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!
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