Sermon
for Pentecost, June 5, 2022
This
morning, I am doing something I have never done before—with just minor changes,
I will be repeating a sermon that you heard me preach to you just four years
ago. As I prepare my sermons, I often
look back at what I have preached previously, but when I looked back at this
sermon, I was struck by how relevant it still is four years later. I hope that, hearing it again, you will
understand that we will never change this world to give us peace, but Jesus
also never changes so that we will forever have the peace He gives.
John
14:23-31 23Jesus
answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word. My Father will love him, and we will come to
him and make our home with him. 24The
one who does not love me does not hold on to my words. The word that you are hearing is not
mine, but it is from the Father who sent me.
25“I have told you these things while staying with you. 26But the Counselor, the Holy
Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and
remind you of everything I told you. 27“Peace
I leave with you. My peace I give to
you. Not as the world gives do I give to
you. Do not let your heart be troubled,
and do not let it be afraid. 28You
heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am
going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. 29“I have told you now before it
happens so that, when it does happen, you may believe. 30I will not speak with you much
longer, because the ruler of this world is coming. He has no power over me. 31But I want the world to know
that I love the Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has
instructed me. “Get up. Let’s leave this place.” (EHV)
Peace—Jesus gives it; the Spirit brings it.
Dear
friends in Christ,
Peace seems to be in short supply in
our world. That’s nothing new, I guess,
yet when you read about mass shootings almost daily, including at schools, and
graphic suicides just as often, when our politics and social media are filled with
mudslinging, flat out lies and distortions, when people in power take advantage
of their positions, or attack their neighbors, when it feels like danger lurks
around every corner, and so many want to be viewed as victims of one thing or
another, it makes one wonder just what is going on? How will we ever have peace?
Of course, we can look closer to home for vivid examples of
someone in need of peace. Maybe it’s a
young mom overwhelmed by taking care of a colicky baby, or a parent wondering
if all the hours he or she is putting in at work is worth the sacrifice of
family time. Maybe it’s a farmer feeling
guilty for missing church a Sunday or two during planting or harvest (or
feeling guilty about coming to church when field work is waiting), a new graduate
wondering what the future holds, a teacher or coach who feels that he or she
can’t do enough for the children that need extra help, or a retiree who is
worried about what the doctor will say at the next appointment. Maybe we all just want to get away from the
worries and troubles that so abound in this present world. Maybe we all want to ask, “Where can we find peace?”
Many in our world will use the troubles of our times to
push for more laws, or more government involvement. Many will decry the unfairness of life in
general, even though the complaining solves nothing. Today, I would like to offer you a better
answer, a peace that no one can take away from you, a peace that won’t end at
the next bad news you hear. Today, let
me tell you about true peace with God, and let our theme be Peace—Jesus gives it; the Spirit brings it.
Shortly before He was betrayed by His friend, and
therefore, shortly before Jesus suffered and died on our behalf, He spoke the
words of our text when a disciple asked Jesus why He was revealing Himself to
His followers and not to the whole world?
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my
word. My Father will love him, and we
will come to him and make our home with him.
The one who does not love me does not hold on to my words.”
Earlier, Jesus told His disciples,
“Do you think that I came to bring peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.” (Luke 12:51)
What this shows is that not
everyone will enjoy the peace Jesus gives.
Like that questioning disciple, many people want to ask why this is
so. The reason many people won’t have
the peace Jesus gives is not found in God, but because so many people refuse to
accept His teachings. Those who reject
Jesus and His word are guilty of not loving Him. There is no one to blame for that except the
one who refuses to trust what Jesus taught, and Jesus emphasizes that His
message doesn’t come from Him alone, but it is exactly what God the Father sent
Jesus to teach.
Here too, we must admit that none of us deserves to be
loved by God. The lack of peace in the
world is caused by sin in people, by the curse of sin, and by the devil’s
manipulations. We also sin, and we sin
when we forget that “our sufferings at the present time are not worth
comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18) Therefore, the peace Jesus gives isn’t earned
by anyone. Rather, solely because of
God’s amazing love and mercy, Jesus entered this world to win peace between us
and His Father.
As Jesus spoke the words of our text, the conclusion of His
salvation mission was near. His final
instructions to His disciples were preparing them for the days and weeks
ahead. In a few short hours, Jesus would
be arrested, put on trial, condemned, and finally nailed to a cross until dead. Nothing about that weekend seemed
peaceful. In fact, the men who had
followed Jesus for three years, fully committed to His cause, suddenly found
themselves alone, confused, and terrified.
Yet, the peace that only Jesus gives was still theirs.
Now you might ask, how can that be? How could they have peace yet be so
troubled? The answer is in this—the
peace was not in them, but in Jesus, in His life and death on their
behalf. The Father already loved those
disciples because of their trust in Jesus.
The Father had already forgiven them of all sin by the time Jesus died
that Friday afternoon, just as the Father forgave us for Jesus’ sake. Jesus was leaving their physical presence for
a time, but He wasn’t abandoning them.
He was going to the cross to save them, and as we heard at Ascension,
Jesus returned to His Father after completing His mission of bringing peace
between God and mankind.
That night before Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice for the
sinners of the world, He said to His followers, “Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, and do not
let it be afraid.” Jesus knew
every detail of what was to come for Him.
He also knew that He would not fail at carrying out His Father’s
plan. Peace, everlasting peace, was as
good as won because God’s Son was carrying out the mission.
The disciples would go through a roller coaster ride of
emotions over the course of the next weeks.
The lows of Jesus’ arrest, torture, and death were soon replaced by the
high of His resurrection. Left on their
own, however, their emotions would likely remain just as fickle when they were
sent out to tell the world about Jesus.
But one thing changed—the Helper Jesus promised and sent came to them,
and that’s what we are celebrating today on Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was sent to those disciples
with a rushing wind and flames of fire on their heads. However, the real difference for them isn’t
those outward signs, but rather, what Jesus promised them the night before He
died: “The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will
teach you all things and remind you of everything I told you.”
In our world, some people want to focus on the miraculous signs. They want to know when they will be able to
speak in tongues, when will they be able to withstand snakebites, and when they
might receive the other signs that those first apostles were given, but the
real gift of the Holy Spirit is to know God’s Word and to trust it, and from
that Word comes true faith and true love for our Savior. Furthermore, with faith in Jesus comes
certain hope that “our momentary, light trouble produces for us an eternal
weight of glory that is far beyond any comparison. We are not focusing on what is seen, but on
what is not seen. For the things that
are seen are temporary, but the things that are not seen are eternal.” (2
Corinthians 4:17-18)
When the Spirit rested upon them, everything Jesus told His
disciples before He died finally made sense.
It really is the same for you and me.
God forgiving us for the sake of Jesus doesn’t make any sense to a
rational mind. It isn’t something we can
dream up or understand on our own, but this too is why Jesus left the physical
world to reign from above. As the Ruler
of all things, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to work a change in our hearts, and
the Holy Spirit works through the Word (Remember, though, John also called
Jesus the Word).
The Spirit works through the Word in exactly the way God
promises. He uses the Law to terrify us
and to show us our sin. Then, He uses
the power of the Gospel to transform us from spiritually dead, rebellious,
God-haters, into a people sanctified for God’s own household. By the Word of our Savior, the Holy Spirit
makes us alive, makes us acceptable to the Father, makes us willing servants of
the Almighty God, and having put love for Jesus in us, and His righteousness on
us, the Spirit brings us the joy of knowing that we have the Father’s love forever.
That same night, Jesus said, “I have told you these things, so that you may have peace in me. In
this world you are going to have trouble. But be courageous! I have overcome the world." (John 16:33) Jesus likewise
declares, “Do not let your
heart be troubled, and do not let it be afraid.
You heard me tell you, ‘I am going away and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am
going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. I have told you now before it happens so
that, when it does happen, you may believe.” Everything Jesus did was
for the purpose of completing God’s mission of saving you and me. Yet, it wasn’t to give us a perfect life here
in this crumbling world. Rather, Jesus
restored us to peace with God in order that we would enjoy His gift of
forgiveness and peace—and with that, the certain hope of everlasting life in
heaven.
Jesus continued teaching His disciples as they walked
toward the Garden of Gethsemane where the betrayal would take place, but in the
upper room where He had instituted the Lord’s Supper, Jesus spoke these final
words, “I will not speak with you much longer, because the ruler of this world
is coming. He has no power over me. But I want the world to know that I love the
Father and that I am doing exactly what the Father has instructed me.” The outcome of the battle between Jesus and
the devil was never in doubt. To satisfy
the righteous justice of our God, Jesus did exactly what His Father planned—He
lived the perfect righteousness we need, and in our place, He suffered the
punishment we deserved. Then, on Easter
morning, Jesus rose from the grave alive forever to give us everlasting
peace. You and I need to know this,
because this is the truth that sets us free from the devil’s snares.
Because of Jesus’ perfect life, and substitutionary
sacrifice, His love for the Father was complete. Because of Jesus’ perfect love for the Father
and the change His Spirit works in our hearts, you and I are credited by faith
with perfect love for the Almighty God.
The message of the Gospel, which the Spirit instills in us, is that
because of Jesus we have peace with God.
Therefore, whenever the difficulties of your life begin to
overwhelm you, if a deadly diagnosis should come your way, if life seems too
uncertain and too dangerous to face, if you are feeling guilty about anything,
then hold on to Jesus and His word. In Christ,
we have forgiveness and redemption that the world can’t take away. In Christ, we have peace with our
Creator. In Jesus, we have a High Priest
interceding for us day and night. Yet,
God hasn’t stopped even there, for in the Holy Spirit, we have God building up
our faith in Jesus and our love for Him.
In the Holy Spirit, we have a Helper who works through the Word to wash
away our sins and lead us ever closer to our Father’s eternal home.
Dear friends, four years
ago, forty years ago, four hundred years ago, and likely four thousand years
ago, people of the world were wringing their hands and wondering what can we do
to have peace? What law can we make or
enforce to make people behave? All,
while many were rejecting the Prince of Peace.
It remains true that this world will always be at war with
God, and with His people, because the sinner hates God and everything God
says. However, because of the work of
the Holy Spirit, you and I know that Jesus lived, died, and rose again to
reconcile us with the Almighty, so no matter what happens here on earth, having
been justified by faith, you always have true, everlasting peace with God: Peace—because Jesus gives it; peace because
the Spirit brings it to you. Amen.
Now to the King eternal, to the immortal,
invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
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