Lutheran Church
RESURRECTION
Lay ministers serve RLC
Resurrection lay ministers Gary Kresge, Jeff Johns, and John Hazzard have been doing a great job serving the church since the resignation of Pastor Chris Boyd. Pastor Boyd resigned at the end of January. His ministry still extends to the Catawba Island Fire Department as its chaplain and as a volunteer fireman. He is in the process of being called to a new church within the Missouri Synod closer to his home town of Dayton. Until an interim pastor through the NALC is in place at RLC, the congregation will receive pastoral care from three lay ministers. Pastor Dan Pennington has been providing communion.
Sermons
The Ascension of Our Lord June 1, 2025
Sermon Text John 24:44-53
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Westerville, OH
“Where’s Jesus?”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
My wife, Susan, once took our grandson, Seth, and granddaughter, Ayla, to Sunday worship in an Army chapel. She was watching the children while James and Rebekah were out of town, so attending the service on the Army post was more convenient. To that point, the kids had always been in Lutheran churches for Sunday worship, most of which have red sanctuary lamps burning, somewhere in the church. So, Ayla, probably 7 at that time, noticed right away that there wasn’t a sanctuary or eternal candle burning in the Army chapel. As the saying goes, I guess, “If the Army wanted the chapel to have a sanctuary lamp, they would have issued them one!” So maybe that’s not customary in military chapels where various groups are using the chapel for worship, sometimes even Muslims and Buddhists. Nevertheless, right away, as they sat down, Ayla asked Nana, “Where’s Jesus?” My wife didn’t catch on right away. Ayla explained that she thought the red sanctuary candle, in a church, meant that Jesus was there, and without it, it seemed, to her that maybe Jesus wasn’t there.
A couple weeks ago, the sermon was titled, “Why?” and this week, I’ve titled the sermon, “Where?” As in, “Where’s Jesus?” If there’s a theme to the lessons on a Sunday when we are focusing on the Ascension of the Lord, it surely is, “Where’s Jesus?” In our first lesson, after Jesus had spoken to the disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit, as the disciples were looking on, Jesus was lifted, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” And Luke tells us, “While they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men (angels) stood by them in white robes and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” At that moment, witnessing such an altogether supernatural and otherworldly event, as Jesus was taken up into heaven, into the clouds, who wouldn’t wonder, “Where did He go?” Where’s Jesus?” St. Paul doesn’t help much, when he speaks of the ascension of our Lord in our second reading, as he writes to the Ephesians that God “raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church,23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”
Now, if our burning question in life is “Where’s Jesus?” that description by Paul seems to clearly point up. Jesus ascended, up through the clouds as the men of Galilee watched Him go, so Jesus is undoubtedly seated at the right hand of the Father God, in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, where God made Jesus head over all things in the Church, putting all things under His feet. So, should two angels appear to us and ask us, “why are you standing looking up for Jesus?” we would answer, “Because that’s where He is! He ascended through the clouds. He is seated at the right hand of the Father, far above all things in the Church! The Church thinks about Jesus in that way. Scripture speaks about Jesus in that way. Jesus went up, up and away!
However, that’s not how Jesus talks about “where.” Yes, the Lord has been telling His disciples that He was going to the Father, that He would leave them. But He is leaving them, to return to them—to us. We’ve been hearing this the last few weeks as we have been hearing Jesus in the Farewell Discourses in John’s Gospel. It hasn’t always made sense to the disciples. And unfortunately, it hasn’t always made sense to us disciples today.
Christians today often wonder, “Where is Jesus?” We ask that when we are struggling in life. We ask that when we are lying in a hospital bed or standing by a gravesite. We wrestle with that when we are feeling lonely, isolated, and alone. “Where are you, Jesus?” “Are you here, Lord?” We question because we are sometimes confused, confused because we hear two messages in the Scripture. On the one hand, we have the biblical witness to His ascension to God’s right hand, where the Lord is seated at the right hand of God the Father, far above all created things. On the other hand, we have the Lord’s own words in Matthew 28, “Lo, I am with you always, even to the close of the age.” We also have His words in Matthew 18, that wherever two or three are gathered in His name, there He will be in the midst of us. We also question because even as we celebrate the Ascension of our Lord, we also have the promise in John that the Word became flesh to dwell among us, to live with us, full of grace and truth. So, how do we reconcile the ascension, with Jesus’ words in John at the Lord’s Supper, when He says, “Let not your hearts be troubled—I go away, and I will come to you.” This leaves us to question and wonder—which is it? Where is Jesus? Up there? Or somehow, here?
Well, Jesus is both there and here! The Ascension of our Lord is all about Jesus being there at the right hand of God the Father, so that, by the power of the Holy Spirit, He can be here with us, always, to the end of the age! That is what Jesus is saying when He prepares the disciples for His ascension, which will be closely followed by the coming of the Holy Spirit. It is the power of the Holy Spirit of God, which makes Jesus present with us, not in one place at one time, but truly, wherever two or three are gathered in His name, with us always. It is the power of the Holy Spirit of God which works with the Word of God to make Jesus present, in the Word and in the Sacraments, which Martin Luther described as “the means of grace”—the instruments, the channels through which God shares Christ’s presence with us, not figuratively, not symbolically, but truly, as Jesus is incarnate in the Word and in the water of Holy Baptism and in His Body and Blood in the Sacrament of the Altar. Why does God use these means of grace? Why does God give us Christ’s presence, specifically, in Word and Sacrament? So that we will know and we can trust where Jesus is when He comes to us!
You see, we humans are not always spiritual people. We are often too much in the world and of the world. We are afraid and troubles, and we are distracted and disheartened. We are often blind to the reality of God’s presence in the world. We wish we were more spiritually attuned, but life and worry get in the way. So as surely as God became human, became flesh and blood in Jesus, born as a baby in Bethlehem, God becomes present, becomes incarnate, in Jesus, in the Word, written, read, and preached. He was in the Lord’s Supper, which became His body and blood, broken and poured out for us to eat and drink, so that we consume His real presence.
Certainly, the presence of God fills the whole creation with light and life, in and through Jesus. We know that the Triune God is omnipresent—fully present in His creation. There are many ways that God is present with us in our world, and we experience His presence in what Bill Kulju refers to in adult class as “God winks”—hints, indications of God with us. Sometimes we miss them. Sometimes grief, loss, the Great Tribulation get in the way, and we don’t feel God’s presence, we don’t see evidence of Jesus with us, we experience life as a shadowed existence that seems to get darker by the day. Thankfully, that is not all of us, all the time. It does seem to be most of us sometime in life. Most of us have a time, or times, when we cry out, “Where are you, Jesus?” “Where can I find you when I need you?!” His answer is: I am the Living Word come down from heaven. I am the Word incarnate. I am the Living Bread, that whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood may have my life, in them. In other words, He has promised to be present for us in the Bible and on the altar. That’s why, for 1500 years, every church has a pulpit and an altar. That’s why, even after the Reformation, those who believe in the real presence of Jesus, continue to have not stages and mood lighting, not performers and performances, but pulpits and altars. That’s why, even in foxholes and battlefields, the faithful open their Bibles and create makeshift altars to receive Jesus in the Word and in His Holy Supper. That’s why we have a place for the Word and a place for the Body and Blood of our Lord, here, in our temple—here in the Lord’s temple. That’s why we show reverence and respect. This is where our Lord comes to us. This is where we know and trust that Jesus is with us, even and especially, when we aren’t experiencing Him in our lives, elsewhere. This is where the Living Bread, the Living Word comes down from heaven, to feed us, to nourish us, to comfort us, to give us peace, hope, and joy, in the midst of our doubts and our struggles and our depression and our loneliness. This is where we are illuminated to be sent out to “let our light to shine before others,” as we say in Baptism, “that they see our good works and glorify our Father in heaven.” This is where we are emboldened and empowered by our Lord’s risen presence, to prepare us to “go in peace to serve the Lord.” He prepares us to be His witnesses, witnesses to His risen presence in our lives and in our world, as the incarnate Lord, with us always, as He has promised.
Let us be clear. This sanctuary lamp isn’t the presence of Jesus. It is a reminder that Christ is risen! It’s a reminder that Christ is our Light—a light no darkness can overcome! It’s a visible, ever-present, ever-burning reminder that this is God’s House, this is the place where Jesus is undeniably present for us, in Word and Sacrament, by the power of the Holy Spirit. So, we say thanks be to God for Christ’s light, Christ’s life, and Christ’s presence with us!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Festival of Pentecost June 8, 2025
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Westerville, OH
“Stir Up in Us!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today, we celebrate the Festival of Pentecost, the third great festival of the year, together with Christmas and Easter, and yet a festival which rarely gets the attention of the other two. For example, we don’t ever talk about “C, E and P Christians,” who come to church only on Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost! I’ve never had a Lutheran tell me, “Well, Pastor, we always try to make it to church on Pentecost!” Why is it that we Lutherans, in particular, have a hard time with Pentecost and the Holy Spirit? I mean, Pentecost is observed as the birthday of the Church! Who doesn’t like birthday parties? We mark the coming of the Holy Spirit who makes the Risen Jesus present with us, in Word and Sacrament. It is the Holy Spirit who enlightens us and empowers us to be witnesses to Jesus and His death and resurrection. Yet, such talk about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit in Lutheranism makes many decidedly uncomfortable. Maybe it is because the scripture tells us the Holy Spirit blows where it will, and we are afraid we won’t be able to control it or temper it, what with our traditional and reserved personalities as Lutherans!
I’ve shared in Bible study before, that in my first congregation, Trinity Lutheran, Hobbs, New Mexico, I thought it might be a great idea to put a little more emphasis into Pentecost, so I borrowed a big old revival tent, had it erected in the church parking lot and invited the church and the community to a Pentecost Festival to get us out of the church building and get us a little more attuned to the Holy Spirit. I lost members over that Pentecost Festival, as a few members huffed and puffed that “Lutherans don’t focus on the Holy Spirit!” and some such parting comments. And, wanting to put the best possible construction on those Lutherans, I will just say that you can’t really blame them. We pastors haven’t always been that comfortable speaking about Pentecost and the Holy Spirit either. Jesus? We are comfortable with Jesus. Every Lutheran pastor can preach a bang-up sermon on Jesus. God the Father? Give a pastor the chance to preach about our Father God, and we can speak all day about “God who so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him!” The Holy Spirit? Not so much.
How do you even explain the Holy Spirit? We usually turn to Martin Luther in the Small Catechism, where, in the section on the Holy Spirit, the third article of the Creed, Luther writes, “I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ my Lord or come to Him. But the Holy Spirit calls me through the Gospel, enlightens me with His gifts and sanctifies and keeps me in true faith, just as He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth and preserves it in union with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.”
Now that’s a part of the Small Catechism worth remembering! It is here that we first heard the Gospel, we are baptized, confirmed members of the Church of Jesus Christ because the Holy Spirit called us through the Word of God, gathers us around and through the Word, enlightens and sanctifies us by the Word, so that we are born anew into the one true faith. We are kept in that faith, not by our own efforts or actions, but only by the power and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit of the divine Godhead. This is why we pray in the prayer of confirmation, “Father in heaven, for Jesus’ sake, stir up in this confirmand, the gift of your Holy Spirit; confirm his faith, guide his life, empower him in his serving, give him patience in suffering and bring him to everlasting life.” This is why in the affirmation of Baptism, as we receive new members, we pray, “Continue to strengthen them with the Holy Spirit, and daily increase in them your gifts of grace; the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence…”
We pray that, but do we really mean it? We pray that, but when we were confirmed, when we became members of the congregation, did we mean it? In other words, are we really open to the Holy Spirit, stirring in us, guiding our lives, making us Holy Spirit people, people of Pentecost? It seems to me part of the hesitation isn’t what Scripture says about being people filled with the Holy Spirit, but what our culture and some religious expressions present as “Pentecostal” Christians that scares us off. Watch most any movie and you’ll see Christians supposedly full of the Holy Spirit shouting and dancing in the aisles. You’ll see images of believers full of the Spirit back in the bayou in Louisiana, handling poisonous snakes and speaking in tongues. In media and culture, people who are Holy Ghost inspired are often presented as wild-eyed fanatics. If that is really what Spirit-filled Christians are like, then count most Lutherans out!
That’s not what Scripture says about the work and indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Sure, the Holy Spirit comes to each of us differently, works in each of us in different ways, even as the Holy Spirit touches the believers in Acts, causing each to speak in his own language, in his own way to spread the Gospel. However, in our Gospel lesson today, Jesus says the Holy Spirit is “the Helper, sent from the Father, to teach us all things and to bring to mind all that Jesus has said to us.” In that regard, it is the Holy Spirit who helps us to keep Jesus’ words. The Lord said in the Farewell Discourses, in our Gospel reading today, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24 Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” How profound then, that after telling us to keep His words, Jesus promises the Father will send His Spirit to be our Helper—to remind us of all that Jesus has said and taught, so that we might, keep His words—live His words—obey all that Jesus has commanded us, as He says in the Great Commission. In this way, as Jesus says repeatedly, the Holy Spirit guides us into all the truth because we learn the truth, from Jesus and His life and His instruction, as Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. On our own, we cannot know the truth or keep the truth, even as we have a hard time keeping Jesus’ words in our minds and in our hearts. But the Holy Spirit is our Helper. The Holy Spirit is our guide and our advocate, as well as our comforter. As Luther wrote in the Small Catechism, the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies us and the whole Christian Church on earth, preserving it in unity with Jesus Christ in the one true faith.
What is so scary about that? What is there in that understanding of the Holy Spirit that might be off-putting, or cause us to be hesitant, praying for, opening ourselves to the Holy Spirit, that the Spirit might stir us up, strengthen us, daily increase in us the gifts of grace; the spirit of wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in Christ’s presence…” I don’t know about you, but I could use all of that! Even as I would like to see more of the fruit of the Spirit, in my life. Who among us wouldn’t appreciate the Holy Spirit, creating in us, more “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control?” St. Paul says in Galatians 5, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.” And that’s what the Festival of Pentecost is all about. Living by the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, who helps us to keep, to live, to obey, the words of Jesus. So, today, we pray for those being confirmed. We pray for new members. Even more, we pray that today, for ourselves, that we may be, each and every one of us, not closed or reluctant, but open to the Holy Spirit in our lives, as we pray, “Father in heaven, for Jesus sake, stir up in us, this Pentecost Sunday, the gift of your Holy Spirit. Confirm our faith, guide our life, empower us in our serving, give us patience in suffering and bring us all, finally, to everlasting life.” For we ask it…
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sermon Text: Luke 8:26-39 June 22, 2025
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Westerville, OH
“Return Home and Tell!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Gospel today states, Jesus sent him away, saying, "Return to your home, and declare how much God has done for you." It would be hard for us to understand the plight of the man known throughout history as “the Gerasene Demoniac.” Everybody who lived in the land of the Gerasenes, on the southeastern side of the Sea of Galilee, seemed to know of this man who had been possessed by these demons for a long, long time--running around the countryside, naked, living not in a house, but in tombs…a kind of living death, shouting out, breaking chains and shackles meant to restrain him. He was an isolated outcast. Who would want to be around him? It was better to let him lurk around the cemetery, rather than among godly, civilized people. After all, he was possessed! His life, his behavior, was controlled by an evil spirit, which, we later learn wasn’t one demon, but a legion! What kind of a living hell was lifelike for this man? What kind of a living hell must it have been for his family? Had they disowned him? Had they given up, feeling they had done all they could for him and so they left him to his own personal hell? It must have been like that, for him and for his family. Most of us would have a hard time understanding such a man and the evil that controlled him. Most of us, but maybe not all of us.
Some have lived life like that - troubled, possessed, outcasted, and isolated. Some have had a family member who seemed, to all outward appearances, possessed by some evil, by some demon or influence that controlled our brother or sister, our son or daughter, our grandson or granddaughter in such a way that we did not know what to do. It sometimes feels like there is no way to free ourselves from the demonic forces which have a hold of us or our loved ones. It is difficult to understand the evil forces of today. On the one hand, we ought not dismiss the reality of evil in our midst, as Satan would like nothing more than for us to conclude there are no such demons and spirits today. Yet, if we have lived life at all, we have seen things that cannot be explained otherwise. Sometimes people do seem to be possessed by evil. It can be mental illness, alcoholism, or addiction. Sadly, too many forces today can take hold of people and control them, affect them in such a way that they become an isolated outcast living a zombie-like existence. And what does our Gospel account tell us, today, about such dreadful situations? Is there hope in our lesson today, for us and our troubled loved ones, when all seems hopeless?
The first message is the most obvious. The Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the most high God, is more powerful than any evil spirit, demon, or even Satan himself! The Lord Jesus Christ is more powerful than a legion of demons! We sometimes forget that don’t we? Film and media, movies and books, conventional, popular wisdom about Satan and evil would like us to think that there are two equal and opposing forces in the world: good and evil, God and Satan. However, nothing could be further from the truth. Satan is a fallen angel. Satan is not God or a god. There is no contest. In the death and resurrection of Jesus, sin, death, and the devil were overcome, conquered once and for all. The victory of good over evil, of God over Satan is certain. Because we have been adopted as God’s own sons and daughters, the adoption papers sealed with the very blood of Jesus, are our assurance of forgiveness, life, and salvation. As St. Paul writes to the Galatians in our second lesson, “Now that faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ… and when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as children of God…And because you are children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, ‘Abba! Father!’ So, we are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Our all-powerful almighty God and Father sent His Son to fight against the forces of evil, illness, alcoholism, and addiction to fight against disease, disfunction, and self-destructive thoughts and behaviors, so that, like the Gerasene demoniac, we might be touched and healed and restored to health and vitality in life. He did this because we are God’s children, God’s sons and daughters, who are loved and cherished, whom God the Father wants to be well and whole! Yes, sometimes it doesn’t happen within our timing. Sometimes we, or our loved ones, suffer and struggle for a long time. Sometimes it seems there is no hope. We get through by remembering the exorcism and healing of the Gerasene man. We get through by remembering those who have been healed and set free from their demons. We get through by continually coming to our Father God in prayer, beseeching Him to heal us or our loved ones. We get through by looking back on our lives, remembering the times when God carried us, our son or daughter, grandson or granddaughter through, bringing us to a place where we are well and whole, in God’s care.
This brings us to the second message in our Gospel lesson today. As God’s children, we are to go and tell others what God has done for us. If there is one thing that is a challenge for us Lutheran Christians, it is sharing the good news. We tend to make it a big thing, as if we must be biblical scholars or trained apologists, able to argue people into the kingdom of God. Most of us are not, so we remain silent. As the saying goes, “What do you get when you cross a Jehovah’s Witness with a Lutheran? Someone who will knock on your door but will not say a thing! Most of us Lutherans do not say anything about our Lord, or our faith, because we are not sure what to say. We do not feel competent or worthy, so we say nothing. Most pastors will tell you we don’t need to quote the Bible or beat people up with our Lutheran Confessions to share the Gospel. We just need to tell people what God has done for us. Just tell people how God has acted in your life. Tell people how it was that your parents or grandparents raised you in the faith. Tell people how the Word of God speaks to you in your daily life. Tell people how you experience Jesus, truly present, in worship every Sunday. Tell people how you have been touched or healed or made aware of God’s power in your life. Tell people how you have been blessed. Tell people how God comes to you in the love and support of the community of believers. Tell people how Christ leads you and guides you in life. Tell people what overwhelming joy you experience when you receive the Lord’s Supper. Tell your troubled, struggling family members, friends, or acquaintances what God has done for you—for you, personally, in your life. Most of us can do that. It is not as hard as it first seems. We do not need to travel to the far corners of the earth to find people living in darkness to meet people who do not believe in God. Many are waiting, maybe even yearning to meet one person who believes God is living and active. Many need to know that at least one person has experienced God, living and active, and is willing to talk about it. Those people are in our own neighborhoods, in our own families, and even in our own homes. So, the Lord says, “Return to your home, return to your small corner of this world, and tell people about God in your life!” That is what Jesus told the Gerasene demoniac to free him from his demons. And that is His message for us today! Return home and tell people what God has done for you!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Third Sunday After Pentecost June 29, 2025
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Westerville, OH
“What Does this Mean?”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
If there’s one phrase that epitomizes Lutheranism or at least, the experience of Lutherans who have gone through confirmation as a young person, it’s four words, “What does this mean?” After each part of Luther’s Small Catechism, Luther writes, “What does this mean?” In German, it’s “Was ist das?” But we confirmed Lutherans know it as, “Now that we’ve heard, the Apostle’s Creed, the Ten Commandments, the Lord’s Prayer, the question is, ‘What does this mean? What does this mean for us, for me?” And every section of the Small Catechism includes an answer to that question.
Last Sunday, we mentioned that we have now concluded the first, roughly half, of the church year in which we focus on the Life of Christ. It begins with Advent, preparing us for the Nativity of our Lord. We continue to Epiphany and the Transfiguration, and then we observe Lent, Holy Week, and seven Sundays of Easter. This takes us into Ascension and Pentecost, all of which are intended to examine the life of Christ, until our Lord ascends to the right hand of God the Father, and the Holy Spirit descends to make Jesus present, in Word and Sacrament, where two or three are gathered in His name. That is the first section of the church year, the Life of Christ. Then, after Pentecost, we enter the time in the church year we refer to as the Life of the Church, the Sundays after Pentecost, which take us through summer, right up to Christ the King Sunday around the end of November. The point of this second half of the church year is intended to answer the question, “Now, what does this mean?” We have heard all about the life of Jesus, from birth through His passion, death, and resurrection. We have heard about His ascension to the seat of power and the coming of the promised Holy Spirit. Now, in good Lutheran fashion, the question is, what does this mean for us, for the Church of Jesus Christ, for you and me, as we are now living in this in-between time, this time between Jesus’ ascension and His return in power and glory. It is wonderful that every year we have, again, the cycle of the Life of Christ, hearing the accounts of Jesus’ birth, death, and resurrection, but inquiring minds want to know, how is this intended to shape the life of the Church and our lives as His disciples? The focus every Sunday of the church year is Jesus, and every Gospel reading tells us about Jesus and who He is and why He came. The so-called “Green Sundays” is the season after Pentecost. This time is intended to help us to understand and to grow in what it means to be Jesus’ followers. That is why the color of the season is green, the color of life and growth! So, every Sunday from now through the end of November, we will be asking ourselves, after hearing the Gospel lesson, “What does this mean, for us, for me?”
Let us look at today’s Gospel lesson and the other two readings. The Lord says two things to us today in our lesson from Luke’s Gospel about the nature of discipleship. First, He cautions patience and forbearance. Second, He reminds us to always be looking forward. When James and John are offended that the Samaritan villagers will not receive Jesus because His face is set toward Jerusalem, their reaction is, “Lord, let us call down fire on those Samaritans, to destroy them!” Some scholars describe Jesus’ reaction as “tolerance,” but it seems the Lord is suggesting patience and forbearance. From Jesus’ perspective, it would be rash and untimely to judge the Samaritans for their rejection, at this point, because Jesus had not yet arrived at Jerusalem, Jesus had not yet been fully revealed as Son of God and Savior of the world. His mission was not yet complete, so the Samaritans were not the only ones who were not receiving Jesus. For that matter, even the twelve disciples were not yet fully accepting of who Jesus was and why He came. So, if wrathful fire were to begin falling from heaven on the Samaritans it might rightly land on the disciples as well! Better, the Lord says, that James and John take a breath, learn patience and forbearance, rather than reacting too quickly and too harshly against those who had not yet received Jesus by faith. This is a helpful message for us, as disciples and followers of Jesus today. What does this mean for us? We, too, are often impatient and judgmental. That we, too, are often all-too ready to call fire upon our enemies, upon those who may hold different beliefs, upon those who may not like us, or be like us! Certainly, there’s a lesson for us in the words of Jesus, as He rebukes our lack of forbearance, our impatience, our readiness to judge others. There will come a time when those who reject Jesus, those who reject God and His Word, will be judged. This will be God’s work, in God’s time, not ours. That is the first meaning and message in our Gospel lesson today.
The second message from the Gospel reading directs us to always be looking forward! The several instances recorded by Luke in the second half of our Gospel account, point to the fact that in the life of Jesus there was no time for Jesus to stop, lay down His head, and rest a while. Jesus had set His face toward Jerusalem, and nothing would detain or deter Him from His mission. The same is to be true for those who would be His followers. Our Old Testament lesson from 1st Kings tells us how God found Elijah, hiding in a cave, hiding from the mission God had given him. “What are you doing here, Elijah?” the Lord God asked him, not once, but twice! Then, the Lord God gave Elijah a boot in the bottom, telling the prophet to come out of the cave, to get back on task and on the mission of anointing Hazael and Jehu as kings, and Elisha as prophet. After being called, we see Elisha hesitating, saying, “I will come follow you, Elijah, but first, let me kiss my mother and father goodbye.” Maybe that is what Jesus was thinking about when He says in our Gospel lesson, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom.” So, after being chastised by Elijah, Elisha took the yoke of oxen and sacrificed them and boiled their flesh with the yokes of the oxen and gave it to the people, and they ate. Then he arose and went after Elijah and assisted him. In other words, Elisha accepted the mission set before him, burned the bridge to His past life, the yoke and oxen he was using to plow, and arose and followed Elijah, as Elijah followed the Lord God. That is the message in the second half of our Gospel lesson. Following Jesus is about looking to the future and moving forward! It’s not about dwelling on the past or always looking back. Being a disciple is about keeping our eyes on Jesus, keeping our mission focused, living Christ-like lives, shaped not by our own wants and desires and agendas, but shaped by the will and Word of God.
This is also what St. Paul is talking about in our second lesson, when he writes, “For freedom Christ has set us free…For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. For the whole law is fulfilled in the words, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Paul writes, “walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. 17 For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit…for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you may want to do as sinful human beings, things like sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these…” However, of the Christ-like life, Paul says it, “is full of the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” St. Paul says, “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.”
If the question, after hearing our lessons today is, what does this mean. The answer is, if we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit. That is true for us as individuals, but also for us as a congregation and community of faith. As individuals because we are baptized children of God, we want to live as the children of God. Because we have been born anew into the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we live lives full of the fruit of the Spirit, loving God and our neighbor as ourselves! We don’t dwell on our past sinfulness, brokenness, disobedience. Because we are forgiven and set free, we keep our eyes on Jesus and the narrow path before us! As a congregation, we do the same. While we give thanks for the past, we are looking toward the future; we are following Jesus into the future God has prepared for us, the future only He can see, but which is being revealed to us day by day. And we move forward with excitement and energy! We are not afraid or hesitant! We are not stagnant or stuck! We have our hands set to the plow. We are plowing, planting, and fertilizing. We are praying that God will give growth and fruit and faith, as we keep focused on our Lord and Savior, Jesus!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Easter VI, Cycle C May 25, 2025
Sermon Text John 16:23-33
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Westerville, OH
“Speaking Plainly?”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Sometimes, we think of the twelve disciples in less than gracious ways. We think of them as difficult. We think of them as not too bright. We think of them as unable to listen and hear clearly what the Lord is telling them. Why else would Jesus say to them, again and again, “Let he who has ears, hear!” And yet, our characterization of them is not always fair. Yes, they were all too human and had their arguments with each other and their lapses in judgment and understanding. But, let’s be honest. Sometimes the Lord is difficult to understand, at least, as John remembered and recorded the Lord’s words! At times, we have a hard time hearing Him and grasping what in the world He’s saying!
Some of Jesus’s instruction in the Farewell Discourses, John chapters 13 through 17, are perfectly clear and understandable. His prayers for the unity of the Church, for example, are clear and straightforward. The example He gives, in the washing of the disciple’s feet and His new commandment that we love one another, as He loves us, are easily grasped. But these verses we have as our Gospel lesson today can leave us scratching our heads, together with the twelve. They leave us asking, “Is it us?” “It’s Him, right?” “It’s not us—it’s Jesus, who is sometimes, for us, less than clear and direct, in what He’s saying, as recorded by John.” And while we may feel a little guilty saying that, the Lord admits it, in our passage today!
It’s interesting that Jesus, Himself, says in verse 25, “I have said these things to you in figures of speech.” Now, “figures of speech” is an understatement. The word, in Greek, is paroimia, which is much more complex than just a simple figure of speech. Various versions of the Bible translate it, “proverbs,” but others have Jesus saying, “I have been speaking to you in dark or shadowed sayings.” Some translate it, “I have been speaking to you in veiled language, using hidden meanings.” Basically, Jesus means He realizes He’s been talking with them using images and language that are hard to understand, veiled to the hearer, not readily accessible. Jesus says, “The time is coming when I will no longer speak in figures of speech or veiled language but will tell you plainly about the Father.” And then, He said, “In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; 27 for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. 28 I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
And although the disciples respond, saying, “Ah, now you’re speaking plainly and not in figures of speech,” I don’t know about you, but I still don’t find that all too clear. Is this that time when Jesus is going to speak plainly, or is that time still to come? He’s been speaking about Himself and the Father already, so this doesn’t seem like new information, even though it seems a revelation to the twelve. The reality is, until after His death and resurrection, it’s not all clear and plain. After Jesus’ death and resurrection, the Lord opens their minds to understand all that the scriptures say about Him, so that the apostles then have their eyes opened and it all makes sense. At the Lord’s Supper on Maundy Thursday, these words of Jesus still seem a little hidden and veiled. But there are messages and meanings in our passage from the Farewell Discourses today.
First, Jesus tells us that the Father loves us and we can approach the Father, ourselves, in Jesus’ name. We hear Jesus say, “Come to the Father in prayer, and whatever you ask, the Father will give you.” We often get caught up on His comment, “whatever you ask, the Father will give you.” But Jesus’ point is not that the Father will give us whatever we want, but that the Father is open to us, that Jesus was opening up a new relationship and a new closeness, between the Father God and we, His children, so that as a Father welcomes His children with open arms, God is always ready to embrace us and hear us, as we pray. That love and openness—to us, to you and me, is what Jesus is communicating to us—not that we will get everything we want—like, a new car or boat, or protection from trial or loss or grief. Which brings us to the next point.
Second, the Father will answer our prayers, as we pray in Jesus’ name. Because Jesus, by His sacrifice on the cross, atoned for our sins, healing the breach caused by our sin, reconciling us, sons and daughters, with God our Father, we now approach the Father, we come to the Father, in Jesus’ name. We dare not approach the Father, on our own, trusting in our own righteousness, for before God, on our own, we are sinful, disobedient children. We know we can be sinful, disobedient children. We confess it every Sunday! Our estrangement from God our Father has been healed by the death of Jesus, who, as the Lamb of God, died to take away our sin, that in Him, we might return to our Father, prodigal sons and daughters humbly begging for grace and mercy, surprised to find our Father God running to us, embracing us, throwing a banquet for us, in our honor. As the lost have been found, we are welcomed at the table of the Lord. All—only because we have been reconciled to God, through Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray and in whose name we come, every week, to the foretaste of the feast to come is the third thing we want to hear, today, in our Gospel lesson.
This is but a foretaste of the feast to come. We have in our second lesson today, the wonderful vision of the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven, where God will dwell with His children and the Lamb will be the light, and there will be no night there—even as there will be no crying, pain, or death. Wowever, we aren’t there, yet. We are still in the Great Tribulation, as the Revelation has it. We are still struggling and suffering with life and illness and grief. We are still fighting against sin and Satan and the forces of evil. The Lord recognizes this, as He says at the end of our reading, “In this world you will have tribulation.” But, He says, He promises, He assures us, “Take heart; I have overcome the world.”
That’s pretty clear and direct. Now the Lord is speaking plainly! When we are struggling, we are encouraged, because Jesus has overcome this sinful world! When we are grieving, we are comforted, because Jesus has overcome death! When our lives feel out of control, we rely on Jesus, because He is in control, of our lives, of our homes and our families, of our world. No matter how hard or how often we pray to be delivered from evil, saved from the time of trial, protected from the Great Tribulation, in this world, we will have tribulation, we will have trouble and suffering. However, Jesus has overcome “the world!” Jesus has overcome Satan and the forces of evil! Jesus has overcome the principalities and powers which came against Him, and come, even now, against us. That is the assurance we receive, from the Lord today, as He says, “Take heart, I have overcome the world!” Which is what we’ll say in our hymn of the day, as we sing, “Blessed assurance, Jesus is mine! Oh, what a foretaste of glory divine! We are heirs of salvation, purchase of God, born of His Spirit, washed in His blood.” And—this is my story, this is my song, praising my Savior all the day long; this is our story, this is our song, praising our Savior, all the day long!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel July 6, 2025
Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Westerville, OH
“Sales, Not Management!”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
A Bible teacher once related how, in presenting our Gospel reading for today, she asked her students how they would react to Jesus’ instructions about going, two by two, into every town and place where He Himself was about to go. Some said they would be concerned about not having money, or a backpack, or shoes! Another of the students said he would be hesitant to go out as a defenseless lamb, to share the Gospel amid wolves, people opposed to the good news of Jesus. Finally, another student said she wouldn’t be comfortable eating whatever they provided. There was a bit of chuckling at that, until the student said in all seriousness, “I’m not joking! I’m a picky eater! I like to choose where I eat and what I eat! I wouldn’t want to eat whatever people provide!”
Isn’t that a spot-on reflection of the contemporary mindset today? There are several aspects of Jesus’ instruction which might trouble us, not the least of which are His comments about not going house to house, not looking for the best accommodations, not checking out the menu of the bed and breakfast, before settling in! Add to that Jesus’ intention that the seventy travel light, trusting God to provide, not being burdened by luggage or accessories, all while expecting to be rejected and maybe attacked. That would deter most anyone from accepting the mission to go out into the mission field, regardless the urgency, regardless the need for more workers to go out into the harvest. Interesting that the seventy went as Jesus instructed, without a word of question or protest. Could the Lord find seventy today? Could the Lord find seven today, among us, who would go to spread the Gospel, in a world that is post-Christian at best and anti-Christian in most places?
As assistant to the NALC bishops these last twelve years, we regularly struggled with the fact that the laborers are few, while the harvest is plentiful. We realized, it’s no wonder there is a shortage of pastors in every denomination, with fewer and fewer young people going into the ministry, given the fairly common narcissistic tendencies in our culture today. The signs of narcissism are an exaggerated sense of self-importance, a belief that one is special or unique, a need for excessive admiration and affirmation, a sense of entitlement, a lack of basic human empathy, behavior that is arrogant or haughty, a preoccupation with unrealistic expectations of power and success, a pattern of manipulating and taking advantage of others. This is not to say everyone today is a died-in-the-wool, 100 percent narcissist. However, when one considers the textbook definition, it is easy to understand why narcissism is considered a spectrum today, and many people today fall somewhere on that spectrum. So, it does not take a psychologist or a therapist to understand that the traits of narcissism run counter to what Jesus is saying about the behavior, the marching orders provided to one sent out to do mission in the mission field! Jesus says, being a laborer in the harvest, in other words, going out to share good news with others, means it is not about you! It means, don’t go out expecting affirmation and admiration. It means you are not going out expecting to have your needs, wants, and desires met. In fact, you may be deprived, you may have to trust God above all else. You may even have to eat and drink whatever is provided! Then, rather than being appreciated and affirmed and admired, you may be criticized and attacked and persecuted! Being a laborer for the sake of the Gospel, out there in the real world, is not for the narcissist or anyone with narcissistic tendencies. This is why we might ask, “Could Jesus find 70 who might go out into the world today, telling people that the kingdom of God has come near to you?”
The question becomes, “Are we average, ordinary followers of Jesus ready, in our own lives, in our own plot of land in the mission field, to be one of those sent out, willing to speak with people about Jesus, to share with people, the very real love, power, and presence of Jesus, in our world, in our lives?” As we talked about two weeks ago, serving in the mission field, out there today, isn’t about beating people up with the Bible or arguing theology. We are sent out into the world to simply tell others how much God has done, is doing, for me, in my own life. Because there are people out there waiting—waiting and wondering if there are any Christians who still believe in Jesus, who still believe in God, living and active, who have experienced Jesus, personally, in their own lives, and are willing to actually admit it and to share it.
Today, in business, people talk about an “elevator speech” or “elevator pitch,” which means being prepared to provide a concise and compelling summary used to quickly introduce yourself, your product, and your company. It's designed to be delivered in the time it takes to ride an elevator, typically 30-60 seconds, with the goal of making a first impression on someone new—a first impression that sparks interest, potentially leading to further conversation and maybe a new customer. Some have been talking recently about the value of Christians having an elevator speech ready as well.
In our Gospel account today, it is clear that Jesus is saying that given the urgency of the mission, to be prepared to be sent out into the mission field, today, doesn’t mean taking a lot of baggage, doesn’t mean four years of seminary classes, doesn’t mean having the Bible memorized. It can mean being comfortable sharing, in a 10 or 15 second elevator interaction that you are a Christian, that you are a member of a Lutheran church. Even better is being prepared to share, in a few seconds, that God is in your life. It can be as simple as getting on an elevator, having someone offer a cursory “How you are doing?” and instead of saying, “I’m fine,” you respond, “I’m blessed!” Or “I’m living in God’s grace!” Or “I’m walking with Jesus.” Then, leave it at that. Maybe it will open up something more or maybe it will cause that person to think more about God and the nearness of the kingdom. One of our members recently was waiting for his car service to be completed and somehow got into a bit of a chat with a woman whom our member invited to church. A couple weeks later, she showed up, and she told me about our member who invited her. God only knows how that brief conversation impacted that one life. When we accept the call to go out into the field, the mission field, God only knows what opportunities He will provide for us. Only God knows who He will place in our path. Only God knows when we will meet someone who is waiting for someone like you or me, to bring them the kingdom, to shine the light of Jesus on them, to show them that God is living, active, and that we have witnessed God in our lives.
As we go, remember, we are not looking for results. We are not counting how many souls we have saved or how many people we have brought to the Lord. We are not counting how many new members we have gained for our church. We are not looking for experiences we can boast about. Remember, we are in sales, not management! We are about sharing the Gospel—God is the one who brings about change in someone’s life. As St. Paul writes, “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” As Jesus says, “Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this…but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” We glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice, not in results, but that our names are written in heaven—written in the Lamb’s book of life, by Christ’s own blood, given and shed for us! That is what we want to share—with those waiting for you and for me, to reach them! We want to share Jesus! We want people to know Jesus and His presence and the power of His life, the abundant life and eternal life which He alone brings, when our names are written in heaven! That is what we are working for, as we go out, today, this week, to labor in the fields where there are so very many who don’t know Jesus.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Easter V May 18, 2025
Sermon Text John: 16
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Grace Ev. Lutheran Church, Westerville, OH
“Why, Why, Why”
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
You may find this an unsatisfying sermon. And why? That’s the question and the answer. “Why.” We want to know why. We always want to know why. We believe that we are unable resolve things in our own minds unless and until we know “why?” There is nothing more unsatisfying for us mortal human beings; there is nothing more frustrating and irritating than not being able to get at, finally, “Why?”
Our gospel lesson for today finds the disciples, with Jesus, at the meal on Holy Thursday in the upper room. In the Gospel of John, the account of the meal begins in chapter 13 and doesn’t end until chapter 17. So, in a total of 21 chapters in John, 5 chapters, almost a third of the Gospel, reports to us the words of Jesus at the Maundy Thursday meal. We call Jesus’ teaching in these five chapters The Farewell Discourses,” for what the Lord is really doing in these discourses is trying to prepare His followers for what was to come. Although He had spoken with them repeatedly about the fact that He would be arrested, tried, put to death, and on the third day would rise from the death, it’s clear they didn’t fully grasp what was coming, for Jesus or for them. The more Jesus told them about these things, the more, it seems, they struggled with “why.” They struggled to the point where Peter says, “Lord, we won’t let these things happen to you!” As if they could stop God’s will and the reason that Jesus came in the first place. In the Farewell Discourses, the Lord is trying to explain to the twelve what was going to happen. And in so far as He was able, He spoke to them about why. Finally, in our Gospel reading, He says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”
How unsatisfying that Jesus is holding back some, because in His mind the disciples can’t bear to hear anything more! Jesus had just been telling the disciples that he was going to prepare a place for them in the Father’s house; that He would be gone for a time and then would return, to take them to Himself. He was telling them how in His departure, He would be glorified, although His glorification would come through suffering and death. He also explained to them that as even though He would suffer and die, He would leave them with peace—His peace, which is peace unlike the peace that the world gives. In some of the most confusing words of all, Jesus says to them, “‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.” Then He says, “I will no longer talk much with you, for the ruler of this world is coming.”
Needless to say, the disciples grasped very little of what was to come and why. If only Jesus would’ve laid it all out for them, explaining in detail God’s plan for eternal salvation, explaining for them the mystery of the Divine Godhead itself, the reality of God who is Father and Son and Holy Spirit. If only the Lord could have or would have spoken plainly about these things and why it all had to happen in these ways, maybe the disciples would have been able to see and understand and accept the events of Good Friday and Easter Sunday. In our Gospel passage today, Jesus says, “I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” Surely, that’s an understatement! He has told them so much in these five chapters that their minds must have been exploding, already! Why was He going away? What did He mean saying He was going away, to prepare a place for them and then He would return to take them with Him? Why must He be arrested, suffer and die? Why, why, why? There was so much more Jesus could say, so much more to God’s will and way, but Jesus realized they couldn’t bear it, now, at that time.
And that’s God’s message to you and to me, at times in life, as well. How often we pray to God, asking, “Why?” At the time of the tragic death of a loved one, when we or our children or grandchildren suffer and struggle in life, when we witness seemingly senseless violence, when life seems out of control—if only God would explain to us why, we think, then we will be able to understand and accept! Then we might find peace. But sometimes, the Lord God says to us, “there is more to this than you know, but you cannot bear it now.” And that is so unsatisfying and maybe irritating!
I was ordained on July 19, 1981, and began my first call in Hobbs, New Mexico shortly thereafter. My first tragedy was the death of a beloved 84-year-old woman, Rubye Moe, who was killed by a drunk driver. She and her husband, Rolf, had only been married a short time, finding love after Rolf had truly lived his life, so far, as a Norwegian bachelor. In his 80’s, Rolf and Rubye met, fell in love and married and couldn’t have been happier. And then, Rubye was senselessly killed, and as I met Rolf at the emergency room of the hospital, all he wanted to know was, “Why, pastor?” Why, why, why? And what could I say? Thankfully, I had learned in my clinical training, sometimes it’s better to keep your mouth shut, rather than offer empty, meaningless answers. Because I didn’t know why. Yes, people are sinful, and their sin causes grief and loss. Yes, there are painful consequences to human disobedience and brokenness. But that didn’t answer, why Rubye? Why his beloved wife, whom he had been looking for, waiting for, his whole life. There is more to God’s will than we know, but much of it is more than we can bear, in this life.
Jesus goes on to say, “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.” And truly, the Holy Spirit came, and spoke through the writers of the New Testament, to guide us into all the truth, about the things which are to come. The Holy Spirit guided Luke as he was inspired to write the Acts of the Apostles, explaining how the Gentiles would also be included in God’s plan of salvation, as we heard in our first lesson today. The Holy Spirit guided St. John the Divine, as he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, inspired to write down the vision he was given, that revealed the good news of what is to come, when the holy city, new Jerusalem will come down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, so that the dwelling place of God will be with mankind, and God will dwell with us, and we will be his people and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things will have passed away.
This is what the Holy Spirit has revealed, in God’s Word, in the writings of the New Testament, and there is good news in all of it, as we are assured that in spite of tragedy, suffering and death, He who is seated on the throne is “making all things new.” There is good news in these Scriptures, inspired by the Holy Spirit, so that we can know that these words are trustworthy and true.” But do the Scriptures answer our every question, and especially our question, “Why?” The Holy Spirit, through Holy Scripture, reveals to us the truth of what we are to know, about God and His will. The Holy Spirit, through Holy Scripture, teaches us what we need to know about the saving death and resurrection of Jesus, and the gift of forgiveness, life and salvation. The Holy Spirit, through Holy Scripture explains to us, why Jesus went away, for three days, after death, and why He then returned on Easter Sunday, even as the Spirit explains to us why Jesus went away, when He ascended, so that through the power of the Holy Spirit, He might return, not bodily, limited by time and space to being in one place at one time, but returned, spiritually, to become incarnate in Word and Sacrament, whenever and wherever believers gather in His name. This is the truth, revealed to us by the Spirit of truth. But there is still more that has not been revealed to us. There is more to God than we can bear now, at this time. And—that’s the truth. We may not like it. It may not satisfy us. It may even irritate us, that we are not always given reasons “why.” But the Lord assures us, “Yes, you have sorrow now, but I will see you again, and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”
When you have sorrow, because of loss and grief; when you are sorrowful because life seems out of control; when tragedy strikes and there seems no rhyme or reason to it, the Lord says, “You have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” That’s reassuring. That is good news. That despite sorrow and trial and difficulty now, we will see Jesus and we will rejoice and then, no one and nothing will take our joy! Why? Because Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed, alleluia!
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The Holy Trinity Sunday June 15, 2025
Sermon text John: 15:16 – 16:15
Lay Minister John Hazzard
“The One Triune God”
GRACE BE UNTO YOU AND PEACE FROM GOD THE FATHER AND FROM OUR CRUCIFIED AND RISEN LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AND THE HOLY SPIRIT.
The Festival of the Holy Trinity was first celebrated on the Sunday after Pentecost during the 9th century, initially promoted by Pope Gregory IX. Over time, the custom gradually spread and became widely practiced by the 10th century. It wasn’t until 1334 that Pope John XXII made the observance official for the entire Church. We continue to celebrate Holy Trinity today. Now, you may be asking yourself what is so special about the Holy Trinity and why celebrate it on this particular Sunday. After all, isn’t every Sunday devoted to worshiping the Triune God? In one sense, yes—we speak the words in our liturgy and profess the truth of the Trinity. But in another sense, we become complacent as we go through our church service without giving much thought of what we are confessing and maybe more importantly who we are confessing. Who do we put our trust in? Who do we rely on for our salvation? And who do we worship and try to conform our lives to? The answer to all these questions should be, our one and only Triune God— God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps the purpose for celebrating Trinity Sunday is not just to celebrate a doctrine, but to bring us face to face with the living God—not just as an idea, or some far off being we hope to someday encounter, but a God that graciously and lovingly desires to have both a temporal and eternal relationship with us.
When it comes to understanding our Triune God, our problem is Scripture does not give us a fully formed explanation of the Trinity. This is why theologians continue to struggle to make sense of it all, even today. The reason for the confusion is there seems to be two conflicting views of God. In one view we have the God of the Old Testament, where Israel proclaimed for centuries that God is one (Duet. 6:4). On the other hand, we have passages in the New Testament that suggest that Jesus is also God. See, therein lies the dilemma; if we all claim to worship one God, and we do, how can Jesus also be God? Now, if we throw the Holy Spirit into the mix, we really have a problem. It all seems like really bad math to me; one + one + one equals One? However, when it comes to understanding the Trinity, it might be time to embrace new math. Not the new math some teachers teach in middle school, which involves latus multiplication, partial quotient division, and/or the use of tape models to perform operation with fractions. The type of math that leaves every parent who tries to help his or her child more confused than even the student. Instead, we must turn to the math that takes the form of the doctrine of the Trinity.
The best explanation I can give to help us understand the Trinity is to explain that YHWH is the Father and He is the Son and He is the Holy Spirit. The Father is God, and the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God, always and at all times, everywhere, but the father is not the Son, and the Son is not the Holy Spirit. As confusing as that may sound at first. It all makes more sense when simply put. They are three distinct persons while all being one God. We can then see how one Father, plus one Son, plus one Holy Spirit, does in fact equal one God. As St Bonaventure discovered in his famous work on the Holy Trinity, when you try to grasp God using an analogy or an illustration you not only limit His omnipotence, omniscience, and omnipresence, as the Modelist view does when God is described like water that changes form into a gas or a liquid, simply taking on three different forms, but you also run the risk of heresy.
It is these very pitfalls that the Athanasian Creed helps us avoid, as it affirms the Trinity and the Incarnation of Christ. It states that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all distinct persons all found within one God, co-equal and co-eternal. The creed states: “We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity, neither confounding the persons nor dividing the substance.” In addition, it also declares: “The Father is God, the son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and yet there are not three Gods, but one God. The Father almighty, the son almighty, and the Holy Spirit almighty; and yet there are not three Almighties, but One Almighty.” This teaching safeguards against both Arianism, where the Son and the Holy Spirit are created and subordinate to the Father and tritheism, the belief that there are three separate gods. It is vitally important to know that all three persons are co-equal, co-eternal, and all fully one God.
In addition, it also asserts that, “The Son is from the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten,” a biblical truth also proclaimed in the Nicene Creed. Demonstrating the distinction of each person of the trinity without division. This allows us to comprehend that Jesus Christ is fully human and fully divine, a condition necessary for Jesus’s atoning work of the cross. You may be asking yourself, why is this all so important? We look no further than this. This underscores that a correct understanding of the Trinity is necessary for our salvation.
Don’t ever let anyone tell you anything different. It is a revelation and a relationship some believers are being persecuted for, it is not so much that we are being excommunicated from our churches (a fate the disciples faced in our Gospel text), we might remember when Jesus warned them, 16 “I have said all these things to you to keep you from falling away. 2 They will put you out of the synagogues. Indeed, the hour is coming when whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. 3 And they will do these things because they have not known the Father, nor me. 4 But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you.”
Instead, we are being excommunicated by society. As Christians in many parts of the world today, we are told that we “can believe what we want, that is our right; just don’t speak about it in public.” What is even worse is that in other parts of the world, there are those who are being killed and martyred for their beliefs. No matter the fate the world offers, we will experience the ultimate eternal victory God provides for those that stick to their faith and proclaim the power of the Triune God as demonstrated through Christ and Him crucified. The One True God creates us in His Own Image for a temporal and eternal relationship of love and trust, and when we fail, He reaches down and even comes down to restore that relationship as only the One True God can.
And if He is willing to put in so much effort to know us and love us, then we must be willing to take the time to get to know Him. In many parts of our Church service, we hear or speak the words, “In the Name of The Father and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit.” It is so holy that we celebrate this day. In his Large Catechism, Luther explains the Trinity by unfolding the work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in the Creed. God the Father is our Creator, who daily provides and sustains our lives and in doing so, reveals His loving and fatherly care. God the Son is our Redeemer, who gave His life to save us from sin and death, making us righteous before God through faith. God the Holy Spirit is the one who sanctifies us, calling us by the Gospel, enlightening us with His gifts, and keeping us in the true faith. For Luther, each person of the Trinity is active in our lives, not as a theological puzzle to be solved, but as the living God who graciously interacts with us in love and mercy.
Luther also emphasized that the Trinity is not only foundational to our salvation but also to our daily Christian life. In prayer, we come before the Father through the Son in the power of the Holy Spirit, which reflects the relational nature of the triune God. Our baptism is in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, marking us as God’s own and uniting us with the divine life. The Trinity thus shapes our identity, our worship, and our trust in God. Luther taught that understanding the Trinity rightly leads to comfort and assurance. We belong to a God who is not unknowable or indifferent, but one who has revealed Himself in three persons so that we may live in a relationship of faith, hope, and love with Him.
Even though Luther never tried to philosophically explain the doctrine of the Trinity, he felt it was important to build our understanding through God’s actions toward us, especially those in Christ and the Gospel. Luther once said, “This article of faith (the Trinity) is beyond all reason and understanding… It must be believed and confessed on the basis of Scripture… If you want to know the true God, do not climb into heaven, but look into the manger and behold the baby Jesus.” This shows how insistent Luther was about how the Trinity must be believed as revealed in God’s Word.
The first commandment teaches the importance of placing God first in all aspects of our lives. Even so, people commonly create their own gods when they turn from God in a condition of spiritual blindness and look to the things of this world as their source of security and happiness. They let themselves become consumed by blind ambition as they refuse to make time for God. “We need to make hay while the sun is shining” is a common expression, one referring to how everything else in life must be put on hold so that we can “save for that rainy day” or so we can work to obtain something we thought might bring us joy. A thing that we later discover is “it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.” What is even worse is when we make a god of ourselves. We do this when we think we can do things on our own, instead of regularly praying and trusting in the Lord to rightly guide us and empower us. These things are straight out of the devil’s playbook, as Satan was able to convince Adam and Eve that they didn’t need to trust what God had told them about the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is when we hold fast to our faith and lean on God that we honor Him most and welcome Him into our lives. He gave birth to us and all of creation as the Father, saved us from sin and ourselves as the Son, and walks beside us daily as the Holy Spirit.
Christ Himself proclaimed the omnipresence of the Holy Spirit in all of our lives. Jesus promised His followers, 26 “… when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. 27 And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” We might also remember in last week’s text, from the Acts of the Apostles, we saw The Holy Spirit arrive and empower The Holy Christian Church. That sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind with which The Holy Spirit came cannot be heard here this morning — but the power The Holy Spirit gives us, to be the Church, is here; and in every Christian church and gathering place throughout the world. Still The Holy Spirit fills the whole Christian Church — cleaning out the debris of faithlessness, sin, and death — making room for new life in Christ. As all Christians confess, we know that we “cannot by our own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, our Lord, or come to Him; but The Holy Spirit has called us by The Gospel, enlightened us with His Gifts, sanctified and kept us in The True Faith. In the same way, He calls, gathers, enlightens and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth and keeps it with Jesus in The One True Faith.”
Our one true God is so magnificent and beyond the abilities of our human understanding that on our own we cannot hope to definitively define or describe God. We only know God through what God has chosen to reveal to us. We can in no way define God in terms we choose to apply to God – but one thing that sets the one true God apart from all the world’s pretenders is that God is so far beyond our understanding that The One True God comes to us in three persons – The Holy Trinity – God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.
The piece of God which passes all human understanding. Keep your hearts and minds in our crucified lord and savior Jesus the Christ. One of the three distinct beings of our One True God.