FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER
May 18, 2025
Acts 11:1–18
Revelation 21:1–7
John 13:31–35
Jesus Turns Sorrow into Joy
On earth “you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy” (John 16:20). Already the Spirit grants you peace and joy through the forgiveness of your sins. For by the cross of Christ, “God has granted repentance that leads to life” (Acts 11:18). His Gospel is “a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household” (Acts 11:14). He gives freely “from the spring of the water of life” (Rev. 21:6), “and death shall be no more” (Rev. 21:4). He dwells with His people, adorning His Church as a bride for her husband, “making all things new” (Rev. 21:5). Therefore, as the Son of Man is glorified by His cross, “and God is glorified in him” (John 13:31), so He is glorified in us by our “love for one another” (John 13:35), which His Spirit works in us by His grace.
INVOCATION LSB 184
P In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
P Beloved in the Lord! Let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto God our Father, beseeching Him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.
P Our help is in the name of the Lord,
C who made heaven and earth.
P I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord,
C and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.
CONFESSION LSB 184
P O almighty God, merciful Father,
C I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto You all my sins and iniquities with which I have ever offended You and justly deserved Your temporal and eternal punishment. But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray You of Your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of Your beloved Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.
ABSOLUTION LSB 185
P Upon this your confession, I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my Lord Jesus Christ I forgive you all your sins in the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.
C Amen.
INTROIT
P Oh 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 The Lord has made known his salvation;
C he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations.
P He 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 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;
C break forth into joyous song and sing praises!
P Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,
C with the lyre and the sound of melody!
P With trumpets and the sound of the horn
C make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!
C Glory be to the Father and to the Son
and to the Holy Spirit;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and will be forever. Amen.
P Oh 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.
SALUTATION AND COLLECT OF THE DAY**
P The Lord be with you.
C And with thy spirit.
P Let us pray.
O God, You make the minds of Your faithful to be of one will. Grant that we may love what You have commanded and desire what You promise, that among the many changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
C Amen.
FIRST READING Acts 11:1–18
1Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God. 2So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcision party criticized him, saying, 3“You went to uncircumcised men and ate with them.” 4But Peter began and explained it to them in order: 5“I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me. 6Looking at it closely, I observed animals and beasts of prey and reptiles and birds of the air. 7And I heard a voice saying to me, ‘Rise, Peter; kill and eat.’ 8But I said, ‘By no means, Lord; for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.’ 9But the voice answered a second time from heaven, ‘What God has made clean, do not call common.’ 10This happened three times, and all was drawn up again into heaven. 11And behold, at that very moment three men arrived at the house in which we were, sent to me from Caesarea. 12And the Spirit told me to go with them, making no distinction. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. 13And he told us how he had seen the angel stand in his house and say, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon who is called Peter; 14he will declare to you a message by which you will be saved, you and all your household.’ 15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as on us at the beginning. 16And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ 17If then God gave the same gift to them as he gave to us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?” 18When they heard these things they fell silent. And they glorified God, saying, “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
EPISTLE Revelation 21:1–7
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
5And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. 7The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”
P This is the Word of the Lord.
C Thanks be to God.
VERSE OF THE DAY Romans 6:9; John 14:23
Alleluia. We know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. Alleluia. 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. Alleluia.
HOLY GOSPEL John 13:31–35
P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the thirteenth chapter.
C Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
31When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
P This is the Gospel of the Lord.
C Praise be to Thee, O Christ.
NICENE CREED
I believe in one God,
the Father Almighty,
maker of heaven and earth
and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the only-begotten Son of God,
begotten of His Father before all worlds,
God of God, Light of Light,
very God of very God,
begotten, not made,
being of one substance with the Father,
by whom all things were made;
who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven
and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary
and was made man;
and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate.
He suffered and was buried.
And the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures
and ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of the Father.
And He will come again with glory to judge both the living and the dead,
whose kingdom will have no end.
And I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord and giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son together is worshiped and glorified,
who spoke by the prophets.
And I believe in one holy Christian and apostolic Church,
I acknowledge one Baptism for the remission of sins,
and I look for the resurrection of the dead
and the life T of the world to come. Amen.
Sermon by Pastor David Matthews
Grace, Mercy, and Peace to you from God our Father, and from Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text for our mediation this morning is our Gospel account of St. John. Listen to our text again, "When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Love is a complex concept for many. I do not know if you know this, but there are four different types of love, described in the Bible. The first being Philia, which in the modern context, is a fraternal love among believers. That is the love that most people have towards one another. The second being Eros, which is a sexual type of love, a passionate love, the love that a husband has for a wife and it should be reserved for that relationship and no other. The third type being Storge, which is the natural affection between family members. Such as a child to parent, sibling to sibling, and other relationships similar to that. The fourth type of love is Agape, which is a love that is sacrificial.
This love that Jesus is talking about today in our text, deals with agape love, sacrificial love. Jesus tells his disciples, a few moments after they were in the upper chamber celebrating the Lord's Supper, "Where I am going you cannot come." This had to be confusing for the disciples. They did not want Jesus to depart from them. But Jesus had to, He was on a date with the victorious cross, with which He would pour out His Holy blood on it. That is the type of love that the disciples could not come to. This agape love, sacrificial love, is the love that Christians should strive for and have their love modeled by. This is the love in today's text that Jesus says to you, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." This commandment cuts against our hearts because we know deep down we are all guilty of not loving another.
Just look at all your marriages. Two sinful human beings living together. You are going to sin against each other and it hurts. But that is where we need to be self-sacrificial. If you are a husband, you should be willing to lay down your life for your wife, if it comes down to it. As a husband, you also ought to help your wife. Sometimes you need to buy flowers or chocolates whenever they are having a bad day. Maybe sometimes you need to take the children for a drive to give your wife some sanity. Wives you also need to live in a sacrificial love. Sometimes you need to put your own thoughts, desires, and feeling onto the backburner and realize that your husband is working hard to support you and your family. I am definitely not saying this to rile up anyone. But having agape love, is a love that is modeled straight from Jesus himself.
In society, we should also model this type of love. Jesus says "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." There are many ways we can love each other as Christians, and even non-Christians. Some things are simple, such as opening a door for an elderly person. Filling up someone's tank with gas our of generosity and not for show. Buying someone's else's food at a restaurant. This has happened to me many times. Maybe helping someone one in need, such as giving money to the poor. These are small examples, but each of them are self-sacrificial. They are putting other's needs before yourself. This agape love is simple but complex. It is simple because we could show love in many ways. But it is complex, because the disciples, " . . . you cannot come" even close to this type of sacrificial love that Jesus had for the whole world.
But our love should be modeled after it. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8, gives us a little bit more modeling of this type of love. "Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away."
The love described is talking about the nature of love in Christ. It is patient and kind. It does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It is not irritable or resentful. It does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but in truth. The love described here is the love Christ ahs for his children. His love bears all things, including your daily burdens. His love believes all things. It hopes and it endures all things. Christ endured the eternal wrath and punishment that should have been ours, for you. That love will be with all the stages of your life. Let that love model your love and that is so all will know that we are Christians by our love. That love never ends. Let that be your peace forevermore.
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.