SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
May 5, 2024
The Lord Jesus Is with His Church in the Apostolic Ministry of the Gospel
The crucified and risen Lord Jesus is with His Church through the word of His apostles, who “are witnesses of all that he did.” He was anointed by God “with the Holy Spirit and with power,” and “he went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil,” and so He was with those whom He sent “to preach to the people” (Acts 10:38–42). The Holy Spirit is bestowed on those who hear that apostolic preaching, who are “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ,” so that “everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name” (Acts 10:43–44, 48). For as He came by the water of His Baptism, even to the blood of His Passion, so the Spirit testifies to the truth with “the water and the blood” in the apostolic ministry of the Gospel (1 John 5:6–7). By these means, Christ Jesus speaks to us, that His joy may be in us and that our “joy may be full.” For this purpose, He appointed the apostles to “go and bear fruit” in order to make known His divine friendship to us (John 15:11, 15–16).
FIRST READING ACTS 10:34–48
34Peter opened his mouth and said: “Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, 35but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him. 36As for the word that he sent to Israel, preaching good news of peace through Jesus Christ (he is Lord of all), 37you yourselves know what happened throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism that John proclaimed: 38how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him. 39And we are witnesses of all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree, 40but God raised him on the third day and made him to appear, 41not to all the people but to us who had been chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. 42And he commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one appointed by God to be judge of the living and the dead. 43To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
44While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the word. 45And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed, because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. 46For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, 47“Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” 48And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain for some days.
PSALM 98
P 1Oh sing to the Lord a new song,
for he has done marvelous things!
C His right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
P 2The Lord has made known his salvation;
C he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
P 3He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness
to the house of Israel.
C All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation of our God.
P 4Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
C break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
P 5Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
C with the lyre and the sound of melody!
P 6With trumpets and the sound of the horn
C make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
P 7Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;
C the world and those who dwell in it!
P 8Let the rivers clap their hands;
C let the hills sing for joy together
P 9before the Lord, for he comes
C to judge the earth.
P He will judge the world with righteousness,
C and the peoples with equity.
EPISTLE 1 JOHN 5:1–8
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
HOLY GOSPEL JOHN 15:9–17
9[Jesus said:] “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.
12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Rev. Brett Witmer
1 John 5:1-8
Bethel Lutheran, Sutherland, IA
Christ is Risen! Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This sermon is based on our Epistle reading.
Three is a crucial, and strong number. A triangle has 3 sides is a shape often used in building, and you see triangles in the structure of buildings and bridges. I mean if you look at the shape of a roof, it’s a triangle. It’s a shape that can support a lot of weight. Three is an important number in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. In a dispute, in the Old Testament you needed two witnesses in a case to back you up. Three. It’s a strong number and it is a good number. And three comes up over and over again in the Scriptures. Behind our epistle reading, lies this number of three.
For there are three which have born witness to the ministry of Jesus Christ throughout that time. John writes, “For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.” Back in the Old Testament priests were marked out by these three testifying. They were present at the consecration of priests. First, the priests were ritually washed to be in a state of purity in preparation as priests for the people. Then a bull was slain and the blood was smeared on the earlobe and the toe and the thumb. Finally, they were marked by anointing oil, probably oil mixed with an incense or fragrance, but this pointed ahead to the anointing of our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ.
The title “Christ,” in fact, is the Greek translation of Messiah and both words mean Anointed One. How and where was Jesus the anointed one? Well, He was always the Son of God, always the one to come forth and to save His people from their sins, but there are times where the three witnesses mark him out. The water, blood, and Spirit were there at His baptism in the Jordan. The water in which Jesus steps in the Jordan, bears witness to His saving work for your cause. He came to save you and rescue you. The Holy Spirit’s presence is made known by Him being there in the form of a dove, not that He was a dove but that His form there was shown by the sight of what looked like a dove. The next day, John the Baptist calls out the blood, as he tells his followers that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world - He is to be slain. His blood is to be shed. These three, bear witness to Jesus at the beginning of His public ministry.
These three also bear witness to the end of Jesus Christ’s public ministry. They all bear witness at the cross. The Spirit is there, for as Jesus dies, He exhales the Spirit in front of the centurion, who then confesses that Jesus was the Son of God. Then, when the Romans want to make sure Jesus is dead and drive a spear into His chest, and water and blood pour forth from the wound. All three of these witnesses John mentions give testimony at Jesus giving up His holy blood and His precious death for the sins of the World.
These three are involved in the worship of the church. The Lord God is worshipped in Spirit and in Truth. Your Word is Truth! There is a false idea that floats around from time to time, that “I can worship God in my own way”. But you can’t just worship God in your own way. The Spirit testifies to the truth of the Word. The Word is read in Church. We gather together to hear it. There is also water in worship, in baptism. There is blood, in the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. But you see, in all of these things the Lord Jesus Christ is giving us something. He is sending the Holy Spirit in the reading and preaching of the Word to convict us of sin in the Law and cleanse our hearts by the Gospel. In the water and the Word, He makes people children of God in baptism. In His holy body and blood, He gives us life and salvation. Worship is not about what we do, but about what the Lord God does. He is working in worship, we are not so much working, however. We sing back our praise and thanksgiving, but God does the work. And if He’s doing the work, we can’t exactly tell Him what and how to do it or where to doit. As John tells us, the Spirit testifies in these things, but he doesn’t mention other things. He doesn’t mention, for example, that cookies and Kool-Aid testify to Christ. We cannot worship God in our own way.
There is another three in the church, it could be more than three, but at its simplest form, there is another triangle of fellowship we can talk about. That is your relationship with the Lord God and your relationship with one another. There’s a triangle there too: your connection with the Lord God by faith in His Son Jesus Christ, connects with your relationship with your brothers and sisters in Christ. Your relationship with the Lord God impacts your relationship with one another. Your faith is not a private thing. Your faith is yours alone, another cannot believe for your or give you some of their faith. But there is a real public component not only in our worship, but in our life together. Our Lord does not call us to hide that candle of faith under a bushel basket, but let it shine as the children’s Sunday school song says. That song is based on Jesus’ words in the Gospel of Matthew. There is a public aspect, a public side, to your faith which involves is your relationship with your neighbor. That can’t be dispensed with. Think about the two tables of the Law, while all the commandments are tied together, the first three are specifically about your relationship with the Lord God, and the next seven deal with your relationship with your neighbor, the people around you in your life. Your life together with each other is necessary and important.
To not want to meet with one another, be with one another, or work with one another is like hatred between siblings. I am sure we have either experienced that in our own families and lives, or we’ve witnessed it. How sad and tragic it is, and normally one or both of the siblings starts to have real problems in the relationship with mom or dad or issues with mom or dad later develop. Those relationships can fracture. In the church, likewise, where there is fracturing in the relationship between those born of God, there is fracturing in the relationship of one or both parties with God. Your life together is not independent of your life with God. You can’t just hide that faith under your mattress or in a jar or in a safe. You are called to love and serve your neighbor, and that starts in the home and also it starts in the family of God.
For the church is also a family. The phrase “children of God,” gets thrown around a lot, and not always legitimately. Now, we know that the Lord God has love for the world, and those in it because He sent His Son to die for the sins of the world, that whoever believes in Him would conquer. But that does not automatically make one a child of God. John in his first epistle says, “For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?”
One must be born of God to be a child of God. The one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God, the one who is born again, is a child of God. What does Jesus say in John’s Gospel, the one must be born of Water and the Spirit. That is baptism, and the blood of Christ testifies in baptism too, because we are baptized into His death and resurrection. That is a child of God. If you would be a child of God, you must also love whoever has been born of Him - the baptized. You cannot hate the baptized - the church - and expect to remain as a child of God. This may sound difficult and burdensome, but remember who has overcome the world - Jesus Christ has. And because He’s made you His own, you too have conquered in Him.
For the Lord Jesus Christ has conquered. And He has loved and served you. He has conquered by that water, Spirt, and blood in His death and He has made you His in baptism. He has called you to keep His commandments, and to love those like wise also born of the Father in that water, Spirit and blood. You have conquered in Christ, so love and walk with your brothers and sisters here. Because on the Last Day, Christ will testify before His Father of you, that you both were born of the water, blood, and Spirit in your baptism, Amen.