Sermon May 17-18, 2025 – Fifth Sunday of Easter

Title: Christ is revealed!
Text: John 16:12-22

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20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. 21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. 22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

The President claimed that it was his prerogative to determine whether to provide military and diplomatic information to Congress. [George Washington]

The President also claimed that he had the power to choose whether or not to comply when the Chief Justice issued him a subpoena for testimony and documents. [Thomas Jefferson]

And the President repeatedly asserted executive privilege in the face of demands for members of his administration to testify, depriving the Senate committee of substantial information. [Dwight Eisenhower] - edited

https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-vs-nadler-congress-isnt-constitutional-crisis-its-how-constitution-is-designed-to-work

No, these are not the current battles with the President, Congress, or the Supreme Court. These were past battles for authority, by President’s -

George Washington – in refusing to provide some information to congress, Thomas Jefferson – in refusing to testify in the trial of Aaron Burr, and Dwight D. Eisenhower – in asserting executive privilege and refusing to testify at the McCarthy hearings.

In our constitutional republic we have three equal branches of Government with different powers all wrestling for authority?

Jesus says,

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

God’s economy of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, unlike our three branches of government, always work together in unity and perfect harmony. There are no checks and balances, no conflict in the Godhead, and though they are distinct persons, they work together in unity of purpose for all that God desires.

15 All that the Father has is mine; therefore, I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

In the Godhead there is no conflict!
Trinity in unity and unity in Trinity!

What had the disciples heard from Jesus?

16 “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again, a little while, and you will see me.”

Jesus is talking about his death and resurrection.

For us, the focus of not seeing a loved one comes to mind.

When I was a little boy and I was leaving my grandparent’s home in Pennsylvania to return home to Michigan after vacation, there was sorrow. I loved my grandparents and didn’t want to leave them or have them leave me, and I wondered when I would see them again.

But for the disciples … they didn’t understand what Jesus was saying.

“What is this that he says to us?”
“What does he mean by ‘a little while’?
“We don’t know what he is talking about.”

We too, when it comes to the word of truth at times find ourselves in conflict. As those who have been brought to faith in Christ, we wrestle in tension … in thought, word, and deed with the word of God and at times not understanding.

Jesus knew the disciple’s problem and ours.

He says to them:

20 Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. John 16:20a

For the disciples, Jesus was pointing to his death on the cross.
The Lord of life would be killed and they, his followers, would morn.

The world - through those who were in authority - the Jewish leaders, the Roman government, the soldiers and even the people – the world then and now – would rejoice.

Sorrow and Joy in tension

But, by the working of the Holy Spirit this tension is made new.
You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. John 16:20b
They will be sorrowful at Jesus’ death but rejoice at his resurrection.
Jesus gives an illustration of sorrow, joy and truth to his disciples.

21 When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the

anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world.

The world today has confused and flipped the narrative.
They joy in death and deny the gift of life saying:

When a woman is pregnant, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has aborted the pregnancy, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that an unwanted pregnancy has been terminated in the world.

Birth, delivered the baby, human being and born – all words used by Jesus - have in the world - been changed to pregnant, aborted the pregnancy, unwanted pregnancy and terminated.

Joy here in the word of man is found not in life but in death.
Jesus is the author of life and we know this by his Holy Spirit.
When we hear the word of the Lord, it is by that same Spirit that we know truth.

When we deny the truth, we deny him and the truth is not in us. 1 John 1:10

The Spirit declares the unified authority He shares with the Father and the Son. He glorifies Christ and declares that truth to you and me.

The word of God is truth and not falsehood.
The world hates Jesus.

It hates truth.
It rejoiced in his death.
It denied his resurrection and it still does.
Its authority is temporal and condemned.

The Spirit illumines your hidden savior! For apart from his work, you cannot know Jesus nor have faith in him!

But by the Holy Spirit you love Jesus.
By his death he showed his love for you in taking your sins to the cross.
By his bodily resurrection he shows that you too will rise.
His authority is eternal, and all will see his coming.
We who believe will be raised to eternal glory.
Those who reject Christ are condemned to eternal punishment.

22 So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.

Life and death, sorrow and joy, by the Spirit’s work, Jesus is made known to you dear friends and that truth is yours just as you are his.

6 And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7 The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son. Rev 21:6-7

And in knowing Jesus you, friends have peace!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Sermon May 10-11, 2025 - Fourth Sunday of Easter

Title: The voice of the shepherd calls his own!
Text: John 10:22-30

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27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Many times, in Bible study, the discussion centers around Jesus.
As the class goes on, we hear:

“Wouldn’t it have been great to have walked with Jesus and listened to him, and to have been in his presence?”

I must admit, I would have loved to have heard Jesus too. To have seen his kindness, care, and understanding. To have walked with him.

Today we hear of a special time of the year, in Jerusalem, and a conversation between Jesus and the religious leaders. Let us go there and walk with Jesus together!

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

Known as Solomon's colonnade we’re told it was a cool wintry day – probably a lot like the weather we’ve had this Spring! It’s been pretty cold at times, and here Jesus is confronted with an equally cold reception from the Jewish leaders in the community.

24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him,
“How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

The question was not a sincere one from those in authority.

The religious leaders were really trying to catch Jesus in a way that they could point him out as the fraud they believed him to be and to make it known to the public so that he might be rejected there too.

A bit earlier in the gospel reading, Jesus had healed a man who was born blind. Even the leaders themselves were confused and divided in their opinions as to how they should understand and address this healing, concerning him.

16 Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them. John 9:16

The evidence pointed to something greater.

Jesus had tried to explain the importance of his mission to them. But they would not listen.

So:

25 Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father's name bear witness about me,

The real truth was put before them when Jesus said:

26 but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.

Adding this wonderful truth:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

The Lord’s sheep recognized his voice, and they follow him. That is, his disciples and that is you and as well, friends.

Many times, this text and this truth is proclaimed at funerals so that, those who are gathered to mourn might hear the hope and calling of Christ for them as it was in there dead deceased friend or relative.

You are not here by accident.

The voice of the Lord has called you believe and to follow him and it is the Lord’s desire that all would come to the knowledge of the truth and follow him.

But many, still refuse to hear.

We can hear the truth or we can hear the lies and falsehood. But to know truth we have to hear the Good Shepherd’s voice, and we hear him in the voice of the word of God and by the working of God’s Holy Spirit!

If you are not in the word, you can’t know the joy that heaven promises.

As a child growing up, I had a priest in my Catholic church who was a bit heavy set and when he preached his head got really red because yelled a lot. He somewhat scared me as he talked about the reality of Hell.

Hell, scared me and I didn’t want to go there.

My dad liked the priest because he was fast and church got over quickly.

A Psychiatrist once commented on why the word hell is so commonly used and said that there is something deep in our subconscious that makes us afraid that we might actually go there - and that we use it all the time to remove or dull the fear.

There is plenty of evidence I believe to support that point of view.
What becomes common is less scary.

The Lord’s desire is that all would come to the knowledge of the truth, but the brokenness of sin in our fallen state blinds us to the reality of a world without hope, saying that Heaven and Hell don’t exist.

We know that life and death are real. We joy in the birth of a child and we cling to the blessings of this life daily and grieve deeply at the loss and separation from a loved one, especially a close relative.

God created life and he recreated life as well.

As the wages of sin brought death God the Father sent this only begotten son to recreate what had been lost in the fall.

Having just celebrated Easter and the joy of the resurrection, we know that what had been lost in the fall was restored in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus.

The devil has been defeated but he still masquerades as an Angel of light, a false god with a false truth and a false hope, and many still fallow him and are led astray.

Jesus doesn't want people to listen to the devil whom he calls the father of lies. He doesn't want people to suffer that second and eternal death which separates us from him for all eternity.

Jesus came that he might give us eternal life with him forever.

To bless us from the brokenness of this life with the unbroken reality of and eternity with him that never ends.

So, the question is, are you listening to Jesus?
Do you hear his voice?
Are you one of his own?
Are you his sheep, and his little lamb?

Jesus says:

27 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.

The question again remains:
Who are you following?
Who are you trusting in?
Are you hanging on the words on Jesus Christ?
Or are you being deceived with lies?
Truth of falsehood. Which will it be?

C.S. Lewis once said:

You never know how much you really believe anything until its truth or falsehood becomes a matter of life and death.

It is easy to say you believe a rope to be strong, as long as you are merely using it to [tie] a box. But suppose you had to hang by that rope over a [cliff]. Wouldn't you then first discover how much you really trusted it?

C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed.

Friends, our eternal lives depend on it!

It brings me to the truth of God’s word in Proverbs 3:5-6 this is what I chose as an adult for my confirmation verse.

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths.

At a time in my life that I needed it, God’s word brought me truth, clarity and comfort.

The spirit will turn us and point us to Jesus. And all that he has done.
It is the good news that we cling to, that in Christ we have everything given us by faith in him.

By faith, we commit our lives to Jesus.
By faith, we believe and follow him as a blessed sheep.
By faith, we receive all that is good and necessary from God.

Give yourselves totally to that relationship by faith, and in serving Jesus Christ our Lord, you follow, listen, serve and obey him in love of God and care of neighbor.

That friends, is the good news of being his sheep and hearing his voice, so that we following the Good Shepherd in sincerity and truth.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Modified: Concordia pulpit Rev, David P. Schmidt C 1976

Sermon May 4-5, 2025 – Third Sunday of Easter

Title: The Kingdom’s net has been cast!
Text: John 21:1-14

Facebook live: The Kingdom’s net has been cast!

5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

Life easily slips into a routine. It seems endless – waking, working, eating, and drinking. Listening, and talking. We do what we do, day after day. Each day, feeling much like the previous one, and for the disciples too, the routine continued.

Left to the routine of life that continued for them after Jesus’ death and resurrection, it must have seemed like ordinary business to get into their boat and go back to fishing.

Out into the deep they launch the boat to begin the familiar task.
Fisherman go fishing but they didn't catch anything.

Not a single fish.

Wow, not a pleasant outcome for fishermen.

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”

They were probably thinking:
We toiled all night and took nothing.

Then into the ordinary circumstances of their life, Jesus came, just as day was breaking. He's the same Lord today, doing extraordinary things in our ordinary lives - and causing the kingdom that has been cast to come into our lives too.

Jesus shows how extraordinary he is by taking interest in all that we do.

The disciples didn't have to be in the temple, or in the holy city of Jerusalem, or doing religious things for Jesus to take interest in them.

They were doing what they normally do.

The disciples were far from the pillars of the religious life. In the times of their normal lives Jesus had called them to follow him, and for 3 years of Jesus’ earthly ministry they had walked, talked, followed and lived with Jesus as he taught them the blessings of the Kingdom.

But now, after all that had happened, they were back to life as usual.
It is sometimes hard for us to realize that Jesus is interested in our lives wherever we are.
We're usually conscious of God’s presence when we're in church.

We're nearly as conscious of his presence when we take trips, and pray for safe travel or need to have tests done at the hospital. But Jesus often seems far removed from our activities and the things that we do, whether at work or play.

Whether we're hunting in the woods or playing golf, sitting and reading, or doing work around our homes or watching the game.

We thing little of him.

Jesus says he's always with us, and it didn’t matter to Jesus that the disciples were not engaged in formal worship and probably not even in religious discussions.

They had work to do. They needed it to survive. The scriptures remind us that if you don’t work you don’t eat.

Jesus was interested in everything about his children and wanted to know how they were doing.
5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.”
Jesus is interested in your activities, and he wants to know how you are doing too.

What's happening in your life? Is there any successes or failures that he can be part off or help you overcome the trials?

There have been times when we've had to say Lord. I haven't been doing very well.

We've come to a point of feeling completely abandoned at times by God. We may not like the circumstances were in, but at times that's where we find ourselves - and sometimes Christ needs to be there too.

He needs to shoulder our problems to help us. Through those difficult times he takes interest because he's a wonderful and extraordinary Lord who wants to know how our ordinary lives are going.

He wants to be part of your life and mine.

The disciple's greatest need was to be sustained in their relationship with God – good or bad.

They needed the assurance that their slowness to believe everything Jesus had told them as well as the cowardly behavior they showed at the time of his death would not cut them away from God mercy, grace and love.

They needed forgiveness. They needed Jesus's death and resurrection to comfort and guarantee them that and his resurrection and peace were real.

And that that he did was for them.
Christ’s peace was real.

The disciple’s relationship with God would be sustained by the means of his forgiveness.
No doubt about it. Jesus was their savior, and their God.
We need that same hope, forgiveness, and relationship with God as well.

We need a sustained relationship with Jesus., knowing that our sins are forgiven and that Jesus is with us always. But also, we need to live in that relationship with Jesus daily - good, bad or simple and boring as it may be.

Our forgiveness of sins was sealed for us in baptism, and it is continually part of who we are.

Though sinners in this life, God reminds us by his Spirit, that Christ has redeemed us by his death and resurrection and that in Christ we have peace with God.

God's blessing is continuously given to us in the gospel. By the forgiveness of sins, we have the favor of God on account of Christ and that great comfort is ours because we have a great relationship with our loving God.

A second basic need is to keep us sustained in this life physically.

6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So, they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.

Jesus provides abundantly for the disciples though tired and hungry after a long night's work. Our blessed Lord Jesus even prepared a meal for them.

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.

The fire was going with fish and bread nearby.
It wasn't a fancy meal but it met their need.
What a blessed Lord he is.

He provides not only spiritual but physical food. And he sustains our faith and our bodies because we are his beloved children.

Some of you who are older can remember those difficult times in life.

My former boss, Ben, used to always tell me about growing up in the depression and how, even as a successful businessman, he would still drive by a gas station to save a few cents a gallon.

It's just part of who we are.
Do not take what we're blessed with for granted.

God also tells us through the apostle Paul, in Philippines 4:19.

19 And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.

So how do we respond to God’s provision?

While we serve honor and obey him, we keep him close to our hearts.

As we continue to live our daily lives. We gather together to hear his word and to receive his gifts, especially in the blessing of the supper, where he sustains our faith and continues to bless us.

We give him all the credit that is, due to him, the one who has come to live, suffer, die and rise again just for us.

As the disciples say, “It is the. Lord.”

We notice all his activity in our lives.
We pray that he will continue sustaining blessings.
He's blessed me and I know he's blessed you far beyond our deserving.
He's crowned all our efforts with his grace.

Life does not consist in success and at times things don't go right, we fail and fall short. And it's my prayer, as it is I know yours, that we would turn to him and ask his blessing of his comfort guidance and peace.

Jesus is intimately involved in our ordinary lives.

Where he continues to sustain you and me as his beloved children, so that we always look to him for our sustenance in time of need.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit!

Amen

Modified Concordia Pulpit Rev. Henry Eggold c 1976