Easter 6 Sermon

 

Christ is Risen, He is Risen indeed! Alleluia +

    I'm going to make a distinction that is very important as we start this sermon. That distinction is between “asking a question” of someone and “asking for” something. While those are both “asking” - they really are different things. If you are questioning someone, it might be simply because you don't understand, or perhaps because you want to see if they understand. It's a knowledge sort of thing. If you are asking for something, it's because there is a need, a lack. Many of you may have asked for a bulletin today – can I have a bulletin. In our Gospel reading, Jesus uses words for both that questioning type of asking and also for that requesting type of asking, and it shapes how we understand what the life in the Church is. Listen.

    “In that day you will [question me about nothing.]” You'll note that I shifted the translation a bit, because the word that gets translated as “ask” here is that questioning sort of word. Because think about what the Disciples had had for three years. If they had a question, they could ask Jesus. What about this, Jesus – what about that? Well, that time of having Jesus on hand to ask questions is going away. You're not going to have Jesus around to be an information dump, disciples – because Jesus will die, rise, and ascend, and that means you'll be Apostles, you'll be the ones who are going to be answering the questions that all the new disciples in the future ask. That's shifting. And this is a shift we are pretty much all familiar with. You graduate from school, and you leave your teacher behind, and instead of just asking them stuff all the time, you have to put what they taught you into practice. There is a transition – there comes a point when you stop being the person who asks, “Hey dad,” and become the dad who is supposed to answer – your whiny cries of “moooom” because the whiny cries you yourself get to deal with. There is growth, there is maturation, there is the giving of responsibility. Now, disciples, you will be the ones teaching and serving and helping. This is the way growth happens.

    And Jesus, still teaching yet, brings up a fantastic nuance for the disciples here, with what their growth, their development means. 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.” Now, this “ask” isn't the questioning sort of ask – it's the requesting sort of ask – it's the praying form of ask. Well, wait, what's Jesus talking about here, Pastor – didn't the disciples pray? Yes – but, um, generally if they were hanging out with Jesus, Jesus led the prayers. And Jesus is bringing them a wonderful comfort. You've seen Me pray, and you've seen all that has come about by prayer – and that's not going away. You are authorized to pray in My name, to call upon the Father with My authority – to say “Our Father” - and the Father will listen to you and give to you just as He has and just as He would listen and give to Me. Jesus' ascension doesn't mean that prayer stops, that it loses its effectiveness. Nope, you disciples will be praying with all of Jesus' authority, and the Father will hear and will give the things you request in Jesus' name – the things that you pray for with Jesus' command.

    I'm a details sort of guy – I like knowing things. I often think of all the questions I might like to ask Jesus – little factoids about this or that. And here, Jesus reminds us that He gives both to the disciples who are becoming Apostles and also to the Church something far better than facts or behind the scenes details – He gives the gift of prayer. Our relationship with God is not about trivia; it is about God Himself actively giving us blessings of body and soul, of life and salvation – and we have been given authority, indeed, we have been instructed to use this gift of prayer so that we would still evermore receive God's good gifts and receive them rightly.

    We don't think of it this way often, but this service is one of prayer. Think of how much of this service together is really us gathered together in prayer. And by this I don't just mean the “official” prayers, like the prayer of the church or the collect of the day. No, almost all of it is prayer. If you in the congregation speak, there's prayer. Consider how many times you say, “Amen.” That's because there's been prayer. Consider how many things we ask of God – Lord have mercy, peace be with you – that's all prayer. Our hymns and our praise – as Thou has promised, draw us all to Thee – Guide me O Thou great Redeemer. Prayer. Here in this place we are gathered together by the Holy Spirit – and our lips are opened and Christian prayer comes forth – Christian prayer that is praise and thanksgiving and requests and intercessions – because that is what we are given by Jesus the authority and power to do – that's who we are in His Name as the Baptized children of God. People who pray. People who speak God's Word in prayer. We come together in our worship and pray, because worship itself is a form of prayer and prayer is a form of worship.

    But not just when we are together, and not just when Pastor Brown gets to lead it – you in your homes as a family, you as individuals on your own but not ever really on your own for the Holy Spirit is with you – you are given to pray. To give thanks to God, to call upon Him for blessings, to intercede and ask for healing and forgiveness and mercy for yourselves and for others. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. Pray so that your... joy. Now. Remember what joy is in the Scripture. Joy isn't, “Oh thank goodness my baseball team won” - because well, we don't all root for the same team so my joy in a Cub victory might not be so joyous for some of you who have bad taste in baseball teams. Joy isn't “I'm happy because these events have tickled my fancy.” No – Joy is the knowledge, the peace, the comfort, the reality of knowing that Christ Jesus is risen from the dead and that your sins are forgiven, and since forgiveness brings with it both life and salvation that you have life now and salvation now on account of Christ. That's joy, having that grounding, that peace – that's verse 22 that we heard two weeks ago – But I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you. We are the people of the promise, we are the people of the joys of the resurrection and forgiveness – and we pray so as to live in that joy, in that truth, in that reality. You are a forgiven and redeemed child of God, bound for the resurrection – so speak like you are – pray. Praise and give thanks and take your burdens to God – because He is forgiving you and raising you.

    And yes, I did say burdens, because, well – again, Jesus will be blunt. 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. Well, Jesus doesn't just say burdens – He says you'll have tribulations. You will have things that weigh upon you, press you down, try to drive you down into the ground. Of course you will, because you live in a sinful world and have to struggle against your sinful flesh – and Satan, the World, and even your own flesh are all trying to drive you into the ground. But because Christ has died and Christ has risen, because Christ has claimed you as His own in the waters of Holy Baptism, they can't really do anything to you. All they really do is drive you further and further into Christ. And I mean that literally – this is the mystery and wonder of the faith. Are you pressed and burdened by suffering – well, Christ came and suffered, and in truth you are simply sharing in His suffering, and you are made to rely more and more upon Him. Are you shown your sin and guilt – well, Christ came and bore that guilt and took up that sin, and so you are made to call upon Him for the forgiveness He gladly gives. Are you dying – well, Christ died, so even when you walk in the valley of the shadow of death, He's with you, and even when you get put in your tomb Jesus will raise you from yours just as He was raised from His. The tribulations of the world can do nothing to pull you from Christ – this is why Paul says  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Nope, they all in fact drive us into Christ.

    And prayer, Christian prayer, calling out to the Father in Jesus' name – praying and praising and thanking and receiving His gifts – that's all just living in and acknowledging this truth – that Jesus has been raised from the dead, and there's not a thing Satan or the world can do to change that. And so we pray – our lives are ones of prayer. And I'm not going to tell you to pray more, because that's not quite accurate. The Holy Spirit dwells within you; you are a temple of the Spirit – there is prayer unceasing within you constantly, because you are Holy, because you have been made Holy by the blood of Christ. But I'll encourage you to be more aware of prayer, to actively join in with the prayer life that your life is – to gather with your brothers and sisters in Christ in worship and to pray together consciously; to focus on and actually pray out loud on your own. Why? Not because you have to in some sort of lousy chore sort of way, but rather because take heart, I have overcome the world. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. Over and against all the junk in the world that we see more and more of, prayer puts you in and with Christ Jesus. In prayer, you speak with the Holy Spirit to the Father in Jesus name – the Triune God works not just upon you but with you and in you. Because in prayer, because in taking the Words of Jesus and praying them back in His Name to the Father by the Spirit, you live in, you are refocused upon the reality of who Jesus is, the gifts He has given you and continues to give you. You are loved by God, and the Father delights in hearing you, His forgiven children, and He delights in giving you blessings. As Paul says in 1 Thessalonians -  Rejoice always,  pray without ceasing,  give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. This is why Jesus died and rose for you – so that you would have this joy and peace that lets you pray. And it is yours in Christ Jesus by the working of the Holy Spirit upon you. Amen. Christ is Risen! He is Risen indeed, alleluia! +