Matthew 7:15-23

Beware False Prophets

Trinity 8

August 6, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

The Bible is a book for heretics.  Yes, you heard me correctly.  What I mean is this, the Bible is a book which most heretics will claim for themselves.  No other book has been misused as much as that of Holy Scripture. There has never been a heresy so bad or coarse that it did not attempt to conceal and cloak itself with Scripture.  Thus, the Bible is a book for heretics, not that it is Scripture’s fault, but the evildoer’s fault, who misuse it and the name of the Lord our God (Luther’s Works 78, p 287).

We shouldn’t be surprised at this in the least.  The most effective lies are those that contain some truth. Jesus tell us near the end of the Sermon on the Mount, “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”  These false prophets come, in sheep’s clothes meaning that their preaching and citing Scripture in such a way that it is regarded to be true teaching.  Outwardly, these prophets  seem to be followers of Jesus, but inwardly their goal is to devour the sheep.

One of the best Biblical passages about this comes in 1 John 4:1-3, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come into the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world.”

Jesus makes this even more clear when He says that not everyone who says, “Lord, Lord” will enter the kingdom of heaven.  There are hypocrites within the visible church, people who do not believe, yet who say and do all the right things.  The Pharisees and scribes in Jesus’ day were just like this.  But saying the right words does not gain someone entrance into heaven. There isn’t a password on the pearly gates.  Jesus says not everyone who says to Him, “Lord, Lord, did we not prophecy in Your name, and cast out demons in Your name, and do many mighty works in Your name?” And Jesus’ answer to them is a harsh truth, “I never know you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness.”

So who then will enter the kingdom of heaven?  Jesus answers, the one who does the will of the Father who is in heaven.  What is this will?  Jesus answers that in John 6:40, “For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in Him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”  So you see, the difference is simply between one who stands before God with nothing but faith in Christ, and one who tries to bring his good works.

So how do you know the difference?  How can you tell which is a sheep and which is a wolf in sheep’s clothes?  How can you spot a false prophet, that is a false teacher and preacher, a pastor teaching falsehood? This is a pretty important question.  Jesus says, “You will recognize them by their fruits,” that is to say, by their teaching and preaching.  You cannot see into a person’s heart, and their outward appearance and show may still be deceiving.  No one can judge or condemn this except with spiritual eyes.  You recognize what a person believes in their heart by what they profess with their mouths and practice with their hands.

Remember, the Bible is a book for heretics.  The wolf dresses up like a sheep, outwardly acts like a sheep, and tries to pass himself off as a sheep. He uses the same tools as a sheep, namely the Word of God.  But he takes that Word, twists its meaning into something different than how God intended, redefines terms.  We see this happening here in our own town. Where some will talk about “Jesus”, but the “Jesus” they define is not the Jesus of the Bible.  Some will talk about grace, but they do not mean the free and undeserved favor of God upon a sinner, but rather God giving someone a special power to do good works.  Some will take the words of St. Peter, “this baptism now saves you,” and mean “baptism doesn’t save, but it’s your work showing that you are saved.”  Some will take the words of our Lord, “This is My body, this is My blood,” and redefine the word “is” to mean “represents,” which basically means, “is not.”

Learn here to beware and to take a good look at whether teaching correctly conveys and emphasizes this important point: Does is preach Christ correctly and purely? What does it say about Jesus? Who is He? What has He done? Be on guard against anyone who teaches something different or new.  To do that, you have to have and know the true teaching of Christ and judge all other teaching according to it, whether or not it conforms to it and is built on the true foundation of Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins.  Jesus gives Christians the power and command to test and pass sentence on all teachings, He requires that we be wise and sensible Christian who know the true teaching and can distinguish between the truth and falsehood. We judge this not based upon our opinions or feelings, but by the clear and straight rule of Christ’s word. St Paul says in Romans 12:6 that if anyone has prophecy, let it be in keeping with faith.  That is to say, all teaching is to agree and be in keeping only with the faith once delivered to the saints, and the pattern of sound words. Don’t look inside for what feels right or sounds right, but rely only upon the Word of God as the source and norm of our Christian faith.

By the grace of God, the same Gospel, the same Christ, as when Zion begun 100 years ago, as Luther preached 500 years ago, as the apostles taught 2000 years ago, as the prophets proclaimed in the Old Testament will continue here.  The Word of the Lord endures forever, in spite of false prophets, in spite of ravenous wolves, in spite of persecution and hatred and apathy and rejection.  Where the Word of God is taught in its purity and the Sacraments are administered rightly, there Christ establishes His Church and the Holy Spirit sustains faith in Him. You must hold on to the chief part of the Christian faith and accept nothing else: That God has sent and given Jesus Christ, His Son, and that only through faith in Him does God forgive us all our sins, justify, and save us (LW 21:254). 

Mark 8:1-9

Feeding the 4000

Trinity 7

July 30, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

Tired, hungry, and away from home.  That’s the situation of the great crowd that had followed Jesus.  For three days, they had followed Him around, listening to Him speak, and now they find themselves in a desolate place with no food and no easy way home. Jesus’ disciples didn’t know what to do for them.  But Jesus does.  He has compassion on the crowd. 

The disciples struggle with their faith that Jesus can do something.  It seems impossible to feed all those people in such a place.  But Jesus doesn’t seem to care about what the disciples think is impossible.  He asks them how many loaves of bread they have, seven being the answer.  He gives thanks, breaks them, gives them to the disciples to distribute among the thousands of people. And then He repeats with three fish.  And everyone eats and is satisfied. And they have more leftovers than what they began with. 

On our pulpit, we have a picture of seven loaves and three fish.  This is no accident. It is reminded to us of this miracle, a visual symbol proclaiming God’s compassion and provision.  You have followed Jesus’ call here.  You have heard His Word, received His blessing.  He provides for you.  The words of today’s Gradual describe you, “Come, O children, listen to Me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”

Jesus doesn’t leave the Church empty handed. He delivers the meal as surely as He delivered the bread and fish.  It didn’t look like enough then.  It doesn’t look like enough now.  We have a small amount of bread and wine. Delivered by God to us here today, He will take it and multiply His grace to us.  We are fed to the full and overflow.

We should learn by this to be hostile to our unbelief and to oppose it. We should get into the habit of thinking that Christ can do and does do more and greater things that we can understand or believe. We often stress and worry about our own earthly goods, as well as that of our church. We vote today on a budget for our church and school.  We receive what the Lord has given and strive to be good and faithful stewards. It causes worry and strife and hard feelings.  It shouldn’t be this way. It doesn’t have to be this way.

So you might say, “I know that God gives good gifts and provides for the needs of His people but how come so often that He lets His Christians suffer in the world? Here we must know how the kingdom of God works, for He wants to show us that His kingdom on earth is not a secular kingdom, which consists of eating and drinking and money and possessions. Rather, Christ has ordained it to be a spiritual kingdom in which we are to seek and find eternal, divine benefits. Notice that He doesn’t shorten His sermon so they can get beat the rush to the favorite lunch time restaurant or because some have come a long way and have a long way to go, but He continues to teach them and provide for them.

If Christ demands entire devotion, He will give much grace.  If He calls us to seek Him first, He will not neglect what we have left for His sake. The Gospel adds a message of comfort the believer who strives for God’s righteousness, who is feeling the weight of things that seek to weaken our purpose, defeat our effort, and impair our service. He knows how far we have left on our way and will in order to sit at His feet, and He will see to it that we shall be cared for.  We are to learn to believe that they will not lack the physical and are to expect from Him also what is necessary for the physical life of His Church on earth. He has arraigned to continuously feed you with His Word and Sacraments as you follow Him through this desolate and sinful world.  You can never have too much, you can never feast on the Word of God and the Lord’s Supper too often, for it is the food of immortality.

Christ would have His Church no less compassionate. He calls His disciples to share in this and requests their aid. It is the duty of the Church to feed the flock of Christ committed to her care, and to consider her needs. At the same time He chases away the doubts of the disciples, He uses them as His instruments to share His compassion to others.

Christ also wants us to put our faith into practice so that we are to look to His hands and expect the necessities of this life from Him. Luther’s prayer before a meal in the Small Catechism echoes this as it starts with Psalm 145:15-16, “The eyes of all look to You, O Lord, and You give them food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing.”  Closes with Psalm 147:11, “… the Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”

Christ teaches us here that no matter how little or great it is, we should use what God has given to us, and accept it with thanksgiving. The Psalmist says, “The little a righteous person has is better than the great possessions of many godless people” (Ps 36 [37:16]; “The blessing of the Lord makes rich” (Proverbs 10:20), “There is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content” (1 Timothy 6:6).  When a man is content with his poverty, when he is left with nothing else to do but receive from God’s hand, then he has a very great treasure which is called “God’s blessing” (Luther, LW 78, p 265).

Luke 5:1-11

5^th Sunday after Trinity

July 16, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

The people crowded around Jesus to hear God’s Word, so that He had to step into a boat to preach to them.  After teaching the crowds, He tells Peter to go fishing.  Now, After Jesus tells him to go out into the deep water and let down the nets for a catch of fish, Peter doesn’t seem all that excited to do it.  “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing!” Peter knows when and where to fish. He’s a professional. He knows what he’s doing.  This is how he makes a living. It’s how he provides .  And he had been doing it all night and come up empty handed. It must have seemed extremely foolish to go out again, at the wrong time, and just throw out a net just like that.  Throwing out their net one more time wasn’t going to do anything different than what they had already tried.

But Peter responds, “But at Your word I will let down the nets.”  And they do it.  What an example of faith.  It wasn’t a perfect faith, by any means, but it was faith nonetheless.  Because though Peter doubted that it would do any good, He hear His master’s call and He responded despite his reservations.

We aren’t that different.  Jesus says to do something and our hearts have a hard time believing that it’s really true, that it’ll really work.  We get filled with doubts, but at the same time we confess with our mouths that He is right, that He knows what He’s doing.  Our fallen hard hearts say Jesus can’t do this, it’s a ridiculous command, it’s just not going to work.  We can’t always control this kind of thought and feeling to arise in our heart.  But we can control our actions, our response.  We can say, “I believe that Jesus knows what He’s doing, even though these doubts arise with me.” And then we can follow where Jesus’ commands, I can say what’s true, what’s good and right, even when I don’t feel it.

If we were to wait for just the time, for our motives to pure and perfect, for a faith stronger than that of Peter, we would never act.  The Christian acts in spite of himself, against his fallen flesh.  Because the faith of a Christian trusts in the Word of Jesus even when the sinful hearts questions and doubts.

Though the disciples were wearied, unsuccessful, Christ called upon them to put out into the deep and let down their nets for a catch.  They were to be brave and leave results to Jesus.  And the results are hilarious.  They have been wanting to catch fish all night, and now after Jesus provides the catch, it threatens to kill them! It is too much of a good thing! The nets are breaking and the boats are sinking. And Peter and his brothers are there recognizing that they are dying. They are accused the Law, recognizing that their sin deserves death, and that death is approaching!  Peter responds to this not with faith, but with terror. 

They know they cannot stand in the holiness of God.  Peter asks Jesus to depart. Faith never says, “Please leave me Jesus!”  But he is so terrified of it all that he would rather drown than to be in the presence of Jesus.  He’d rather die, and death apart from Jesus is never a good thing.  In fact, that is the definition of hell, separation from Jesus.

But Jesus doesn’t go away. He doesn’t leave Peter.  Instead, He simple says, “Do not be afraid.”  With these words, He is telling Peter that He is not his destruction or death, but He is Peter’s salvation.  Peter shouldn’t be running away from him, but running to Him and clinging to Him.  He has come to call Peter to something greater than simply catching fish.  He calls Peter to throw out the net of the Gospel to catch people.

Do not be afraid.  Your sins are forgiven in Christ.  You have been gathered by the net of the Gospel into the saving boat of the one, holy Christian and apostolic Church.  It may not make sense, it may seem backwards, yet that is how Jesus works. We may be filled with questions and doubts: We feel like sharing God’s word is sometimes useless, like it’s not going to do anything to tell someone about Jesus, about His Law or His gospel, that it’ll just offend and create a barrier between you and another person. And it might do just that.  But this faith in Jesus is trusting that His Word has the power to convert hearts, to create faith, to call someone back from trying to push Jesus away from them.  That this Word does not return the Lord empty, but accomplishes what it says, for it is the power of salvation.

Do not be afraid.  If you’re not afraid of God, there’s nothing else to be afraid of.  So now you are free, free from the worry and the doubts and the fears that arise in this life. You are free to trust in Jesus, to rest secure in His care, to recognize that all good gifts come from and through Him.  We’re to go out, do our vocations, our duty, and it may be hard and tiring and seem useless, but God works for the good of those who love Him even in those times.  Christ’s best workers are the humblest, who feel themselves unworthy of His presence, who feel that the power is not theirs but Christ’s.  Success is not because of you, not because of the Church, but because of Jesus.  St Paul writes at the end of 1 Corinthians 15, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

This is God’s promise to you.  When you’re stuck in a rut, your daily life is boring and routine, when you ever wonder if you make a difference or are just going through the motions, do not let your sinful heart deceive you.  Your labor in the Lord is never in vain.  Faith is trusting in the words of Jesus, doing what He says, and following Him.  That doesn’t mean you all need to leave your jobs, or find different vocations in life.  It means that in comparison to all these things, there is nothing greater than faith in Jesus. You may not get the catch of fish you’d like, you may never see the results of all your toil under the sun, but Christ is with you. He has come for you, so that you don’t drown in the sea of this world apart from Him, but so that your work and your life may be sanctified by the One who died and rose again on the third day. 

And to the world this seems just as foolish to us as catching fish after working all night. But you are not of the world, are you? You are of Christ. So cling to Him.  Do not be afraid. For He has forgiven your sins. Your cup runneth over with His good things.

Luke 6:36-42

Judgmental Judging

4^th Sunday after Trinity

July 9, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

One of the worst cultural sins nowadays is that of telling someone that they are wrong, or that what they are doing is wrong.  It was just about a week ago I was following a conversation on facebook, which is a horrible place to argue theology.  One side was trying to state the Biblical position on some moral issue, the other side was throwing out phrases like, “you’re intolerant, hateful, ignorant, stuck in the dark ages, judgmental.”

In our current American culture, this is a pretty common type of argument when one person disagrees with another.  It’s poor rhetoric, a bad way to argue, though all too often it is effective.  No one likes to be called hateful or intolerant. It makes it very hard to make an argument for or against something when the other person isn’t using rational thinking.  Many people today doesn’t understand the word “sin” anymore. It’s gone from our vocabulary. When truth is relative, the worst thing you say is that there a definite truth, an objective right and wrong, that the individual or majority is not the decider of morality, but that God is. And then to make things worse, one of the worst charges brought back against a Christian when calling out sin is that they are being judgmental, that the Christian isn’t perfect either, and/or they are being hateful.

We’ve probably all been there at some point, or maybe even used, parts of our Gospel reading for today in regards to this.  It’s one the most used and misused parts of Scripture, especially in terms of speaking God’s truth in love. So let’s unpack this Scripture a little.

This section comes in the middle of a long sermon by Jesus.  In the Gospel according to Luke, this is part of Jesus’ sermon on the plain which begins with the Beatitudes followed by a series of woes.  Then Jesus speaks about loving one’s enemies, from which directly flows our Gospel reading. After this, we hear how a good tree bears good fruit and a bad tree bad, and then the to build the house of faith upon a firm foundation of the rock rather than upon the shifting sand.

So, this section, then, comes right in the middle of Jesus’ sermon.  What Jesus is telling us here is that, as Christians, as people blessed by Christ and enlivened by the Holy Spirit, we are to be merciful toward others as God has been merciful to us, for this is the fruit of our faith being built upon the rock that is Jesus. We are to be long-suffering, loving and doing good to any and all people, expecting nothing in return.

Keeping this in mind, it is a little easier to see how these words of our Gospel apply to us.  We are to judge and condemn not, but rather forgiven and give. The Lord has been merciful to us, despite us deserving otherwise, and because of this we ought to be merciful to others even when they don’t deserve it.  Verse 38 of our text uses the illustration of honest marketing, not padding the product, but dealing with integrity and truthfulness. This is simply bearing the good fruit of faith.  To do otherwise, to withhold forgiveness and generosity is not befitting of one who has been blessed by Christ, but rather is a rejection of Christ’s mercy.

So what does this mean for us?  Does it mean that we should only be concerned with ourselves and not speak up about truth and sin and salvation to our neighbors, to our friends, to our family?  Of course not.  God is judge of hearts, not you. But as a Christian, it is your responsibility, it is your duty to proclaim both the Gospel of Jesus Christ crucified for the forgiveness of sins, but also God’s righteous Law.  Exposing sin where it exists, calling evil evil, is not being judgmental, it is pronouncing God’s judgment. It is not an act of hate, it is an act of love and correction.  It is not intolerance of a person, but it is intolerance of sin. It is not out of ignorance or stuck in old fashioned ways, but it is a morality, it’s a truth, it’s a life built upon the will of God, the creator of the universe.

Who gives us the right to do all this?  Well, Jesus, the judge does.  Before His ascension, He says that all authority in heaven and earth belongs to Him, and then He sends out His people into the world to preach and teach the whole counsel of God. To do any less, to avoid proclaiming God’s judgment to the world, to never speak of God’s intolerance of sin and evil, to spare the rod is to spoil to hell.  This is all in light of the 8^th commandment, You shall not bear false testimony against your neighbor. Part of this is putting the best construction on things.  And the best construction is simply calling a thing what it is. To not speak against sin, to not call out the evils of society, to keep silent and do nothing is to live a lie, is it to bear false testimony.  Not calling sin sin is to be bear false testimony.  There is nothing more hateful, nothing less merciful, nothing more selfish than failing to proclaim God’s Law, followed always by the sweet Gospel and forgiveness we have in Christ.

Lastly, then, Jesus warns of hypocrisy in doing just this.  He uses the absurd analogy of having a log in your own eye while trying to pick out a splinter in another’s. The point is this: before worrying about out the sin in others, first recognize your own.  Repent. Repent of your own sin, be forgiven and receive God’s mercy.  Then, and only then, are you in the place to share God’s love through His Law and Gospel.  Then, and only then, are you empowered to be merciful even as your Father is merciful.

John 3:1-17

Born of the Incomprehensible God

Trinity Sunday

June 11, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

Most of us have heard an experience or maybe had it yourself, where we’ve seen or met a sports hero, a Hollywood star, a political figure, but have been left unimpressed.  The person was not as large, beautiful or friendly as we had thought they had ought to be. Or maybe the dirt had been dug up on that person you looked up to.  It’s a hard blow when we find out that a role model is just a normal, sinful human beings like the rest of us.

With Jesus it seems to be the opposite.  Many nowadays approach Jesus not as someone special, but as no one special.  Our culture has taken Him down a notch or two or three.  His miracles are often explained away, some claim His teaching isn’t really that profound or unique, and that there are many other religious teachers who might be followed in a better way.  We even see this in those almost too familiar Scripture verses, like in John 3.  Many people are familiar enough with that what Jesus says, especially John 3:16, but the meaning of it just washes right over people and doesn’t sink in the way that Jesus challenges Nicodemus, a Pharisee who comes to Jesus by night.

You see, Nic approaches Jesus at night assuming that he’s got it all figured out, he is a good Pharisee after all.  He gives what he apparently thinks is a generous and profound interpretation of Jesus’ work when he says, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one else can do these signs that you do unless God is with him” (John 3:2).  But this was not enough.  Nic recognizes Jesus as “from God” because of His signs, but Jesus shifts the focus from what He had been doing in the signs to what the Spirit does, and then to what Jesus speaks and came to accomplish by the will of the Father.  Jesus didn’t merely have God with Him, He is the Son of God come down to earth.  This is God in the flesh. The recalling of Numbers 21 and the story of the bronze serpent shows that only through God’s chosen means are His people saved.  Only by Jesus does birth “from above” happen, for He alone came from above.  And He would be lifted up, so that anyone who would look to Him, and only to Him, would be saved.

But Nic had no idea what Jesus was talking about.  John records Jesus giving us a classic conundrum that likely has little if any meaning to the people Jesus was talking to directly, but tremendous significance for those who read this Gospel.  Nic asks Jesus how a man could be born again, for he can’t go back into his mother’s womb.  Nic misunderstands this as being born again in human terms, but Jesus points him to a different meaning: birth “by water and the spirit.” Jesus answers John 3:5 “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.”  Various explanations have been and can be given to whisk away the sacramental understanding of “water and the Spirit,” not the least being that Nic had no idea what Jesus was talking about when Jesus told Him he must be born from above.  But Jesus doesn’t let a little thing like people misunderstanding Him stand in the way of the proclamation of the Good News of God’s salvation through the Son of God. 

  Already in John 1:12-13, the Evangelist proclaims to us that those who have received Jesus are not born of the flesh, but born from God.  The point is not that there is a second birth, though baptism can and should be looked at this way, but that there is a difference between the birth brought about by humans and the birth brought about by God through His Spirit.  The former brings one into the kingdom of the world, but the later brings one in the Kingdom of God.

When we read John chapter 3 and hear of the good news of God’s love for the world, we need to take a step back and really listen to what God is saying to us.  Unlike the arrogance of Nic at night who assumed that he had all the answers, we can approach Jesus in the confidence that He has the answers, and that we are already part of His Kingdom.  The difference between Nic and yourself is that Nic was not yet born from above, while you sitting here today, through the waters of your baptism have been birthed by God.  It’s not that we have a better understand, or are more enlightened.  There’s no better day than today when we realize this as we confess the Athanasian Creed.  The incomprehensibility of the Trinity stumps our human reason.  It’s not understandable.  It makes no sense. We don’t have it all figured out. As St. Paul says, “Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!” (Romans 11:33).

And so today, Jesus reminds us of what it means to be born again when baptized into the name of our Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.   We are reminded of our place in the kingdom of God through who we are in Christ and what He has done for us.  That Christ has been lifted up for us, and through faith we look to Him to heal the sickness of our sin.  You are a forgiven sinner, born of water and the Spirit, washed clean by the blood of God shed upon the cross.  You are, as Paul says (2 Cor. 5:17) a new Creation living in God’s Kingdom.  By this saving act of God the Father in lifting up the Son of Man on the cross and giving new life from above by water and the Spirit you have been born again to “do the truth.”  To carry out God’s work here on earth. 

And not even the gates can prevail against this work of Christ because our Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit working in your lives to keep you steadfast in the truth faith unto life everlasting.  We may be confident living in Him, by His power, through being born again, through being born from above by the water and the Spirit.  That God the Father has worked this in you, because God the Son, the same Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.  To Him be the glory forever. Amen.

John 15:26-16:4

Package Delivered

Seventh Sunday of Easter

May 28, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

The package has been ordered, but not delivered yet.  The anticipation of the waiting, excitement of receiving something great.  More and more, I find myself shopping online.  The convenience of it all is unbeatable.  But then there’s the wait.  The package has to be shipped, and then delivered.  I find myself tempted over and over again to check the shipping status, to track where the package is and when it might arrive.  In our culture where instant gratification is the norm, the virtue of patience has become all but forgotten.

Jesus had promised the package was on the way.  The Holy Spirit was to be sent by Jesus from the Father.  This the double procession of the Spirit, as we confess in the Nicene Creed that the Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son.  But at this time in the disciples’ lives, it would still be about 2 months until the Spirit of Christ would descend upon them at Pentecost.  The order had been placed, the delivered promised, and now they all they had to do was wait through the crucifixion, the resurrection, 40 days until Jesus ascension and then another 10 before Pentecost.

And their waiting will not be easy, neither before nor after they have received the Holy Spirit.  The disciples are going to face hardship. They will be rejected by the unbelieving Jewish leadership and persecuted in much the same way as Christ Himself was.  In fact, out of 12 disciples, it was only St. John who died from natural causes, Judas who committed suicide, and the rest were martyred for their faith in Jesus. 

Indeed, Jesus knows that it will be difficult for them.  And so He gives them these promises and teaches them these things to keep them from falling away.  And so He does for us too.  Our church service is laden with Scripture, with the Word of God, that not only creates faith, but by the power of the Holy Spirit, sustains that faith to keep you from falling away. 

But that’s not the only purpose either.  We have the twofold teaching that the Holy Spirit will come and witness to Christ, and that we too must be witnesses to Christ.  The great defender of the Truth is the Spirit. The witness of the Church is not only for Christ, but from Christ. The Spirit sent by Christ from the Father would give force to the disciples evidence, would give power to their words, and support their testimony by miracles. And so He does for us.

And there will be opposition to this witness. Because of sin, and because of rapid idolatry, the world is by nature opposed to the Gospel of Christ.  This opposition comes from two sources.  First, because men have not known the Father.  And second, because they have not known Christ. For to know one, means to know the other.  In fact, Jesus flat out says in John 14:6, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” Without the knowledge and faith of Christ, there is no knowledge and faith of the Father. And vice versa.  This is a hard truth, especially for those in our family and friends who lack this faith and for those who live with this tension daily. 

Difficulties of witnessing was obvious in the first century when the witness was the martyr. Still today, Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world, especially when lived out in a Muslim, Communist or Socialist country.  We aren’t faced with death because of our faith in Christ, but that does not mean that the devil doesn’t try just as hard to silence the Holy Spirit’s testimony.  Our heads may not be on the chopping block, but don’t think that the devil and our sinfulness don’t try to lead us into falling away from faith in Christ. We are faced with a rapidly declining population of those who call themselves Christians. Whereas regular church attendance used to be 3 or 4 Sundays a month, many people now treat it as once a month.  False teachers have come and lead people away from the Gospel and God’s revealed Word.  False prophets who were not sent, tell lies in God’s name.  In the name of tolerance and acceptance, people think that all roads lead to heaven and that all gods are the same. Idolatry and polytheism are ingrained in our culture. And so we must not be surprised at the opposition to Christianity. And we must not think that Christianity is a mistake because people mistake Christianity. Christ said it would happen and He has said these things to us today so that we do not fall away, but rather hold on to Him even tighter.

Repent of your fear of things that have happened and things that might come. Repent of your timidity in bearing witness to Christ.  For Christ is risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!  We have victory, not just a future victory, but a present and real victory here and now. Christ has ascended to the throne of God and reigns over heaven and earth. We must not lose faith in Christ because success comes slowly.  The first Christians were disappointed that Jesus’ return did not lie necessarily in their near future. But they still built their hope and their future on and around the expectation of His return. Throughout the ages the Church has prayed, “Come quickly Lord Jesus.”  While we wait, we rest in the assurance that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance. (2 Peter 3:9).  Faithfully, the Church has met Sunday after Sunday to be greeted by her Lord through His Word and Sacrament, waiting eagerly for the expected return.

The Lord is risen and He has ascended.  He sends His Holy Spirit to you. He speaks His Word to you. You hear His voice as the Spirit continues to bear witness to Him. He has warned of your persecution that you would not fall away.  And He has promised something even greater – That He will keep you.  He has not died in vain, and neither do those who belong to Him. We wait, eagerly, with anticipation, and with joy, for the delivery of the final package of God’s full restoration of creation when Christ returns with glory to judge both the living and the dead, who kingdom will have no end.