Believe in the Son, Who laid down His life for us.

 

Sermon for Trinity 2, June 14, 2026

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his own blood and made us a kingdom and priests to God his Father—to him be the glory and the power forever.  Amen.

1 John 3:16-23  ¹⁶This is how we have come to know love: Jesus laid down his life for us.  And we also should lay down our lives for our brothers.  ¹⁷Whoever has worldly wealth and sees his brother in need but closes his heart against him—how can God’s love remain in him?  ¹⁸Dear children, let us love not only with word or with our tongue, but also in action and truth.  ¹⁹This is how we know that we are of the truth and how we will set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.  ²¹Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.  ²²We also receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.  ²³This then is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love one another just as he commanded us. (EHV)

Believe in the Son, Who laid down His life for us.

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus,

            In the last two Sundays, we considered the Holy Spirit in the Third Article of the Apostle’s Creed.  Today, again, we study the work of the Holy Spirit in the holy Christian Church, the Communion of Saints.  The Holy Spirit is the Sanctifier of Christ’s people.  That means He makes us holy by bringing us to justifying faith in the Son, that He cleanses us of sin for the sake of Jesus who lived and died on our behalf, and the Spirit maintains that faith in us through His Word.  To do all this, the Spirit works in the Church through Law and Gospel to bring us to Believe in the Son, Who laid down His life for us.

The role of the law in the Christian Church has sometimes been a contentious subject.  There are many who claim that if one is a Christian, he would never sin.  They assume that knowing better, and if we are to live like Christ, we should never fail.  At the same time, some have gone so far as to say that good works are necessary for salvation, arguing that justification before God requires some effort on our part.  In opposing that error, a few fell into a ditch on the other side of the way by imagining that obedience to the law is detrimental to salvation.  In either case, experience soon shows that this desire to have perfect self-righteousness is an impossible dream for anyone.

By the power of the Holy Spirit, St. John wrote, “This is how we have come to know love: Jesus laid down his life for us.  And we also should lay down our lives for our brothers.”  Jesus Himself said, “This is my command: Love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this: that someone lays down his life for his friends.” (John 15:12-13)  The second great command is that we are to love our neighbors as ourselves.  No one in his right mind dare deny this, but how are we to live it?  The point in all of this is that we are to put the needs of our neighbors and especially our brothers and sisters in faith ahead of our own needs or selfish desires.  It will often feel difficult to live up to this, for we live in a world troubled by greed, selfishness, and worldly excess.  It is therefore quite easy to push the needs of the less fortunate on to someone else.  Let the government handle it or make the rich share more.  Yet, God’s command is for us to show that love and mercy.

Indeed, John continued, “Whoever has worldly wealth and sees his brother in need but closes his heart against him—how can God’s love remain in him?  Dear children, let us love not only with word or with our tongue, but also in action and truth.”  Most likely, you have been bombarded with requests for charitable giving.  Certainly, there are people in need all over the world.  How are we to decide what we should give or who to give it to?  Must we give away everything we possess to satisfy this command?  No doubt, John is telling us to be faithfully kind in sharing the blessings God gives us with those in need around us.  At the same time, God pours out physical blessings upon His children for their welfare and health.  We are to make wise use of His gifts.

In all things, however, it is necessary that we don’t get wrapped up in just the physical elements of the world.  We live in a country where people often assume themselves to be poor if they don’t have the latest and greatest cell phone.  In other words, our view of real poverty is often askew.  Yet, when there are real needs, we should by all means respond, so the question must be asked, what is our greatest need?

The answer to our greatest need is Jesus.  He alone has always loved perfectly.  Jesus is also the answer to our neighbor’s greatest need for we all need the righteousness Jesus lived for us and the forgiveness He earned on our behalf with His sacrifice on the cross.  This is also how good works enter the picture.  The works we do are not good in God’s eyes if they are not done out of faith in His Son.  Every other reason to do something that looks good is selfishness playing out.  St. Paul wrote, “If I give away everything I own, and if I give up my body that I may be burned but do not have love, I gain nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3)  Therefore, while we never want to ignore the physical needs of those around us, our better focus is to seek the spiritual health that comes only through faith in Jesus.

John wrote, “This is how we know that we are of the truth and how we will set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.” 

When our hearts and minds and eyes are focused on Jesus and what He has done for us, His Spirit dwelling within us will motivate us to do what is right.  More than that, it is the Spirit working in us that keeps us trusting in Jesus for righteousness and peace.  Good works are not necessary for our salvation, because Jesus has already accomplished everything needed to make us right with God.  Still, the Lord leaves us in this world to serve as His hands of mercy and kindness, and our good works are the evidence that faith and salvation are at work in us.  When our hope is in Jesus and not are in our possessions, it will not trouble us to part with things our neighbors need.

Plus, as John noted, God knows everything going on in our world.  He knows our weaknesses and our selfish concerns.  God has already long known when and where we would fall short of righteousness.  That is why Jesus came into our world—to be the righteousness we need.  Jesus lived His days on earth showing kindness and mercy to the weak and helpless that surrounded Him.  Note, though, that Jesus didn’t cure every trouble in the world, nor did He eliminate poverty and hunger.  That is because Jesus came first and foremost to make us acceptable to God in His eternal kingdom.  Therefore, by His perfect obedience to all God the Father desired, Jesus lived for you and me.  And again, in perfect obedience to His Father’s will, and our greatest need, Jesus willingly bore our sins and shame to the cross, so that He, the Son of God and Man, would in our place, suffer the punishment of death that the law required for sin.

Now, this does not at all allow anyone to ignore the needs of his neighbor.  God knows our needs and the needs of those around us.  He also puts those people in our lives, at times, to demonstrate to them His love for all people through His beloved children made holy by faith in Jesus.

So, what does it mean when the Word says, “If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”  It means that God has forgiven all our sins through His Son.  It means that when we feel the guilt of our shortcomings we should run to Jesus in repentance and receive that mercy that only He can give.  As He said, “Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:28-29)  Thus, we again recognize that good works are not needed to save us.  However, they are needed for the good of those God has enabled us to help, and the Holy Spirit by His Word empowers us to care and to do.

We then read from John’s letter, “Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God.  We also receive from him whatever we ask, because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.”  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice and the faith in Him that the Holy Spirit has worked in us, we can go about our days at peace, first of all at peace with God and the law, and secondly at peace with giving from the rich blessings God pours out on us so that others might be helped physically, but even more so, that our good works will lead others to seek Jesus for life and salvation.  When we trust in Jesus for forgiveness and life, any works the Spirit motivates us to do for others are “good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)

Ultimately, John concluded, “This then is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love one another just as he commanded us.”  Through faith in Christ, we are adopted into God’s family, and Jesus equates the Church with His body.  Therefore, being the body of Christ our Lord, the desire to help will be there, even when our flesh is weak.  Still, history is filled with examples and evidence that the Gospel is spread when the Christian Church surprises the world through its good works: works such as faithful obedience to the Scriptures, generosity to the hurting, hungry, and weak, kindness to strangers, faithfulness to family and to our God, freely forgiving our fellow believers without resentment or retribution, trusting God to provide what we need no matter our circumstances, and submitting to whatever this world throws against us—whether persecution, famine, or war—because we know without any doubt that our God and Savior is working all things for our everlasting good.

Dear friends, our God provides everything we need for body and soul.  So when we have opportunity to share our riches with others, remember how Jesus assures us, “Do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’  For the unbelievers chase after all these things.  Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” (Matthew 6:31-33)  Our good works are certainly important in this sin damaged world, but it is the work of the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament that has given us forgiveness of all sin, peace with God, and life everlasting in His heaven.  Therefore, trust Him; Believe in the Son, Who laid down His life for us.  Amen.

He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus—to Him the glory now and forever.  Amen.