Sermon
Text: John 14:15-21
Title: The
Work of the Great Helper.
I. We cannot keep the commandments of the
LORD on our own.
II. But the Father will send a great Helper
to guide us on our way.
THROUGH OUR BAPTISM
INTO CHRIST’S DEATH AND RESURRECTION WE RECEIVE THIS GREAT HELPER - THE HOLY
SPIRIT WHO GIVES US THE POWER TO BELIEVE.
In the name of the Father and the Son + and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Grace,
mercy, and peace from God our Father, and from our LORD and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen.
The
text for this Sunday’s homily, is taken from the Gospel lesson just.
15 “If you love me,
keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another
advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world
cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him,
for he lives with you and will be[c] in you. 18 I will not leave you as
orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore,
but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you
will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who
loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself
to them.”
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I.
Jesus
speaks to us today in our text and speaks words of strength, encouragement and
love. He makes promises on behalf of Himself and of the Holy Trinity – promises
He can keep because of His death on His Cross and Resurrection from the grave.
Jesus
opens this dialogue with words of love – but also with a very difficult task.
Jesus says if you love me – prove it – keep my commandments!
Sounds
like a tall order doesn’t it? Haven’t you heard me and countless other pastors
preach that it is an impossibility to keep the commandments? Doesn’t our
sainted Martin Luther tell us this very same thing in his Catechism? Doesn’t
our beloved C.F.W. Walther – one of the founders of our Synod – remind us that
it is because of this sinfulness that is in us that we cannot possibly keep the
commandments and this is exactly why we need a Savior?
So
what in the wide world is Jesus talking about? Is he asking of us the
impossible? So it would seem. But we are Lutheran and that means we believe
that Scripture interprets Scripture and therefore we look not to just these few
words spoken by our Savior but at the surrounding text and – in fact – the
entirety of Holy Scripture.
Ever
walk into a movie late – one you haven’t seen before – sit down and start
watching? And then quickly you are nudging the person next you, ‘Hey, is that
house on that lady? Where does the yellow brick road go? Why is she wearing
those shiny red shoes?’ then disgusted because you cannot follow the story you
walk out of one of the greatest movies of all time.
Why?
Because you only saw a short snippet of the story and couldn’t understand where
it was going?
Why would Holy Scripture be any different? Why would we think we could go to one or two passages and think we know everything? We have to know the whole of Scripture to get the pieces.
So
let’s not just take verse 15 and think we know it all let’s listen to what else
Jesus has to say. Again Jesus says,
If
you love me, you will keep my commandments…
And
what He is conveying here is a statement of faith. He is saying that if we love
Him that means we have faith in Him – faith that confesses Him as the Christ,
the Son of the Living God. And in confessing Him as the Messiah – the One sent
from heaven to save the world – then there will be love for Him. And in confessing
and loving Christ we are one with Him. He has become the Mediator, the
Substitution, He has died in our place. He has taken upon Himself all of our
sins and has died our death. He lived the life we cannot live. In other words, He has kept the commandments
for us – perfectly. And now we have that
life – that perfect life in the commandments applied to us. And so you see,
through Him we are keeping and will continue to keep the commandments. Not on
our own – but through Him.
Now
having said all of that it doesn’t mean that we can go out into life and do
whatever we want and it will be ok because Jesus is keeping the commandments
for us. That wouldn’t be right and in fact that wouldn’t be true belief would
it? No, God the Father expects from us a life that has changed through Christ. He
expects from us an effort in our life to love Him and neighbor as we ought. However,
left to ourselves this is an impossibility. As sinful human beings we can’t do
this ourselves – this changed life. But we aren’t left to ourselves are
we?
II.
Jesus
goes on to say…
And I will ask the Father, and he will give
you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the
world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him,
for he dwells with you and will be in you.
Here
come those promises spoken of earlier! Jesus promises us a Helper – an
Advocate, a Comforter. He promises us His Holy Spirit and he promises It
forever! And although Jesus died for the sins of the world, not all of the
world will receive this Great Helper. Only those who confess Him as LORD and
Savior will receive this gift of blessing in the Great Helper to the fullest –
for He does work on the entire world. However, Jesus points out that we know
Him – this Helper – because He dwells in us and will remain with us – forever!
Where
did you and I receive this wonderful gift? In Holy Baptism. There at the eight sided font representing
the Resurrection of our LORD and our resurrection in and through the Word of
God joined to the water – there we received life and salvation, faith and
knowledge. There we received the gift of
the Great Helper, the very Spirit of the Father and the Son. And it is in this
gift that we begin to live the life meant for us.
No,
not in perfection as it was intended from the beginning, nor as it will be for
us in heaven someday – but nevertheless – for us saints who are yet still
sinners, there in the simple waters of Baptism we are joined to the LORD in a
special way. For in this gift we receive a part of our LORD – His Holy Spirit. And
it is through this Great Helper that we are able to make the choices we once
would have ignored. We begin to love God as was intended at the Creation. We
begin to love neighbor as God has written on our hearts. Through this Great
Helper we begin to live the life that was lived once in the Garden of Eden – but
was lost.
In
this promise of the Holy Spirit we are no longer orphaned, but truly we are
found – found in the grace of our LORD above. And there is another promise. Jesus
will come again. This we confess in our Creeds, that Christ will return one
final time into this world, to judge it and to claim His own and take them to
Himself in heaven. This is the reward of a life lived in faith – a gift for the
Helper. This is what we can expect on the Last Day. This day will not be a day
of sadness, at least not for us. This will be a day of great joy when we look
into the eyes of our Savior for the first time. This is what it is all about,
being with Him for eternity. This is the Crown of Life spoken of in Revelation
by our LORD. There we will once again see what our first Father and Mother – Adam
and Eve knew – the Tree of Life.
And
all of this is made possible by the death of one innocent Man, the Son of God,
on the cross for you and for me. And in His resurrection and through our
resurrection in Holy Baptism we are granted this Great Helper – the Holy Spirit
– to see us through to the end…which is really a beginning. What great joy this
brings to God’s people, to know that we will not go it alone – but that Christ
Jesus, through His Holy Spirit, will be with us every step of the way. May this
bring a smile to your face this day and tears of joy to know that you are that
precious to Him. Amen.
The
peace of the LORD which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and
minds in Christ Jesus and His Holy Spirit.
Amen.
+ Soli Deo Gloria +
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