Seventh Sunday of Easter

 Video of Service

Seventh Sunday of Easter (A)

May 17, 2026

Text: John 17:1-11

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

            On the night in which He was betrayed... the night in which He gave us a new commandment, that we should love one another, just as He has loved us (John 13:34)... the night in which He loved us such that He gave us His Meal of Love, the Supper of His true body and blood... knowing what would happen to Him... that He would shed His precious blood... suffer for sins, and for sinners (for us!)... be crucified, dead and buried... and the Third Day rise... Knowing all of that, our Lord Jesus prayed for us.  Well, I think if you knew you were going to die in the next several hours, you would spend your time, too, praying for the loved ones you were leaving behind.  Some Christians are given that gift, and it is beautiful.  I’ve seen it.  I’ve been at the bedside.  Those moments are holy. 

            What did Jesus pray when He was about to die?  St. John, God bless him, wrote it down for us.  We call it the “High Priestly Prayer.”  Now, today we only get the first part of that prayer.  The committee that put together the three-year lectionary divided the Prayer into three parts, so that we get one part each year, always on the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  And it’s very important.  Because, when you are about to die, you don’t waste your breath on frivolous things.  No, you speak profound things.  So, what does Jesus pray for us in the text we hear today?  May I suggest that we divide it into three categories.

            1. “(G)lorify your Son that the Son may glorify you” (John 17:1; ESV).  “Glorify Me,” Jesus says.  Now, you may find the meaning of this to be rather shocking.  The world certainly doesn’t understand it.  But in the Gospels, and especially in John, you know where the Father glorifies His Son?  On the cross.  That’s the glory.  Beaten, torn, nailed, and bloody.  And then, hanging there, dead.  Where everything looks least glorious.  God... the Son of God... dead.  See, that is the Hour.  THE Hour.  Jesus speaks of it throughout the Gospels.  The Hour for which the Son of Man came into our flesh.  The Hour to which His whole ministry was driving.  Really, THE Hour upon which hinges the whole history of the world... The Hour of your salvation.  The cross.  The “hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,” Jesus prays.  “Father... time for the Sacrifice.”  Isn’t this astounding?  He’s praying to go through hell.  For you.  He’s praying for His own agonizing death.  For you.  Why?  For the forgiveness of your sins.  For your salvation.  Because He loves you and wants you to be with Him forever. 

            And in this way, He glorifies the Father.  It is, after all, the Father’s love that sends Him.  It is the Father who sacrifices His beloved and only-begotten Son.  Remember Abraham, ready to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac on Mount Moriah?  And then God provides a ram caught in the thicket to take Isaac’s place?  But see, when God raises the knife to sacrifice His Son... no one stays His hand.  Jesus is the Sacrifice God provides.  Jesus is the Ram.  So, the Son glorifies the Father by willingly and obediently suffering the cross for us.  Father and Son, glorified on the cross. 

            And it is in that way, then... and only in that way... that the Son may be glorified by the Father in the flesh now, with the same glory He has had with the Father from all eternity in His divine nature.  That is, this human flesh had to be redeemed before it could be glorified.  Well, how can that happen?  How would that work?  The Son of God has to take on this flesh... and die in it!  Redeem it by His own blood... that it may be raised anew, and eternally, and ascend into heaven, to be seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  He does it in His flesh, that He may then do it in ours.  Redeem us.  So that when we die, we know He will also raise us, and we can follow Him into the glory of eternal life.  So, that is the First Petition: Glory.  Glorify Your Son, Father.  In death.  And then, in life.

            2. We might summarize it this way: “Give eternal life, dear Father, to those to whom I have manifested Your Name.”  “Give My disciples”... that’s you!... “eternal life.”  How?  Well, “this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent” (v. 3).  Faith.  You have eternal life by faith in the one true God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  By faith in the Son, who became flesh, suffered and died, for the forgiveness of your sins, and who is risen, and lives, and reigns for all eternity.  He wants you to live forever with Him.  As a beloved child of His Father.  As a citizen in His Kingdom, and a member of the Royal Household (that’s what the Church is).  After all, that’s why Jesus did all this work of suffering and dying and redeeming sinners.  He didn’t do that just so you could reject Him and go to hell (although He did do it for people who end up doing just that, so great is His love for us).  He did it so you could be His own, and live under Him in His Kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness (remember that from the Catechism? SC II:II).  “You gave them to Me, Father,” He says (cf. John 17:6-8).  “You gave them to Me out of the world.  They belong to You, and You gave them to Me (entrusted them to Me).  And they have kept Your Word.  And they know that everything You’ve given Me, which I’ve now given to them, is from You.  And they believe it.  And they trust it.  And they live in it.  And they ‘have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me’” (v. 8).  So... faith.  Faith in Christ.  That’s what that is.  “Keep them in it, Father.  Keep them in Your Name (Baptism).  That they may glorify Me, even as I glorify You, and they may be in Me, and I in You, and Us in them.”  All one.  One in God.  One with each other.  That is what we call the mystical union in theology. 

            And, 3. “That as they remain in the world (even though called out of the world, to be distinct from the world), they would preach the Word that I’ve given them from You.  That more may be called by the Word, and come to faith by the Word, and so have eternal life in My Kingdom.”  This one is, perhaps, more subtle, in the section of the prayer we’ve been given, but listen to this again: “I have manifested your name to the people whom you gave me” (v. 6).  “I have given them the words” (v. 8).  “(T)hey have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you” (v. 8).  And the implication is, He’s sending them out with those Words that they've received and believed.  To speak it into others.  Preaching.  Confession.  He says it explicitly a little later (we’ll get this in year 3): “I do not ask for these only,” (the Apostles), “but also for those who will believe in me through their word” (v. 20). 

            Now, Jesus prays a number of other things for His Church, which is to say, for you, in His High Priestly Prayer, and I think you ought to just read all of John Chapter 17 when you get home tonight.  And when you do, think about this: He’s not just praying for all y’all (although He is most certainly doing that).  He is praying for you, personally.  On the night in which He was betrayed.  On the night when He gave us to love one another, as He has loved us.  On the night in which He took bread, and a cup, and drew us into the Communion of His very body and blood.  He was thinking of you.  And He prayed that He would be glorified on the cross for your redemption.  And that you would know that, and be kept in it by His Word.  And that you would speak that Word to others. 

            You know, someday you will die.  I hope that isn’t a surprise to you.  It is true, you don’t know when, yet.  But why not pray, now, for those you love?  I hope you already do.  If not, start today.  And whatever else you may pray, you could do a lot worse than praying these three things for them: 1. That the glory of the cross and death... and life... of Jesus Christ be imparted to them, 2. through the Word of Jesus.  That they receive it, and know it, and trust in it, and live in it, all the way into eternity and the resurrection of the body.  And so, 3. That they speak it to others.  Especially the coming generations.  Confess the faith of Jesus.  Take up the cross.  That through them, others may believe and know. 

            Jesus prays for His Church.  The Church prays.  Jesus prays for you.  You pray.  The Father hears and answers.  What tremendous love for us.  Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                     

Graduation Address

Graduation Address for Madelyn Renee Krenz

St. Augustine Lutheran Academy

May 16, 2026

          In this family, we believe in education.

          Not, simply, as a practical concern, although it is.

          Not, merely, to make you marketable to employers, although it will.

          Neither to ensure your acceptance to a good college, although it has.

          Or, earn you scholarships, although that is how you do it. 

          Certainly not to gain the accolades of men.

          Why, then, do we believe in education?

          That we may apply ourselves unto a heart of wisdom, as Moses prays in Psalm 90 (v. 12).  As King Solomon bids us in the Proverbs: “Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth” (Prov. 4:5; ESV).  And again, “The beginning of wisdom is this: Get wisdom, and whatever you get, get insight” (v. 7).  And then, again, “How much better to get wisdom than gold! To get understanding is to be chosen rather than silver” (16:16).

          What is wisdom?  Not just knowing things... facts, and figures, formulas, and equations.  Not just intelligence (the smartest people are sometimes the greatest of fools... sometime look up Psalm 14:1).  Wisdom, rather, is the ability to employ knowledge, and intelligence, and experience, and whatever else God has given you, toward goodness, truth, and beauty.  (The three transcendentals... remember?)   

          There is a difference, though, isn’t there, between the wisdom of this world, and the wisdom of God.  We are assuredly interested in the very best of this world’s wisdom.  We read the Great Books.  Great literature.  The Great Philosophers.  And we apply our minds to mathematics, and the mechanics of the physical universe, and the methods of empirical learning.  We learn great music and poetry.  We ponder great art.  And in all of this, we’re looking for insight into the meaning of things, and the right application of those things for good.  That is wisdom.

          But we are Christians, and so, we know this wisdom is never enough.  It can lead you to things that are good, but not to Goodness Himself.  It can teach you things that are true, but it will not, finally, teach you Truth.  It may set before your eyes, your ears, and all your senses, things that are beautiful, but it will always stop short of revealing the Beautiful One.  And so, we need something more, don’t we?  We need a wisdom that is both higher, and deeper.  We need a wisdom beyond the very best that man can give.

          “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding” (Ps. 111:10).  Now, what is fear, as urged upon us in this verse?  It is not terror and distress in the presence of the LORD (although this fear is terrified to offend Him).  This fear is a reverence.  Humility.  Faith.  Love.  What we once called piety (which is, Godly devotion).  See, as Christians, that is what we’re exercising in our pursuit of education.  The fear of the LORD. 

          To what end?  In this world, that we be salt and light.  To flavor and enlighten our environment.  Testifying to Christ in speech and conduct and bearing and demeanor.  Loving with the love of God.  His hands and feet, His masks, in our vocations.  Purpose in all we do.  As little christs to our neighbor.  Serving the neighbor.  Sacrificing for the neighbor.  For his prosperity and salvation.  And ever with an eye toward the world to come.  Ordering our lives toward the good, the true, the beautiful, and so bringing goodness, truth, and beauty into the lives of those whom God has given us. 

          That is profound.  We believe in that. 

          In all the years you were in public school, and in the years since, as we’ve educated you at home (well... at St. Augustine Lutheran Academy), our goal has been to give you that.  Or, rather, be instruments of God as He gives you that.  Wisdom.  Christ.  And the things of Christ. 

          We are confident that you now head out into the world, well-equipped.

          But never stop pursuing wisdom.  In this family, we believe in education as a lifelong endeavor.  Wisdom tells us why.  And wisdom is, itself, the end (as in, the goal, the culmination, the fulfillment) of that pursuit.  

The Ascension of Our Lord

 Video of Service

The Ascension of Our Lord

May 14, 2026

Text: Eph. 1:15-23

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

            “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22-23; ESV).     

            When our Lord Jesus ascended into heaven, and took His place at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, this was no minor addition to His saving work for us.  No detail in the Creed can be minor.  Every word is an article of faith.  After fulfilling His earthly ministry, and making atonement for our sins by His death on the cross... Forty days after His victorious, bodily resurrection from the dead, and after a multitude of appearances to His disciples, to teach them, and enlist them as eyewitnesses... the Lord Jesus gathered His followers to Himself.  He opened their minds to understand the Holy Scriptures, and promised them the Holy Spirit. 

            And then He lifted His hands in blessing.  Who knows what He said?  I have a hunch it was the same blessing we hear at the end of the Church service, the Aaronic Benediction, “The LORD bless you and keep you,” etc. (Num. 6:24 ff.).  And while He blessed them (and don’t miss that detail... He is still blessing, the whole time, which means He is still blessing His disciples, us, now!)... while He blessed them, He started going up.  And up.  And up.  And, eventually, a cloud hid Him from their sight (Oh, a cloud... The Glory Cloud up on the holy mountain... The Pillar of Cloud in the wilderness... The Cloud of the LORD’s... what?  Absence?  No, presence!  “I am with you always, to the end of the age” [Matt. 28:20].  That is the Promise!).  But, up He goes, and where is He going?  Heaven, yes.  But in this case, that doesn’t mean the sky.  It’s not that He's going up into outer space.  He is entering a different realm.  Heaven isn’t a spot in the physical universe.  We can’t really even begin to understand what it is, except to say that it is the place of God’s abode, His throne, and the dwelling place for the souls of the blessed dead who live with God, and await the resurrection of their own bodies.  It is not spatially removed from us, actually.  It is, rather, hidden from our sight.  “He was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight” (Acts 1:9).

            And then, as we confess in the Creed, and as St. Paul preaches to us tonight in the Epistle (Eph. 1:20), the Father seated Jesus at His right hand.  Now, understand, not just the divine nature of Jesus, which is eternally one with the Father, and so, always with Him.  But in the flesh.  By the communication of attributes (boy, we’re gonna have to review our Catechism on that one, aren’t we?!).  That is, that the human nature of Jesus receives all that belongs to the divine nature, so that the Man, Jesus of Nazareth, flesh of our flesh, and bone of our bone, sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  And tonight, St. Paul tells us why that’s such a big deal.

            What is the right hand of God the Father Almighty?  The seat of authority.  The royal throne.  When we confess that the Man, Jesus, is sitting there, we’re saying (as Paul does in our text) that the Man, Jesus, is the King.  And He rules... what?  All things.  Not just His Church, (though certainly His Church).  But all things.  God “put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things,” Paul says (Eph. 1:22).  That means earthly governments.  Ours.  Theirs.  All of them.  That means history.  It means your life, in every circumstance.  All the things you are.  All the things you have.  And all the things you do.  That’s why you really can’t compartmentalize your life, and say, “Okay, this is the part of my life I reserve for God, and the things of God, but my work, or my sports, or my vacation, or... whatever... have nothing to do with Him”... No, those things are part of the all things under Jesus’ feet, too.  It means, in fact, that every cell of your body, and its function... every proton, electron, or neutron that make up the atoms that make up your body, and everything else in the whole universe... and probably parts more infinitesimal than that (we can’t even begin to imagine, much less investigate them)... it's all under His authority.  Think how comforting this is when you have a cancer diagnosis, or something like that.  It’s not gonna be pleasant to go through that, of course, but you can know with certainty that, even in the most miniscule detail, there is not a thing going on in any cell in your body, but that Jesus is intimately involved and ruling over it.   Because He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  That’s what the Ascension of Jesus means for you.

            He even rules over angels.  Okay, maybe that’s not so surprising, but don’t forget what else that means.  Over demons.  He rules over demons.  Over Satan.  Over hell.  When Paul says that Jesus is seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion” (v. 21), those categories are orders of angels, good and bad.  Peter doubles down on it.  He writes that Jesus “has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers having been subjected to him” (1 Peter 3:22).  So, not only do the holy angels do the bidding of our Savior and Brother in the flesh, Jesus... but so do the demons, and the very devil himself!  This is why Dr. Luther loved to call the evil one “Gottes Teufel” “God’s devil!”  Because even the devil (and this is hell to him) is, finally, under God’s control.  He can’t do anything beyond what God permits (think of Job).  And then, God is always causing the devil’s schemes to backfire (blow up in his face!) and actually work for God’s purposes.  For Jesus’ purposes.  Which is to say, for our good.  All things, Paul says (and there is that phrase again), work together... for what?  For the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28).  That’s you, isn’t it?  That’s you.

            Jesus rules all things for your good.  Because you are a blood-bought citizen of His Kingdom.  A member of His family.  A part of His Body.  The Father gave Jesus to be Head over all things (not just the Church, but beyond the Church) to the Church, which is His Body (Eph. 1:22-23).  Which is to say, He rules all things for the sake of His Church.  For you. 

            And then, through you.  Through the Church.  The fulness of Him who fills all in all.  That phrase is worth a pause for our meditation.  Jesus didn’t ascend into heaven to be removed from His creation.  But to fill it.  Every last nook and cranny of it.  He’s in all things.  Right?  The very protons, electrons, and neutrons and beyond.  Jesus rules it all, and fills it all, and by the communication of attributes (particularly the attribute of God’s immanence... His intimate involvement in everything), we don’t mean just His divine nature fills all things, but the flesh and blood human nature of Jesus fills all things.  Wow. 

            But, of course, we can’t apprehend or receive His saving benefits from His being in all things.  He is in the wood of this pulpit, and your pew, and that’s great, but that doesn’t yet deliver to me His blood and death for my sins.  Turns out, He actually is on the golf course, and by the lake, and out in nature, like you tell me when you want to skip Church (“I’m worshiping God in nature”).  But your fatal mistake (and the reason I don’t buy it) is that He isn’t in those things to justify you before God, or enliven you by His Spirit with His eternal resurrection life.  He hasn’t promised to be in those things for that.  See, He does that as He fills all things with His Body, the Church.  His fulness goes out and invades every corner through the ministry of the Church.  The Means of Grace.  The preaching of the Word.  The Sacraments.  Your Christian confession.  The vocations of His Baptized people.  He rules everything, anyway, and He’s in everything, anyway (His immanence).  That is the Law.  But by the ministry of the Church, He fills and rules by grace.  The Gospel.  His redemption.  He brings people in.  He brings things under His blessing.  The hands upraised.  The hands with the nail holes. 

            All things.  He rules them.  Now, this is not politics.  And it’s not a military campaign.  That’s the silly question the disciples ask in the first reading, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6).  The answer is “yes,” actually, but not how you think.  By the Gospel.  By preaching.  By the Church in mission.  The Church going out is the fulness of the Lord Jesus filling all in all.  It is the bringing of the death and resurrection of Jesus into all things.  Including you.  Into you.  The Gospel was preached to you, and the Spirit therefore gave you saving faith in Jesus, because Jesus ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty, and rules and fills all things.  Not a minor component of your salvation.  It is your salvation, as much as His death and resurrection.  It is all of a piece.  And that is why we’re here tonight, rejoicing in it, and receiving it.

            Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  And He lives, and He reigns.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                               

Sixth Sunday of Easter

 Video of Service

Sixth Sunday of Easter (A)

May 10, 2026

Text: John 14:15-21

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

            “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15; ESV).  Simple enough, on the face of it, though perhaps we ought to pause and meditate on a couple of these words.  Namely, “keep.”  What does that mean?  Sure, it means to obey.  It also means to guard, or observe.  But when this verb (“keep”) has as its object the precious words of God (as it does in this case), we should think of it as, “to treasure.”  “If you love me,” Jesus says, “you will treasure my commandments.”  Which, of course, includes obeying, guarding, and observing... but so much more!  We follow the example of Mary, who treasured up all these things, and pondered them in hear heart (Luke 2:19, 51).  That is what we do with Words from God.  Treasure them. 

            And that leads us to the second word on which we should pause and meditate.  Commandments.  Not just the Law of God, the things we should do and shouldn’t do (like the Ten Commandments).  But all the things God says in the Scriptures.  All the things Jesus said and taught, and continues to say and teach in the Gospels, and through His Prophets and Apostles.  It is as we hear at the end of Matthew’s Gospel (28:19), that we go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and then what?  “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (v. 20; KJV).  All things whatsoever.  So what do we treasure if we love Jesus?  All His Words.  Every last one of them.  Law and Gospel.  The things we like, and the things we don’t like.   The things we understand, and the many things we don’t understand.  We treasure them up, and ponder them in our hearts.  We hear them, read them again and again, mark them, learn them (memorize them!), and inwardly digest them.  Because they are precious to us.  Because they are the Words of the One we love more than anything, or anyone.  Because they are the Words of the One who loved us to His own sacrificial death for us on the cross, and who is risen, and lives, and gives us life, making us His own.

            I remember so well, when Sarah and I were first dating... long distance... the pure thrill of receiving a handwritten letter from her in the mail.  You kids these days...  I’m afraid you’re missing out on this.  I would go find a quiet place to open the letter.  And I would read it, and savor it.  And I would put it in my breast pocket, right next to my heart, for the rest of the day.  And I would take it out, whenever I had a minute, and read it again.  It was wonderful.  I must have been walking around with a stupid smile on my face whenever that happened, because I had one friend who would see me walking down the hall, and... “She sent you a letter, didn’t she?!”  Yes.  See, I loved her (still do, by the way).  So I treasured her words.  That’s what love does. 

            You and I, we love Jesus.  But we do have a difficulty with what He says in the rest of the verse, don’t we?  How are you doing at treasuring His Words?  How are you doing at keeping His Commandments?  You know, the Christian wants to... to treasure... to keep.  Why is it so hard?  Why do we always think we have better things to do than listen to, and ponder, all the things He says to us?  Why are we so impatient with the Word?  Why do we so easily turn our minds to other things while the sound of Jesus’ Words beats on our ear drums, or our eyes scan the page?  And why do we have so much trouble putting His Word into practice?  Why do we constantly do the things He says not to do?  And not do the things He says to do?  Well... you know why.  Though He has rescued you from sin, death, and the devil, by His own death on the cross, and resurrection from the dead... Though you are baptized into Christ, and so regenerated and renewed (that is why you love Jesus!  You wouldn’t love Him, otherwise.  You couldn’t!)... Though you are a beloved child of the heavenly Father, and an heir of the Kingdom of heaven... Though all of that is true... you know in your very bones the paradox of the Christian life in this fallen world: Simul iustus et peccator.  What does that mean?  Do you remember?  “At the same time righteous (justified, saint) and sinner.”  Perfectly righteous in Christ, who covers you with His blood and death and life.  But in and of yourself... sinner. 

            That is the difficulty, and it’s so frustrating.  Why did I do that?  I hate that about me!  And why didn’t I do that?  I know that’s what my Jesus wants of me!  We have this internal dialogue all the time.  St. Paul had it, too.  “I do not understand my own actions.  For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate” (Rom. 7:15; ESV).  But too often it turns into plain old self-loathing.  Which is not repentance, by the way.  It’s actually a sin.  Why?  Because we’re trying to punish ourselves... to pay off our sins... or be sorry enough that we’ll deserve God’s forgiveness.  No.  Knock that off the minute you recognize it.  Instead, turn it into prayer.  Lament.  Complaint.  Lord, why did I do that thing you said not to?  Why did I not do the thing you said to do?  Why can’t I sit for fifteen minutes and listen to Your Word, when I’ll happily sit for three hours and watch baseball?  Forgive me, Lord.  Forgive me, my Jesus.  I love you.  You love me.  Give me to treasure Your Words, ponder them in my heart, and put them into practice in my life.  He will.  He hears.  It’s true, you won’t do it perfectly, this side of the veil.  But He will work in you.  Trust Him. 

Because, this is the Promise: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth” (John 14:16-17).  That is the Promise fulfilled for the Church on Pentecost, in the sending of the Holy Spirit (notice, by the way, how these final Sundays of Easter are building up to the Day of Pentecost!).  And it is fulfilled for you, personally, in your Baptism, and in your every encounter with God’s Means of Grace, the Word and Sacraments.  “Another Helper,” He says... The word is Paraclete.  Which means Helper, certainly, but also Counselor, Comforter, Advocate... literally, the One you call to your side in time of need, when you need just that.  That is the Holy Spirit.  And what does He do for you?  Jesus says He dwells in you, and is in you.  So that you always have His help, and his counsel, and comfort, and advocacy.  And He is active in you, to work faith in Jesus.  To strengthen that faith.  To work love in you for Jesus, and so for the Father, and so for Himself.  And so, for your neighbor.  To remind you of all the things Jesus says.  To bring those things constantly before your ears and your eyes.  To work meditation on those things.  The treasuring of them.  The pondering.  And so, the practice.  Fruits of faith.  Works of love.  The Commandments. 

            The world thinks this is all ridiculous.  By “world,” here, we mean unbelievers.  Those who don’t love Jesus, and so don’t treasure His words.  Don’t let that be you, beloved.  The only reason we’re not part of that world is that this Spirit has called us out of it, taken possession of us, and given us faith in Christ, and ears to hear His Word.  The world doesn’t see or know the Spirit.

            But you do.  Because He has called you by the Gospel.  Enlightened with His gifts.  Sanctified and kept you in the one true faith.  All by grace.

            And Jesus?  Removed from your earthly sight, for a time, to be sure.  He told the disciples they wouldn’t see Him for a little while (His death and burial), and then they would (His resurrection), but this also applies to us, because He has ascended into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.  So you can’t see Him with your eyeballs.  Still, you see Him by faith.  He does not leave you as orphans.  He manifests Himself to you.  He comes to you.  In fact, here He is.  His voice, speaking to you in His Word.  His body.  His blood.  Given and shed for you, now fed to you in His Supper.  He is in you.  And you are immersed in Him (Baptism). 

            And that is exactly what He says as He preaches to us in this text, isn’t it?  His very life is in us.  We live because He lives, because we are in Him, and He is in us.  And because He is in the Father, and we are in Him, we, too, are in the Father.  And the Spirit, proceeding from them both (notice, again, how these final Sundays in Easter are driving toward the Feast of the Holy Trinity!).  Beloved, look at your baptismal reality.  You’ve been taken up into the Life and Communion of our Triune God.  Loved by Him.  And so, loving Him.  And treasuring His every Word. 

            “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  If you love me, you will treasure my Words.  We do.  We do, Lord.  Continue to grant us your Spirit, that we may love You more and more.  And so, treasure ever more deeply, every Word You say.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

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

Fifth Sunday of Easter

 Video of Service

Fifth Sunday of Easter (A)

May 3, 2026

Text: John 14:1-14

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

            This is one of those Gospel texts so rich in the articles of our faith (Jesus is catechizing His disciples on the night before He dies), we cannot possibly do it all justice.  But for our purposes today, I’d like to call your attention to four particular points:

            First, the Lord Jesus has prepared a place for you in His Father’s House, in the Family of God.  We often read this text at funerals, because here is the surpassing comfort that Jesus prepares a place for us in heaven when we die.  That is wonderful.  But don’t just limit it to that.  He has also prepared a placed for you right here and now in the holy Church, in the congregation of His saints.  A home.  A family.  A place just for you at His Table, where He doles out His gifts, breathing His life and Spirit into you in His Word, washing you at the font and in the Holy Absolution, and feeding you with His true body and blood from His altar.  And He has prepared a place for you, eternally... not just as a spirit in heaven, but bodily, in the New Creation, in the New Heavens and the New Earth, when He raises up you and all the dead, and gives eternal life to you and all believers in Christ.  (These are not different places, by the way, but different phases, if you want, of the same place... namely, the presence of God!).  See in this why you need not be troubled (as Jesus says); why you can simply believe in God (trust Him!), and also in His dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.  You have a place where you belong, where you are wanted and loved beyond imagination, and even death cannot take it away from you (or you away from it).  Now, this is not simply a general invitation.  Jesus has prepared this place specially for you.  How?  By His coming into your flesh.  By His sinless life for you, fulfilling His Law.  By His sin-atoning death for you.  By His victorious resurrection for you.  And now, by His glorious ascension into heaven for you, where He sits, in flesh of your flesh, and bone of your bone, in the Seat of authority, at God’s right hand, ruling for you, interceding for you, and guiding you by His Word and Spirit, so that you come to the place where He is.  He prepares your place by blazing the trail in His flesh... our flesh.  So, that is the first point.  Jesus prepares a place.  For you.  A Home.  With the Father.  With our Lord.  With the Spirit.  Where you belong.  Where God Himself wants you to be for the rest of eternity.

            Second, Jesus is the Way to that place.  You know the Way, because you know Jesus.  Stick with Jesus, and you’ll go to the place He has prepared.  Thomas asks the question, how we can know the Way, and we’re glad he does, because now we can know.  Jesus answers with one of the seven great “I AM” statements in John’s Gospel (His claim to divinity), undoubtedly one you learned by heart in Sunday School or Catechism class: “I am the way, and the truth, and the life” (John 14:6; ESV).  Now, He is the only Way.  This is why we want everyone to know Him, and why we want to make sure we know Him and stick with Him, because, as he says, “No one comes to the Father except through me.”  That is called the scandal of particularity in theology, the biblical teaching that only in Jesus of Nazareth do we have eternal life and salvation.  It is not the case (contrary to popular belief) that all religions lead to God.  There is only one, because it is the religion given by God, and that is Christianity.  Beloved, you’ve been given that.  That is an amazing thing.  Give it to those who don’t know it, by speaking it (confessing), praying for those who don’t have it, and inviting them here for an encounter with Jesus.  (And, of course, raise your kids in it!)  He is THE Truth.  Many things are true, but He is the very definition of Truth.  Whatever else is true is only true in relation to Him, and He is the Source of all Truth (even the quadratic equation and the second law of thermodynamics... all truth... He is the Source).  And He is the Life.  “In him was life,” John says, “and that life was the light of men” (John 1:4).  There is no life apart from Him.  Only eternal death.  Hell.  This is serious business.  So, stick with Him.  Be in Him.  Which is to say, always in His Word and gifts. 

            Third, when you do know Jesus, you know the Father.  Philip makes the request for us, here.  “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us” (John 14:8).  But we have to understand, we cannot see God in His unveiled glory, in nudas maiestas (His bare majesty).  If we did, we would die (“man shall not see me and live,” says the LORD [Ex. 33:20]).  But Jesus is God veiled in human flesh.  That is what we sing at Christmas: “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail the incarnate Deity” (LSB 380:2).  Jesus is the revelation of the Father.  So, He says, to Philip and to us, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father” (John 14:9).  Now, we understand that, in human terms.  We often say of a human father and son, when they look alike, or share very similar traits, “if you’ve met the father, you’ve met the son.”  But here, in Jesus and His heavenly Father, we encounter an infinitely more profound mystery, that of the Trinity in Unity, and Unity in Trinity.  “I am in the Father and the Father is in me,” Jesus says (v. 10).  Or, as He says earlier in John, “I and the Father are one” (10:30).  (And, of course, that is revealed to us by the Spirit, who is also one with the Father and the Son, and so, here is the Holy Trinity, a mystery beyond our comprehension.)  In Jesus, though... in the Son, the Second Person of the Trinity, who takes on our flesh... God becomes tangible and available to our finite and fallen senses. 

            Now, it is true, unlike Philip and Thomas and the rest, we don’t have the advantage of seeing Jesus with our bodily eyes.  But where do we see Him?  And how?  With our ears in His Words.  We feel Him with our nerve endings as we’re drenched in the water of life (Baptism).  And then there is the Supper, where we hear what He says of the bread and wine, that they are His very body and blood, given and shed on the cross for our forgiveness, life, and salvation, here and now given us to eat and drink.  And so we use our senses of sight and touch as we receive Him in our mouths.  And we taste and see that the Lord is good as we eat and drink.  And we even smell it, don’t we?  In the Cup.  In the breathing of our fellow Christians.  When I leave the altar with the Lord’s blood on my breath, I often think of something St. John Chrysostom said: “The Eucharist is a fire that inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire, we may retire from the altar being made terrible to the devil.”  Or, quite literally, what St. Paul wrote: “we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life” (2 Cor. 2:15-16).  He wasn’t specifically speaking about the Supper, but that is where the fragrance is infused.

            What do you see (hear, taste, smell) of the Father when you see Jesus in this way?  That He is not, for you, a God of wrath and vengeance, out to get you for your sins.  But a God who loves you.  He is your Father.  And you are His child.  So that He sends Jesus... gives His only-begotten Son, Jesus... as the price for your redemption, to save you and make you His own.  You would not know that God apart from Jesus.  Jesus is the only Way to know that.  Jesus is, as Dr. Luther says in the Large Catechism, a “mirror of the fatherly heart.”[1]

            Okay, fourth, and finally... Whoever knows Jesus, and so knows God... Whoever is on the Way, and in the Truth, and a liver of the Life... Whoever has such a place in the Father’s House, prepared by Jesus Himself... that one will do the works that Jesus does, and even greater works than these.  Now, in terms of the Apostles, we see this in their ministry in the Book of Acts.  They literally do the things Jesus did during His earthly ministry, complete with signs and wonders, miraculous healings, spiritual gifts, and even sacrificial deaths.  The apostolic ministry is a continuation of Jesus’ ministry.  But this is also true (albeit in an often dramatically less spectacular way) of the ministry of the Church.  You.  We, who have a place here in this House, continue the ministry of Jesus... how?  As we preach the Gospel, and serve as His hands and feet... His masks... in our various vocations and stations in life.  In other words, when we speak His Word, and love with His love.  This is what He means, by the way, when He says that whatever we ask in His Name, He will do it (John 14:13-14).  It’s not a promise to be a divine vending machine, or some kind of genie granting wishes.  He’s talking about whatever glorifies the Father in the Son (v. 13).  He is promising to bless His continued ministry among us, and through us.  To accomplish His merciful and saving will among us, and through us.  Greater works than His, He says, not because they are better or more powerful, but exploding out on the world stage, not just confined to Israel.  The Gospel is preached to the ends of the earth.  That is the great thing.  And God does it through us.  What an honor.  What joy!

            So, those four things.  Remember them today.  1. Jesus prepares a place for you.  2. He alone is the Way to that place.  3. In knowing Him, you know the Father.  And, 4. He is working through you, and through His whole Church, to bring many more to know Himself, and so, to know the Way, the Truth, and the Life. 

            Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.                     

---

[1] LC II: III:65 https://bookofconcord.cph.org/en/large-catechism/part_2/article_iii/#article-iii

Fourth Sunday of Easter

 Video of Service

Fourth Sunday of Easter (A)

April 26, 2026

Text: Psalm 23; John 10:1-10

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

            You really ought to just learn the 23^rd Psalm by heart, if you haven't already.  I think maybe this is one of those passages to memorize from the King James Version, so that the poetry of it can captivate you.  Now, we’re singing several hymn versions of the Psalm today, including the beautiful Hymn of the Day, “The King of Love My Shepherd Is” (LSB 709), but other than that, we don’t actually get the Psalm on this Good Shepherd Sunday.  It is the Psalm appointed for the day, though we don’t often use that lectionary option.  But you have to hear it, so, here it is, in the King’s English: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.” 

            When I was a teenager (this may come as a shock to many of you) I was a bit of a dork.  And at school, I had what one might call a “poor man’s Trapper Keeper,” one of those three ring binders with the clear plastic sleeve all around it.  And, as teens often do, I made it my own by displaying things in that sleeve that were important to me.  On one side, I had an Oregonian newspaper concert review of a Ray Charles concert I had attended (one of the great moments of my life, God gave me to see Ray Charles, still in his vigor... Beloved, always thank God for First Article gifts.  They are never trivial.  He loves us, and He gives us many good things to enjoy).  So, that was one side (the back), but on the front... Bible passages.  Chief of which was Psalm 23.  King James.  In public school, no less, carrying it around.  Printed in dot matrix!

            I wish I could say it was because I was wise that I did that.  But like so many things, from my perspective, it was by happy accident.  I liked it, so I printed it.  But from God's perspective, it was by grace.  It was His providence.  So that it was daily before my eyes.  I read it constantly because it was there (and it was more exciting than algebra).  I internalized it.  Turns out, that's the way to do it.  And now that I think about it, that was probably a lesson caught from my dear mother, who had all sorts of random bits of paper, with Bible verses, taped all around her desk at my parents' hardware store.  Thank God for those, too, because I learned some of those verses by happy accident (which is to say, divine providence).  In fact, when I hear or recite some of those verses, I can still see those scraps of paper in my mind, clear as day, complete with stupid rainbow and unicorn stationary (it was the 80s, okay?).  It doesn't have to be an accident, though.  You can do this intentionally.  And you should.  Write down passages.  Hold them before your eyes.  Read them often.  Mark them.  Learn them.  Inwardly digest them.  So that they become a part of you.  Woven into the fabric of your being.     

            But you know what it really was... my binder... my mother's notes...?  It was our Lord Jesus, shepherding me.  Calling me by name.  Leading me in and out of the sheepfold (and what is the sheepfold?  The Church!  Leading me into the Church, and back out again into my life and vocations!  Armed with His Word!).  Always with me.  Feeding me.  Tending me.  Protecting me from the fang and claw of predators (the devil, the demons).  At His own peril.  To His own harm (the cross!).  So also, the robbers and thieves (the false teachers).  The muddied and poisoned waters of my own sins.  He keeps me from all that is harmful and deadly.  And when I am lost, He seeks me, and finds me.  And when I am wounded, He binds my wounds, and He keeps me close, and extends to me His healing touch.  And when He brings me back, safely, to the sheepfold at night, He protects me, then, too.  He becomes the Door.  He is, of course, in truth, the Door... we enter His Church (His Sheepfold) by our immersion into Him in Holy Baptism.  But there is also a pastoral (as in shepherding) image here (pastor is just Latin for shepherd).  At night, the shepherd lays himself across the entrance of the sheepfold.  That’s what Jesus does for me, and for you, and all the sheep.  Why?  So that I can’t get out apart from His knowledge and care.  And if a predator wants in, it’ll have to cross over the crucified and risen body of the Lord Jesus Christ.

            What about the images we are given in Psalm 23?  What does our Lord do for us there?  Since the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.  I was always confused, as a kid, what that means.  Because I wanted plenty of things.  Yeah, but not really.  I didn’t want in the true sense of the word, as in lacking the things that I need.  The things that kept me alive.  Physically, yes.  But also, and especially, the things that kept me alive spiritually, in Christ.  That is what the rest of the Psalm is about: Those things that keep me alive by faith in the Good Shepherd.  And that, by the way, includes the crosses God sends me, because He knows they are good for me.  In other words, I may suffer the lack of some bodily necessity at one time or another.  But when that happens, I can be sure of two things: 1. The Good Shepherd is feeding me spiritually by my bodily lack, shaping me by the cross into His cruciform image.  And 2. He will, in the time and way He knows best, relieve me of that bodily want.  Either by providing here and now (as He so often does), or... frankly, death.  But either way, I can trust Him.  He knows what I need.  And, in any case, you and I haven’t suffered much of that.  Certainly not to the degree many of our brothers and sisters have, and do, in other places in the world, and at other times in history.  But our Shepherd will always provide.  You can absolutely count on Him.  I shall not want.

            How does He provide for our wants in the Psalm?  He makes us lie down in green pastures.  That is to say, His Word!  That is what is happening here, in the Divine Service.  And in your daily reading and meditating on the Scriptures.  Beloved, read the Scriptures every day.  And put up your scraps of paper, or whatever you need to do to hold those Scriptures before your eyes, your heart, your mind.  You’re resting in His verdant meadow!  He leads you beside still waters.  Think of all the wells in Scripture.  Or the river that comes from the throne of God, and gets deeper and wider as it goes.  With the Tree of Life on either side, the leaves of which are for the healing of the nations.  The pure, fresh water that heals all that it touches, all that is stagnant and dead.  Think of the Living Water Jesus pours out for the Samaritan woman, and for you.  If anyone is thirsty, come to Him and drink.  Think of the baptismal font, where that water touches you.  The healing bath of regeneration and renewal.  The water pouring forth with blood from the Savior’s pierced side.  He leads you to that. 

            He restores your soul by that.  And He leads you in the paths of righteousness for His Name’s sake.  Now, that is vital.  Because you’ll get lost otherwise.  But His Name is on you in Baptism.  You are precious to Him.  He does not want to lose you.  So He keeps you close, and leads you in the Way you should go.  His doctrine.  And His Commandments.  That you live in faith toward Him, and fervent love toward one another.  He leads you through the dangers.  All the dark and perilous places.  Even through the valley of the shadow of death.  He knows the Way!  He’s been there!  He is the Way!  He can lead you through, and out the other side again, alive, because: He is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  You need fear no evil.  They can’t get you when Jesus is with you.  Let His rod and staff be your comfort.  Again, His Word.  And His cross.  The fulfillment of Moses’ staff.  It has a crook in it, that God may yank you away from the dangerous messes you get yourself into.  And stave off the devil and the false teachers. 

            Then, all of a sudden, a change of metaphor.  The Table well-laid in the presence of your enemies.  Right here in this fallen world, and much to the vitriolic terror of the demons.  Christ’s true body.  Christ’s true blood.  For you, for the forgiveness of sins.  And the anointing oil.  The Spirit.  You are anointed with the Spirit at your Baptism, just as He was at His.  And the cup that runneth over.  That’s like Luther’s “and the like” when he’s listing all the First Article gifts God provides us.  So, if all this is true (and it is!), you can know for certain that goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life... this life... and into the next.  You will dwell in the House of the LORD forever. 

            That is an unimaginable comfort to you as you slog your way through life in this fallen world, with your own fallen flesh.  So, just memorize it.  Learn it by heart.  What am I always saying to you Catechism students?  Why do I want you to learn all this by rote?  So that you know it by heart!  And you carry it with you all the way to your death bed, and beyond.  It is the Voice of Jesus, your Good Shepherd.  Calling you by name.  Listen.  Hear Him.  Believe Him.  Follow Him.  Because, with Him, you have life.  And you have it abundantly.  Alleluia!  Christ is risen!  He is risen, indeed!  Alleluia!  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.