Sunday, June 12, 2011

June 12th, 2011 Pentecost

“HOW IS THIS ANY BETTER?”
Sermon based on the Gospel of John, chapter 16, verses 5-11:
Seminary Graduate James Saatkamp
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.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, held in the protecting hand of the Savior who loves us with an everlasting love,
How do you know that you are in protecting hand of the Savior? I can't see Jesus' hand hovering over you. I can't see his hand under you as you're sitting in the pew. If I were to ask you where Jesus is right now, you'd probably say everywhere. But I can't see him; is he really there if I can't see him? Yes, he certainly is here with us right now, just not physically. A short ten days ago we celebrated Jesus ascending back to heaven. As he told his disciples, they would see him no more, though he said and is with us always.
But have you thought about what life would be like if Jesus were still here physically? How would you feel if you turned to your left and saw Jesus sitting in the pew next to you? Imagine if you got to shake the hand of the almighty Son of God after church today. Sitting with Jesus, talking with Jesus, hearing the voice of the Lord of Lords--what an amazing opportunity I think that would be! If Jesus were still here physically, I think my whole life, not just Sunday mornings, would be different. I'm sure I'd try to enter every fishing tournament possible with Jesus as my partner, and I'd never have to worry about bad weather postponing the tournament. I would never have to worry about finding a snack to eat late at night, because Jesus would be there to hand me as many fish and loaves of bread as I wanted. I'm guessing I wouldn't have to go to the chiropractor anymore--Jesus knows how to fix a bad back. For that matter, with Jesus as my earthly physician, I'd never have to worry about getting sick. Doesn't think sound like a blessed life? Wouldn't it be better if Jesus were still here physically?
If you say yes, the disciples would agree with you. It is incredible, nearly unbelievable, for us to even imagine seeing such miracles of Jesus, but the disciples actually saw the incredible. They witnessed the unbelievable. They were there to walk and talk with Jesus, to very literally sit at his feet and hear the voice of the Son of God. And it was not as if they were watching their hero from afar. No—they were Jesus’ closest friends. They loved him. They were used to hearing his voice, seeing him, watching Jesus rescue them from storms, providing whatever they needed. Here we read today’s Gospel text from John 16. We find Jesus and the disciples during Holy Week, and Jesus says this to his closest friends who had come to know life with Jesus over the last three years, “Now I am going to him who sent me, yet none of you asks me, ‘Where are you going?’ Because I have said these things, you are filled with grief.“ Jesus tells his friends, “I am leaving,” but they don’t want to hear it. They don’t want to talk about it. They want to ignore this giant elephant in the room. They don’t even ask Jesus where he is going. Why? They thought life was good with Jesus with them physically. And they were right, life was good. They were blessed.
But now things were going to change. Jesus told them so. Jesus was leaving. They would not hear his voice as they traveled from town to town. They could not tap him on the shoulder to ask him a question. There were still storms to be stilled, sick to be healed, hungry to be fed, dead to be raised, and people to be preached to. How was Jesus leaving going to make their situation any better? How were they going to get along without their almighty and loving friend?
There’s a show on tv in the afternoons right now with a female star. She is one of the most powerful women on tv today. The ratings for her show are easily more than the ratings for any other daytime tv show, and she’s won the ratings crown for a few years now. Oprah? No—Judge Judy. One of Judge Judy’s favorite lines to say to a plaintiff or defendant who’s been making up a story is “That doesn’t make sense, and if it doesn’t make sense, it isn’t true.” Jesus left, and now things are supposed to be better? Does that make sense? If it doesn’t make sense, is it true? If Jesus were around today, he could touch me and heal my broken back. He could be the perfect mediator for settling the war between Israel and Palestine. He would do a better job of ending world hunger than the World Hunger Association ever could, because he is the almighty Son of God. And what is there now that Jesus is not here physically? Sickness, hunger, war. How is this any better?
When we celebrated Ascension only a few days ago, we stood with the disciples and gazed in awe at our Lord ascending back to heaven. Our hearts were filled, hearing that we could trust Jesus and that we have a home waiting for us in heaven. But now that some time has passed, do we still feel the same way. It’s easy for that peace and joy to fade in our hearts and minds. And we begin to ask ourselves, “Sure, I felt good on Ascension, but now I don’t feel the same way. Am I sure that Jesus ascending is better than Jesus staying here physically?”
Let’s go to the words of our Savior in verse 7: “But I tell you the truth: It is for your good that I am going away.” In the original text, Jesus emphasizes that not only is it for our good, but it will be better for us. Jesus’ disciples were so distraught that he was leaving, Jesus answers their depression with this soft word of truth: “It will be better for you.” Now there’s an understatement! It won’t just be good, or better, IT WILL BE BETTER! It will be better than what they could have hoped or dreamed, and it will be exactly what they need.
But how exactly is it better? Again, we go to the words of our Savior to answer this question on our minds and hearts: “Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you.” Jesus did return to the Father, and he did send the Counselor. We see that fulfillment today as we celebrate the Holy Spirit coming on the disciples at Pentecost. “When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.” The Holy Spirit worked on the hearts of the disciples, strengthened their faith, gave them boldness to preach God’s Word, and powered them to spread the message of Jesus, the Savior from sin, throughout Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and throughout the world.
Jesus describes the work of the Counselor, the Holy Spirit in verses 8-11. “When he comes, he will convict the world of guilt in regard to sin and righteousness and judgment: in regard to sin, because men do not believe in me; in regard to righteousness, because I am going to the Father, where you can see me no longer; and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stands condemned.“ What exactly does it mean that the Holy Spirit convicts the world? The Holy Spirit judges through the preaching of God’s Word. He convicts sinners of sin when he says, “See Jesus, the Savior of the world. You reject Jesus? This is sin, unbelief, and the door to heaven remains shut for you because you reject Jesus, the only way to heaven.” He convicts the world in regard to righteousness when he creates faith in the heart, faith which trusts and knows Jesus as Savior and Jesus righteousness as his own. And he convicts the world in regard to judgment, because through the preaching of the Gospel he says, “See, Satan? You are defeated! Jesus has won the victory over you, over sin, over death.”
See the blessing of the Holy Spirit poured out on the people at Pentecost! This blessing is poured out on us today too. No, we don’t have tongues of fire on our heads today. Would we want that? It probably would be pretty incredible to experience what the disciples experienced on Pentecost—the Holy Spirit resting on us like tongues of fire, speaking the praises of God in different languages effortlessly. At times, my sinful nature looks on what the disciples were blessed to experience with a bit of jealousy. Why doesn’t that happen to me? And we begin to feel that our Lord hasn’t given us what we need. We didn’t get to walk with Jesus. We didn’t get to see the risen Lord. We didn’t watch him ascend. We didn’t even get tongues of fire and the gift of speaking in tongues. We become sad, or even angry with our Lord.
And Jesus comes to us again and again through his Word and tells us, “My grace is sufficient for you. What I have given you is exactly what you need.” No, we may not have seen what the disciples saw or experienced what they did. Hear again the word of the Lord: “What you have now—it is better.” We have a Savior who was born among us, who walked with us, who died for us, who rose to show us that the victory is ours, and who ascended to complete God’s plan of saving us. And Jesus has poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit on us, his church. This is how Dr. Martin Luther explains the work of the Holy Spirit among us in his explanation to the third article of the Apostles’ Creed: “The Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian church he forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers.” What a blessing! What miraculous work the Holy Spirit does among us!
And not only among us, but also through us! As the Holy Spirit worked through Peter’s Pentecost sermon, so the Holy Spirit works through us when we tell others about the good news of Jesus’ victory over sin and death and the place in heaven waiting for us.
Maybe to you—and maybe sometimes to me—the season of the church year we call Pentecost may seem like a bit of a downer. There are no major festivals like Easter coming up for a while. There are no federal holidays like Christmas. Not that there is anything wrong with the season of Pentecost, but sometimes this season may seem less exciting by comparison to Advent through Ascension. If that thought starts creeping into your head during the season of Pentecost, remember that Jesus did just as he said he would and sent the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Remember that the Holy Spirit does his work among us in our hearts even today. If you ever feel like something else could be better, remember the words of Jesus: “Trust me—this is better for you!” Amen!

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