Sermon for Easter V

Via, Veritas, et Vita!

John 14:1-14

Fifth Sunday of Easter, A 2011

Baptism of Henry James Polley

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen. The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel reading from St. John.

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” Thomas said to him, “Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also; and from now on you know him and have seen him.” Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, Philip? He who has seen me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own authority; but the Father who dwells in me does the works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father in me, or else believe me for the sake of the works themselves. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to my Father. And whatever you ask in my name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in my name, I will do it.”

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I wasn’t really expecting any of us to be left here today, what with the supposed ‘rapture’ set to happen last night at 6pm. Either none of us are true believers, or Harold Camping and his Family Radio network can now add themselves to the long list of false teachers who have repeatedly tried to predict Christ’s return. If I’d been paying attention to how big a news item this would become, he would have been an excellent example for last Sunday’s Gospel reading. Camping makes a strong contrast to the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd is the door for his sheep to abundant, everlasting life; but those who do not use the door are thieves and robbers. Camping teaches a different Gospel, which is no Gospel at all.

Still, the Lord always has the most incredible ways of teaching us his lessons. My own family has very recently learned a lesson from the Lord. We have been under considerable stress at home this week with the total failure of our septic drain field. As a pastor, I know that the house needs to be built on the solid rock; but as a pastor with a failing septic system, I have learned that the house also needs to be built near some sand! Of course, faith in Jesus as the way, the truth, and the life is the real rock upon which the house of our everlasting salvation is built.

Those who followed and supported Harold Camping and Family Radio have also learned a lesson. Jesus was serious when he said that, ‘of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.’ Now, there are reports of families that stopped working, stopped saving, and even some that stopped preparing for childbirth, believing that they would be in heaven long before the baby arrived all because of Camping’s idea. I admit that I’ve had more than my share of ‘rapture’ jokes this past week, but the truth is that false teaching is no laughing matter. It has tragic consequences.

We do not prepare for the return of Jesus by trying to predict it; we prepare by believing in his Son who came to die for our sins and who rose from the dead. We are to be ready at all times, and by the grace of God, he makes us ready through faith. No matter when Jesus returns, the only thing that will matter is whether or not we are his Father’s children through the adoption of baptism and faith.

The Gospel for today could not be more appropriate for our times. Even though I was certain that Jesus would not return last night, I still found myself wondering, ‘what if?’ What if he comes back really soon? What will it be like? What will happen? Harold Camping claimed that it would be the rapture, a false teaching that the true believers would be taken away while the non-believers would be left behind to suffer punishment for a period of time before finally being sent to the real torment of eternal damnation. What the Bible actually teaches is quite different.

The Gospel from John paints the true picture of what Jesus has in mind for us in the end. ‘Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in me.’ Faith comes first, and calms our hearts in the face of all trouble. After all, there are many mansions in Jesus’ Father’s house. We can take his word for it. Jesus told his disciples about this as he was preparing for his passion. His death would make full payment for the sin of the world, while his resurrection would be the ultimate victory over death and the devil. Through that passion, Jesus secured a place for us with him in eternity. It is another reason for us to take heart when the grief and sorrows of this world attack.

He will come back; our Lord will return. None of us knows the day or the hour, but he will return, and that is also comforting. After all, why would Jesus have done what he did and suffered what he suffered if not for the sake of making us his own? He took on flesh, lived a sinless life, died for the sin of the world, and rose from the dead out of his great love for all of humanity and because he knew that it would accomplish our salvation. If any of us were to be with him and his Father and Holy Spirit forever in heaven, Jesus alone could do it.

As our Lord taught this to the disciples, he told them that they knew where he was going, and that they also knew the way to get there. They did not understand, however, and Thomas said so. ‘Lord, we do not know where you are going, and how can we know the way?’

Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. It sounds simplistic, but what our Lord says is utterly true. He alone is the true God-man, the establisher of the world, and its Savior. His is the life which alone gives life to all who believe in him, and just as he is the door that lays itself down for the sheep, faith in him is the way to everlasting life. No one comes to the Father except through him.

These are among the most criticized of Jesus’ words. Many would rather that John had not included them in his Gospel. They exude arrogance and exclusivity. In no day or age, including the present, are they received by the masses with great joy or comfort.
To God’s people, however, to the sheep of the Good Shepherd, these words give wonderful peace and calm the troubled heart. When the changes and chances of life afflict us, this sentence from Jesus reminds us of the constancy of his great love. When selfish pride overcomes us, it also reminds us of our place in the world. Jesus alone establishes us in the Gospel and he alone brings it to completion at the last day.

And that last day will come, with Jesus returning in glory, to judge the living and the dead. We do not know when it will be, but with the comforting words from Jesus that he is the way, the truth, and the life, we do not need to be tormented by what we do not know. ‘Nobody knows the day or the hour,’ but God does not abandon us.
In this world there will be temptation upon temptation, and there will always be someone seeking to gain influence or power for themselves by claiming to have this or that secret knowledge from God or the Scriptures. Always go back to Jesus’ words here – I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.

We cannot predict when Jesus will return to judge the world, but I can tell you when he will be here next; Jesus will be present among us just as he has promised. He is here in the preaching and reading of his Word; in the speaking of the absolution; in the water and word of Holy Baptism, and he comes among us with his body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. Hear his voice and follow him; follow him all the way to eternal life!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.

June 2011 Newsletter Article

“For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”

2 Corinthians 4:6

Brothers and sisters in Christ, warnings about false teachers are prevalent these days. Two months ago there was a lot to be said about Grand Rapids pastor Rob Bell, whose book, Love Wins, teaches a Christian universalism that basically includes all people in God’s salvation, whether they believe that Jesus Christ died for their sins or not. In the last month, Bell’s form of universalism gave way to Harold Camping’s prediction that Jesus would return May 21st, taking all the true believers to heaven with him, and instituting a 153 day time of tribulation, which would basically be God’s judgment upon all that are left behind on the earth. Sure enough, the sun still rose Sunday May 22nd and we rejoiced in the Lord at worship, hearing God’s Word of Law and Gospel and receiving his forgiveness in Word and Sacrament.

In a strange twist, Camping has since come out with yet another date with a new prediction. He still believes that Jesus came back on May 21st, but he twisted his own teaching now, saying that this recent return and accompanying judgment were actually invisible to all. So invisible, in fact, that no one noticed Jesus coming back, nor did anyone feel any retribution for sin or unbelief! According to Camping we now have until October 21st of this year before the end of all existence. That is a Friday this fall, and let me say that I look forward to seeing all of you in church with me on Sunday, October 23rd!

False teaching and the prominence it is receiving in the media of late gives us reason to pause – how is the average Lutheran supposed to understand and interpret every religious thing that we see or hear on the internet, TV, radio, or newspaper? We certainly do not blindly accept as true every single thing that claims to be Christian, but we likewise must be careful before dismissing everything out of hand. The sure and certain measure of truth for us is always the testimony of Holy Scripture. Still, there are as many different ways to read and understand Scripture as there are churches and sects in the world. How many church bodies distinguish themselves from one another over important differences in how they interpret Scripture? Are all readings equally true, or is there a right way and a wrong way to understand Scripture?

Irenaeus of Lyons, a 2nd Century pastor and theologian faced this dilemma in an ongoing debate within the church. To put it simply, there were two main factions – those who held that the God who created the heavens and the earth is different from the Father of Jesus, and that Jesus Christ is not truly incarnate, but rather solely a spiritual being (the Gnostics); and those who held that Jesus’ Father is the very same God who created all things, and that Jesus Christ is true God and true Man. Both camps argued for their positions using the verses of Holy Scripture, but Irenaeus recognized that opposing positions about the very nature of God cannot both be correct.

In response to the Gnostics, Irenaeus could not discredit or undermine the very Scriptures to which he himself appealed for support. Instead, he focused his attention and argument on the way the Gnostics interpreted the Scriptures. It is difficult to encapsulate the nuances of Irenaeus’ arguments, but here is one example that I find extremely helpful. To begin, Irenaeus understood Scripture as having one fundamental plot line – the creation and salvation of humanity through Jesus Christ. All of Scripture supports this plot, and any deviation from this plot is not only a misrepresentation of the Scripture, but a distortion in the understanding of Jesus Christ. He likens it to a mosaic:

[The Gnostic’s] manner of acting is just as if one, when a beautiful image of a king has been constructed by some skilful artist out of precious jewels, should then take this likeness of the man all to pieces, should rearrange the gems, and so fit them together as to make them into the form of a dog or a fox, and a poorly executed one at that; and should then maintain and declare that this was the beautiful image of the king which the skilful artist constructed, pointing to the jewels which had been admirably fitted together by the first artist to form the image of the king, but have been with bad effect transferred by the latter one to the shape of a dog, and by thus exhibiting the jewels, should deceive the ignorant who had no conception what a king’s form was like, and persuade them that the miserable likeness of the fox was, in fact, the beautiful image of the king.

When the passages of Scripture are taken from their rightful spot in the plot line, and reassembled in another fashion, they tell a different story. Each verse may be intact, but taken out of proper context, they tell and different story, and, ultimately, proclaim a different Jesus.

This, finally, is the serious danger of false teachers – they promote a different Christ, and those unprepared or unaware of the difference can be led astray without knowing it until much later. St. Paul says the same thing at the top of this article; the knowledge of the glory of God is in the face of Jesus Christ. I exhort you to continue to increase in faith and knowledge of that glory of God that is in the face of Jesus Christ. Study that face by studying Scripture; get to know it as well as you know your own face; in doing so you will protect yourself from those who teach falsely and from their false teachings. Those who do so will not be sorry; when a false teaching is presented to them, it will be as Irenaeus says, ‘although he will acknowledge the gems, he will certainly not receive the fox instead of the likeness of the king.’ God grant that you always know and love the true King of Kings and Lord of Lords, your Savior, Jesus Christ!

To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

Pastor Bakker