Sixth Sunday of
Easter (B)
May 6, 2018
Text: John 15:9-17
What
a joyous day to meditate on the love of God for us in Christ Jesus. The Holy Baptism of Saphira Brielle is, in so
many ways, the living picture of that love.
Here these parents, and this family, who have opened their hearts and
their home to her, to make her their very own, one of them, now bring her
forward to the font where our Father in heaven makes her His very own, His own beloved child, a member of this family, Holy Church, and He gives
her a spiritual home here in Augustana Congregation. It is an adoption by grace, a miracle of love
that happens right before our very eyes.
Old Adam in Saphira is drowned and dies in the water. All her sins, past, present, and future, are
washed away. The demons are cast
out. Saphira is plunged into the death
and resurrection of Christ. His death is
her death. His life is her life. She is raised from the dead, spiritually now,
and she will be bodily, on that Day, for she is baptized into Christ. There is Jesus in the water for Saphira. There is the Holy Spirit descending upon her
and taking possession of her. There is
the voice of the Father saying of her, “You are my beloved daughter by virtue
of your Baptism into my beloved Son. For
this reason, and for His sake, with you I am well pleased. You are perfect in my eyes.” He puts His Name on her, “Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit,” the Christian family name, and He marks her with the sign of the
holy cross, by which she is redeemed.
God loves her. And we love
her. Because, as St. John writes in our
Epistle, “everyone who loves the Father
loves whoever has been born of him” (1 John 5:1; ESV). Saphira has been given new birth from above
this morning, born of God, born of water and the Spirit. She’s one of us, a dear sister in
Christ. The angels rejoice today, more
than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. And so do we.
She’s been with us for a while, adding her hearty “Amen” to our
prayers. But now it’s official. There is a new member of our family.
What
is particularly beautiful about today and its corresponding Holy Gospel is how
Saphira is such a tremendous example of what our Lord says to all of us: “You did not choose me, but I chose you”
(John 15:16). Look at the series of
events that brought Saphira to this day.
It is the Lord’s doing, not ours.
From our point of view, it is a succession of remarkable circumstances
that have resulted in this day of her Baptism.
But from God’s point of view, it is simply obvious that this would be
the case. This is the natural next step. Of
course He brought her here, to this family, and to this Church. Of
course she is baptized today. This
is no surprise to Him. Why? Not just because He knows all things (okay,
He does have an unfair advantage there).
But because He chose Saphira to be His own from before the foundation of
the world. That’s why. That’s grace.
Nothing Saphira did brought her to this place and time. Nothing we
did brought her to this place and time.
No decisions for Jesus. No acts
of our will. If anything, were it not
for God doing constant damage control, our will would just mess everything
up. No, this is all God’s work. God brought Saphira to this place and time
today, as was His plan from all eternity.
He brought her to the font. He
baptized her. Baptism is not our work
for God, it is God’s work for us. That
is why Peter can say that Baptism now saves you (1 Peter 3:21), and he isn’t
arguing against salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ
alone. That’s what Baptism is. Grace.
The place you are given faith in Christ.
The act by which Christ’s sin-atoning, saving work is poured out upon
you and made your own.
You
see, what is true for Saphira, is just as true for you. Whether you were baptized as a little baby,
or an older child, or an adult… Even if, from your point of view, you decided to be baptized, don’t suffer any
illusions… You didn’t do a work
there. God did. The Holy Spirit brought you to the font. Not you.
Not your parents. You didn’t
invite the Father into your heart. The
Father invited you into His. You didn’t
choose Jesus. He chose you. That’s what He says. Because He loves you. So He does it all. By grace.
What
is love? It’s such a nice-sounding word,
isn’t it? Even the world loves the word
“love.” But don’t be fooled. When the world talks about love, it doesn’t
mean what the Bible means. The problem
is, the word “love” is so flexible in meaning that it’s really ambiguous. Especially in English. The Greek has no less than four words to talk
about different things that we call “love.”
We pack it all into one. For
example, I can say, “I love my wife and children.” And in the next breath I can say, “I love
peperoni pizza.” Do these two sentences
express the same concept of love? I hope
not. If that is the case, either I love
one too much, or the other not enough.
Context is important in determining the meaning of the word. For our purposes we need to clarify that the
context is God’s love for us, our love for God, and our love for other
people. That’s the kind of love we’re
talking about in the Scriptures. But
even that doesn’t help us much when we’re dealing with the world. Because the world’s concept of love is that
we’re all nice to one another and tolerant of whatever each person wants to
believe or do… in fact, not just tolerant, but accepting and affirming. Start calling something a sin or a false
doctrine, and suddenly you’re not loving.
And you Christians, start talking about how your God is the only God,
Jesus is the only way to heaven, all other religions are idolatry, and that
people really can and do go to hell, well… that’s not loving. That’s hate speech, there. In fact, we can’t tolerate it.
Beloved,
it is absolutely vital that you be clear on what love is and is not. Love is not an emotion. It is not a feeling. It is not the warm fuzzies in your
heart. Those things can come along with
love, but they are not love. Love is not
tolerance for things that are intolerable to God. It is not acceptance and affirmation of that
which God does not accept and affirm.
And it’s not hate to say so.
Actually, it’s love to say so.
Love says the hard things. Love
sacrifices reciprocation and honor for the good of the beloved. It endures rejection. It endures insult. It endures anger, resentment, and even
outright hatred on the part of the beloved.
For when we talk about love as the Scriptures speak of it, as Jesus
defines it and personifies it, we are talking about the love that suffers and
dies for the sake of the beloved who hate
the Lover and are responsible for His suffering and death. That’s agape
love, the self-giving, self-sacrificing, loving unto the death of self, kind of
love, the love of which we are incapable in and of ourselves, that only God can actually give, and does give in
His Son, Jesus Christ: “For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not
perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).
“Greater love has no one than
this, that someone lays down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Friends, Jesus calls us, we who killed Him by
our sin, who reject Him constantly by our lovelessness and rebellion and
self-idolatry. He gives His life for
us. To make us His own. God’s love fashions its own object. It is not that God loves us because we’re so
gosh-darn loveable. He loves us because
that’s what He has decided. And so He acts. He sends His Son. Jesus goes willingly to the cross. That… that,
my friends, is love.
Love
is a decision put into action for the sake of the beloved, without regard to
whether it brings love in return. By the
Spirit’s gracious working in Baptism and the Word, many of us are captivated by
this love of God in Christ. Others are
not. Others will reject it to their
dying day, which, for them, means an eternal rejection of God, and therefore
eternal death. But you, like Saphira,
have been called out of the number of those who reject Him, who remain in their
hatred and rebellion against their Creator and Redeemer. The Spirit has turned you. He’s repented you. He daily repents you. By His gifts.
The Word. The Water
(Baptism). The Blood (the Cup). In His death on the cross, our Lord breathed
out His Spirit in His dying breath. And
from His spear-riven side poured blood and water, the after-birth of the New
Eve, the Church. And here it is, that
same water, that same blood, in the font and in the chalice, birthing you anew
and nourishing you, giving you Jesus’ life, Jesus’ peace, Jesus’ presence,
Jesus Himself. “For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the
blood; and these three agree” (1 John 5:8).
These three are one, the Greek says.
That is to say, the means of grace give you the one Lord Jesus Christ
for your forgiveness, life, and salvation.
They pour out the love of God for you in Christ. His love flows into you. And you, now, filled to the brim with His
love, ever receiving more love from the unfailing fountain of Christ, go and
love your neighbor.
And
that’s why you do what Jesus commands.
Not because you’re going to be saved by your obedience. Look, you’re not that good at doing
them. If
you’re going to be saved by the Commandments, there’s no hope for
you. You’re saved by Jesus, by His
obedience, by His suffering and death and resurrection. But you do them for your neighbor. You decide to love your neighbor, because
loving your neighbor is loving Jesus.
And you don’t just love your neighbor in feelings and words and
intentions, but in action. Love does
things. You love your spouse. You may not always feel all that warm and
fuzzy about him or her. But you love
your spouse because you’ve decided to love your spouse, and that means you take
out the trash and make dinner and do the laundry and fix the car, and you get
up and you go to work and bring home the paycheck which you spend, not on
yourself, but on your family. Because
that’s how you love them. And you love
your Church, so you make sure you’re here to receive the love of Christ in the
means of grace, but also because that is loving your neighbor. We’re all encouraged when you’re here. We’re all discouraged when you’re not. You love other people, too, both those you’re
close to, and those you’re not. You
don’t murder your neighbor, because you love your neighbor. You feed him and clothe him because you love
him. You don’t commit adultery or
fornicate because you love your neighbor.
You encourage him to live a chaste and decent life and be faithful to
his spouse. You don’t steal from your
neighbor, or tell lies about him, or covet his things, because you love
him. You want him to prosper and you want
to defend his reputation and speak well of him.
The Commandments are all about loving Jesus by loving your
neighbor. There’s a shape to this flow
of love. The Father pours out His love
on you in Jesus by the Holy Spirit, and that love flows through you toward your
neighbor, who, in receiving your love, may just come to faith by the Holy
Spirit working in the Word, faith in Jesus, who reconciles your neighbor to the
Father. Isn’t that beautiful? That’s what Jesus means by “love one another” (John 15:17). Imitate Jesus’ love. Love with Jesus’ love. Love because Jesus loves you. Love your neighbor, so that your neighbor
will love Jesus.
Our
Lord has chosen us for this very thing, by grace, and this morning He has shown
us that He has chosen Saphira. What
great joy! Yes, joy! Christians are full of joy. Even when we’re not very happy. We’re still full of joy. Joy is different than walking around smiling
all the time or never crying tears of sadness.
Joy is much deeper. It is knowing the outcome of all this. Heaven.
Resurrection. The Kingdom. Jesus’ joy is in this, and in this your joy is
full. The Father loves you. Jesus loves you. Therefore, beloved, love one another. In the Name of the Father, and of the Son
(+), and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.