1 May 2022 - Easter 3 - John 21:1-19

We are all familiar with the boastful statement that Peter made, soon before Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, that he would never fall away or deny Jesus. And we know, of course, that Jesus then told Peter that he would in fact deny him three times before the rooster crowed. And that is what happened.

This story illustrates the personal pride of Peter at this point in his life. But it also serves to demonstrate how insensitive Peter was to the feelings of others, and how easy it was for him to stumble into offending his fellow disciples.

As we read about it in St. Matthew’s Gospel, Peter said on that occasion, with reference to the other disciples: “Though they all fall away because of you, I will never fall away.” Why did he feel the need to put them down, and belittle their loyalty and love for Christ, in order to exalt himself?

I’m sure the other disciples didn’t appreciate that gratuitous, insulting remark. They probably wished at that moment that Peter would just buzz off, and leave them alone, if he thought he was so superior to them.

Jesus, of course, had a different plan for Peter, and for Peter’s relationship with the other disciples. He said this to Peter:

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.”

Peter’s sin was typical of human sin in general. It was much like our sins - the ones we commit every day, in our pride.

Like Peter’s sin, our sins usually start out as very self-centered and personal. But then they branch out, and cause pain to those around us.

The people we are actually supposed to be serving and helping according to our callings - in our family, in our place of study or work, and in our church - are more often than not the primary recipients of this grief. We’re like inattentive children: twirling, dancing, and running around in play; bumping into people and knocking things over; without realizing what kind of stress and disruption we’re causing.

Peter, as the leader among Jesus’ followers, was supposed to be strengthening his brothers in their faith, and guiding them through this time of trial by reminding them of Jesus’ teachings and promises. But instead, he was insulting the other disciples, and casting aspersions on their faithfulness.

As we know, Peter was indeed overcome by fear during the trial of Jesus. And when his empty bluster gave way to the real possibility - in his mind - that he, too, might be arrested and crucified together with his Master, Peter did what he claimed he would never do. He denied that he knew his Savior.

When he then reflected on what he had done, Peter wept bitterly. He was deeply ashamed and profoundly embarrassed at every level.

He had betrayed his Lord. He had betrayed his friends. He had betrayed his own manhood and self-respect. He could barely live with himself.

But I say “barely,” because Peter did not descend into the kind of despair that prompted Judas to take his own life - after he, too, had betrayed Jesus in his own way. Judas’s despair was actually a manifestation of his continuing pride.

He killed himself, in part, because he was too proud to face the other disciples after what he had done. He was too proud to endure the disdain and disapproval that he expected to receive from them.

In his misguided and blinding pride, suicide was seen as a way of avoiding the embarrassment of having to admit his fault, and of undergoing the humiliation that this admission would entail. And so, in taking his own life, Judas removed himself from having to go through this kind of uncomfortable encounter with his former friends.

It probably never crossed his mind, but sadly, he also thereby removed himself from the chance to know and experience their forgiveness - and through them, his Savior’s forgiveness.

When we sin against God and against our neighbor, and when we then come to a point of realizing what fools we have made of ourselves before others, we - because of our pride - are also tempted to try to find a way of escape like this.

We don’t take our own lives, but we do things that would have the same effect: as far as our embarrassment before others is concerned.

In our shame over having offended and hurt family members, we might avoid spending time with those family members, so that we won’t have to experience their disappointment with us. In our remorse over having caused disruptions in a church, perhaps we stop going, and either stay home, or switch to another church.

At times like this, we feel bad enough as it is. We don’t want those whom we have hurt, and whom we expect to be angry with us, to make us feel even worse.

We want to forget about the shameful things we have done, and put those things out of our minds. And so we might avoid the people and the places that would remind us of these sins, and that would dredge up those feelings of remorse all over again.

But Peter did not react in this way. After he came to a point of sorrow and deep regret over what he had said and done, he didn’t run and hide, and remain aloof from the other disciples.

He gathered once again with them, and in humility was willing to endure whatever criticisms and rebukes they would have been inclined to pour out on him. He knew that he would have deserved such criticisms and rebukes, and was willing to take it, no matter how bad it might make him feel.

In his penitence, Peter was no longer governed by pride - as Judas was, and as we often are in similar situations. Peter faced his former friends.

And as he did, he gave himself the opportunity to find out - much to his surprise, I would guess - that they were not his former friends at all! They were still his friends, even after the insulting remark he had made about them.

And as his friends - his friends in Christ - they forgave him, welcomed him back into their midst, and loved him as they had before.

Jesus also forgave Peter. The angel who spoke to the women at the tomb concerning the Lord’s resurrection on Easter morning, told them to make a special point of bringing this news specifically to Peter.

St. Mark reports these words of the angel: “Go, tell his disciples - and Peter - that he is going before you to Galilee.” The effect would have been, “Tell his disciples, and especially Peter.”

Peter especially needed to know that Jesus’ payment for all sin was indeed accepted by God the Father, and that his sin would therefore not be held against him. And the angel, under God’s direction, saw to it that Peter would be assured of this.

The Easter Gospel is such an absolution for us, too. Even when we have come to see how our sins have offended other people, so that we would feel embarrassed to be around them later on, we need to remember that it is God whom we have chiefly offended by our wrongful words and deeds.

We should feel embarrassed to be around him, even more so than around the people we have insulted and hurt. But of course, there’s no way to escape from God’s watchful gaze.

We’re stuck with our guilt and shame before him: until the message of Easter, and of everything that Easter means for humanity, is proclaimed to us.

At a very personal level, the resurrection of Jesus Christ means that God the Father accepted the sacrifice that his Son had offered for your sins: for your callous insults, your prideful boasting, your cowardly failures.

Christ’s rising to immortal life from a disgraceful death means that God has raised you up from your remorse and embarrassment; has welcomed you back into his fellowship; and has given you another chance. And when God welcomes a penitent sinner back into his fellowship - for the sake of Christ - the church of God does likewise.

As God’s people gather around his pardoning and justifying Word, and as they are permeated by his healing and restoring Word, they know that there is still a place among them for anyone and everyone who is sorry for his hurtful statements and foolish actions.

The other disciples knew that they needed to welcome Peter back into their apostolic circle. And our Christian friends today - who are animated by the same spirit of love and mercy - will welcome us back.

When we come before them, admitting our fault, and facing up to our shame, our faults will be forgiven in Christ. Our shame will be covered in Christ.

The righteousness of Christ covers over the unrighteousness of us all. And under that canopy of divine grace, our relationships with each other - as Christians - are defined by forgiveness and love.

We don’t cling to old animosities, harbor old grudges, or remember the wrongs that others have done to us. What God’s Word accomplishes - as it does its proper work among us - is the healing and restoring of broken relationships, and the strengthening and deepening of strained relationships.

Our resurrected Savior, as he lives among us and watches over us, does not drive wedges between us. That’s what sin does!

But Jesus and his gospel reverse this. Jesus brings us together. He allows us to forget past offenses. He allows us to remember instead his suffering and death for us all.

That’s what is going on when we in faith listen together to the Lord’s absolution, as this very personal message of forgiveness is proclaimed to us by the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.

That’s what is going on when we in faith receive together the Lord’s Supper, as our resurrection hope is nurtured by the resurrected body and blood of the Lamb of God, who grants us his peace.

In the healing power of the gospel, Peter was restored to the circle of apostles, who together were to be sent out as the first missionaries and pastors of the Christian church. He was restored to the ministry and office to which he had previously been called.

As Peter had denied Jesus three times, so too was he invited by Jesus - in today’s text from St. John’s Gospel - once again to embrace Jesus three times, and once again to embrace his calling as an apostle three times:

“When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Feed my lambs.’”

“He said to him a second time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ He said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.’ He said to him, ‘Tend my sheep.’”

“He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love me?’ Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ and he said to him, ‘Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Feed my sheep.’”

Note especially the first question that Jesus asked, and the answer that Peter gave to that first question: “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” This was a test.

Was Peter still going to boast of his own greater faithfulness, while disparaging and belittling the faithfulness of the other apostles? Was he going to insult his friends, as he had done before?

Peter’s answer shows that he was not going to speak in that way. As far as we can tell from the Scriptures, he never spoke in that way again for the rest of his life.

He said: “‘Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” Period. He didn’t say, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you more than they do.”

Instead, he simply confessed his own humble faith, and his own grateful love. He left a comparison to the other apostles completely out of his answer.

No more insults and put-downs. No more boasting. What we see now is a heart that has been chastened by the law of God, and a heart that has been re-created by the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Similar things happen among us, too. When we are forgiven, and restored to the fellowship of our Christian friends and relatives, we are also invited once again to serve them, according our callings, and in the Spirit of Christ.

As those who have been chastened because of our pride, and who have also been re-created in the image of Christ, we - like Peter - now serve once again in humility. In Christ, we don’t compare ourselves to others, and compare our work to the work of others, and then brag about the superiority of our service.

Instead, we keep our eyes on God’s Word, and on the calling God has given us. And in the power of Christ we serve as Christ served - in love, and according to the needs of our church, our family, and our world.

May God our Father, in his mercy, grant this to us, even as he granted this to Peter. May God’s Son, in his forgiving love, teach each of us the important lessons he taught to Peter. May God’s Spirit give to each of us - as he gave to Peter - a new beginning with God, and a new and humble heart. Amen.

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8 May 2022 - Easter 4 - Acts 20:17-35

In today’s Gospel from St. John, Jesus - as the shepherd of his flock - tells us with respect to his sheep:

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

These words are filled with goodness and hope. They promise the gift of eternal life to the Lord’s sheep.

They also promise that no one will be able to snatch these sheep away from their divine shepherd, or away from their heavenly Father, while they remain in this life.

Yet these comforting promises have a context. Within this context, these promises can be claimed and embraced. But outside of this context, these promises cannot be claimed and embraced.

And this is that context: “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

How can you know that you are in fact a sheep of the Lord, and that you can therefore be at peace in the promises that Jesus makes to his sheep? If you hear his voice, and if you follow him on the basis of hearing that voice.

It is therefore of crucial importance to be able to know how and where we can hear Jesus. But, sadly, there are many, many people who - in their confusion - do not know how and where they can find Jesus, so as hear him and follow him.

On one occasion, as recorded elsewhere in John’s Gospel, Jesus said to his religious opponents:

“You search the Scriptures, because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me. Yet you refuse to come to me, that you may have life.”

The voice of Christ can be heard in and through the sacred text of Scripture, as it is read, heard, and meditated upon. The words of Jesus that sound forth from the pages of the New Testament Gospels are especially powerful and probing.

In today’s reading from the Revelation to St. John - a book that is full of symbolic imagery - we heard:

“And all the angels were standing around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, ‘Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.’”

The church has always understood that John’s vision of these “four living creatures” symbolizes the four written Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And these Gospels are indeed alive - with the living voice our living Lord.

The Gospels are historically accurate, but they are more than mere books of history. The voice of our shepherd can be heard in them, and the comfort of the gospel can be received from them.

The liturgical custom of standing for the reading of the Gospel in the Divine Service testifies to our devout expectation that Jesus is mystically going to come among us, and speak to us, through the direct quotations from him that almost all Gospel readings include.

In the reading of the Gospel each Sunday, we are not only given religious instruction on important points of doctrine and morality - although that is a part of what we receive.

At a deeper level we hear, in a very personal way, the voice of our shepherd, as he corrects us with his law, and comforts us with his gospel. And in this hearing, we know ourselves truly to be his sheep.

It is, therefore, an insidious and devilish thing, that so many people in our time have been misled into thinking that the Gospels are full of myths and contradictions, and provide no reliable testimony to what Jesus did and said during his earthly ministry.

Nothing could be further from the truth! These inspired texts were written, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, either by eyewitnesses, or by authors who got their information from eyewitnesses.

Still, the lies that are told over and over again about the Scriptures - which are based on rationalist and materialist assumptions and not on objective and fair-minded scholarship - cause many to ignore the Bible, never to pick it up, and to dismiss it. And so, sadly, they are not able to hear the voice of the shepherd, to learn how to follow him, and to have the hope of eternal life.

In the church, however, God has provided not only the inspired Scriptures, through which we can hear Christ; but he has also provided spiritual overseers and teachers, who are called to preach publicly, and to administer the sacraments that Jesus left for his church, as stewards of those sacred mysteries.

These are our pastors. And it is important to remember that the word “pastor” means “shepherd.” The heavenly Good Shepherd speaks to us, and invites us to hear his voice, through the ministry of those human shepherds whom he authorizes to speak on his behalf to his church and to the world.

When a pastor, according to his office, faithfully reproduces, and applies to us, the warnings and promises of Scripture, it is not just that pastor we are hearing. We are hearing Jesus.

In St. Luke’s Gospel, Jesus said to those whom he was sending forth to speak in his name: “The one who hears you, hears me.” But immediately after this, Jesus also says: “and the one who rejects you, rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

Have you ever heard people say that they don’t have to be a part of an “organized religion,” or go to church to listen to a preacher, in order to be spiritual, and to have a relationship with God? Have you ever said or thought this yourself?

It needs to be noted that Jesus does not agree with this! When St. Paul asks the rhetorical question in First Corinthians, “Are all teachers?,” the correct answer is No. According to God’s design and pattern for those who truly believe in him, everyone is not his or her own teacher.

Jesus is actually the teacher of us all. And he teaches us through the Scriptures, and through the public office of teaching that he has established in his church.

It is not merely a human arrangement, that human shepherds are called to work and speak in the stead and by the command of the divine shepherd Jesus. This is a divine institution, which is implemented and put into place by the Holy Spirit.

In today’s lesson from the Book of Acts, St. Paul explains all this to the “elders” or shepherds of the church at Ephesus. First, he reminds them of his ministry, which was to serve as a model for them to follow:

“You yourselves know how I lived among you the whole time from the first day that I set foot in Asia, serving the Lord with all humility...; how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.”

And then Paul says, with respect to their ministry, and who it is who called them to it:

“I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God. Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.”

Neither the Ephesian elders, nor the pastors of our time, are to care for the church of God on the basis of their own clever ideas or their own imaginative religious theories. Holy Scripture, with which all Christians should be familiar, is the rule and norm for the kind of pastoral teaching that Christians are willing to submit to.

Christians have the right to be shown that what their pastors are telling them is Scriptural, and pastors have the obligation to demonstrate to Christians that their teaching is Scriptural. The authority of the public ministry is a real authority, but it is an authority that is under, and limited by, the supreme authority of the Bible.

Being a minister of the church does not nurture pride - or at least it is not supposed to. It is, rather, a very humbling thing, approached in the fear of God.

We are vocationally compelled by God’s call to represent him in a church that he has purchased with his own blood. The blood of the Lamb of God is indeed the blood of God himself.

Jesus says in today’s Gospel, “I and the Father are one.” We also remember the confession of St. Thomas, addressed to Jesus when he appeared to him on the Sunday following the first Easter: “My Lord and my God!”

The church does not belong to the clergy. And the church is not a playground for the clergy. Souls and consciences are at stake! C. S. Lewis once wrote:

“I wish they’d remember that the charge to Peter was, Feed my sheep, not, try experiments on my rats, or even teach my performing dogs new tricks.”

Shepherds in the church govern the church, by declaring to the sheep of God the whole counsel of God. And at the center of “the whole counsel of God” is the unsilenced voice of Christ, who speaks through his ministers - as his instruments and spokesmen - in preaching and teaching; in counseling and exhorting; in baptizing, in absolving, in consecrating, and in communing the Lord’s disciples.

When Jesus speaks to us in Scripture, and in the means of grace, we who know him as our shepherd recognize his voice, and follow him. Following Christ means believing that what he says is true, and that the direction and guidance he gives us is sound.

Following Christ means that we will be spiritually safe and under his protection, in the midst of the many dangers that threaten us in this world. Following Christ means that we will be ever growing in wisdom, and in morally-clear thinking, in the midst of all the foolishness that surrounds us in this world.

Following Christ means that by his Word and Spirit, he will bolster and renew our faith and confidence in him, in times of doubt and confusion. Following Christ means that we will learn how to live, and how to love as we live, as Jesus opens before us opportunities for fulfilled duties and compassionate service.

And following Christ - as we repent of our sins each day, and as we trust in his promises each day - means that we will know, each day, that we truly are a part of the flock of the Lord; and that our shepherd is leading us - in his forgiving and preserving grace - to eternal green pastures, to eternal still waters, to eternal life.

Jesus says:

“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Amen.

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15 May 2022 - Easter 5 - Acts 11:1-18

In the Great Commission that Jesus gave to his church before his ascension, he told his disciples that they were to bring his saving gospel to all people in all nations. He makes the same basic point in the three different forms that this Great Commission took - in Matthew, Mark, and Luke:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.”

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.”

“Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”

Jesus gave his disciples this commission in more than one way, because this was something that was really important to him. And he wanted to make sure his disciples got it.

And this was a new thing for Jews to hear, since previously - under the Old Testament dispensation - they were supposed to remain separate from the Gentile nations. So, the changes in thinking and in living that the Great Commission required would need to be emphasized, so that it would all sink in deeply.

As far as Jesus’ earthly ministry was concerned, during the time he walked the earth, his own focus was more limited. He said on one occasion: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”

But Jesus was also always thinking about what his church would do in his name in the future, after his resurrection and ascension.

During the course of his ministry, in a way that reminds us of a seminary field work exercise, he brought his disciples on at least a couple occasions to Gentile lands that were adjacent to the land of Israel - to the territory of the Syro-Phoenicians north of Israel, and to the territory of the Gadarenes east of Israel - to give them a taste for what their future ministries in the pagan world would be like.

And, in an important sense, their ministries would be a continuation of his ministry. In the version of the Great Commission that we see in Matthew, Jesus promised: “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

He was mystically going to go to the Gentile world with them, to bring his gospel of forgiveness, life, and salvation to the Gentile world through them. What was not clear to the disciples, however, was exactly how all of this was to be done.

The Jews had a tradition of receiving Gentile converts into Judaism. A Gentile family that was converting to Judaism underwent a special kind of baptism - administered to men, women, and children of all ages - which was said to be their “new birth” as Jews.

Then after this, the male members of the converting family were circumcised, and the family was from that day forward bound to observe all the moral and ritual obligations of the Mosaic Law.

It seems as if the original interpretation of the Great Commission, on the part of the disciples, was that making disciples of all nations would probably mean converting a select number of people from all nations to a Messianic form of observant Judaism.

This would have involved not only a faith in Jesus as the Savior, but also an adherence to all the ceremonial requirements of the Old Testament, including the kosher dietary regulations, the rules for Sabbath observance, and everything else.

Anyone who would refuse to submit to the Law of Moses, would continue to be seen and treated as an unclean person, and would not to be welcomed into the fellowship of the Jewish Christians.

But that is not what God had in mind, for what the Christian Church was supposed to look like. And so God supernaturally pushed through a “course correction” for his young and still-learning church, through the events that are recounted in today’s lesson from the Book of Acts.

This happened in two steps. First, the apostle Peter had a vision in which he was thrice commanded by the Lord to eat an assortment of unkosher animals. Peter’s response was:

“By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.”

It was hard for Peter to break out of his old way of thinking, which had been ingrained in him over a lifetime. The real point of the vision was not, however, to coax Peter to eat unkosher food. The imagery of this vision had a deeper symbolic meaning: to show Peter the new kind of relationship he should now have with “unkosher” people.

And so, Peter tells the rest of the story of this important event:

“And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. ...we entered the man’s house. And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

In an earlier telling of this story, elsewhere in the Book of Acts, we are given more details about this episode. As Peter preached to the Roman centurion Cornelius, and to the other members of his household, God confirmed the supernatural vision he had given Peter, with a supernatural outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the presence of Peter.

This outpouring was accompanied by extraordinary signs similar to what had happened on the Day of Pentecost, so that what occurred in the house of Cornelius is sometimes described as the “Pentecost” of the Gentiles.

And since this happened to Cornelius and the others as uncircumcised Gentiles, it was a clear and compelling testimony from God that Gentiles can become Spirit-filled Christians as Gentiles. They don’t have to become Jews, and be placed under the rules and regulations of Jewish Law, before they can be full members of the body of Christ.

This universal scope of the gospel is so well-established today, that many people may not realize that the first controversy that took place in the church was over the question of whether the Christian faith was really for the Gentiles, or if it was only for Jews - and for those few Gentiles who were willing to become Jews.

Many Jewish people today think that Christianity is only for Gentiles, and that Jews who believe in Jesus as the Savior in some sense cease to be Jews. How sadly ironic.

The ethnic and racial divisions that our society focuses on, have very little in common with this first controversy within Christianity. In the first century, Jewish people did not think of themselves as “white” and as having a lot in common with other “white” people.

To them, all who were not Jewish were together in the same broad category, as Goyim. It made no difference whether they were European, Asian, or African. If they were Gentiles, then they were not children of Abraham, and they were unclean.

But what the Great Commission did - especially once God had clarified to Peter exactly what the Great Commission means - was remind the early Christian church of something that the patriarch Abraham was very much aware of.

We see in the Book of Genesis that after the Lord had revealed to Abraham his plan to destroy Sodom, Abraham began his “negotiation” with God. As a part of that negotiation, Abraham asked:

“Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”

Indeed, the God of Abraham was not only the God and the judge of Abraham and the Hebrews. He was - or should have been - the God and the judge of all people and all nations, even though most nations had already fallen into idolatry.

But God always had a long-term plan to cleanse them of this idolatry, to forgive their sins, and to bring them back. In Psalm 86, the Lord inspired David to offer this prayer:

“There is none like you among the gods, O Lord, nor are there any works like yours. All the nations you have made shall come and worship before you, O Lord, and shall glorify your name. For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God.”

And what God planned, God accomplished. He sent his Son into human flesh to live under the Law of Moses among the people of Israel; and in the death and resurrection of that divine Son, God redeemed the world.

Jesus was and is - as Simeon the Prophet announced - not only the glory of the Lord’s people Israel, but also “a light to lighten the Gentiles.”

Many if not most of the people of Israel, since the coming of Christ, have, however, refused to see his glory. And many if not most of the Gentiles have closed their eyes, and their hearts, to his light.

But Jesus is there for them. He’s there for all of them in the means of grace: in the open invitation of the gospel that Jesus proclaims through the ministry of his church; and in the open pathway to baptism, and to fellowship among his people, that Jesus lays out through the mission of his church.

With St. John in his First Epistle, we confess from within our Trinitarian faith that we abide in God, and he in us, “because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.”

Because Jesus is the Savior of the world, that means that he is your Savior. You might say, “Well, of course he is,” because you have been well-catechized to believe that - or at least to say that you believe that.

But if you ever have a crisis of conscience, when you might be overwhelmed by guilt, by a feeling of personal unworthiness, or by a crushing fear of damnation, God wants you, in your repentance, truly to believe then, that Jesus is your Savior.

No failure is too embarrassing to be pardoned. No transgression is too egregious to be forgiven. No sin is too shameful to be absolved.

And if you ever feel out of place or uncomfortable in a congregation comprised of people who are in some ways not like you - in terms of their economic status, their ethnicity, or their personal histories - God wants you, in your devotion to his Word, truly to believe then, that Jesus is your Savior.

Therefore, if it is his church, then it is your church, too. There are no unkosher or unclean people among those who have turned away from their sins, and who have turned to Christ and confess him as Lord.

Jesus is also the Savior of everyone you know: from as many races and cultural backgrounds as are represented in your circle of relatives, friends, coworkers, and neighbors. This means that everyone you know likewise has a place in God’s house and family.

And if they are not already connected to a Christian congregation where God’s Word is faithfully proclaimed, and where God is reverently worshiped, everyone you know has a place in your church - right here, in one of these empty pews.

In the name of God, invite them to come with you. Tell them why you come. Tell them why Jesus is your Savior, so that they can hear in your story, the reasons why he is also their Savior.

Jesus is also the Savior of everyone in your community whom you don’t know, or don’t know yet. Jesus is the Savior of the people who live on the other side of the street, and on the other side of town, who may be different from you in how they look, in how they speak, in how they dress, or in how they act.

But your Savior is their Savior. So, care about them. Go to them. Speak with them.

And Jesus is the Savior of people you will likely never know in person, during your lifetime in this world: on every continent of the globe. Yet there are ways for you to help even them to know that God wants them in his house and family.

Social media can be a way, in terms of what you post, and what you forward. I know that people from various states, and from some other countries, watch the videorecordings of our services which we post online.

Some of those people find the recordings because I link to them from Facebook. It’s also always interesting to see who “likes” the sermons or sermon excerpts that I occasionally post, and to see who forwards those posts.

The financial mechanisms and overseas mission relationships of our church body can be a way. Your donations enter into a pipeline of compassion that opens up, at the other end, in places of need: in South America, in Eastern Europe, in Africa, and in India.

The world in which we live seems not to be coming together in greater unity, but seems instead to be characterized by an ever-increasing disunity. And many of these sad human divisions follow national and ethnic lines.

But we, as members of the one, holy, Christian and apostolic church that Jesus established, are marching to the beat of a different drummer, and are moving in the opposite direction.

As the unbelieving world is pulling itself apart through anger, pride, and fear, Jesus is pulling his church together, more and more, in faith and love: faith in him, love for him, and love for one another because of him.

The forgiveness and justification that are conferred by the gospel overcome sin and rebellion - even the sin and rebellion that may still infect you.

The truth and light that are revealed by his gospel overcome error and darkness - even the error and darkness that may still lurk within you.

The healing and reconciling power that is in his gospel overcome despair and hopelessness - even the despair and hopelessness that may still cast a pall over you.

St. Paul - previously a very proud and zealous Jew - writes in his Epistle to the Ephesians that with the coming of Christ, and with the new revelation of God’s will for humanity that accompanied this coming, we know now “that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel.”

And what the gospel in general gives and does, the gospel in its special sacramental forms also gives and does. In his First Epistle to the Corinthians, St. Paul writes:

“For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body - Jews or Greeks, slaves or free - and all were made to drink of one Spirit.”

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

As Christ in all these ways lives and work in you, he also lives and works through work, within the unity of the church. He is generous and helpful toward others through your generosity and helpfulness.

He is patient and encouraging with others through your patience and encouragement. He is the friend and companion of others through your friendship and companionship.

By divine design there was to be a temporary separation between the people of Israel and the heathen nations, in the past, so that Israel could be prepared to be a proper point of entry for humanity’s Redeemer.

But that Redeemer has now come, to make known the saving grace of God toward his whole creation. And that temporary separation has accordingly been abolished by God: not so that the people of Israel can now also become a heathen nation; but so that the heathen nations can now become believers in, and servants of, the God of Abraham.

So, if the temporary separation among men that God actually did inspire is no longer valid or in effect, then those many other separations that arise from the harmful influences of the world, the flesh, and the devil, are certainly not valid.

Instead of separation, we are called to unity: yet not just a sentimental or manmade unity, but the true and eternal unity that is to be had in Christ, and in the reconciliation with God and man that he supernaturally accomplishes for us.

In Christ, then, everyone, everywhere, is invited joyfully to sing, in the words of William Kethe:

All people that on earth do dwell, Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice;
Him serve with fear, His praise forthtell, Come ye before Him and rejoice.

For why? the Lord our God is good: His mercy is for ever sure;
His truth at all times firmly stood, And shall from age to age endure. Amen.

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22 May 2022 - Easter 6 - John 16:23-33

Over the past several years, the phenomenon of Harry Potter has captured the imagination of a large number of America’s children. And I suppose not just children.

Harry and his friends are likeable, up-and-coming sorcerers. As such, they always try to come up with the proper magical incantation for any situation, by which they seek to take control of that situation and bring about a positive outcome.

Over the years, many Christian parents have been concerned about the popularity of Harry Potter. They have feared that these books and movies might be creating in their children an unhealthy interest in the occult or in witchcraft, while sugar-coating the truly dark and demonic character of sorcery.

Apart from the question of whether such fictional stories are spiritually dangerous or not, it is contrary to the Christian religion to believe that these kinds of incantations are available to us, and might be used by us, allowing us to have power over our circumstances, and to change our circumstances according to our wishes.

But what are we to think of the promises that Jesus makes in today’s Gospel from St. John? Is Jesus perhaps giving us a Christian “incantation” that we can use to get the things we want when we pray? He says:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ... Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

It almost seems as if the Lord is telling us that if we say the phrase “in the name of Jesus,” or something like that, when we request something in prayer, then we will be sure to get it.

Yet we are warned away from such an interpretation by our Small Catechism. It reminds us, in its explanation of the Second Commandment, that

“We should fear and love God, so that we do not...practice witchcraft...by His name, but call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks.”

This is not a warning against flagrant Satanism, or the Wiccan religion, which are already covered by the prohibitions of the First Commandment. It is, rather, a warning against using the name of God - and that includes the name of Jesus Christ - in a magical, manipulative way.

In summary, we don’t automatically get what we want just by saying the phrase “in the name of Jesus” when we pray, as if this phrase were an incantation.

If God does not already want us to have something, we cannot make him give it to us by throwing a certain set of words at him. That’s not the way of true faith, and that’s not the way of true prayer.

In fact, Jesus warns us that when his name is placed upon us in our baptism, and when we accordingly pray in this name and confess this name before others, things will probably go worse for us in this life than what would be the case if we had never become Christians. Elsewhere in John’s Gospel, Jesus says to his disciples:

“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. ... If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. ... But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me.”

So, having and using the name of Jesus is not a formula for success and prosperity in this sinful world. It is, instead, a formula for putting yourself on the receiving end of this sinful world’s hatred and persecution. As Jesus tells his disciples in today’s text:

“In the world you will have tribulation.”

But we are often unwilling to bear patiently the trials that are laid upon us in this world. We would prefer a religion that “works” for us, and that brings us happiness and success - as the world would measure those things.

So we often act and speak as if we think that God owes us comfort, health, and fair earthly outcomes. When we don’t experience these things, then we doubt God, and wonder why he is afflicting us with whatever it is we are facing.

I suppose the fact that we so quickly and presumptuously complain about such trials - when we do pass through them - is evidence of the weakness and immaturity of our faith; and is evidence of our need for these chastisements precisely so that our faith might be refined and refocused through the purifying effect of those trials.

But at other times, too, God strengthens our faith by bringing difficult circumstances into our life - and by not removing those circumstances even when we ask him to. This prompts us to exercise our faith, and it deepens our trust in him and in his goodness, as we call out to God for help in the midst of those circumstances.

In a letter that he wrote while his wife was fighting a losing battle with cancer, C. S. Lewis spoke for many of us as we face grief and anguish in this life:

“We are not necessarily doubting that God will do the best for us. We are wondering how painful the best will turn out to be.”

Thomas a Kempis, the well-known Medieval devotional writer, offers some observations that are just as pertinent to our time as they were to his own. He writes:

“Jesus has many lovers of His kingdom of heaven, but He has few bearers of His cross. Many desire His consolation, but few desire His tribulation. He finds many fellows at eating and drinking, but finds few that will be with Him in His abstinence and fasting. All men would rejoice with Him, but few would suffer anything for Christ. Many follow Him to the breaking of His bread for their bodily refection, but few will follow Him to drink a draft of the chalice of His Passion. Many marvel and honor His miracles, but few will follow the shame of His cross.”

Asking God the Father for things “in the name of Jesus” is not a formula for getting what we want. It is not an incantation that we can repeat, in order to be able to eat, drink, and be merry in this life, courtesy of God.

But if these interpretations of what it means to pray in this name are wrong, what is the correct interpretation?

Well, according to the Biblical understanding of the word “name,” a “name” refers to a lot more than just the term that we use to call out to someone, or to differentiate one person from another. Rather, according to the Scriptural view, an individual’s “name” involves and includes everything by which that individual makes himself known and identifies himself to others.

The name of Jesus, then, is everything about him that he has made known to us in his Word, and that he has impressed upon our minds and hearts through his gospel and sacraments. When we believe in his “name,” therefore, we are believing in him, and in all the promises he has made to us concerning our salvation. That’s why St. John says:

“To all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”

And in explaining to his readers why he had included in his Gospel the things that he did include, John also says this:

“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.”

When you have the name of Jesus, you have Jesus himself and all his blessings. When you believe in the name of Jesus, you believe in his whole gospel, and are a child of God through that faith.

There is no magic formula or incantation that we can recite when we pray, in order to get what we want. But there is a name - a divine, holy, righteous, and forgiving name - which changes our standing before God when it is placed upon us; and which changes our hearts and the desires of our heart, our minds and the thoughts of our mind, when it is planted within us.

When the name of Christ is proclaimed to us, the righteousness of Christ is credited to us, to cover over the stain of our sins. And as we receive this gracious proclamation in faith, we thereby also receive the right and privilege to approach God in prayer.

Primarily we pray with open hands, to receive what God gives - whatever that might be. But God also invites us humbly to lay our petitions before him. What will be the content of those petitions?

As we grow in our faith, the maturity of our life of prayer also grows. As the name of Jesus imbeds itself ever more deeply into our conscience, we think less and less about what we want, and we think more and more about what God wants us to have, for our true and lasting good.

That’s why prayers that are offered in the name of Jesus are accompanied by a pledge from our Savior that they will be heard and granted.

A prayer motivated by greed, selfishness, or a love of luxury is not a prayer that is spoken in the name of Jesus, regardless of the formulation that might be tacked on at the end of the prayer. Such a prayer has no guarantee of success.

In fact, the only thing we can be sure of regarding such a prayer, is that God is displeased by it, and may in fact chastise us for it.

But a prayer that is genuinely offered in the name of Jesus, is a prayer that is offered from within the Christ-centered faith that God’s Spirit gives us. It is a prayer that is offered from within the saving relationship that Christ has established with us.

A prayer that is offered in the name of Jesus is a prayer that is shaped and molded by the Word of Jesus. It is a prayer that is brought to life within us by the new birth of our baptism. It is a prayer that is nourished within us by the heavenly food of the Lord’s body and blood.

As Jesus warns, in this world we will have tribulation. Sometimes a lot, and sometimes a little, but tribulation in some measure there will always be.

And this tribulation will come in various forms and from different directions: through outward attacks and set-backs, and through inner struggles and temptations. In one form or another, tribulation, in this world, we will always have. We cannot pray it away.

But listen to what Jesus also says in the context of his remarks about the inevitability of tribulation:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

When in the midst of tribulation you pray in the name of Jesus for the peace that the world cannot give - the peace of a conscience that has been fully and completely forgiven by Christ - God the Father will grant that prayer!

When in the midst of tribulation you pray in the name of Jesus that God’s Spirit would draw you ever closer to your Savior in a deep, mystical union with him, God the Father will grant that prayer!

When in the midst of tribulation you pray in the name of Jesus for the assurance of your ultimate victory over sin and death through the power of Christ’s resurrection - by which he has indeed overcome the world and all its dark forces - God the Father will grant that prayer! Jesus says:

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ... Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Praying in a manner that is more like a demand on God, than like a humble submission to God; and speaking the name of Jesus as an incantation rather than as a confession of faith, do not result in joy.

But praying in God’s way with God’s words - on the basis of God’s revelation of what we truly need, and on the basis of God’s promises of what he wants to give us - does bring joy. Prayer that is offered from within our faith in Christ’s sacred name brings true joy, even in the midst of suffering and sadness.

And God’s faithful answering of such prayers, according to his loving will, renews confidence in God, even in the midst of doubts and fears.

God’s answers to such prayers, as his Word reveals those answers, bring satisfaction with God’s provision, and contentment under God’s protection: even when the world, the flesh, and the devil would want to draw us away from the blessings of the gospel and of faith, into dissatisfaction with God, and toward a denial of God.

What we learned about prayer from Psalm 55 - as we chanted these lines in today’s Introit - is a lesson we should learn and apply whenever we offer our petitions to the Lord. Let us once again hear what this Psalm tells us, as the conclusion of this message about prayer in the name of Jesus:

“My heart is in anguish within me; the terrors of death have fallen upon me. But I call to God, and the Lord will save me. Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and he hears my voice. Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Amen.

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26 May 2022 - Ascension - Luke 24:44-53

Not tonight, but on Sunday, we will sing a well-known Lutheran hymn about the ascension of our Lord that begins with a prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus that might, at first thought, seem to be expressing an odd and unexpected sentiment:

“We thank Thee, Jesus, dearest Friend, That Thou didst into heaven ascend.”

If a friend whose company you enjoy has been visiting you, but then has to leave, and go home to a distant place, this is a sad and disappointing thing. You might accept the necessity of the end of the visit, but you’re not thankful that you will no longer be spending time with your friend.

In the first line of that hymn, though, we are expressing our thanks to Jesus - to our dearest friend Jesus - that he has gone into heaven. Is that something to be thankful for?

Sure, we would have to accept this, if this is what must happen. But we don’t have to be happy about not having Jesus here with us, as his disciples had him with them during his earthly ministry. Do we?

Even at a human level, having a trusted friend around as a part of your life is a good thing - especially if that friend is an influence for good in your life. A friend like that can warn you away from dangerous temptations, when your own judgment may not be as reliable.

A good friend can often get you out of a tight spot, or give you the encouragement you need to stick with something important that you have committed yourself to. A friend who is right there with you can defend you and protect you, console you and rejoice with you.

But if such a friend has departed, moved away, or returned to a distant home, and is accordingly no longer there with you for the ups and downs of your daily life, none of those benefits of the friendship will be actively experienced any longer.

It is a sad thing when such a parting between friends takes place. It is not something for which to be thankful.

But, in this hymn, we thank Jesus for ascending to heaven. Why? And in today’s text from the Gospel according to St. Luke, the apostles were also joyful on the occasion of their Master’s ascension into heaven.

We are told that while Jesus 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.” Again, why?

In our human relationships, those who are dear friends to us, usually also have other friends besides us. And just as these friends are a source of many blessings to us during the times when they are with us, so too are they a source of the same kind of blessings to others, on those occasions when they are with their other friends.

If all of these various friends, and friends of friends, do not, however, live in the same locality, then this sharing of friendships means that everyone has to take turns, as it were, in spending time with the mutual friends whose companionship is desired by everyone. If I have friends in Arizona, in Minnesota, and in New York, I cannot be with all of them at the same time.

In order to be with some of my friends in one place, I will have to be separated from other friends who are in different places. I cannot be the kind of friend to all of them, or to any of them, that I might want to be - continually spending time with them - because of the physical distances that exist between them and me, in various directions.

During his earthly ministry, Jesus was able to cultivate deep and meaningful friendships with his apostles. He did a lot for them during the three years he was with them as a constant companion, which inspired within them a deep devotion toward him.

And at one point, as recorded in John’s Gospel, he told them this, regarding his impending suffering and death on the cross for their sins:

“Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. ... I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

But the specific thing Jesus mentioned that demonstrated that he was their friend - namely that he had made known to them all that he had heard from his Father - does not apply only to the twelve apostles. God’s message of salvation through his Son is something that Jesus wants to be made known to all nations, and to all people in all nations.

When the gospel of Christ crucified for sinners is proclaimed, heard, and believed for the forgiveness of sins, new Christians are created. And new friends of Jesus are made.

That’s what allows all of us also to sing: “What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear.”

But can all of us continuously enjoy this friendship, and this special companionship with Jesus? During Jesus’ earthly ministry, when he was physically accessible to his disciples in Galilee and Jerusalem, and among the people of Israel, he was not in those years physically accessible to people in other parts of the world.

But Jesus did have people in other parts of the world in mind, as those whom he intended someday to befriend and claim as his own. Drawing on the imagery of a sheep and their shepherd, Jesus said, also in John’s Gospel:

“I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”

Jesus’ ascension to the right hand of the Father - in heaven - was not like an astronaut traveling from the earth to another planet within our solar system - going from one specific place in our three-dimensional material universe, to another specific place in our three-dimensional material universe.

Rather, in the ascension, Jesus entered into a different dimension. He is not nowhere. He is everywhere. St. Paul writes in his Epistle to the Ephesians that Jesus has “ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.”

And if Jesus - in his divinity and in his humanity - now fills all things, that means that he fills his church, all around the world. He fills our congregation.

He fills the ministry of Word and Sacrament that is carried out here in his name and by his authority. And as you repent of your sins, trust in his forgiveness, and daily seek his help in your life, he fills your life. He fills you.

Again, the first line of the hymn that we are going to sing on Sunday says: “We thank Thee, Jesus, dearest Friend, That Thou didst into heaven ascend.”

The hymn says “we,” not “I.” Together with all of the Lord’s disciples - those who knew him on earth 2,000 years ago, and those who know him by faith now - we are singing this prayer together, and collectively.

We are thanking Jesus that he has changed his way of interacting with his friends, so that he is able now to interact with all of them - all of us - all over the world, all the time. To be at the right hand of the Father - who is everywhere - is not to be far away from us. It is to be intimately close to us.

The celebration of the Lord’s Supper is one of the best times to recall that Jesus, though invisibly present, is really present among us: to do for us what a close and trusted friend would be expected to do for us, according to his divine power to help us in all our needs.

He comforts us in our sadness: in our sorrow over having offended God, and our brothers and sisters, by our sins. He strengthens us in our weakness: in our yearning for God’s grace and healing in our lives.

He embraces us in his love: uniting his true body and blood to our bodies and souls, and renewing us by his Word. And he encourages us in the fulfillment of our duties: in our resolve to amend our sinful lives; and to do better in how we think, speak, and act within our vocations, as God enables us.

The hymn also speaks of such things, when it says:

“Ascended to His throne on high, Hid from our sight, yet always nigh.”

“O blessed Savior, bid us live, And strength to soul and body give.”

“Through Him, we heirs of heaven are made; O Brother, Christ, extend Thine aid, That we may firmly trust in Thee, And through Thee live eternally.”

This all helps us to understand the first line of the hymn. On Sunday - as we think about everything that this evening’s sermon may have prompted us to think about as we sing it; and as we now look forward to being in the Lord’s house again to sing it! - this will all help us to join in singing that first line joyfully and enthusiastically, sincerely and confidently.

“We thank Thee, Jesus, dearest Friend, That Thou didst into heaven ascend.” Amen.

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29 May 2022 - Easter 7 - John 17:20-26

In today’s Gospel, from St. John, we get to “listen in” on a portion of what is usually called the “High Priestly Prayer” of Jesus. Jesus prayed this prayer on the night of his betrayal, in conjunction with the Last Supper.

His earthly ministry, and the time of his bodily presence with his disciples, were soon coming to an end. In the prayer Jesus reflects on this.

And in the prayer he also looks forward to what will come next for his disciples, in a time when he will no longer be with them in terms of his tangible, physical companionship.

In the High Priestly Prayer, Jesus is not praying with his disciples. There is actually no place in the entire New Testament where Jesus is portrayed as praying with his disciples.

He prays for them, as in today’s text. He also teaches them how to pray, such as when he gave them the Lord’s Prayer.

But he is never recorded as praying that prayer, or any prayer, with them. This is a subtle yet significant testimony to the divinity of Christ’s Person.

When Jesus did pray - to his Father in heaven - his prayers were not the same as his disciples’ prayers, or ours. When you and I pray, we are mortal humans praying to the Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Even if the wording of our prayer consciously focuses on just one Divine Person, this does not mean that the other two Persons are not also the recipient of the prayer. The church’s awareness of the unity of the Triune God, as we call upon him, is reflected in the way the collect prayer-form is structured.

A collect is usually addressed specifically to God the Father. Sometimes it is addressed specifically to the Lord Jesus Christ - as was the case with the Collect of the Day that we chanted earlier in this morning’s service.

But a collect always ends with a Trinitarian doxology, which explicitly acknowledges the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as all being involved, in all our praying. The three Divine Persons are absolutely inseparable, existing as they do as the one God whom we worship.

As far as we are concerned, they do not act independently. And as far as we are concerned, they do not hear and receive prayers independently.

The prayers of Jesus were not like this, however. In his case, one Person of the Godhead - the Son - was communicating with another person of the Godhead - the Father. Jesus’ prayers were prayers that took place inside God.

We human beings don’t get to join in such prayers. But sometimes we do get to “listen in” on them - as in today’s text. And in this way we get a glimpse into God’s thoughts, and God’s plans.

Just before the section of the High Priestly Prayer that today’s text quotes, Jesus had prayed these words to his Father, in regard to his disciples:

“I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.”

Jesus did not pray that his disciples would be preserved from the trials and suffering that characterize this world. Christians live in the world as it is - as Christ’s ambassadors and representatives. They do not live above, and outside of, the world.

And not only are Christians in this world, enduring the same kind of struggles and difficulties that everyone else endures; but they are also hated by this world, with a special kind of demonic intensity.

Insofar as this world is corrupted by sin, spiritually blind, and morally perverse, then to that extent the world hates the light and truth of God. And it hates those who embody and represent that light and truth in how they live and speak; and who work to spread that light and truth to more and more people, in the preaching of the gospel of Christ among all nations.

Jesus does not pray his disciples out of this hard and hateful world. He prays them directly into it: full speed ahead, into the gaping jaws of persecution and martyrdom.

And Jesus prays his disciples into a world of lost sinners, for whom he died and rose again; lost sinners who need to hear the life-giving promises of his Word, so that they can be justified and regenerated, through faith in those promises.

He prays his disciples into a world that needs to know that the God who originally created it, and who is even now wounded and offended by its rebellion against him, still loves that world anyway.

God will judge the world because of its sin and wickedness. That day is coming. But God also gives the children of this world a way of escape from this coming judgment: the way of repentance, and of faith in his Son.

To this end, as ambassadors of Jesus - after Jesus’ resurrection and ascension - the disciples’ lips will be the lips of Christ, speaking his words of forgiveness and hope. The disciples’ hands will be the hands of Christ, performing works of compassion, mercy, and goodness, even in a world that is otherwise filled with hardness of heart, greed, and evil.

In the portion of Jesus’ prayer that was included in today’s reading, we hear an additional thought, in which we should take a very personal interest. Again, Jesus prayed to his Father:

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

The words of salvation that Jesus spoke to his disciples during his earthly ministry were for their eternal benefit. But those words were not only for their benefit.

The gospel of Christ was for the original apostles, to hear and believe for themselves. And that gospel was also for them to hear and remember, with the supernatural help of the Holy Spirit, so that they could preach that gospel to everyone else, for the eternal benefit of all who would hear and believe their testimony.

Also with the special help and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the apostles wrote down what they had seen and heard from Jesus. With the New Testament, therefore, the church of all times and places is now graced with the remembrance of the apostles in permanent, written form.

It’s as if the apostles are still among us, and still teaching us, from the pages of these Scriptures. The Swedish theologian Gustaf Wingren said this about the ministry of the apostles, and about the ministry of those who teach and lead in God’s name today:

“The apostolic ministry in our day is not the responsibility of any successors to the apostles, but is still exercised by the apostles themselves... The instrument through which the original and unique apostolic ministry is continued today is the writings of the New Testament. These alone speak to us with apostolic authority, and our ministry is merely a ministry of expounding and interpreting them, a ministry subordinate to the word of Scripture.”

In his prayer, Jesus mentioned that he had given the word of God to his disciples. Through the objective content of this word, the disciples would be preserved in the truth of God.

Through the supernatural power of this word, the disciples would be preserved in faith in that truth - and in the unity with God, and with each other, that this truth, and this faith, produce.

And what Jesus prayed about, in this respect, still applies today, since we still have the apostolic word of God in the Scriptures.

The church of the apostles did not have God’s permission to preach in his name anything other than the content of what Jesus had made known to them. The church of today likewise does not have God’s permission to preach in his name anything other than the content of what the apostles have made known to us, in the Scriptures.

The church of all times is obligated as well to preach “the whole counsel of God.” No permission is granted to the church by the Lord of the church to omit what might be unpopular or hard to accept in any given generation.

The Christian unity that Jesus prays for, is not a human unity that we create, by means of diplomatic skill and negotiated compromises, or by agreeing to disagree on things which Scripture does teach, but which human reason cannot grasp.

This Christian unity is, rather, a divine unity that God creates, by means of the word of truth that Jesus gave to the apostles - and that they have given to us. The pathway to oneness in Christ is a pathway of thoughtful acceptance of the Scriptures, and a pathway of humble submission to the Scriptures.

So, when God, through the word of the apostles, impresses upon your conscience the reality of your sin, and your need for Christ, do not try to evade what God is telling you. Admit that it is so.

When God, through the written testimony of those who actually saw Christ die, tells you that Christ died for you, and that your sins are therefore forgiven, do not dismiss it as “too good to be true.” Know instead that this is the truth, and that this is why God’s Son came into the world: to save sinners; to save people like me; to save people like you.

You are among the beneficiaries of Jesus’ prayer, when he prayed for those who would believe in him through the word of the apostles. Because Jesus allows you to “listen in” on this prayer, you are able to know what to expect from him, and how to recognize his blessings when they come.

You are able to know what his will is for you, so that you can focus the desires of your heart, and your prayers to him, on what you know he - in his wisdom and benevolence - wants you to have.

The comforts and rewards of this world, and acceptance and approval by this world, are not among the things that Jesus prayed for, for his disciples. Now, if God providentially blesses you with earthly success anyway, and with godliness in the midst of that success, you certainly won’t refuse such blessings.

But when such success does not come; when the world rejects you, and hates you; just remember that Jesus did not promise you anything different. In fact, in his prayer, he indicated that, in this world, that’s what you should actually expect.

But, in the midst of the trials and hardships that will come your way, you can draw strength and confidence from what Jesus did pray for, for you.

He prayed that the word of God would be preserved among his true disciples, and would do its saving and enlightening work in the minds and hearts of his people, until the end of the world. And he prayed that this heavenly and divine word would work to bring about true spiritual unity for and in his church.

Because of Jesus’ prayer, God’s word will always be at work to keep you united to God, through your trust in that word. In this way Jesus will also keep you united to his church: his mystical body; his beloved bride.

And, by means of the word of God, Jesus himself will fulfill his prayer for you, by teaching you to know ever more deeply, and to confess ever more clearly, the saving truth that he calls his church on earth to proclaim across the whole face of the earth: in unity with him, the head of his body, and the bridegroom of his bride.

As the word of God lives and works among us for the sake of our unity with Christ, it impresses upon us the transforming power of the divine love that impelled Jesus to do everything he did accomplish for our salvation. God’s word accordingly fills us with love: for God, and for each other.

As the word of God lives and works among us for the sake of our unity with each other in Christ, it impresses upon us the transforming power of the divine grace that fills everything Jesus does for our salvation now.

And God’s word puts its sacramental seals of oneness in Christ upon us, when that word is joined to the earthly elements that Jesus appointed for Baptism and for his Sacred Supper. St. Paul speaks to this in his First Epistle to the Corinthians:

“For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body...” “Because there is one bread, we, who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

Jesus prays: “O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” Amen.