Paul told the Romans, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.” The Holy Spirit empowers and leads us to live as God’s people in these last days. We live in hope as we eagerly await the Lord’s return when by the Spirit he will raise us up on the Last Day.   

           

           

              

           

             

           

             

           

Sermon for the Seventh Sunday of Easter - Exaudi - Jn 15:26-16:4

                                                                                                Easter 7

                                                                                                Jn 15:26-16:4

                                                                                                5/24/20

            As I have watched my children advance through school in math, I have been reminded about how much learning you take for granted – about how many pieces must be put in place before you can do more advanced work. There is the need to learn addition and subtraction, and then these operations with multiple digits. One must learn the multiplication tables, and then learn division, and then learn to do these with multiple digits.  There are fractions and decimals. There is geometry and algebra.  It takes years to advance through these stages, and until you have completed the earlier learning you are not capable of handling what comes later.  Until a person has been prepared, they are not capable of learning the new information.

            This same basic truth describes what is happening in Jesus’ discussion with the disciples in our text today day. The Gospel lesson for a number of the Sundays of Easter comes from John chapters fifteen and sixteen. This material is often called the “Farewell Discourse.” It was spoken as Jesus and the disciples were making their way to the Garden of Gethsemane, and the general tone of it is one of farewell because Jesus talks about how he will be leaving to return to the Father.

            Our Lord recognizes the disciples’ current state of learning and preparation.  He says in chapter sixteen: “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” The disciples weren’t ready for more. They couldn’t handle it. And so Jesus talks about what is going to happen in the future.  He talks about a time when he will send the Holy Spirit, the Helper. Jesus says at the beginning of our text, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

            Our Lord says that he will send the Spirit of truth from the Father – the Spirit who proceeds from the Father. Immediately after our text Jesus says that his approaching departure from the disciples is in fact a good thing for them.  He says, “Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

            On Thursday we celebrated the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord. Our Lord was exalted as he departed in the ascension and was seated at the right hand of God.  We may wonder why it is that Jesus must depart in order for him to send the Spirit.  God’s Word provides us with no explicit explanation.  We are simply told that this is how God works.

            Of course before he departed Jesus had work to do.  Last week we heard how Jesus alluded to his own crucifixion by talking about Moses and the bronze serpent on a pole.  He said, “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.”  

            Earlier in the Gospel Jesus had said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.”  Jesus had come to be lifted up on the cross as the sacrifice for sin. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

            By his death he has taken away your sin.  He has freed you from slavery.  Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

            We like to think of ourselves as being independent and self-sufficient.  We can take care of things, and we can do it on our own terms. But this is the lie of the devil.  For when it comes to our standing before the holy God everything we think, do, and say has been infected by sin.  It’s not just that we do things that are wrong. Even when we do things that are right, we do them with mixed motives. Sin permeates these things too and so in God’s eyes all our good works are as filthy rags.

            Yet by his death on the cross, Jesus Christ has won forgiveness.  And then on the third day God raised Jesus from the dead.  Because of Jesus, death has been defeated.  Those who believe in Jesus have forgiveness and eternal life now.  And Jesus will share his resurrection with all who believe in him.  Our Lord said, “For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”

            This is the Gospel.  But for people to believe the Gospel it must be shared with them.  And so Jesus says in our text, “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.”

            The apostles had accompanied Jesus during his ministry. They had heard his teaching. They had seen his miracles – his signs that he performed. Most importantly they would meet the risen Lord as he demonstrated to them again and again in unmistakable ways that the One who had been crucified was now alive.

            This section of John’s Gospel speaks about what the Spirit will do.  It becomes clear that the apostles will be the means by which the Spirit will work.  Earlier the Lord said, “And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me. These things I have spoken to you while I am still with you. 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.”

            Jesus promises that the Spirit will teach the disciples all things and bring to their remembrance what Jesus has said.  And then after our text the Lord goes on to say, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 

He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.”

            The Spirit takes what belongs to Jesus – the saving work he has accomplished for us – and he makes it known to the disciples.  The Spirit is the One who enabled the apostles to bear witness to Jesus, both in speaking to others and in what they wrote.

            The Spirit borne witness continues in our midst today through the Scriptures the Spirit has inspired. After his first miracle that Jesus performed at the wedding at Cana in which he turned water into wine, John tells us, “This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.” Then at the end of the Gospel John writes, “Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 

but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

            We see the signs that call us to faith and sustain us in faith through the witness the Spirit has given us in Scripture.  It is there that we encounter the Spirit’s work through the apostles of bringing to remembrance what Jesus said and making know what belongs to Jesus. Through these Spirit breathed words we now believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and so have life in his name.

            And it is through these words – this witness – that the Spirit enables us to face the challenge that Jesus describes in our text.  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. And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me.” 

            Because of the work of the Spirit you are different from the world.  You have been born again of water and the Spirit in Holy Baptism.  Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him.” The Father has drawn you to faith in Christ through the work of the Spirit. Earlier in chapter fifteen Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.”

            The world is on the side of Satan, sin, and death.  But the good news of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ has freed you from this.  By his death and resurrection he has conquered them all. And he has sent the Spirit to give this victory to us through faith. Through the inspired witness of the Scriptures the Spirit continues to make known Jesus’ saving work to us.  He has called us to faith.  He has given us rebirth in baptism. Because of the Spirit of truth we now recognize the lie that Satan tells.  And instead we believe in Jesus who is the way, the truth and the life.

           

  

Sermon for the Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord - Lk 24:44-53

                                                                                                Ascension

                                                                                                Lk 24:44-53

                                                                                                5/21/20

            Luke is the only Gospel writer who gives us a literary introduction to his work.  He begins by acknowledging that “many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things that have been accomplished among us.”  He adds that the things reported about Jesus in these writings are “just as those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word have delivered them to us.”  And then he adds: “it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”

            Luke tells us that the eyewitnesses who had become ministers of the word – the apostles – had delivered Jesus’ words and deeds.  Luke himself had been able to look into these things closely and provide a well ordered account – an account that begins at the beginning with the incarnation of the Son of God.  He wrote the Gospel so that Theophilus would have certainty about the things he had been taught concerning Jesus.

            Luke is also unique, in that his Gospel is only the first volume of a two volume set.  He continues on to write a literary introduction to the Book of Acts in which he says, “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”

            The ascension of Jesus Christ serves as the “hinge” which joins together the Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts. And indeed, as we hear in our Scripture lessons tonight, Luke narrates an account of the ascension in the last chapter of the Gospel and in the first chapter of Acts. The Gospel tells us about the ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus.  The Book of Acts, tells about how the Holy Spirit poured out on Pentecost enabled the church to bear witness to Christ in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth, just as Jesus had said they would.

            However, the ascension of Jesus is about more than just his leaving so that the Holy Spirit can do his work. And the work of the Spirit in Acts is about more than just making disciples now that Jesus is gone

            We first hear about the work of the Spirit in relation to Jesus in the Gabriel’s annunciation to Mary.  In response to her question about how she would conceive a child since she was a virgin, Gabriel said, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy--the Son of God.”

            Jesus Christ, conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of the virgin Mary was the incarnate Son of God – true God and true man.  His ministry began as he was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. When he had been baptized, as Jesus was praying, the heavens were opened,  and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form, like a dove; and a voice came from heaven, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased.”

            We might wonder why the One conceived by the work of the Spirit now has the Spirit descend on him.  But it soon becomes clear that this has been integral to Jesus’ saving work.  Luke tells us that after his temptation, “Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and a report about him went out through all the surrounding country.” The Holy Spirit empowers Jesus in the saving work given to him by the Father.

            Then at Nazareth Jesus takes up the scroll of Isaiah and reads these words: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.” And then Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

            Jesus Christ, conceived by the Spirit and anointed by the Spirit had come to free those who were oppressed by sin and death.  He came to free you from the sin and guilt for all the angry words you have spoken to family and friends.  He came to free you from the sin of lust and coveting that continually bubbles up from your heart.  He came to free you from the fear of death – death by virus; death by cancer; death by accident.

            On Good Friday, Jesus was numbered with the transgressors as he hung upon the cross. The One who had been anointed by the Spirit fulfilled the mission given to him by the Father by dying. He suffered and died as the sacrifice for our sins.  He received God’s judgment so that we never will.  Instead we receive forgiveness.

            The Old Testament had said that anyone who was hung upon a tree was cursed by God. Dead and buried, everything looked so clear.  Jesus has been a false Messiah – a false Christ.  He had in fact been cursed by God, and that was the end of it.

            But this was exactly what Jesus had told the disciples would happen. And he had told them that on the third day he would be raised.  On Easter, God raised Jesus from the dead.  And on that evening he appeared inside the locked room and showed the disciples that he was alive – that he had risen from the dead.  As we learn in our text he said, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”

              Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 

and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

            Jesus said that all which was necessary had been fulfilled.  And now repentance and forgiveness of sins was to be proclaimed in his name to all nations. The disciples were the witnesses who would carry this out. But Jesus said that first they needed to receive the One promised by the Father. They needed to wait in Jerusalem until they had been clothed with power from on high.

            Next we hear in our text:  “Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple blessing God.”

            In his ascension, Jesus withdrew his visible presence. And to us that doesn’t seem to make much sense to us. Before he ascended, he told the disciples they would be his witnesses.  But first they needed to receive power from on high.  We know, of course, that this empowerment took place on the day of Pentecost as the Holy Spirit was poured out upon them.

            On that day, Peter preached a powerful sermon.  He spoke about how the Jews had killed Jesus.  And then he said, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

            Peter announced that Jesus Christ had been exalted in the ascension – that he was now at the right hand of God.  As the exalted Lord he had received the Spirit – he was experiencing a new aspect of the Spirit’s work, for now it was he who had poured out the Spirit upon his Church. And so Peter could declare, “Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

            The ascension is the exaltation of our Lord.  Jesus Christ gave himself into death on a cross for us.  He was hung on a tree. He was indeed cursed by God – cut off so that we never will be.  But in the resurrection and then in the ascension, God has vindicated and exalted Jesus. He has declared to all that the cross was Jesus’ saving work for us.  And he has exalted Jesus as the Lord – true God and true man – who pours forth the Spirit.

            The ascension is the withdrawal of Jesus’ visible presence. But this is not the absence of the risen Lord.  Instead it is the exaltation of Jesus so that he can give the gift of the Spirit by whom Christ is present with us in power to give faith and the forgiveness of sins. Because Jesus has been exalted in the ascension and has poured out the Spirit, he is the Lord who is present with us everywhere the Spirit is at work.  The Spirit of Christ is the risen Lord present and giving salvation to us.

            The ascension of our Lord Jesus is the definitive declaration of his victory.  It shows that the Lord defeated death by passing through it and then rising from the dead.  But it also declares that we too will share in Jesus’ resurrection because the Lord who has ascended will return in glory on the Last Day. In our second reading, Luke’s account in Acts, we learn that two angels said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

            The ascension tells us that risen and exalted Lord will return on the Last Day to give us a share in his resurrection. We have the living hope of the resurrection.  We also have the expectant hope of Christ’s return to raise the dead and renew creation.  And so we fervently pray: “Come Lord Jesus!”