The text this morning is from the Gospel of John, the 16th chapter:
In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 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.”Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! And He is risen, and He is ascended to the right hand of God the Father. From there, Christ rules over all things. He, alone in all of the universe, has power, glory, honor, blessing, and dominion. Amen.
But He is not bodily gone from us forever. He now sits in the heavens, a place which He has created, and He shall descend upon the earth, carrying with Him all of the saints who have gone before us. And on that day, when Jesus Christ returns, He shall remake all things. He shall remove the stain of sin which we have left upon this earth. He shall return our land to the Eden it was. And He shall make us glorious as He is glorious, not that we should be equal with God, but that Jesus would share all things that He has with us.
In that day, we will need nothing. We need ask God for no thing, for He shall give all things to us freely, without price. We shall have the Bread of Life in our midst, and from His pierced side would flow the fountain of eternal life. That which is His, which is all things, shall be inherited by His creation, every man, woman, and child who is baptized in His name.
And perhaps more than that, we will be given the blessing of full righteousness, never to sin against God or one another ever again. However, now, we are full of sin. It drips from our tongues, it swirls about in our minds, it leaves fingerprints on all we touch. We are sinful indeed. Yet, let not this bother you, for Christ has come to save sinners. He is the Mediator between God and man. That which you need He brings to the Father, and the Father is glad to give it.
What does it mean to ask for something, then, in the name of Jesus? How should we ask for things in the name of Jesus? What will He give us? What has the Father promised? Nothing more than what we find in the Our Father. We are welcomed by Jesus to pray to our Father in heaven through Him. We pray in His name. Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
God our Father will indeed give us these things, these needs of body and soul. He provides for His children exactly what they need and it delights Him to give them to us. He gives to His children that which they need to sustain their bodies in this life: food, shelter, water, clothing, house, home. And He provides richly for our souls by daily forgiving our sins just as He and we forgive all those who sin against us. Trust your Lord Jesus and ask your Father daily for these things so that your joy may be full.
Not that you are made happy by material wealth, mind you, but that your joy comes in knowing that your Lord does that which He has promised to do. We delight in the Lord for He delights in us. We are confident in the Lord for we know that we have an advocate with the Father, Christ Jesus the righteous. We know that Christ Jesus came into human flesh. We know that He lived a perfect life of obedience to God. Out of jealousy and spite for all He claimed to be, certain men then had our God crucified and tortured. Yet, He is trustworthy and true; neither these men, nor death, nor the devil, could keep Him in the ground, for He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!
He who is risen from the grave is to be believed, for He is the one who said that He would be killed and that He would raise Himself three days later. The one who has the power to make such a miraculous thing happen is one who is to worshipped and adored, for He is God. If He, then, is our advocate with the Father, then we have nothing to fear, for all things will be made right in Him.
He who has overcome the world has done so for us. He who has overcome the world has put it under His rule. He who has overcome the world brings to His children peace. And so we have peace. We have peace now, and we shall have peace forever in Him.
Whatever may happen to you, whether, like the Apostles, you are scattered by persecution, whether you suffer from disease, whether you wither under depression, whether you experience loss or heartache, pain or grief, in Christ you do have peace. He is the Lord of all things, even death, and He shall right the wrongs we have perpetrated against others and the wrongs perpetrated against you. He is with you always, even until the end of the age.
He cares for you, as the Good Shepherd cares for His sheep. And just as the shepherd would never deprive his sheep of any need, so your Good Shepherd will give you exactly what you need. It may not be what you feel you need, or it may not come when you believe that it should. But, in that last and final day, the day which we look forward to with great hope and expectation, every need shall be met and we shall want for nothing.
But still this life is filled with much discord. It is even here, in this congregation. Member fights against member, leader fights against leader. Dear children, this is not the way it should be. We should be asking our Father for that which Jesus has instructed us. We should not be asking Him to give us our way, for His ways are higher than our ways. We should not be asking for power, but for the wisdom of Solomon and the patience of God Himself. We should not be holding grudges against one another, for these poison the soul and choke out faith.
For too long, I think, we have let these things sit among us. For too long, I think, we have let ourselves hurt one another. For too long, I think, we have acted even improperly in this congregation. We should ask for peace, but we do not and so, reaping what we sow, we get discord. We should ask for forgiveness, but we do not, and so, reaping what we sow, we let anger boil in us. We should ask for God’s will to be done, but we do not, and so, reaping what we sow, we get our way and others suffer.
We are all guilty of this. Christ has come to bring us peace, but we hit each other with the sword. Perhaps you look around and you think, “Oh, well, Pastor is talking to so and so, and it’s about time.” But you miss my point. We are all guilty of this. Perhaps there are some who have acted out seemingly more inappropriately than others, but we have all failed our brothers and sisters by failing to call them to repentance and the forgiveness of sins. We have failed one another, and we are guilty. And even for that which I have done and left undone, I publicly apologize where I have failed in my duties as your pastor. None of us are innocent.
But not all hope is lost here. In Christ, in His name, hope is never lost, for His Gospel is sweet and His burden is easy. Yes, it is burdensome to bear the load of this, our family. But, it is a joyful burden, for we see how our Lord works as we join with one another in the peace that passes all understanding. This peace, which is not peace as the world gives, but peace which sits in your soul and makes you confident in our Lord and His promises, reminds us that each of us, being faithful in Christ, will be with Christ and one another for eternity. What we do here, in this life, matters because what we do is done for one for whom Christ died. That person you hate, that person you’re angry at, that person you bear ill will for is a person for whom Christ died, and we have no business treating anyone, much less a member of this family, with disrespect.
But hope is found here, even in this place to which we bring our sin. We bring our sin, and we hope we do not use it against our brothers and sisters, but that our Lord would take our sin and nail it to His cross. And so He has. He has taken your sin in your Baptism, and He has brought it to Himself so that He might be counted as a sinner and you may be counted righteous in His name.
Christ, upon the cross, is seen by His Father as the angry one, the unforgiving one, the power-monger. He is the sinner, and you are the saint. Though we still bear our sinful flesh in this world, our sin has been crucified with Christ, and we should desire all the more to leave it there so that we may walk together in all peace and tranquility, as much as we are able to do.
I do not say this to embarrass you, but to convict you of your sin. We are all guilty. Yet, if you are indeed convicted, know this: we are all forgiven in Christ. If you bear a grudge, keep in mind Christ already forgave that sin which you begrudge. If you spread gossip, keep in mind Christ already forgave the situation that brought about your gossip. If you are a power-monger, remember that Christ died to make the last first and the first last. Christ makes all things well, even despite us. That is our hope.
If I may suggest something: today, at our Lord’s Supper, as you receive the forgiveness of sins and strengthening of faith unto life everlasting, see it also as a sign to others. Certainly, by coming to this altar you confess that you believe what the Scriptures say, that Christ’s true body and blood are found here for the forgiveness of your sins. But here you also confess that you bear no ill will against your neighbor. Here you confess that you want to do better. Here you confess that you have been wrong, but desire to be right with God and neighbor. Here you confess that every person who approaches the altar of the Lord, whether here and now or throughout eternity in the communion of saints, is a forgiven child of God who deserves mercy and grace, and whose burdens you will help bear.
As you come up, and as you watch each person come up, know that each person is forgiven. And as you come up, make it your declaration to say that you shall forgive others. Leave your sins behind, leave each situation behind. Come up here as a family, start over with one another, be made well. And if you will not come up, use the time to really make sure that’s what you want. If you will not come up, think about what you’re confessing. Think about what you are missing out on.
Our Lord comes to bring peace. It is not just peace that comes only in the resurrection of the dead forever, it’s not just a promised future peace, but it is here now. Where is it? It is here in Word and Sacrament. Today, we especially may find it in His Supper. Don’t miss out on this most precious gift.
Here we find all things for which He has asked us to pray. Here we find the fulfillment of the Our Father. Here we are strengthened to receive every single thing we have from the Lord. Here we are made one with one another. Here we find that we are ready to die. Here we find the risen Christ for us. Here we find the Christ coming to us repeatedly, week after week after week. Here we are reminded that our Lord is coming back again to raise us from the dead, which this Supper strengthens us for, and to make all things new. Here we find that Christ has overcome the world. Here we find that Christ has made us righteous. Here we find that Christ tenderly invites us to approach His Father in prayer. This, this is peace, for here we see the crucified Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and the promise of the resurrection by the fact that He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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