Easter 5 - Cantate - 5-10-09

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 5, Cantate, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 10, 2009)

“The Counselor”

Readings:
Psalm 68, v. 1-8
Isaiah 12:1-6
James 1:16-21
John 16:5-15

Sermon Form: Deductive

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Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Father
and the Son and the Holy Spirit, Amen

The text for today’s message will be from the Gospel lesson as recorded in the 16th chapter of St. John, especially the following verses:

John 16:5-15 (NIV)
[Jesus said] 5 “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ 6 Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief. 7 But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. 8 When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: 9 in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; 10 in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; 11 and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned. 12 “I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit

We say it together every Sunday with only a brief transition made by taking a short breath...He (Jesus) ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty, from thence He will come to judge the living and the dead, I believe in the Holy Spirit. We hardly notice it as we move from Christ’s ascension into heaven to the sending of the Holy Spirit. We confess the reality of God the Father creator, God the Son Redeemer, and God the Holy Spirit the sanctifier. We confess that the three are one God in all our creeds and so we also acknowledge all the Holy Trinity has done and does for us. In today’s lesson Christ speaks of His departure and the sending of the Holy Spirit. And in the sending of the Holy Spirit Jesus tells the disciples that Holy Spirit will come to convince and convict mankind of three things and He does so by speaking of what He hears and telling the world what is yet to come. And the one who brings us this news is, The Holy Spirit

The Counselor

And we may ask who is this counselor? Well it is none other than the third person of the Trinity, the one whom scriptures call the Holy Spirit, the Holy Ghost, the paraclete, the Comforter, and the Counselor. And the first of the three things the Holy Spirit, the Counselor, will convince and convict mankind of is that the world is full of sin. That in itself is not such a hard pill to swallow.

We look around and we see a lot of sin in the world. Sin in the big cities, sin in the actions of other countries, sin in the reaction of people to the Christian faith. Yes, there is a lot of sin out there, we sure can acknowledge that. We recall that it’s not the way it used to be, not like when we was growing up, yes indeed there is a lot of sin, way out there, way, way out there. And the odd thing of that thought is that is the same thing our parents said, it was much better when I was younger. And I know for sure that there is a long chain of those type of thoughts, each generation looking back to the past for better, simpler, and easier times. But Christ tells us that when the Counselor speaks it will be in more specific terms than speaking about sin that is way out there and far, far away. Instead, He speaks of the sin that is everywhere even in each one of us and that is the sin of unbelief. And the first reaction to stating that all mankind falls to the sin of disbelief is a loud and resounding, hrrrummph! What do you mean I don’t believe? Who are you to say that? Well if that were true, I wouldn’t be here in church now would I? All indignant responses, as we say, not me I am not an unbeliever, and I don’t sin. Then, we must ask why was the Holy Spirit sent to “convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment”(v. 8) So what does it mean “to convict the world?” It means, “to show the world that those things are true which it did not wish to believe were so. For it did not wish to believe that the Savior came from God. But the Savior, after He had restored justice, did not delay in returning to Him Who had sent Him. And by so returning there He proved that it was from there He had come; because “no man hath ascended into heaven but He that descended from heaven, the Son of Man Who is in heaven.”(Ambrosiaster)

The world does not wish to believe that Christ descended from heaven. But He did, and the reason He did so was to save us from our sins. The devil, the world, and our evil nature does not wish to believe that Christ restored justice by going to the cross and dying their for us, and that He returned to His Father in Heaven. No, we doubt pieces and parts of scripture based upon which parts could have been accomplished within the boundaries of our human reason. We doubt, based upon the parts which we can understand, and so individuals, churches, and denominations use that very logic to portray the scriptures as stories, allusions, basically just big fish stories. However there is really no middle ground, you only believe or you don’t. “Therefore the true and only religion and the true and only worship is this, that one believes the forgiveness of sins, which God gives graciously and freely, without subsequent or previous good works, from pure mercy, just as He freely gives the light of the sun and all other good things. Believing in this good God, who bestows His blessings graciously and freely, is the true religion and the true righteousness”(Pieper 1:14) That is why Christ said, “He who believes and is baptized will be saved, whoever does not believe will be condemned.”(Mk 16:16) And for you who are baptized you are not doubting but firmly believe that Christ has overcome all that you will face in this world because Christ has overcome all the sin in the world, and in turn He freely shares His victory with you.

The Holy Spirit comes to convict us of righteousness. What does that mean? It means we will be convinced that our standing before God is in no way based upon our actions, but rather we are viewed before God based on Christ’s actions. We stand before God doubting and not believing, and we should be convicted by our sin, by those things which we have done and those things which we have left undone, because we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. But instead of looking at our accomplishments, God looks at Christ and all that He has done for us. Those who have been baptized and believe no longer stand before God clothed in the sin and doubt of this world. Rather our sin is covered with the robe of Christ’s righteousness and we stand as ones made holy and innocent because of Jesus Christ. And how do I know this is true? Well, the Holy Spirit, the Counselor was sent to us and He brings us the scriptures, and “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness"(2 Tim 3:16) We are not given to write how scripture is to be understood, we are given scripture to train us in the knowledge of what Christ has won and freely gives to us. We know that we live in a world is full of sin because we know the world rejects the very Word which God has breathed into our ears. Yet Christ came just the same to make us righteous to free from the bonds and fetters of doubt.

The Holy Spirit, The Counselor came to convince the world of a coming judgment. And this judgment will be for all peoples, for all will one day stand before the Lord our God to see all that we have done in our lifetimes. Yet even there the Good News of Jesus Christ will prevail. For the Holy Spirit the Counselor breathes to you the Word of God which “will convince [all] mankind that the devil, the ruler of this world, has been judged.” In Jn. 12:31 Jesus said that through His suffering and death the ruler of this world is thrown out. In Lk. 10:18 He said: "I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightning." And as Luther said of satan: "He's judged, the deed is done. One little Word can fell him." satan cannot accuse you of sin because you have been forgiven, for the sake of Christ Jesus.

So for you who believe, know that you will not be cast into the punishment of the unbelievers, for your baptism seals you as a child of God. For you who sinned, whether by action or inaction, whether by deed or misdeed, whether by doubt or disbelief do not look to yourselves and wonder how you will be able to stand before God. God declares you righteous for the sake of Jesus Christ and all His actions for you. For all who fear death, or the things of this world, the sickness, the pain, the despair and when we doubt, know that Christ has defeated death and the evil things of this world. And today Christ gives you a taste of His victory in Holy Communion as He offers Himself in His true body and blood.

Jesus Christ said of the Holy Spirit, “He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.”(v. 14-15) Christ is made know to you, cast away your cares and your worries. He has taken the righteousness of Christ and made it known to you through the breath of the Holy Spirit because He has told you, “you are mine.” Because God in Christ and through the Word breathed to you through the Holy Spirit The Counselor, all the glory of Christ is made known to you and given to you freely. And so by this gracious and free gift you will join Christ in an eternal glory. Amen.

The Grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God
and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

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