Ezekiel 36:22-28; Psalm 51:1-12; 1 Peter 4:7-14; St John 15:26-16:4
LSB 492, 539, 728, 713, 502, 941
Holy Baptism of Khue Minh

2 Kings 2:15-15; Psalm 110; Acts 1:1-11; St Luke 24:44-53
LSB 492, 491, 821, 682, 830, 493

Rogate (14 May 2023)
​Numbers 6:4-9; James 1:22-27; St John 16:23-33
​LSB 942, 766, 555, 773, 724, 668

+INJ+ 

Beloved in Christ, the day will come when we will ask for nothing. We will ask for nothing because we shall lack nothing.

But not now. Now we lack. We ask Our Father for all the things that we desire. Some of it is needed. Some of it would be harmful if God gave it. And some of it is nothing more than luxury. It is hard for us to know what is good or useful. But we know Him whom we ask. We trust His promise. He will sort it out. He will give what is meet, right and salutary.

Our lack is not unjust, nor is our suffering unreasonable or unexpected. We do not ask because we deserve of ourselves. We ask because He commands and promises. We ask, beseech, and plead God the Father in Name of Jesus Christ our Brother to give us what is good. This goodness is more than bare necessity. We do not ask only for what we need nor do we ask only for spiritual good. In the confidence that God loves us and hears us and wants to make our joy full, we ask for whatever we desire that is not forbidden. We ask for physical things, for pleasurable things, for small and large things, trusting that He will do what is good and that our joy is and will be full.

We call to the Father by the Name of the Son because the Holy Spirit has given us this Name in Holy Baptism and granted us access. The Holy Spirit didn’t lay some ambiguous burden upon your heart, a riddle that you have to solve to prove your worth or sincerity. He baptized you. 

This was not your doing. He called you by the Gospel. This Gospel was the words “In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” It was and is external, outside of you. It was not an inward action unseen by human eyes. Your baptism was and is an objective historical reality. It took place in the real, physical world with flesh and blood witnesses. It isn’t a question of how you feel about it or whether you meant it or not or even whether or not you understand it. The question is “Did it happen or not?” and if it did then “Is God’s Word trustworthy or not? Will He do what He says?”

To be sure, a person can deny Baptism and reject it. He can insist on his own name and sins and therefore blaspheme and fall away from the faith. But that doesn’t mean Baptism didn’t happen or that God didn’t do what He promised. It only means that God does not force Himself upon anyone.

God has bound Himself and His Name to the waters of Holy Baptism by His promise. It is not a ceremony of the Church. It is a gift of God that He instituted for the salvation of the world. He puts His Name upon His children there. If His Name is upon you then you belong to Him. If you belong to Him and His Name is upon you then He takes responsibility for your sins and debts. He cannot be at war with Himself or His Name. 

Thus His Name, your Baptism, is a shield against the devil’s accusations and your own guilt and tribulations. And His Name gives you access by prayer. You call upon Him as a dear child calling on his dear Father.

All this this is because Christ our Lord has come from the Father to us. He, who was lifted up from the earth and returned to the Father as our envoy and Ambassador, comes to us in His risen Body and Blood. In the peace which is bestowed by the Absolution. And He speaks to us in His Word. He does not deal in ambiguities. There is no reason to think that He hints and prods and places riddles before us. The Lord does not struggle to communicate. He does not try and fail. He speaks in His Word and He comes with His grace where He promises. We receive what He gives and listen to what He says and we respond in prayer, praise, and thanksgiving.

For all that we still lack good things. We suffer evil. We have tribulation. God loves us as a Father. Not as a boy trying to impress us and potentially use us. He doesn’t pamper or coddle us or attempt to buy our affection. He respects us. He calls us “friend” and “child.” He gives us a part in His Kingdom. Even making us His ambassadors to the world as we are molded into His image by crosses and even deprivation.

The fullness of our joy is not emptied by suffering or by sorrow, nor by dying or death. Christ’s joy was full when He looked over Jerusalem and wept for her. His joy was full when He was betrayed by Judas whom He loved. His joy was full even when He cried out in anguish on the Cross at His Father’s forsaking of Him. His joy was full because He and the Father are one. The Christ was at peace, trusting in the goodness of His Father’s will, waiting for the revelation and vindication that He knew would come on Easter. Christ, our Lord, had tribulations in this world. And He prayed. So do you. You have cross and tribulation. And you are given to pray. To ask. 

Do not think that the joy He promises is simply pleasure or some shallow happiness. The Gospel is not an opioid meant to give you euphoria, make you forget the past, or even take away all your pain. The Gospel bestows a place in the Kingdom and family. The day will come when you will ask for nothing. 

But not now. Even then, you won’t forget your past or be in some mindless state of bliss. Rather you will be one with the Father, perfect in your trust, without doubt or corruption, without guilt or shame. Your joy will be full and your love will be pure. It will be agape and phileo. Not ecstasy.

Neither the holy angels nor the saints in St. John’s vision are portrayed in Holy Scripture as though they are in a state of euphoria. Rather they appear as an organized and disciplined choir whose voices are joined together in peace and harmony. They are working toward a common and joyful goal. They are free of angst and worry, anger and pride. They are content. At peace. They are happy to be in the presence of God and with their brothers and sisters singing God’s praise and shepherding His creation.

So even though you have tribulations and sorrow and need, even though you have committed sins and continue to struggle against them, you have access to the Father in the Name of Christ and therein is your joy. You are holy and righteous as Christ is holy and righteous. 

And in this sense, prayer is your right and inheritance. His Name gives it to you. It isn’t a right based upon your worthiness, but it is the right of children which has been bestowed by God’s adoption of you and His decree. You can and must pray because you are baptized. He must and will hear and answer you because He has bound Himself to do so by His Word. Thus, in your joy, you ask Him for all things that you lack and desire. You are bold because He is good and you know that He is trustworthy.

The world holds our prayers in derision. They ask: “What good are you prayers? The world is still full of evil and the wicked seem to conquer.” We respond: “God works all things together for good for those who love Him. What wicked men mean for evil, such as the slavery and imprisonment of Joseph and the death of Jesus, God uses for good. We live by faith and not by sight. We are the children of God and His Name is upon us. If that brings us dishonor in the world, so be it. We will not shrink from it. We are in His Father and He in us. We are unashamed of Him even as He is unashamed of us.”

The day will come, however, when we will ask Him for nothing and will be vindicated, again, even as the Christ has been vindicated in the Resurrection.

In the meantime, Christ has said that you would have peace. This is the purpose of His speaking to us, giving us His Word, revealing Himself to us, not only this section of the Gospel but in all of Holy Scripture. He tells us the truth so that we would have peace in the world, even though we do not have peace with the world. 

They hate and mock our prayers and faith, but we belong to God. We have His Name. He gives peace that the world cannot give. This peace comes from the Father for the sake of Christ. It is the peace that was announced by angels to shepherds and then bestowed in the Upper Room. It is peace with God. Full joy. We are reconciled to the Father in the Blood of Christ. He loves us and we belong to Him and He to us. This world, its sickness and death, its pain and sorrow, its lies and betrayals, along with its constant lack and many evils, is passing away.

But Christ says: “Take heart. I have overcome the world. I have bought your peace, won your joy, named you as My own. The hour will come when you will not be scattered and separated and alone. The hour will come when you will have no needs or lack. You will be gathered to My Father’s bosom and then you shall ask Me for nothing but forevermore will sing with Me My Father’s praise.”

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! 

Isaiah 12:1-6; James 1:16-21; St John 16:5-15
LSB 816, 556, p155, 790, 754, 768
+INJ+

Beloved in Christ, there are two categories of religion in the world. The religion of justice. And the religion of mercy. The former emphasizes the work and effort of the practitioner, but is silent about the person and work of Christ. The latter places the work of Christ at the center. The believer’s works flow from faith in Christ’s mercy.  

In this binary it is impossible for someone who is singularly focused on justice to understand Christianity. Christianity centers on mercy. Those who are obsessed with justice cannot understand how it is that we are so concerned about pure doctrine when there are starving children in Africa. Or how we seek to discuss the clarity of Scripture when there are unbelievers walking the halls of our schools. 

They think that our religion is worthless and that we are hypocrites because we do not care about the things they do in the way they do. 

They have a point. The Spirit calls us to love our neighbor, to show mercy to the poor and needy, and to speak the truth. No Christian living on this side of glory can hear the charge “hypocrite” and not cringe in guilt. We don’t do what we say we should do and what we want to do. We say one thing and do another. 

Yet contrary to the judgment of the world, to the judgmentalism of even those who call themselves our brethren, and even contrary to our own conscience at times, the Holy Scriptures declare that we who are baptized and believe in Christ are holy, righteous, and innocent for Christ’s sake. This is not because we have pure hearts or have done enough good works. It is because God has forgiven all our sins by offering up His own Son as our Substitute, our Ransom and Atoning Sacrifice. He declares us righteous despite our imperfections and even wickedness. 

You, the baptized who believe in Christ, who trust in His mercy, yet who daily sin much, you are rightly called SAINTS. You are the people of God. It would be a terrible pity that we would forget or be ashamed to be called saints. For to forget this is to forget Christ and Holy Baptism. 

There is an irony here. Those who fear they are hypocrites are saints. Those who cast the stones, who claim to hate hypocrisy in others, are not. Two men went up to the Temple to pray. . .

You, who are truly sinners, who know your sin, who deplore your wretched flesh and feel its burden. You ask for grace and want to do better. And even though it accuses and condemns you, you love God’s Law. You see in it what is truly good and true and beautiful. God’s perfect Word and will. His desire of His people. What you were meant for. You do not simply shrug off the charge of “hypocrite.” It is a serious danger. 

But at the same time, while you don’t want to be called sinner, don’t shrink from that title “saint.” To be both things at the same time is not the mark of a hypocrite. It is the mark of a Christian, a baptized and redeemed sinner, who has not yet been transferred to glory. 

To be a Christian you must believe in two things at the same time. You must believe the Law which accuses you and calls you sinner. You must also believe and trust in the Gospel which forgives all your sins, comforts you, and calls you “saint.”

The devil will try to tell you that the sins which you commit every day offend God and therefore you are not a saint. The devil is a liar and the master of half-truths. Yes, you are filthy in your sins. Your conscience terrifies you. But even as a mother’s love is stronger than the filth and scariness and stink on a naughty child, so the love of God toward us is stronger than the dirt that clings to us. We are sinners. But we do not thereby lose our filial relation on account of our filthiness. God is our Father who has made His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to be our Brother, that we might live by His Spirit. Unless we let our sins rule over us and give into them, we are not hypocrites. 
But the devil likes theology. He is masterful at rightly dividing but wrongly applying God’s Law and Gospel. He will tell you that the Holy Spirit does not dwell where there are habitual sins. And you’ve got them. He will tell you that the Bible teaches that Christians progress and grow in their sanctification. But you are growing worse in sin. 

Again, he twists the truth. Jesus says, 
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. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.

In other words, the Holy Spirit gives away the Kingdom to sinners by the Word. He glorified the Son in His Crucifixion where He was lifted up from the world. And He continues to glorify the Son through the preaching of His Cross by which He calls sinners to Himself. This is the Good and Perfect Gift of the Son’s righteousness which comes down from the Father of lights. 

The Holy Spirit is a kind of Robin Hood. The Father, not the devil, offers up the Son. The Holy Spirit who drove Christ to the desert for temptation, kills and robs Him on the Cross, takes what is His and the Father’s, and gives it to you through the Word, read and preached. Do you believe this? Yes. Then you are not a hypocrite. 
Beloved, you are growing in sanctification. Part of that growth is an increasing awareness of and sorrow over your sins. And while you can’t look into the hearts of men, you can’t even completely look into your own heart, Christ can. He looks into the hearts and minds of men. He sees yours and by His Spirit He not only convicts you, but comforts you. Sanctification isn’t quantifiable like bricks and pennies. 

The Christian mind and heart says, “I believe and cling to Him who is in heaven as my Savior and Advocate. He will come to judge the living and the dead. And if I fall into sin I will rise again by His grace and mercy. I don’t continue to sin with immunity.  I live by His grace and mercy. Sin doesn’t rule over me. By His grace, through His Word and Sacraments, I rise up and become the enemy of sin. I hate sin. I renounce it. I ask again for mercy. I come as a child, filthy and guilty, naughty. With tears in my eyes. I have done again what my mother told me not to do. I come to her trusting that she will still love me, wash me and kiss my wounds. I trust that Christ sends His Spirit into my mind and heart by His Word to Comfort and Defend me when my conscience afflicts me.”

The Christian faith differs from all other religions in this: the Christian hopes even in the midst of evil and his own sins. He lives by faith in the mercy of Christ. 

Without the Holy Spirit natural man can’t do this. He can only seek refuge in his works. To say, “I am a child of God,” or “I am holy, a saint of God,” is not arrogant anymore than saying, “I am an American is arrogant.” For the Christian it is not hypocrisy. It is poverty of spirit. It is faith and trust. 

You can’t see all of your good works. You can’t see the growth and strengthening of your faith. But you can’t see the Holy Spirit either. You hear Him. He is a Preacher. You live by His Word. You trust in His promises. Not all that is real is visible. 

I tell you the Truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send Him to you. . . When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all the Truth. He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is Mine; therefore I said that He will take what is Mine and declare it to you.
Now there is something to sin about this Cantate Sunday. 

Alleluia! Christ is risen!
​He is risen indeed! Alleluia!