We are sanctified in God’s name for eternal joy.

 

Sermon for Easter 7, May 12, 2024

To all those loved by God…called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

John 17:11-19  Holy Father, protect them by your name, which you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.  ¹²While I was with them, I kept those you gave me safe in your name.  I protected them and not one of them was destroyed, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  ¹³“But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so that they may be filled with my joy.  ¹⁴I have given them your word.  The world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  ¹⁵I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One.  ¹⁶They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  ¹⁷“Sanctify them by the truth.  Your word is truth.  ¹⁸As you sent me into the world, I also sent them into the world.  ¹⁹I sanctify myself for them, so they also may be sanctified by the truth. (EHV)

We are sanctified in God’s name for eternal joy.

Dear fellow redeemed,

            The older I get, and the more I study God’s Word, the more I realize how different God is than the world, and how great a contrast there is between God’s interactions and will compared to that of a world suffering under Satan’s control and lies.  Whether they realize it or not, the people of the world are ruled by the devil.  This makes them lustful, greedy, untrustworthy, and selfish in everything they think or say or do.  I do not say this to put anyone down, because we all entered this life in the same condition.  We all were born thinking only of ourselves and what we needed or wanted.  Born with no love for God or anyone else, we all, little babies included, were subject to the curse of sin which is death.

In contrast, God was neither born nor made.  He has, in fact, existed forever.  Furthermore, He created this world and everything in it, not because of some great desire to have more stuff, or to have something to rule over or torment.  Rather, because He is love and desired a relationship with people to whom He might show His love, God created this world to be a home for us and a place in which He could provide for us and demonstrate His love for us in ways we only begin to understand. 

However, because mankind fell into the devil’s trap, sin became our natural condition.  But, God demonstrated His love for us by sending His precious Son to rescue us from the permanent exile in torment that our rebellion against God required.  While mankind always seeks to gain something for itself, God seeks to give.  While sinners often demand vengeful satisfaction for hurts, God seeks to forgive.  While the world looks at everything selfishly, God, who created the world, wants to give us something even more and better than anything we might experience in this life.  Therefore, God the Father sent Jesus to be our Redeemer and Rescuer, and here, Jesus shows us that as those who are led to believe and trust in Him, We are sanctified in God’s name for eternal joy.

Before He was betrayed into death, Jesus prayed what is known as His High Priestly Prayer.  In it, He prayed for the Father’s help in winning our forgiveness and freedom from the devil’s chains, and Jesus prayed for His disciples, and for you and me, and everyone.  Particularly, Jesus prayed for those who follow Him: “Holy Father, protect them by your name, which you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one.  While I was with them, I kept those you gave me safe in your name.  I protected them and not one of them was destroyed, except the son of destruction, so that the Scripture might be fulfilled.”

In these few words, we learn that God is holy, that He is perfect in every way and every action.  More than that, we learn that God protects those who are His by putting His name on them.  While Jesus physically walked this earth, He protected His disciples by the power of His Father’s name. 

Dear friends, you may remember that in your catechism class, you learned that God is jealous for His name, and that every part of the Bible is part of God’s holy name.  It is by His Word, His Son Jesus, that the disciples had been safe as they walked with Jesus.  Satan and all his minions and powers couldn’t touch Jesus’ followers while Jesus was among them physically. 

There is one exception.  Judas Iscariot was determined to trade Jesus for a few silver coins.  It is not because he could not be saved that Judas was lost, but rather, that he treasured this world’s things too much to see that Jesus offered something so much better.  Judas wouldn’t believe that Jesus came into the world to give him eternal life in heaven.  Therefore, Judas traded the gift of eternal salvation for 30 coins that ultimately brought him no value but led to the destruction this whole world faces.

Before leaving this world after His suffering and death for our sins, Jesus prayed for those who trusted Him that the Father would protect them from the world’s hatred.  Because of the broken nature sin has put in all people, the natural reaction of the unbelieving world is one of hatred and animosity toward God and therefore hatred for God’s people.  Notice what Jesus says, “But now I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so that they may be filled with my joy.  I have given them your word.  The world hated them, because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.”  In other words, Jesus prays that We be sanctified in God’s name for His eternal joy.

People often wonder why Christians so treasure God’s Word and fight to keep it pure and holy.  The reason is because every word of the Bible is God’s Word given to lead us to Jesus and thus to open the gates of heaven for us.  This Word of truth comes to us through Jesus, both the words He spoke as He walked this earth, and the whole of the Bible given to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son.  Jesus gave us this Word from the Father to give us life and to protect that life until our days on earth are ended when we are called home to everlasting joy in heaven.

This morning, we have an excellent opportunity to see God in action.  A little baby is brought to the Lord for reconciliation.  That little boy was born a sinner just like all the rest of us.  Yet, unlike the world which often despises children, God loves children just as much as He loves His own dear Son.  In this, we also see what Jesus was talking about as He prayed, “I am not asking that you take them out of the world, but that you protect them from the Evil One.  They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by the truth.  Your word is truth.”  This morning, with the water and Word of Baptism, God has set Artie apart as one of His own precious children, along with you and me.

Now, Jesus was not abandoning the disciples as He left this world.  Rather, He left them here, with their sins forgiven and paid for, so that God’s Word would be spread to save more and more people for God’s care and everlasting love.  God desires to have His house filled with believing souls upon whom He can pour His great love forevermore.  In order that we might be in the party of believers who enjoy everlasting life in God’s care, our guilt needed to be washed away, and the mark of the beast, which is rebellion against God, needs to be replaced with God’s seal of ownership as He puts His name on us.  He does this through the baptism instituted by Christ as “a washing of rebirth and the renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs in keeping with the hope of eternal life.” (Titus 3:5-7)

Jesus prayed to His Father, “I am coming to you, and I am saying these things in the world, so that they may be filled with my joy.”  Jesus came into the world to take away everything that hindered joy.  All our sins, along with our guilt and shame, were laid upon Jesus.  With His sacrifice on the cross, Jesus paid the penalty of death that God had warned of before man first sinned.  St. Paul explains what Jesus has done for us in Baptism in this way, “Don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?  We were therefore buried with him by this baptism into his death, so that just as he was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too would also walk in a new life.” (Romans 6:3-4) 

The thought of being buried with Christ might scare some people, but Jesus didn’t remain in that grave.  He rose from the dead just as He promised, and as we celebrated this past Thursday evening, Jesus ascended to heaven, fully alive, never to die again.  This is the joy that is ours through faith in Jesus, the faith granted to us in baptism and strengthened and grown through the hearing of God’s Word throughout our lives.  Because Jesus lives, we too will live.  Because He reigns in heaven for us, we too will be brought into the mansions of our Heavenly Father to live in the glory that is His.  For little Artie, and for all who walk with Jesus by faith, God has put His name on us as a seal of membership in the Family of God.  Through this faith in Jesus, we have a home in heaven where we will never again experience any suffering, sorrow, tears, pain, or death, but only joy and glory everlasting in God’s loving care.

Dear friends, though our time on earth is limited, Jesus has left us here, for now, so that many more people might learn of Jesus and be brought to the life of glory and freedom from sin that Jesus has won for us.  One of the ways this is accomplished is by bringing our children to the font, wherein God blesses them with purity of conscience and a future that lasts, because in that precious pouring of water and His Word of grace, We are sanctified in God’s name for eternal joy.  Amen.

Now may the God of hope fill you with complete joy and peace as you continue to believe, so that you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.