The Day Has Come to Pray to the Father | John 16:12-22
May 22, 2022 | 10:45 a.m.
Sixth Sunday of Easter
READINGS
Psalm 67:1-7
Acts 16:9-15
Revelation 21:9-14, 21-27
John 16:23-33
+Points to ponder
- Have you given thought to the idea that Christ has conquered the world? What does that mean for you living out your faith?
- St. Paul says that “Christ who lives in me …” (cf. Galatians 2:20) What does this mean for us ‘average Christians’? Does Dr. Luther’s take on this help you to grapple with this?
- What might ‘letting our light shine before others’ mean for our congregation?
+Sermon Transcript
Grace, mercy, and peace be unto each of you from God our Father and our Lord and King, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
He is risen! (He is risen, indeed, Halleluiah!)
Let us pray: O God, from whom all good things arise: grant such grace to those who call on you, that, by your inspiration, we may ponder those things that are right, and, by your guidance, do them; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, Amen.
It was – it is – the day from which all days are counted, the day which gives all days meaning. That day changed everything; every day before was moving toward it; every day since lives it out. If not for that day, the sun would never come up on any day.
But it was also a day shrouded in darkness – and not only because from noon until three that sun failed to give its light. No, every witness of that day was clouded, darkened, in his understanding of what was happening. It was – it is – the day from which all days are counted, but no one saw.
Not until the Spirit, which our Lord gave up that day, came at his sending fifty days later. Only then did God’s people understand that from the day of Jesus’ crucifixion, a whole new day had dawned. But now we are living in that day, and the Lord, in our text, would have His light shine on us so that we would see just that … that
THE VICTORY OF CHRIST THE CRUCIFIED OVER THE WORLD HAS BROUGHT THE FAITHFUL TO A NEW DAY OF KNOWING THE TRUTH AND THE RIGHT TO PRAY TO THE FATHER.
The resurrection and the gift of the Spirit bring a new “Day.” The new “Day” is a time of prayer to the Father as we hear Jesus say, “whatever you ask of the Father …” Such prayer is, as Jesus says, “in My name,” that is, on the basis of Christ’s death and resurrection. In praying such a prayer, we are united with the Son in His death. In hearing such a prayer, the Father gives to us all that the Son has won for us through his obedient suffering and death.
In this praying and hearing, we are united with the Father as Jesus, the Son, is united with the Father – as He prayed for His followers in the garden before His passion: “that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You have sent Me. The glory that You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one even as We are One, I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that You sent Me and loved them even as You loved Me.” United with the Father in the Son, our joy is full and complete.
The new “Day” is a time of Christian clarity and confidence by knowing the truth – as Jesus clarifies for the disciples saying, “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”
In His willing sacrifice, Jesus makes known the Father as the God who out of love sent his Son for the life of the world. Again, John reminds us: “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. ‘For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.’”
The Reformers who put together the Formula of Concord opined: “Out of His immense goodness and mercy, God provides for the public preaching of His divine eternal Law and His wonderful plan for our redemption, that of the holy, only saving Gospel of His eternal Son, our only Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.”
And so, this “declaration” of the Son in His willing, sacrificial death is the grounding for the Christian’s knowledge of God and his confidence.
Thus, when the Christian now prays – when you and I now pray to the Father “in the name of Jesus,” it is in confidence. The Father will answer such prayer because He loves the one who is praying. He hears you because He loves you.
The Father loves the disciple who prays because the disciple loves and believes in the Son. The Father loves the disciple with the same love with which He loves His own Son.
And more, Beloved – Prayer to the Father “in the name of Jesus” arises from and so gives witness to that mutual love in which Father, Son, and believer are one. United with the Son in His willing sacrifice, the Christian is joined with the Son in his prayer to the Father: “Your will be done.” As the prayer of the Son was realized in His voluntary death for the life of the world, so Christian prayer is ordered toward a life of faith and a confident steadfastness as children of the Father.
The new “Day” then, is a time of faithful discipleship. The life of faith and faithfulness is lived in the Crucified One as our peace. As Saint Paul puts it: “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” On this, Dr. Martin Luther spoke: “By [faith] you are so cemented to Christ that He and you are as one person.”
The certainty and confidence of faith lies in the Son’s own steadfast faithfulness. The Son alone suffered for the freedom of faith to live according to the will of the Father. Yet, the Father was with the Son in His willing sacrifice. The willing sacrifice of the Son was the Father’s will for the life of the world.
What a beautiful thing as we are united with Christ in His death and as such we are with the Father and the Father is with us. Again, in the Crucified, the Christian has peace – as Jesus tells us, “I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
In our steadfast faithfulness to the Father’s will, the Father’s will is made known to the world. And more, Christian steadfast faithfulness arises from the Son’s victory over the world. Because, in and by His crucifixion, Jesus has thrown the ruler of this world out just as He said: “Now is the judgment of this world; now will the ruler of this world be cast out.”
The cross of Jesus is the place of freedom for faithful living, for the Crucified “draws” the believer – you and me – to Himself. And more, God, in His love for His people gave gifts in which He delivers to us His grace.
In Baptism, we are united to Christ the Crucified and receive the Father of Jesus as our Father. St. Paul reminds us: “So then, brothers, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.”
And more, in the partaking of Christ’s body and blood, we are united to His sacrificial death. Thus united, we are one with Him in His coming to the world for the life of the world.
In steadfast faith and faithfulness then, the Christian gives witness to and manifests in actions the victory of Christ over the world.
Beloved, a new day has dawned! We know; we pray; we witness. “Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” Amen.
“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”