The Spirit-Led Life - John 16:5-15

Cantate – John 16:5-15 (Isaiah 12:1-6; James 1:16-21) The Spirit-Led Life
02 May 2010
Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Madison, Ohio
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fairport Harbor, Ohio

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He is risen.

I. Now What?

By now you are very familiar with the theme of these Sunday morning sermons. You know that in Gesimatide we prepared to go on a journey toward the cross of Calvary and the empty tomb of Easter Sunday. Throughout Lent we followed the pilgrim’s path toward the font of Holy Baptism. Then at the Easter Vigil and on Easter Sunday, we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus and reaffirmed our life in Christ.

The question before us this Easter season is, “Now what?” Our new Moses has led us through the Red Sea and out of Egypt. Our new Joshua has led us through the Jordan River and into the Promised Land. Our new King David rules over us like a loving shepherd. We have come out from the valley of the shadow of death and into green pastures. We are Christians. The question is, “Now what?”

Now that we are Christians, what should we do? How should we act? What’s different about us? What is life in the Promised Land like? What does it mean that Jesus is risen, and that He lives in each one of us? What is the Christian life?

II. The Sprit-Led Life

In the Gospel for today, Jesus promises His disciples that after he goes away, that is after His death, resurrection, and ascension, He will send them a Helper. Jesus calls this Helper, the Spirit of truth. We know this Helper as the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says that the mission of the Helper, the job of the Holy Spirit, is to lead His disciples into all truth. So, we could say that the Christian life is the Spirit-led life.

The sin of Adam is that he didn’t follow the leading of God’s Spirit. He knew that God didn’t want him eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. But he ate from that tree anyway. He disobeyed God. He refused to follow the Spirit’s leading.

All of us have followed suit. As sons of Adam, we have refused to follow the Spirit’s leading. We have each disobeyed God in countless ways. We have ignored the truth that sin leads only to death and hell, and we have tried to make our own fun in our own kind of way. By nature, we do not live the Spirit-led life.

But as baptized children of God, we have been given a new Spirit. We have been given the Spirit of Jesus, the Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit. As Christians, we do follow the leading of the Spirit. We live the Spirit-led life.

III. The Location of the Spirit

But how can we be sure that we’re following the Spirit of truth and not some other spirit? How can we know that we’re following the Holy Spirit and not the spirit of this world or just your own spiritual intuition?

Jesus says that the Holy Spirit does not speak on His own. He speaks only what He hears; and what He hears is Jesus…the same Jesus who lived, died, and rose again. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit doesn’t declare just any thing. He declares the things that He has taken from Jesus during His earthly ministry. The Holy Spirit doesn’t teach anything new. He takes what already belongs to Jesus, and He declares it to the world. The Holy Spirit is intimately connected with Jesus. He is the Spirit of Jesus.

The Spirit of Jesus is also the Spirit of the Father. The Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. Jesus revealed the Father to the world and released the Holy Spirit in what He said and did for our salvation. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus and the Father to the world by repeating to us what Jesus said and did for our salvation, and then by applying that salvation to us.

That means that you can find the Holy Spirit speaking in the pages of the New Testament. The words of the Scriptures are the vehicle of the Spirit because they are the words of Jesus. They were recorded by those who were with Him during His earthly ministry that He personally authorized. The words that the apostles left behind are the words of Jesus. And because they are the words of Jesus, they are the words of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us through the Scriptures.

And because that is true, we can also see the Spirit leading us in Holy Baptism, Holy Absolution, and Holy Communion. Jesus promised in His word that Baptism would be the place where He would apply His death and resurrection to you so that you would die to sin and rise to live a new life in Him. He promised that in the word of forgiveness the Church would proclaim you would find freedom from the pain and consequence of guilt. And He swore on oath that He would sustain the Church with a meal of bread and wine that is His body and blood given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

We know where the Holy Spirit is found. He is found where we can find Jesus. We can be sure that we’re following the leading of the Holy Spirit when we’re following the word that Jesus has given us through His apostles.

IV. The Leading of the Spirit

And this is how the Spirit leads us. According to Jesus, the work of the Holy Spirit is to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment. Let’s take a look at each of these in turn.

First, the Spirit convicts us concerning sin. Jesus says that the sin He has in mind is the failure of the world to believe in Him. The job of the Holy Spirit is to testify about the person and work of Jesus. He tells us that Jesus came into this world from God the Father to sacrifice Himself for the forgiveness of our sins; and that God raised Jesus from the dead confirming that this mission has been accomplished. The Spirit of God tells us that those who reject Jesus also reject the forgiveness that He has won; they are still in their sins.

Second, the Spirit convicts us concerning righteousness. Jesus says that this righteousness has something to do with His going to the Father, and the fact that the disciples won’t see Him anymore. Throughout the Old Testament period, the saints of God called on Him to reveal His righteousness, that is, to put the world to rights, to act in fulfillment of His promise to redeem Israel and to save the world from sin, death, and hell. God had promised to rescue His fallen creation, to put the world to rights. So, when He finally acted to fulfill this promise, He would reveal His own righteousness; He would show Himself to be “in the right.” In what Jesus did, God finally did fulfill His promises; He finally did rescue the world from all of the pain and suffering it brought on itself because of sin. In Jesus, God put the world to rights and in doing so, He revealed His own righteousness, His faithfulness to His promise to “make right” what had gone wrong in the world. The Spirit’s job is to tell us that Jesus is the righteousness of God, and that this remains true even though we can’t see Him at the present time. None of us should think that God hasn’t decisively rescued the world just because we can’t see Jesus or the full results of His rescue. Jesus is risen, and that settles things whether we can see Him right now or not: God has decisively revealed His righteousness. He has put the world to rights in the person and work of His Son.

Third, the Spirit convicts us concerning judgment. Jesus says that this has everything to do with the fact that the ruler of this world is judged. If God has put the world to rights, then that means that the one who set the world off on the wrong course has been judged. When the devil tempted Adam to sin, and maybe even before that, he openly rebelled against God, and he disrupted the order in the universe. He asserted himself as king, and he tried to reshape man in his own image instead of God’s. Frankly, he was pretty successful. But then Jesus came, fully God, but also fully man. And He lived a life fully reflecting God’s image every step of the way. In Christ, the sons of Adam are remade in the image of God. Everyone else faces judgment. That means that the devil has not gotten his way. He and his way have been judged and they have been found wanting. The devil stands condemned.

V. Summary Conclusion

As Christians, we believe that God has put right what has gone wrong in the world through the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Because of what Jesus did on the cross, our sins are forgiven and the devil has been judged. The only reason people perish eternally is because they have not believed in Jesus Christ.

We believe these things because we see them in the scriptures. We follow the scriptures because we know that the Holy Spirit is speaking to us there; He is leading us there. And that is what the Christian life is: It is the Spirit-led life, in Jesus’ name.

The Joyful Life - John 16:16-22

Jubilate – John 16:16-22 (Isaiah 40:25-31; 1 Peter 2:11-20) The Joyful Life
25 April 2010
Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Madison, Ohio
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fairport Harbor, Ohio

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He is risen. He is risen indeed.

I. Now What?

During Gesimatide we prepared to go on a journey to the cross of Calvary and the empty tomb of Easter Sunday. Throughout Lent we traveled toward our goal. Then at the Easter Vigil we reaffirmed our baptism, and on Easter Sunday we celebrated our Lord’s resurrection. We’ve walked the pilgrim path. We’ve traveled the desert. We’ve arrived in the Promised Land. We are Christians, united with Jesus. The question is, “Now what?”

Now that we are Christians, what do we do? What does the Christian life look like? What is the Christian life all about? We’ve celebrated Easter and the resurrection. But what does it mean that Jesus is risen? What does the resurrection mean in our lives?

II. The Joyful Life

Well, according to Jesus in the Gospel for today, His resurrection means that the Christian life is a life of unsurpassed, unending joy. The Christian life is the joyful life. Jesus tells His disciples that the world rejoices at His suffering and death, while they are filled with sorrow at His departure. They won’t see Him for “a little while.” But when He is raised from the dead, they will see Him again. Their sorrow will turn to joy, and no one will be able to take their joy from them.

The Christian life is the joyful life; it’s the joy-filled life. Jesus is risen. That is cause for rejoicing and celebration.

The resurrection of Jesus makes everything different. The resurrection shows us that Jesus is who He said He is, and that His death of the cross accomplished what he said it would accomplish. The resurrection means that God of Israel exists and that He loves us. It means that our sins have been paid for. We are forgiven. And the forgiveness of sins means that God has taken care of suffering and death, too. The resurrection of Jesus means that the new age after the Fall of Adam promised in the Old Testament has begun. Now we live in a world in which sin, and suffering, and death are a thing of the past.

That ought to cheer us up. That’s something worth rejoicing over. The Christian life should be the joyful life. Jesus is risen.

III. The Disappointment after Jesus’ Resurrection

And yet, we find that we are not always living that joyful life. We aren’t particularly happy. And sometimes, we’re downright cranky.

I think that our experience finds a parallel in the experience of the earliest disciples, and for much the same reason. Try, for a moment, to put yourself in their shoes.

You see, before His crucifixion, the disciples had believed that Jesus was the Messiah. He was the one who would defeat the pagans who ruled over Israel, purify or even rebuild the Temple, reclaim David’s throne, and usher in the kingdom of God. Then, at some point after that, God would raise from the dead all of those faithful Israelites who had longed to see the kingdom but who had died before it came so that they could share in that kingdom in a renewed heaven and earth where sin, and suffering, and death were no more.

The crucifixion brought all the disciples’ hopes that Jesus could be the Messiah crashing down. Jesus didn’t defeat the pagans. He didn’t rebuild the Temple. He didn’t claim David’s throne. Instead, the leadership of Israel rejected Him and handed Him over to Rome. And when Rome crucified Him, well, that was the end of the disciples’ messianic hopes for Jesus. A dead Messiah was no Messiah at all, and a crucified messiah was a contradiction in terms. Frankly, Jesus was shown to be under the curse of God. Clearly, He hadn’t brought about the kingdom of God.

But then something completely unexpected happened. On the third day, God raised Jesus from the dead. Wow! What a turn around. This is what Jesus was talking about when told His disciples, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” He would be crucified, and they wouldn’t see Him. They would be sorrowful and sad. But then, He God would raise Him from the dead. They would see Him again, and they would be filled with joy; they would be filled with the kind of joy that no one could take away from them.

That’s why what I’m about to say might sound counter-intuitive at first; but I want you really to think about it, and try to see where I’m coming from. Here goes: I want you to think for a moment about just how disappointing Jesus’ resurrection might have been to the disciples. I know it sounds strange, but I really think that there’s biblical warrant for talking like this. Take for example the end of Matthew’s Gospel. The risen Jesus appears to His disciples in Galilee on a mountain. Some worship Him; but Matthew also tells us that “some doubted.” This verse is difficult to interpret, but let me offer one possible explanation. I think that in some ways, the disciples were probably disappointed after Jesus’ resurrection.

Think about it: The resurrection was supposed to happen after the pagans were defeated, the Temple was rebuilt, and God was king. It was supposed to happen after the new heavens and the new earth had swallowed up sin, suffering, death, and the entire old fallen world completely. And the resurrection was supposed to happen to all of the righteous dead at the end of age.

But that is not what happened. The resurrection didn’t happen to everybody. It happened only to Jesus. And even though God raised Jesus from the dead, the Saduccees still controlled the Sanhedrin, the house of Herod still ruled much of the Promised Land under Rome, and Caesar still reigned supreme. The Temple wasn’t rebuilt; in fact, it wasn’t long after Jesus’ resurrection that Rome destroyed the Temple once and for all. In almost every way, the world still looked like it had before God raised Jesus from the dead. People kept on sinning. People kept on suffering. People kept on dying. It didn’t look like God was king at all.

That’s what I’m talking about when I say that the some of Jesus’ disciples were probably disappointed even after His resurrection. They believed in Him. Something truly spectacular had happened. They even worshiped Him. But some doubted. “Is this really it? Is this as good as it gets?” God raised Jesus from the dead. The disciples were supposed to be filled with joy. And yet, some doubted. Some of them were not always all that joyful.

IV. The Disappointment of Life in a Fallen World

That’s why I say that our experience is much like theirs. We’re Christians now, but things go on the same way they always have.

The same guy’s still President of the United States. The same party controls congress. The same bills pass and fail to pass at the same alarming rate. Our troops are still in the same countries fighting the same wars. The economy’s still in a tailspin.

Earthquakes still hit Haiti, China, and Mexico. Floods still hit Kazakhstan, Serbia, and Russia. We still have forest-fires and landslides, tornadoes and hurricanes and all the rest right here in our own country.

Then there’s the interpersonal problems we deal with. People are still mean to each other. They lie, cheat, swear, steal, sleep around, start fights, and even commit murder.

What about the health problems we deal with? We still catch colds, and flues. And we still die from heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and a whole host of other ailments.

When we look at the world around us, and even the world within us, we will discover that there are disappointments aplenty in this life, and not much joy.

V. The Joyful Life in Christ

And there is the problem and the solution. The problem that so many Christians don’t have the joy that Jesus’ resurrection has brought into the world is that we are still looking at ourselves and at the world. The solution is to keep your eyes on Jesus instead.

I’m not talking about ignoring the pain and suffering in the world. I’m not talking about pretending that it doesn’t exist. But what I am saying is look at those things in Christ, and you will find that you can have joy even in the worst of circumstances.

The fact is that in Christ, God has done something about the evil that so disappoints us in this world. God has come into this world in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, and He has taken all of the natural, political, moral, and personal evil onto His own shoulders. He has taken all of the disappointment and evil in the world to the cross, and He has left there in death. Then in Jesus’ resurrection, God has ushered in a new creation where disappointment and evil are a thing of the past. In Christ, there is no disappointment. In Christ, evil has been done away with.

We still struggle in a world that is waiting for its new birth. But make no mistake; in Christ, that new world has been conceived and is steadily growing in the womb. It’s just a matter of time until the woman in labor gives birth. As Christians, you have the inside track. You have inside knowledge. You know that the new creation is already here in Christ. In fact, you are a part of that new creation. And one day, that new creation will swallow up the old one completely.

So, in the meantime, you can look at all the things that disappoint you in a new light. The politicians won’t have the last word. Natural disasters don’t rule the day. The sicknesses and diseases that affect us won’t win the war. Death itself can take our loved ones, and it can even claim our lives; but it can’t hold on to them forever because Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus lives. He is risen. And in Him, the resurrection is ours, too. And that is cause for rejoicing, in Jesus’ name.

The Sacrificial Life - John 10:11-16

Misericordias Domini – John 10:11-16 (Ezekiel 34:11-16; 1 Peter 2:21-25) The Sacrificial Life
18 April 2010
Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Madison, Ohio
Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Fairport Harbor, Ohio

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. He is risen. He is risen indeed.

I. Now What?

Our theme throughout lent was “a journey.” It was a journey toward the cross of Calvary and the empty tomb of Easter Sunday. We were reaffirming our desire to live the baptismal life, the Easter life, the Christian life. We spent three weeks in Gesimatide preparing for the journey, and we spent six weeks in Lent actively traveling toward the renewal of our baptism and our celebration of Easter.

Now that we’ve had our Easter celebration, and we find ourselves in the middle of the Easter season, the question is, “Now what?” Now that we’ve studied the catechism, learned our Bible stories, and familiarized ourselves with the Church services, the question is, “Now what?” Now that we’ve confessed our sins and been forgiven, now that we’ve been baptized and shared in the Lord’s Supper, the question is, “Now what?” Now that we are Christians, the question is, “Now what?”

What is the baptismal life all about? What does the Easter life look like? What is this Christian life? How do I live as a baptized person? What does it mean to live like Easter people? What does a Christian life look like?

And that is our theme for the Easter season. Throughout Lent we journeyed toward the Christian life. Now, this Easter season, we’re going to talk about what that Christian life is all about, what it means to be Easter people.

II. Imbalance

There’s a bit of an imbalance in the way that we observe the Church year. Three weeks of pre-Lent. Then six weeks of Lent itself. All of it leading up to Easter; but then, Easter only lasts one day. Nine weeks of talking about the moral law, sin, and repentance, and then only one day of talking about the new life. Nine weeks on Adam, and only one day on Christ. That doesn’t seem right. It doesn’t seem Biblical. And in fact, it isn’t in keeping with Church year either.

Even on our Church calendars Easter isn’t just one single day. Easter is an entire season. Whereas Lent last for forty days, Easter is a season that lasts for fifty days. Easter is longer than Lent. Easter is greater than Lent. In fact, Easter is the holiday that we celebrate all year round, Sunday after Sunday. The reason our regular day of worship is Sunday is because that is the day of our Lord’s resurrection. Every time we gather here on a Sunday morning, we’re gathering because of Easter and we’re celebrating Easter. Every Sunday is Easter. Easter dominates the Church calendar.

Easter dominates the Bible. Genesis says that God created all things good. Things went wrong when mankind fell into sin. But the entire story of the Bible is about God putting right what went wrong. In other words, the entire Bible is about Easter, the resurrection of creation to new life in which all of creation is good again.

Since Easter dominates the Bible, it also ought to dominate the church’s preaching and the church’s living. In the Lutheran church, we place a premium on “Law and Gospel” preaching, and “Law and Gospel” living. Our problem is that we’ve distorted our preaching and therefore also our living by truncating the Gospel, but cutting it short.

Your standard Lutheran sermon goes something like this: 1.) You should be “x” kind of people. 2.) You are not “x” kind of people. Therefore, you deserve death and hell. 3.) But don’t worry. Jesus died for your failure to be “x” kind of people. So, you won’t have to die and go to hell.

But there’s an imbalance in that sermon. It’s all Lent and very little Easter. It’s almost all Adam and very little Christ. It does have tremendously good news for you. You won’t have to die and go to hell because of what Jesus did. But that isn’t the whole good news. And, in fact, if you leave it at that, then people can very quickly get a wrong idea about just what the good news really is.

I’ll try to explain what I mean. Take a look at what a constant dose of this kind of preaching does to our Christian living. If Jesus died so that I don’t have to worry about my failure to be “x” kind of person, then perhaps I don’t have to be “x” kind of person after all. Maybe I could just go on sinning. Maybe I should just go on sinning. After all, it’s God’s glory to forgive. Why should I deprive God of His glory? My sin causes God’s grace to abound!

That kind of preaching and that kind of living is dominated by the law, Adam, and ultimately death. But our preaching and our living should be dominated by the Gospel, Christ, and the resurrection life.

A better and more truly “Lutheran” form of “Law and Gospel” preaching goes something like this: 1.) You should be “x” kind of people. 2.) In Adam, you are not “x” kind of people. Therefore, you deserve death and hell. 3.) In Christ, you are “x” kind of people. So, you won’t have to die and go to hell.

Do you see the difference that makes? The Gospel is not simply that your sins are forgiven. That’s true, and it’s utterly amazing and invaluable. But it’s not the end of the story. If it were, well then you just might sin again and keep on sinning, and be no different from how you were before. The Gospel isn’t a band-aid. It’s a radical reformation. The Gospel is that you are a new creation. Yes, you are forgiven. Yes you are forgiven by grace alone. But, you are also made entirely new by grace alone, too. Not only are you forgiven, but you have been given a new life where sin is a thing of the past, and a life lived in holiness before God is not only possible, but actual. In Christ, you actually are “x” kind of people, and that means that you will live “x” kind of life…the Christian life.

III. The Sacrificial Life of Christ

Throughout this Easter, I’m going to be explaining this again and again by preaching this way on the Gospel for the given Sunday. I’ll start by walking you through today’s Gospel that way in the little bit of time that we have left.

Jesus says that He is the good shepherd. In the Old Testament, Israel pictured her ideal king as a shepherd. This was based in large part on the fact that her greatest king, David, was a shepherd as a boy. So, to call Jesus the good shepherd is to say that He is the long awaited shepherd-king, the anointed messiah.

There is another strand in the Old Testament that talks about the Lord God Himself becoming a shepherd to His people. He Himself will be their shepherd-king. As the truly “good” shepherd, Jesus is making a divine claim about Himself. He is the human face of the divine shepherd, Israel’s God in the flesh.

Now, here is the interesting turn. Whereas the kings of this world use their position and power for their own benefit, the king of Israel is a self-sacrificial leader who uses his position and power for the benefit of God’s people. This is because God Himself, the King who stands behind the king, is a self-sacrificial leader who uses His position and power for the benefit of His people. The Great Good Shepherd searches and seeks out His sheep when they go astray. He gathers His rebellious people in from the lands where they have been exiled because of their sin, and He leads them into their own land again, the Promised Land. He leads Adam back to the Garden of Eden. He feeds His sheep with bread and wine. He binds up their injuries. He fends off the enemies that threaten them.

Jesus says that one of the ways His people will know that He is indeed the good shepherd is that they will recognize His voice. They will recognize His self-sacrificial character. They will see that He truly loves them and gives Himself up for them.

Jesus draws a sharp contrast between Himself and a “hired hand.” A hired hand doesn’t really care for the sheep. He doesn’t really love them. Maybe Jesus was referring to the house of Herod, or to the Sadducees, or even to Caesar. His point is that these rulers are out for themselves. They don’t really love the sheep. They are mere “hired hands.” When the hired hand sees the wolf coming, he flees. But not Israel’s true king. The good shepherd cares for His sheep, and He puts them first. When they are in danger, He is there to save them. When He sees the wolf, He steps in and defends His sheep, even if it means that He loses His life to do it.

That is exactly what Jesus did. Jesus saw that the devil was out to ruin your life with sin and death. And He stepped in to defend you from that wolf. He took on your sin, and he went into death on your behalf. He paid the penalty for your sin on the cross. Jesus laid down His life for the sheep; He laid down His life for you. And on the third day, He rose from the dead to give you a new life, free from sin and the fear of death.

IV. The Sacrificial Life of the Christian

This new life is what the epistle for today talks about. This is the life to which you have been called as a Christian. Apart from Christ, we are generally selfish and self-centered. We look out for number one. But in Christ, we are new and different people. Christ suffered for you. He sacrificed Himself for you, and through His sacrifice, He’s made you into a new person. So, now, you are the kind of person who follows in His steps. Instead of living a selfish life, you live a sacrificial life.

To give just one example of what that life looks like: It means suffering injustice and forgiving others as God has forgiven you. The epistle says that Jesus was reviled, but he did not revile in return. He suffered, but He did not threaten. Instead, He entrusted Himself to the one who judges justly. That is the kind of life that Jesus has given you to live. Instead of holding grudges and plotting revenge, forgiveness is the order of the day. God in Christ has sacrificed to forgive you. You, in turn, now sacrifice in order to forgive others.

And forgiveness is indeed a sacrifice. It’s hard to forgive. You need to give up your pride, give up your thoughts of revenge, give up a piece of yourself in order to forgive.

But Christ bore your sins in His body on the tree. He did that so that you would die to sin, and instead live to righteousness. By His sacrificial wounds, your selfishness has been healed. That means, for one, that you forgive others when they sin against you. And it means a whole lot of other things besides. There are countless ways that we can live sacrificially.

What I want you to remember for today is this: Jesus Christ our good shepherd lived a self-sacrificial life for us. Now, in Him, as Christians, we live a sacrificial life for the good of others. That is what it means to live as Easter people. The Christian life is the sacrificial life, in Jesus’ name.