The Fifth Sunday after Easter - Cantate - May 2, 2010

The Church Season of Easter,
Easter 5, Cantate, One Year Series
Our Savior Lutheran Church, Midland, MI (May 2, 2010)

“Convicted and Found Innocent”

Readings:  
        Psalm 66, 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

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  Amen.

The religion of Christ, the only true religion, is a very great stumbling block for the world.  According to Christ, no one comes to the Father but by Him.  No other religion saves, because, as we are told in scripture, “there is no other Name under heaven by which we must be saved.”(Acts 4:12)

The world looks at this truth and says that they cannot believe in a God who condemns all other religions.  They tell us to look at those good men in other religions, like the Dalai Lama and Gandhi, who give so much of their time and money and effort to help the poor.  What kind of a God would condemn loving and kind people to hell, just because they don’t believe in Jesus Christ?

A person may indeed have a very great amount of external righteousness, that is they very well may try to help the less unfortunate in this world.  And it may seem that their deeds may outshine all the saints.  And indeed there may be no obvious sins that they have committed at all.

Yet there is a part of the Law of God that they do not keep, even if they could somehow keep every other part.  And the second table of the Law summarized by Christ says "Love your neighbor as yourself."  Many unbelievers may seem to do that, but keeping the second table does not mean you have kept the first table of the Law.  So what does that mean?  It means first listen to how Jesus summarized the first table says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."  Put first things first, but the lost unbelievers cannot do that.  If they do not know the true God, then they certainly cannot fear, love, and trust in Him above al things.  And if they do not fear and trust in God, then they are not really obeying the rest of the commandments, no matter how much it seems that they do.  Their good deeds, no matter how flashy and glorious in the eyes of men, are actually filthy rags.

We too must believe in Christ Jesus, or else all the rest of your good deeds are nothing at all. That is why Christ our Lord says in the Gospel today that the world will be convicted of sin because they don’t believe in Him.  Unbelief is the primary sin above all sins.  Because of unbelief, all the rest of the so-called good deeds of the noble unbelievers are not really good deeds at all.  You can’t keep any commandment without keeping the first commandment and that is to have fear, love, and trust of God above all things.

By God's grace, we aren’t unbelievers, by God’s grace we are believers.  We have received the free gift of faith.  We believe because the Spirit, the Comforter, has placed that faith into our heart.  Yet the heart is still sinful, and the primary sin of all sins, their root and source, is unbelief.  You and I continue to commit sins every day.  So we have unbelief still lurking in our hearts.

After all, the only reason we break any of the commandments is that our faith is not perfect in us, that is, in our sinful flesh.  If we had perfect faith by our efforts, then we would easily obey every commandment and commit no sin at all. Therefore, the Holy Spirit convicts all the world of sin.  It’s not only those unbelievers out there who are condemned.  You and I are condemned as well. And that is a terrifying thought indeed.

So should we be afraid for our salvation because with our own heart we can’t believe as we should?  No.  The faith that saves you is not our own doing.  It is not the faith that we muster out of our emotions or intellect.  It is not our decision or choice to believe.  True, saving faith does not come from us at all and the scriptures also tell us that.  It is the gift of God, lest any man should boast.  The Spirit has indeed given us faith, even to us who don’t deserve it.  Actually none of us deserve it, yet it is a gift from God.  And with faith, He has given us eternal life and forgiveness of all our sins, on account of Christ.

Christ adds in our text that the Spirit "will convict the world... of righteousness, because I go to My Father and you will see Me no more."  There is only one kind of righteousness, that is being made right, by which a person is saved.  That is the righteousness of Christ, we are made right in God’s sight by Christ.  For it is by Jesus Christ who secured your righteousness by dying and rising and ascending to the right hand of the Father.

But we can’t see, or choose not to see that kind of righteousness.  The world may examine our good deeds and conclude that we are good or evil, depending on what standard they use to judge us.  But whatever they see or whatever they judge, they can’t see our true righteousness.  Our true righteousness is not in our deeds.  It is in Jesus Christ.

For it is Jesus Christ who lived the only perfect life.  That is your righteousness.  Christ suffered to erase your sins from God's record forever.  That is your righteousness.  Christ rose again and ascended to the Father's right hand, so that your human nature is seated at the throne of glory.  That too is your righteousness.  You have holiness equal to the Son of God Himself.  That is righteousness that far outshines anything the world can do, even if they put all their good deeds into a giant pile.  Your righteousness is far better than all that.

But of course, the whole world despises that kind of righteousness.  They don’t think it's fair.  Why in the world would God give His holiness to some people as a free gift, but not to everyone?  It is as if they are saying to God, "You sent Your Son into human flesh to save us, but that's not enough.  You commanded Your Son to live our life and share our sorrows, but that's not enough.  You gave Your Son to die in horrible agony for our sins, but that's not enough."  So says the unbelievers.

So we must ask, Why is Christ not enough for the world?  And the answer is that the world wants a God who approves of their own goodness, who approves of their deeds, who tallies how many prayers said, who many good things done.  They want God to look into their hearts and say, "Oh, my, what a wonderful love you have!" The world believes in its own righteousness.  Therefore they can’t believe in the righteousness that Christ gives, it’s free so it must be some kind of trick.

But you know, truthfully, we were that way once too.  We were part of the world, stuck in self-righteousness and unbelief.  But God has rescued us by His Spirit.  He has snatched us out of this doomed world full of death, and has given us the life of His own Son.  We didn’t choose Christ because we are wise.  In fact, God chose Jesus Christ His only Son, for you, and His righteousness given to you as a free gift by the Spirit.

This same Spirit also "convicts the world... of judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged."  For Christ triumphantly conquered the powers of this world.  The serpent's head is crushed.  Death is stingless.  Hell is an empty threat for you, since Christ has already judged you as innocent.

The world does not want to acknowledge that the devil exists.  Or if he does exist in their opinion, they believe that he must live on eternally as the opposite of goodness.  According to some in the world, there can be no good without evil, no darkness without light, no God without the devil.  But that’s not true.  The devil is no equal of God.  The devil is beaten already, and is passing away.  He is mortally wounded, and soon to be cast into eternal death in the lake of fire.

Christ did not achieve this triumph for Himself.  He conquered for your sake.  Because of His victory on the Cross and in the Empty Tomb, we are looking forward to a world that does not contain evil and death.  You look forward to a world that is the home of righteousness, where everything will be as perfect as the holiness that Christ has given to you. 

And so, do you now want to know what lies in your future?  This is your future... your future was, is, and will always be most certainly purchased and won for you by Jesus Christ, and delivered to you by the Spirit.  There is no doubt, God has done it for you, and He gives you Christ’s victory.  And since we also know that God does not fail, it is most certainly true that your future is looking up.  Amen.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Christ is risen! 
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!  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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