Sixth Sunday of Easter, May 9th,
A+D 2021
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s
Lutheran Churches, Custer and Hill City, SD
Who Are You Listening To?
It’s Mother’s
Day. Are you listening to your
mother? My mom has been in glory for 17
years, but I can still hear her voice.
We don’t always like listening to our mothers, but very often, it’s a
good idea. Mom may not always be right, but
she’s not always wrong. And in the vast
majority of cases, she truly does want what’s best for you.
Mother’s
Day and high school and college graduations usually happen around the same time. And mom’s have an intense interest in the
graduation of their kids. My guess is
that moms in Custer and Hill City really enjoy the banners with the graduates’
senior pictures, smiling from the lampposts downtown. Pretty cool, something that could only happen
in a small town. Do you look at those
banners and wonder, “What will those young people do?” Their mothers almost certainly worry, “How will our graduates do?” “Who will our graduates listen to?” As they head out into the next phase of their
lives, as they exercise their independence and face new challenges,
opportunities, and temptations, who will they turn to for advice? Who will they believe? What will they believe is true?
Along with all those mothers, I also wonder
about these questions. And not just concerning
our graduates. Day by day and week by
week, I ask this same question, about all our neighbors and fellow
citizens. And about you, because I have
been called to preach the truth to the members of our churches, and anyone else
who happens to listen in. I pray that
God keeps me preaching rightly, because I know that He will work through the
Truth of His Word. Above all I rely on
the promise that He will build and care for His Church. But still I worry. Who are you listening to? Whose testimony do you consider true?
I worry, because even at our best, we don’t
hear that much faithful testimony each week.
Maybe an hour or two on Sunday.
If you are blessed with the habit of personal devotions and Bible study,
maybe another few hours during the week.
At our best, most of us don’t hear more than 5 or 6 hours of faithful preaching
and teaching each week. But that’s certainly
not the only proclamation you hear, not by a longshot.
Outside of church, you, and I also, hear the
constant proclamation of a world under the influence of the devil. We turn on the computer, radio or T.V. We open our phone or maybe even a newspaper or
magazine. We head down to the coffee
shop.
From all of these sources you and I hear
other voices, some impressive preachers among them. A few admit they are peddling their
religion. But most are sneakier. They claim to be just giving you the news, or
entertainment, or advertising their political cause, or their merchandise in
hopes you’ll buy. But they are proclaiming
a message.
Knowingly or not, there are a multitude of
preachers trying to get your ear, trying to tell you all about life, how you
should live, what you should believe.
And they preach a different message than Jesus does. They proclaim a different way of life than
the Holy Spirit offers. And so I
worry. Who are we listening to?
What is the most important thing in life,
according to what you hear outside these walls?
Being a good person? Living a
good life? Having a little time and money
to indulge your pleasures? Having a good
reputation downtown? Now, I’m not saying
the world is against all religion. The
world is happy to encourage you to have a little spirituality; how often do we
hear: “You gotta have faith.”? Just don’t
go overboard. The message of the world
is “go ahead and believe something, but don’t live like God is the most important
thing in your life.” Because that’s no
fun, and you’ll make other people uncomfortable. And whatever you do, don’t suggest that there
is only one Truth about God and faith. Because
that would mean other people don’t have it right, and we don’t want to upset
anyone. That’s not nice.
The world, at the devil’s behest, preaches
to us that we shouldn’t focus our time and energies on God and His Word, but rather
on living a good life, now. We should
try to get along with people, and not rock the boat. Religion is fine, in small doses. But really, don’t you think there will be
time for that later? Do you really want
to be a fanatic?
That’s the world’s testimony. But what is God’s testimony to us? What does He say life is to be all
about? Jesus says you are to love the
Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, and you are to love
your neighbor as yourself, (Luke 10:27). Furthermore, Jesus says that we are not to
relax the law of God, not even a little bit, (Matthew 5:19). Love God,
totally, with your whole being. Love
your neighbor, as you love yourself.
Period. There’s nothing in there
about enjoying the good life, nothing about getting a good job, or preparing
for retirement, nothing in their about indulging your pleasures, not even about
being comfortable. Not that those things
are bad, but they’re not God’s priority.
The world tells us to relax. Sure, do the best you can to be a good person,
but don’t let all that God talk run away with you. Be nice to people, that’s enough. And whatever you do, don’t start to wonder
about what comes after this life. That
will just lead to stress and conflict. Besides,
lots of scientists say nothing happens, and lots of religions say good things
happen to everybody. So why should we be
so radical about what Jesus says concerning eternal life and eternal
suffering? Just relax, says the world,
watch another episode of your favorite show, play another game, work a little
longer on your garden, drink another beer, and forget about what the Bible says. That gets to be so controversial. Isn’t it just another book? And besides, says the world, you can’t do
it. You can’t really love the Lord with
all your heart. You don’t love your
neighbor as yourself. So just forget
about it. That’s what the world says, on behalf of the devil. Who are we listening to?
Now, the world is right on one point, at
least. We can’t do it. Truly trying to live in love toward God and
neighbor is good, and it makes for a better world. But we are not capable of perfectly loving
the Lord with all our heart and our neighbors as ourselves. But that’s no reason to ignore God’s
testimony. Our inability to fulfill it
doesn’t make the Lord’s testimony false.
Our failures to live in accordance with God’s truth do not change that
truth. Those who ignore God’s testimony are
cutting themselves off from Him, both now, and without a change of course, also
for eternity. We need to listen to God’s
testimony, not because it’s comfortable or because you can achieve His
standard, but rather because His testimony is true.
Even though we fall short, we need
to listen. And you want to
listen, because God has more to say. His
demands for your perfect love are part of His testimony, but they
are not His final Word. This first part
of God’s testimony is His Law, how He expects us to live, in relation to Him,
and in relation to our neighbors. The
Law of God is holy and good, and we must hear it. But thanks be to Jesus, in the end we are a
church of the Gospel; we are gathered in this place to hear Good News.
As we consider our struggle to love God and
our neighbors, the Gospel is good news indeed.
For instead of leaving us with nothing but instructions for a good life
that we can never accomplish, God’s final word is the promise of a good life
that He gives to us, freely, as a gift. Like John teaches in our epistle: Everyone who believes that Jesus
is the Christ has been born of God, … and 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?
Now this is a different word, a different
testimony, a testimony that promises victory over the world, and at the same
time declares this victory is available to all people in the world. God’s final
testimony is not about what we are supposed to do, but rather it is about what God
has done, which He calls us to believe.
This is the testimony about Jesus, which calls us to trust in the One
who came down from heaven and became one of us, living to die, and rise again,
for the sake of giving us not just ‘good lives,’ but real life, everlasting
life.
Jesus is the One 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. For there are three that testify: The Spirit and the water
and the blood; and these three agree. If we receive the testimony of men, (and
it is constantly in our ears), the testimony of God is greater, for this is the
testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.
A true testimony concerning our love toward God
and our neighbor is not good news for us, because we do not love as the Lord
commands. But the Spirit, the Water and
the Blood proclaim a better testimony, about a better Man, the Man Jesus who
came by Water and by Blood. Jesus came,
sinless and good, and was baptized in water to enter into a ministry of service
and sacrifice.
In His life Jesus loved God, and His
neighbor, perfectly, with His whole being.
He did that for you, in your place, in order to be able to share the
credit for His good works with you. And Jesus
did not come only to keep the Law. Jesus
also came by blood, that is He came and bled, on the cross. He was crucified into a death which wins
eternal life for you, because it pays for all the times you failed to love as
God desires. The blood of Jesus covers
all your sins, you are forgiven.
This great victory was won for you 2000
years ago. And today, God continues to love
you by testifying to you of Jesus and His love, by the Spirit, the Water and
the Blood.
The
Spirit, the Author of the Holy Scriptures, speaks the truth through His Word,
written, spoken and sung. This truth is
the good news that God in Christ has reconciled you, and the whole world, to
Himself.
The Water of Holy Baptism testifies, publicly, that God has
adopted you, through Jesus Christ, washing away your sins and joining you to
His life, His death and His resurrection.
The blood of the Supper testifies, week after week, that
God continues to love you, continues to forgive you, strengthens you to resist
the lies of the world, and empowers you to love others.
This is the testimony we all need to receive,
the testimony of God, through the Spirit’s Word, and through Baptism, and
through the Supper. When you receive this testimony, you are abiding
in the love of Jesus, poured out on Calvary, for you. Through this testimony Jesus joins Himself to
you and goes with you out into the world.
And then a wonderful thing happens. When you abide in Jesus, you live differently. You begin to love, because you are filled
with His love. Rooted in Jesus, your
life is not driven by fear of failure and punishment, but rather you move in joy
at your good fortune, that you have received the testimony of Christ, which
leads you to love your neighbor, and look at life differently. You may still watch a TV show, or play a
video game, fix up your garden or even drink a beer. But you do so secure in the knowledge that
God in Christ has called you to be His own.
Do everything in the knowledge that every good gift comes from God, and
give thanks. Joined to Jesus, you can
still enjoy the best things, but you are not fooled into living for things. Rather you learn to live in and from Jesus. Joined to Jesus, you live in the freedom of
forgiveness, which also frees you to love your neighbor selflessly, to share
your good things with them. Living from
Jesus, we are moved to forgive one another, and to rejoice, for God in Christ
has met all our needs.
Today, and for the rest of your life, listen
to the testimony of the Spirit, (found in God’s Word), and the testimony of the
Water, (with which you were baptized, in the Name of the Father and of the Son
and of the Holy Spirit), and the testimony of the Blood, (shed for you to
drink, for the forgiveness of your sins).
These three testify, these three agree, that God, in and through Jesus
Christ, will always love and care for you.
Listen, rejoice, and live from this testimony, today, tomorrow, and
forever and ever, Amen.
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