Sermon for 5/25/25: Sixth Sunday of Easter (c)

CLICK HERE for the sermon audio.

CLICK HERE for the service video.

Pray in the Name of Jesus

John 16:23-33

 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

There are few things in life more frustrating than not being listened to by those who should listen to us. When there is trouble in the home, inevitably one of the root causes of the trouble is someone, or maybe everyone, not listening to the others when they should be listening. And it follows that the failure to listen is a problem for our praying. We don’t pray as we should, or as well as we should, because we do not listen to God as we should. Our prayers should be formed and informed by the richness of the Word of God and not by the poverty of our hearts. To pray rightly, we need to listen to God and not so much to our own sinful hearts. We speak of prayer as “talking to God,” which it certainly is, as far as that goes. But prayer is really a conversation, and a conversation is never a monologue; it is never one person speaking to the exclusion of the other. Above all, we need to be listening to God.

Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name, He will give you.” But sinners like to believe these words mean that you can ask for anything you want, and as long as you are praying with sincerity, and if you add the tag line, “in Jesus’ name,” God is going to give it to you. Prosperity preachers like Joel Osteen refer to this approach to prayer as “name it and claim it.” If you pray for something by name and claim it as your own, and truly believe that God will give it to you, then God is duty-bound to give it to you—be it a better-paying job, healing from some disease, a new car, or any number of things. But those are the kinds of things that can happen when prayer becomes a monologue rather than a conversation in which we do a lot of listening to God first and foremost; when prayer becomes more a matter of our telling God what we think we need rather than listening to Him tell us what is important, and what we need to be bringing to Him in prayer. These words of Jesus may sound as if they are putting an emphasis on our speaking to God. But we need to understand what He means when He says that we are to pray in His name.

Quite simply, to pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in faith. It means to realize that we can come before the throne of grace in prayer only because our Savior has gone to that throne before us and has claimed us there as His own. This is what opens the path that leads to the Father’s gracious ears. And faith wants to hear nothing but the voice of God, for it is in that voice that truth and wisdom are heard.

This is also why we can never merely entrust prayer to our hearts. You know the condition of your own heart, and knowing that, you also have a pretty good idea of what is going on in the hearts of others. Scripture tells us that the human heart is desperately wicked. Jesus said that it is out of the heart that murder and adultery and all kinds of other evil come. That is what flows out of the human heart when left to itself.

And this is why, to pray rightly, we must listen to God first, last, and always. When Jesus asked if His disciples were going to leave Him, Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life...” If this is so—and it most certainly is—then what better way of praying can be found than to use those words God Himself has given us first to hear? These are the words of forgiveness and life; words that tell us that, “if we confess our sin, God is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” They are those words that remind us that we belong to God; that in Holy Baptism He has called us by name, and we are His; that He will never desert those who bears His name. They are those words that tell us that. when we pray faithfully—that is, when we pray in faith in Jesus Christ as our Savior and our Lord—God will hear and answer our prayers: not because we are so good and pious, nor because we have phrased our prayer in a certain way, but solely because the merits of Christ have gained for us the gracious ears of God.

When we try to go it alone with our salvation, you know what happens: we are lost. The same is true with our praying: unless we listen first to the Word of God, unless we let the Lord have His say, we cannot know how to pray. If you want to know how to listen and pray, then you are exactly where you need to be. The best way to prepare for prayer is to be engaged in the praying of the Church, to be in the divine service of Word and Sacrament. And that should lead you right into meditation: meditation on the sure and certain Word of God. Faithfully read your Bible; review your Catechism; utilize your hymnal. In these gifts, you have enough to listen to and to keep you praying for the rest of your life.

To pray in the name of Jesus means to pray in faith: faith which comes by hearing the Word of God. May God bless our praying, that it would be faithful to His Word and, therefore, fruitful in the blessing such faith receives. Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

The peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always.  Amen.  

 

HYMN: Through Daily Life Your Path I Tread

It's been a while since I've posted a new hymn text. That's because it's been a while since I've written a new hymn text. The changing circumstances of my vocations as family man and pastor over the past six months have not been conducive to finding inspiration. Nevertheless, I discovered that I hadn't yet posted one of my texts—well, two actually, but I'm withholding one until I share it with the family of the person for whom I wrote it. So anyway, I have a text based on Psalm 119:105-112. We're all familiar with v.105 which says, "Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path." I was inspired to expound upon what the Word of God means for me in daily life. As always, feedback is love. 

Through Daily Life Your Path I Tread

1. Through daily life Your path I tread,
Your Word the light by which I’m led.
I place my feet with certainty
For Christ, my Light, is guiding me.

2. Oh, make Your Law my sole delight,
My meditation day and night.
Give life to me, my gracious Lord,
According to Your mighty Word.

3. The wicked lay a trap in hate,
And heavy is affliction's weight.
Yet by Your grace I persevere.
Your Word upholds me everywhere.

4. Your Word and water cleanse my soul.
You speak, and I again am whole.
You feed me Word in bread and wine.
In these rich gifts your Word is mine.

5. Your mercy, shown in Christ, shall be
My joy for all eternity.
I pray You, hear my song of praise,
O Lord my God, through endless days.

Δ 6. All blessing to the Father sing.
Praise Christ, the mighty Word, my King.
And to the Spirit glory be
Now and for all eternity.


LM
GOTTLOB, ES GEHT NUNMEHR ZU ENDE (LSB 616) or
ST. CRISPIN (LSB 563)
Psalm 119:105-112

Sermon for 5/11/25: Fourth Sunday of Easter (c)

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Contrast

John 10:22-30

 

ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!

 

 

The Gospel reading today offers a striking image of Jesus, that of being our good Shepherd. This is the kind of image of Jesus most of us would want to see. We would much rather see Jesus as a shepherd standing among His sheep, than to look at the Jesus we saw during Holy Week: brutalized and beaten, mocked and kicked and slapped and spit upon. In fact, such an image draws criticism because most would rather see a peaceful image of Jesus. We have grown so accustomed to those beautiful images that we don’t want to consider the ugly ones. That’s why many church buildings lack a crucifix anywhere. The Good Shepherd, peacefully standing in the field watching over His sheep, compared with Jesus, a bloodied, filthy hunk of human flesh being crucified: which would you rather see?

There are a number of such stark contrasts in the Christian faith. One of them is how Jesus, both God and Man, could stand right in front of the religious leaders of that day, and they could not recognize Him! Quite simply, they did not recognize Him because they did not want to. Their minds were so clouded with their own power and prestige that they would not recognize Him. If they were to acknowledge Him for who He really was, they would have to give up their false notions of what their Messiah would be, and they had too much invested in that view to give it up.

And we deal today with the same sort of thing. The Church, though a spiritual communion, still has earthly trappings. It is God’s institution, yes, but it is filled with sinful human beings. And so within this institution we find power struggles and misuse of power, gossip and slander, back-biting and fighting for control. What a contrast! Jesus is the Good Shepherd who loves His sheep and brings them forgiveness and peace! Yet, sometimes, it seems the Church is the least peaceful place on earth. In fact, the Church can make people more upset and irritated than anything else.

In the midst of these contrasts comes the wonderful promise of Jesus in this text. “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.” This isn’t being spoken by just anyone, but by the Lord of the universe, the God of all creation. Our God is all-powerful, and this is the all-powerful God saying that no one can remove us from His gracious hand. What a wonderful contrast! In a world where it seems that the only sure things are death and taxes, we find that the ultimate sure thing is the protection of God Almighty, and that we personally belong to Him. He not only knows your name, but in Holy Baptism has put His own name on you, with all the blessing that includes. When you stray—and you do stray—the Good Shepherd is there, calling you back to Himself. He calls to you through His Word and blessed Sacraments, and these means of grace speak to a whole variety of circumstances and situations that you face every day.

Yet another wonderful promise of Jesus is that He gives you eternal life. What a contrast! In a world where it seems that the only thing ultimately that will happen is death, Jesus says that your ultimate destination is life: eternal life with our great God who knows you by name. When your journey in this life is over, you will hear the voice of the Shepherd calling you into eternity. Compare that with the sadness death brings. What a contrast!

Do you hear the voice of your Good Shepherd? He has called you by name in Holy Baptism. You who are born sinful, who are filthy with sin, deserving nothing but eternity in Hell, are called by God and declared to be as holy and righteous as He is, and that you are to inherit eternal life in heaven with Him. God claims you as His own, even when no one else will. The Good Shepherd, who is also the almighty, all-powerful Lord God of heaven and earth, assures you that because He has called you by name, you belong to Him, and no one can take you away from Him.

What changes and uncertainties are you facing? Are your children moving on to another phase of their lives? Or maybe you are contemplating marriage, or having a child or grandchild getting married. Maybe it’s the imminent birth of a baby and all the changes that will bring. Maybe retirement is just ahead and, suddenly, you are without what defined your life for so long. Maybe you struggle with coming to terms with death. Maybe you see your congregation trying to figure out what its future will look like. Or maybe it is just as simple as feeling that you don’t matter to anyone anymore. Whatever the change in life, these words of Jesus tell us about a wonderful contrast, the certainty that comes from the voice of our Good Shepherd, who knows each of us by name, and promises that nothing and no one will take us away from Him and that eternal life He has promised. God be praised for His wonderful gift of life in Jesus Christ! ALLELUIA! CHRIST IS RISEN! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!