Sermon: Exaudi (Easter 7) - 2020

24 May 2020

Text: John 15:26-16:4

In the name of + Jesus.  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

How do we know that something is true?  We live in an age of deep fakes and fake news.  We receive messages trying to con us out of our bank information.  We get phone calls from guys with heavy Indian accents who claim to be from the IRS.  We are lied to all the time. 

Even Pontius Pilate, acting as the judge in the case of Rome vs. Jesus, asked “What is truth?”  Our Lord did not answer his question.  But elsewhere, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” 

In our Gospel of two weeks ago, we heard our Lord speak of the coming of the Helper, the Spirit of truth, whom Jesus identifies as the Holy Spirit who comes “to guide [us] into all truth.”

And so, at least regarding matters of faith, we know what is true based on the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  And in today’s Gospel, Jesus said, “When the Helper comes… He will bear witness about Me.”

The Holy Spirit leads us to Jesus, teaches us who Jesus is, guides us into the true narrative of Jesus, and opens our hearts to receive Jesus.  This Holy Spirit is the Helper that the Father and the Son sent upon the Church at Pentecost, which we will commemorate next week.  And at Pentecost, the disciples, who were formerly unsure of themselves, will boldly proclaim Jesus to a world that hates them.  They will be courageous, and they will unleash the force of the Word of God onto a world that has no idea what is coming.  

If Jesus had left us to ourselves, like orphans, we would have to fend for ourselves to determine the truth about Jesus.  But He did not leave us as orphans; He sent the Helper.  The Helper “calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”

In other words, the Holy Spirit creates the Church, brings you into the Church, and keeps you in the Church.  For the Church is where you find Jesus: proclaimed, in and from the Scriptures, Jesus: placed upon you in Holy Baptism; Jesus: given to you in His body and blood.  The Church is indeed where you come to Jesus: who forgives you your sins, gives you the gift of eternal life, and shepherds you to keep you in the one true faith.

The one true faith is the faith of Jesus Christ.  That is, the Christian faith.

And this term “one true faith” is offensive to many.  It means that Islam and Buddhism, Hinduism and Paganism – indeed all religions other than Christianity – are wrong.  By definition, dear friends, truth is exclusive.  If Jesus is the truth, if Jesus teaches the truth, if the Word of Jesus is the truth, if the apostles and their successors proclaim the truth, if your salvation by grace alone through faith alone as the Scriptures teach is the truth – then everyone and everything else is wrong.  There is only one truth.  2+2=4.  It never equals 3 or 5.  There are an infinite number of possible answers to the question, but only one answer is correct.  

And that is who Jesus is: the only right answer.  We know this because the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures to be written, the Holy Spirit guides you to the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit enlightens you to understand the Scriptures, and the Holy Spirit strengthens you to believe the Scriptures.

The Holy Spirit was placed upon you at your Holy Baptism.  The Holy Spirit is a gift, and He is the Helper.  Do you need help?  Do you ever struggle with figuring out what is true?  Do you desire to be taught the truth?  Do you want to truly know Jesus?  Then you need the Helper to guide you.

Do you want to be strengthened for those times when the rug is pulled out from under you?  Then you need to allow the Spirit to call, gather, enlighten, and sanctify you.  

Dear brothers and sisters, no life is immune from trouble.  And in fact, as the days get darker, as times get shorter, we will face persecution.  “They will put you out of the synagogues,” says our Lord.  The early Christians were faced with enemies who tried to destroy them.  And the persecutions of Christians didn’t stop there.  Various Roman emperors tried to destroy the Church.  And things are worse today than they were in those early centuries.  “Indeed,” says our Lord, “the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God.”  More Christians are being persecuted by Muslims who believe their god rewards them for killing us than even in the days of the Roman emperors.

And even our secular world hates the Church and seeks to separate individual Christians from their God-given rights.  In many places around the world and even in our own country, Christians are seen as enemies of the people and haters of mankind (just as they often were in ancient Rome).  We are seen as backward and stupid.  We are seen as hateful and ignorant.  We are seen as dangerous and deviant.  And why?

Because we confess and preach the truth about Jesus.  Jesus is God in the flesh who was born of a virgin.  He is perfect and kept the law flawlessly for us.  He was crucified on trumped-up charges, but offered up His own blood as a sacrifice for the life of the world.  He makes atonement for humanity with God, and offers forgiveness, life, and salvation to all.  

But how are you called to believe in Jesus, to know what is true, to hold an unswerving faith in the face even of persecution?  The Holy Spirit, the Helper, the one whom Jesus sends to guide you.  It is the Holy Spirit, given to you at baptism, who sustains you in the faith by constantly pointing you to Jesus.  It is the Spirit who draws you to the Church, where you find forgiveness in the midst of sin; life in the midst of death; and salvation in the midst of the lies of the devil.

Come to the Church, dear friends: to the font, where you find new birth; to the pulpit, where Jesus tells you the truth by means of the Spirit; to the altar, where you are literally fed and medicated with the True Word of God that you can eat and drink.  The Divine Service is not a hobby or a way to kill time.  It is dialysis for the soul, it is a vaccination against the devil, it is chemotherapy for sin, and it is our Good Physician’s prescription for eternal life.  It is here that you find healing and peace.

Dear friends, we have the cure for death.  And we know it is true, because the Helper – the one who created the Church – guides us into all truth, testifies regarding Jesus, and moves us to where we need to be.  And this, dear brothers and sisters, is where we need to be!

This is the Gospel, the good news that in spite of your sins and failures, you are God’s beloved who placed His indelible mark on you at baptism.  He will never forsake you, but you can certainly starve yourself into spiritual death by refusing to be fed.

Our Lord said, “I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”  You will need the Spirit’s guidance to keep you in the faith, especially in times of trouble, of sorrow, and of the attacks of the world, the devil, and our sinful flesh.  

Receive the Word of God, and through that Word, receive the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus says, “will bear witness about [Him.]” And thanks to this Helper, we can say: “This is most certainly true.”  Amen.

Christ is risen!  He is risen indeed!  Alleluia!

In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. 

Amen.