By ToddPeperkorn, on May 27th, 2009%
Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Pentecost (May 27, 2007)
John 14:23-31
TITLE: “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this holy day of Pentecost, is from the Gospel lesson from John chapter 14 as follows: But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
Sometimes I wonder about that phrase bring to remembrance in our text this morning. I don’t know about you, but my memory seems to come and go at times. I can remember some things right away, but other things, well, they are gone forever. And frankly, it’s frustrating. Now if this is true for where you put the cars keys or your glasses, how much more is this true when it comes to faith in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins? Today God teaches us how He brings things to our remembrance by the power of the Holy Spirit. But not just things, like a list of Christian facts we are to recite. No, these things He brings to our remembrance are the things of God, the Words of Jesus. These things are your life.
So given that this is Pentecost, that we have a Baptism, and that this is the day we remember and celebrate the Word and Work of the Holy Spirit, it is appropriate that we do a little bringtoremembrance review. The Small Catechism puts it this way:
I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Spirit has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith. In the same way He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church He daily and richly forgives all my sins and the sins of all believers. On the Last Day He will raise me and all the dead, and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ. This is most certainly true.
That is how God works. The Holy Spirit calls you, gathers you by His Word into His Holy Church, and enlightens you with His Gospel of forgiveness, life and salvation. Why? Because this work of creating faith in you, giving you life and hope, comforting you, and bringing you to heaven is God’s work, not yours. God calls you. He gives you life. He is the one who has gathered you to this place. He is the one who keeps you in the true faith throughout your life. It is His work, not yours.
But it is precisely at this point that a day like Pentecost becomes so important. You are helpless, hopeless, in debt beyond what you can possibly pay back. Your identity is lost, and you are a mess. But God, who is rich in mercy, is at work this day for you, and for your eternal salvation. God sends you His Holy Spirit by Word and Sacrament. And the Holy Spirit brings to remembrance everything Jesus said and did. The Holy Spirit connects you to Jesus, calls you to faith, gathers you into His Church, enlightens you by His Holy Word, and makes you holy by the blood of God’s Son.
You could never do this yourself. It’s impossible. No amount of wishing or wanting can create faith. No amount of arguing or understanding. Nothing you could ever do would create faith in Jesus. Only the Holy Spirit can connect you to Jesus.
So it is for this reason that Pentecost is the third most important Sunday in history. The first and most important Sunday in history was the Sunday of creation, when God rested from His labors. The second most important Sunday was and is Easter, when God’s Son rose from the dead. The third most important Sunday is Pentecost, when God brought all things back to Creation. For you see, dear friends, God created us all by the power of His Holy Word, as the Spirit hovered over the waters. But in Baptism, God recreates us by the power of His Word, as the Spirit enters into the hearts of sinners like you and me.
What a great day to be a Christian! God is a work in you and for you this day. This Pentecost is really the victory celebration of Easter at its culmination. For fifty days we have celebrated Eastertide, and the joy of our Lord’s resurrection. But this day, we celebrate how that Easter victory is now ours through faith in Christ Jesus. God brings to your remembrance things you never knew! God brings to your remembrance that you were created in His image. God brings to your remembrance that you have been redeemed by the blood of the lamb. God brings to your remembrance this day that you are holy and righteous in His sight. God brings to your remembrance this day that you are one of God’s children, beloved by Him.
God is at work in you today. Come now to His table, where His words, do this in remembrance of me, tie you to all this that God gave you in your baptism. Believe it for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in true faith, unto life everlasting. Amen.
By Christopher Esget, on May 24th, 2009%
Today is an in-between Sunday. The Ascension was this past Thursday, and Pentecost is next Sunday. Jesus left the disciples, and the Spirit had not yet come. They were left to themselves. What happens when you are left to yourself? When a Christian comes face-to-face with his failings, his imperfections, his selfishness, lack of love, and foolish decisions—all this is to say, when a Christian comes face to face with his sin, he is in sorrow and despair.
But the Psalms are given for us to pray, to speak to God His own answer to our sins: “Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!” God answered this ancient prayer for help by sending Jesus, and it was further answered when Christ sent the Spirit—the Helper—from the Father. When Jesus says, “I will send you the Helper from the Father,” we learn that no preaching of the Law, no preaching of works or commandments or ethics or personal improvement can help us. None of that is the message and testimony of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit testifies, tells us about Jesus. That is His work. Continue reading Sermon for Exaudi
By Christopher Esget, on May 22nd, 2009%
Again from Luther’s House Postil (vol. 2, p147):
In what way, then, does the Holy Spirit comfort? The Lord says, He will witness of me. In other words, my dear child, the devil will intimidate and frighten you, the world will imprison and kill you. That you must expect; it simply won’t be different; but in contrast, the Holy Spirit will be a witness of me, awaken you, and inspire you to think of me. He won’t give you a thousand or more dollars like the world, but he will witness of me and enable you to say, When everything is gone–wife and child, house and property, goods and honor, yes, even body and life–still, Jesus Christ, who for my sake became man, died and rose again, has ascended into heaven to the right hand of the Father, as I daily confess in the Creed. If that is true, of what should I be afraid? Truly God’s Son, my dear Lord, who suffered death for me will not be my enemy. He means well with me. If one loves someone, one does not fear him. If God’s Son loves me, I have no reason to fear him or believe him capable of anything evil.
By Christopher Esget, on May 22nd, 2009%
Pastor Juhl has a good quotation from Luther on Exaudi here. The following is the preceding paragraph from his quotation, taken from Luther’s House Postils, vol. 2, p145:
The world, [Christ] says, will throttle you as heretics. Then your conscience will also become weak and cause you to wonder: Who knows whether I did the right thing? Oh, I have overreached myself! The world and your own conscience condemn you. Christ says, I know how things will go for you, from the side of world and from within yourself. You will find little comfort, but I am not going to let you be stuck under this assault. I won’t lead you into a quagmire to drown you; rather, when there is no more comfort to be had anywhere, and you are frightened and at wit’s end, then will I send the Holy Spirit who is and is called the Comforter. He will remove all despair from your hearts with his assuring word: Have faith and do not despair; do not concern yourself with the judgment of the world, nor the judgment of your own thoughts, but cling confidently to what I say.
By Petersen, on May 15th, 2009%
I should have put this up a couple of weeks ago, but Rogate hits John 16 again so here it is, explicit references to John 16:
[XXVIII.] Concerning the Power of Bishops [The Confession of Faith: III, art. vii, par. 31]
[IV:] Justification (2) [Apology of the Augsburg Confession: art. i, par. 3, par. 132]
[XXI:] The Invocation of the Saints [Apology of the Augsburg Confession: art. i, par. 9, par. 17]
[3:] Concerning Repentance [The Smalcald Articles: III, art. iii, par. 1]
V. Concerning Law and Gospel (4) [The Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, art. v, par. 11]
VI. Concerning the Third Use of the Law [The Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, art. vi, par. 12]
XI. Concerning God’s Eternal Foreknowledge and Election [The Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, art. xi, par. 12]
XI. Concerning God’s Eternal Foreknowledge and Election (2) [The Formula of Concord: Solid Declaration, art. xi, par. 65]
By ToddPeperkorn, on May 5th, 2009%
Historic Lectionary already has three posts on Cantate Sunday HERE, HERE and HERE. But here’s a little more to whet your appetite. From Bo Giertz’ excellent book, To Live With Christ (pp. 331-332):
The Spirit of truth made the impossible possible. We can thank Him for the picture of Christ given to us through the evangelists, a picture that gives all the essentials we need to know. The Spirit led the apostles, and with them the Early Church, to the truth about everything God has done in Christ. For this reason, there is something fundamental and of vital importance in the apostles’ work. The Church is built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. This is why the Nicene Creed calls the Church not only holy and catholic (meaning the whole Church), but also apostolic
Jesus summarizes the Spirit’s work in three short points that we constantly encounter. He teaches us the truth about three things: sin, righteousness, and judgment. The Spirit convinces us of our sin, teaches us right from wrong, and alerts us to our most serious shortcoming, which is unbelief. The Spirit witnesses about true righteousness that comes from God, the righteousness Christ acquired for us and gives us after He completed His work and returned to the Father. And the Spirit also witnesses to the truth about the fate that Christ’s death sealed for the prince of darkness and all the deeds of darkness, including the deeds we’re guilty of in our own hearts – a judgment that is simultaneously a victory for forgiveness and mercy, so that we, who are in fact condemned, now stand in grace and limitless mercy instead.
By ToddPeperkorn, on May 6th, 2008%
“This is why the Lord promised to send the Holy Spirit: He was to prepare us as an offering to God. Like dry flour, which cannot become dough and one loaf of bread without moisture, so we who are many could not become one in Christ Jesus without the water and Spirit that comes down from heaven. Through the Baptism that liberates us from change and decay we have become one in Christ’s Body; through the Spirit we have become one in His Life.” (St. Irenaeus)
We could never know anything about Christ or believe in Him and receive Him as our Lord if it were not first offered to us and laid on our hearts by the Holy Spirit through the preaching of the Gospel. The redemptive work has taken place and is finished, for Christ has purchased and won the treasure for us through His suffering, death, resurrection, etc. But if that saving action stays hidden and no one knows about it, then it would all be for nothing, wasted. In order that this treasure might not remain buried but be taken up and enjoyed, God has let the Word go forth and be proclaimed. In the Word He has given us His Holy Spirit to lay the treasure of redemption on our hearts and make it our very own. (Luther’s Large Catechism
On the day of Holy Pentecost we celebrate and thank our dear Lord God for the great and timeless gift which He bestowed one earth. From heaven He revealed to us poor earthlings his holy, precious Word—a Word that is neither common nor ordinary. For it was on this very day that Christ established His kingdom through the apostles, a kingdom that through the gospel is revealed to the whole world. Christ possessed this kingdom in his own person from all eternity, but on this day the Holy Spirit used the apostles to reveal it to all the world. And this revelation was made with great courage, boldness, and joy by the apostles. (Blessed Martin Luther)
Today the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples with a sudden sound, and completely changed their earthbound way of thinking by his love. When tongues of fire appear outwardly, their hearts within them were set afire. Since they received God in a vision of fire, they were gently enflamed by love. The Holy Spirit is love, and so St. John says: God is love. A person who desires God with his whole heart already possesses the one he loves. No one could love God unless he possessed the one he loves. If any one of you should be asked if he loved God, he would answer with entire confidence and complete conviction, “I do.” But you hear at the beginning of the Gospel reading what Truth says: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word.” The proof of love is its manifestation in deeds. (Gregory the Great)
By ToddPeperkorn, on April 30th, 2008%
Todd A. Peperkorn, STM
Messiah Lutheran Church
Kenosha, Wisconsin
Exaudi – Easter 6 (May 8, 2005)
John 15:26-16:4
TITLE: “He Will Testify of Me”
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text for this morning is from the Gospel lesson just read, the words of Jesus, But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify of Me.
The New King James translation of the Bible lists this little Greek word paraklete as “Helper.” Other translations will have the word comforter, or even the word counselor, like the right hand man of the king who speaks advice to him on how to run the kingdom. But what does it really mean, to say that Jesus will send the Holy Spirit to us from the Father? What does it mean to say that He is the Spirit of truth? And what does it mean to say that the Holy Spirit will testify or give witness to Jesus? Those are the questions we will try to answer this morning. Continue reading Exaudi Sermon
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