The Truth, Wisdom and Joy of the Ascension of Jesus

Sermon for the Ascension of Our + Lord (Observed)
May 17^th, A+D 2026
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, SD
Based on Acts 1:1-11

Audio of the sermon available HERE.

Christ is Risen, He is Risen Indeed, Alleluia!               

Christ IS Risen.  But wait, there’s more.  The God-Man, the eternal Son of the Father and also the Son of Mary, has ascended to the Father’s right hand.  And that is the Good News of the Ascension.  Your Savior, the One who has lived and died and risen from the dead, for you, has also ascended into heaven, for you.  By His being seated at the right hand of the throne of God, He secures and prepares a place for you.  He is your entry ticket into God’s glory, forever and ever, Amen. 

   That’s really great news.  But wait, there’s more.  A lot more.  Maybe you understood all the background of what I just proclaimed.  Or maybe not.  Every believer is alive in Christ, and God wills that we living Christians grow in faith and love, and in understanding, wisdom and holiness, as long as we are pilgrims on this earth.  And so today, because these first 11 verses of the Book of Acts contain so much truth and Good News, we will do well to walk through them, verse by verse. 

Verse 1:  In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach,

   This could take a while.   After all, Luke starts our text with “In the first book, O Theophilus…”  Understanding the Book of Acts starts with understanding the Gospel of Luke.  But, it shouldn’t take me more than an hour to summarize Luke… 

   O.k., who am I kidding?  We could spend an hour just digging into who this Theophilus that Luke addresses might be, let alone covering the basics of the whole Gospel.  Suffice it to say that Luke tells the story of the salvation of sinners, from Adam on, the salvation revealed and won by Jesus Christ.  Luke especially focuses on the Temple, as Jesus, our High Priest and our Sacrifice, won the salvation of the world through His own death and resurrection, opening the way into the Heavenly Temple of God for all who trust in Him. 

   This is what Jesus began to do and teach in Luke’s first book.  Now, in the Book of Acts, Luke will talk about Jesus ongoing work.  “Acts” is short for “The Acts of the Apostles.”  But a better name for this book is “The Ongoing Acts of Jesus Christ, through His Apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit.”  Maybe that is a bit long for a book title.  But we should know that a major take away from verse 1 is that Jesus Christ is still active, still doing and teaching, in His Church. 

Verse 2: until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.

   “Until He was taken up.”  The Ascension of Jesus is a hinge.  Before, all of Salvation History was condensing toward this point, when Jesus would complete His work and return to His rightful place at His Father’s right hand, only now as the scar-bearing Man, who is also God.  Jesus sits down because His task is finished.  He has done all that is needed to save sinners and bring them into His Father’s eternal kingdom.  Now, after Jesus’ Ascension, this work, which was condensed down to One Man dying on a Roman Cross and then bursting out of the tomb on the Third Day, this work can now begin to expand.  Jesus commanded exactly this task, to His chosen Apostles, who would be further taught and guided by the Holy Spirit.  We move from the 2^nd Article of the Creed to the 3^rd, as Jesus extends His salvation mission outward, through His Apostles, through His Church, by sending us His Holy Spirit. 

Verse 3:  To them he presented himself alive after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

     The Crucifixion and the Resurrection of God’s Son Jesus, Good Friday and Easter,        is THE thing in Christ’s Church, always.  Jesus, who had died on a Roman cross and placed into a tomb, presented Himself alive to the Eleven Apostles, and later to Saul the persecutor, who would be transformed into Paul the Missionary Apostle. 

   Why is this so important?  Because, while the Cross and Empty Tomb are always the main thing, God in His wisdom chose to communicate and deliver the victory of Calvary through eye-witnesses, who could both attest to the truth of the Resurrection and also proclaim its significance. 

   That is, the Apostles would proclaim the teaching of Christ, which reveals that in Jesus, God has reconciled the world to Himself, making it possible for sinners to be brought back into the Kingdom, back into the family of God, to live in His glory and blessing, forever. 

   The Apostolic Church is not a fable about an unbroken line of Roman bishops, passing down their unique authority from generation to generation.  No, the Apostolic Church is the body of believers gathered, redeemed and sanctified by the Word of Christ, His true teaching, which is maintained and empowered by the Holy Spirit.  The Apostolic Succession is the faithfulness of God, keeping His bishops, pastors and people alive in Christ, through His faithful Word, which was recorded and taught to us by the Prophets and Apostles.

     This is why Jesus stayed 40 days before He ascended.  Not 35, not 51, but 40.  Jesus was connecting the way God taught and prepared His Kingdom in the Old Testament with the New Testament fulfillment and expansion of the same.  The number forty is always associated with times of instruction or purification, times of preparation for God’s people. 

   In the time of Noah, cleansing the world of wickedness required 40 days and 40 nights of rain.  Moses spent 40 days on Mt. Sinai, receiving the LORD’s Torah, His instruction.  Israel required 40 years in the wilderness to prepare a new generation to enter the Promised Land.  And so also, keeping the tradition, the Risen Lord Jesus spent 40 days, giving His final face to face teaching, before ascending into heaven.  Verses 4 and 5:  And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, "you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

   These verses introduce the next phase of God’s Church building plan, and Baptism is at the heart of it.  Jesus had taught Nicodemus (John 3) that being born again, born from above, the rebirth by water and the Spirit, was required.  He also taught the Eleven explicitly about the coming of the Holy Spirit, who would lead them into all truth. (John 16) 

   John the Baptist prepared the way.  But the full blessing of Christian Baptism could not be delivered until after the Son had achieved the full reconciliation of sinners to God, through His shed blood.  Miraculous and spectacular at its inauguration on Pentecost, Holy Baptism is elsewhere in the Book of Acts described as outwardly simple and not obviously impressive.  But the promises God makes about Baptism are heavenly, life-changing, the washing of rebirth and regeneration, able to save our souls.  (Titus 3, 1 Peter 3) 

   “Not many days.”  That turned out to be 10 days, the Lord arranging for the next big Holy Day to be back on the first day of the week.  But the Eleven do not know it will be 10 days.  “Not many days” reminds us that God’s people are called to faith and patience, and submission to God’s plan, even when we cannot understand it, even when we really hate waiting.   

Verse 6: So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?"

   Luke records one final foolish error by Jesus disciples, and one more face-to-face correction Jesus had to make for them.  There may have been more, the New Testament never claims to give an exhaustive account of everything Jesus said to His followers.  John in his Gospel teaches us that if they were to record all that Jesus said and did, “even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)  But this last minute, fairly gentle correction that Luke does record is extra important. 

   “My kingdom is not of this world.” So our Lord explained to Pontius Pilate. (John 18:36)  Christ Jesus also said essentially the same thing in other words to the Twelve, the Pharisees, and to the crowds, many times.  We earth-and-time-bound sinners naturally look to what we know and see, and then we imagine that God’s kingdom is going to be a really nice version of something we already comprehend. 

 

     Not even close.  God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, (Ephesians 3:20) and He is going to do just that for His faithful.  Life with God in heaven will be altogether different, and infinitely better, than we can grasp today.  The reality of sin distorts everything in our world, but in God’s new heavens and new earth, there will be no sin.  No pain, no strife, no sadness, no tears, no death. 

   As we believe but do not fully understand the mystery that the One true God is also Three distinct persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, so also we can understand the words that the Holy Spirit speaks about the nature of the world to come.  But fully grasping what heaven will be like is literally beyond our imagination.  Christians are called to trust the Word, and look forward with eagerness to living face to face with Christ, and all the good that will bring.  It will be better than anything we know.

    But living with a heavenly focus is hard for us.  Our puny minds and hearts quite naturally lead us to imagine God’s Kingdom as some earthly good, just a lot better.  The Apostles assumed that the earthly kingdom of Israel, as it was in its glory days under King David, would be re-established by Jesus.  And the Eleven would hold all the key leadership roles.  But Jesus never taught that.  His Kingdom is not of this world.  The Kingdom of Christ on earth is like yeast mixed into dough, invisible, but still causing life to bubble up, through the whole mass of this fallen world. (Matthew 13:33)  And so, we Christians are pilgrims and aliens on earth; our true citizenship is in heaven.  We make our way by faith through our lives in this world, always looking forward to the next.   

   Yes, on the Last Day, the New Israel will be visibly glorious, reflecting the face of the One in Whose presence we will live.  But until then, we have this treasure in jars of clay.  (2 Cor. 4:7)  The glory of the Church on earth is the victorious suffering of Jesus, delivered to sinners through the Word, and in Baptism and the Holy Supper.  We can adorn this Gospel with grand buildings, wonderful music and beautiful artwork.  And that’s good and right, as long as we remember and confess that true beauty, true and eternal glory, are always hidden in this world.  Glory is hidden, at least in part, so that guilt-ridden sinners might be enticed to approach and receive the medicine of immortality, the gift of forgiveness, and so be able to look forward to the heavenly Kingdom that is coming.     

    And so Jesus responds to the Apostles Kingdom restoration question this way:

Verses 7 and 8:  "It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.   But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

   The earthly glory for the Eleven, and so also for the Church they built, is found in bearing witness, in extending the Church to every tribe and nation, to the ends of the earth.  They were given authority, and power, but hidden power, the power of God’s Word, which the Holy Spirit uses to convert sinners into children of God. 

   Such hidden power all too often attracts the world’s scorn and rejection.  In response, the Church and her Christians are necessarily humble about themselves, but proud and bold about Jesus.  For we know that truly there is nothing more powerful, or more important, in all the world, than the Good News of His free gift of salvation. 

   God grant us that we always find joy in the glorious task of understanding better and proclaiming more clearly the Glory of Christ, His Life, His Suffering and Death, His Resurrection, and His Ascension to the Father’s right hand.  We should definitely proclaim this message to each other, all the time, to encourage one another.  God knows we need encouragement.  We should also share it with unbelievers, as God gives us opportunity.  For this is the message, the only message, that will carry us, and all who hear and believe, into heavenly glory, for eternity. 

Verse 9: And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

  How far did Jesus travel when He ascended into heaven?  He moved up a little, enough to be enveloped by the cloud.  But did He rise far away, or just leave their sight?  Is He still close by? 

 

    Jesus is always close by His Church, even as He sits down at the right hand of God in heaven.  And just exactly where is God’s right hand?  Is it far away in outer space somewhere?  No, not at all.  God is not bound by the spatial realities of the universe He created.  As Paul spoke on Mars Hill in Athens, “in [God] we live and move and have our being.”  (Acts 17:28)

   The right hand of God is the place of His power, and God’s power is present everywhere.  And so now, in the mystery of the Incarnation, God’s Son taking human flesh into His being, Jesus seated at the right hand of the Father is also present everywhere, God and Man forever united in His person.  And so at the end of Matthew’s Gospel, just before ascending, Jesus promised: Behold I am with you always, to the very end of the age.   [Matthew 28:20]

   But wait, there’s more.  God, and so also Jesus, is everywhere.  But how do we earthbound mortals find and gain access to Him? And is this a good thing?  Is it safe for sinners to approach His throne? 

    It is true that the omnipresence, the “everywhere-at-once-ness” of Jesus, can certainly be a Word of Law to us sinners.  We cannot hide from Him.  If we go to the deepest depth of the sea, or climb the highest mountain, O Lord you are there.  We cannot hide, for even the darkness is light to You. (Psalm 139)  And as sinners, we are rightly concerned about coming into the Holy presence of God.  For the Lord hates sin. 

    But, we do not despair, because we know the secret of safely approaching God.  Which really isn’t a secret.  We Christians should shout from the rooftops that we know where we can go to meet God and receive His blessings.  Certainly, we seek to invite other sinners to join us.  We go to those places and moments where Jesus has promised to be present to bless.  For whoever hears the Words of the Apostles hears the Voice of Jesus.  (Luke 10:16)  Wherever two or more Christians gather in the Name of Jesus, He is with them, to discipline, and also to bless. (Matthew 18:15-20)  And Jesus promises, “This is My Body, this is My Blood, given and shed for you, for the forgiveness of sins.”

    The Holy Spirit is the One who gathers and gives life to the Church in countless local gatherings.  And wherever the Holy Spirit is, there also is Jesus.  And the Father too, for Jesus and the Father are One. 

   God rejoices to see His gathered children, and is eager to rain down blessings upon them.  The first blessing is always renewed forgiveness and reconciliation for repenting sinners, which is followed by joy and celebration, purpose and wisdom and community, and every good thing that God loves to shower upon His Church. 

  [10] And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, [11] and said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."

   This picture on the front of our bulletins, which is of one the paintings that hang in the entryway to Our Redeemer, is this a painting of the Ascension of Jesus, or is it of His Return on the Last Day? 

   Well, I think it is probably meant to show the Ascension.  But, as the two men in white robes teach us today, Jesus’ Final Return will look a lot like His Ascension.  He was received into a cloud, and He will return, riding on the clouds, visible to the whole world at one time.  Christ will return in glory to cast Satan and all who believe his lies into outer darkness, but also to inaugurate the joyous, sinless, perfect eternal Kingdom for all those baptized believers who eagerly await His coming. 

   When will that Day be?  It’s not for us to know, as Jesus taught the Eleven.  So, please remember, dear friends, any teacher who claims to know when Jesus will return should be rejected immediately.  He or she does not know what they are talking about, and will certainly twist and distort the rest of Jesus’ teaching.

   Instead, God grant us to take great joy and comfort from Jesus’ Ascension, and let us live from His Word of Grace, letting it dwell in us richly, until the day He takes us home individually, or when He appears one last time, to gather us all to His side. 

Amen, Come Lord Jesus, Amen.  

 

Enduring Life, Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy - Sixth Sunday of Easter, (Free Texts)

May 10^th, Year of Our + Lord 2026
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, South Dakota
Enduring Life, Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy                 
John 15:1-17, Jeremiah 2:21-22

Audio of the sermon can be found HERE.

Video of the readings and sermon can be found HERE.  

 

Jesus says: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” 

   Jesus’ teaching of the Vine and Branches is wonderful.  This passage from John chapter 15 is full of both the Catechism, full of plainly stated truths concerning the salvation doctrine of Jesus, and it also blesses us with the most vivid imagery, capturing the mystery of the Christian faith through the beauty and wonder of grapevines, of fruitful vineyards.  Which to choose for our focus this morning, the Catechism, or the beauty of the Vine and Branches?   Could we maybe enjoy both? 

   Today I am also marveling at the joy of God’s timing.  There was no planning on my part that we should hear this Word of God just shortly after Shelee and I returned from almost two weeks in Spain.  Hispania, Iberia, España: Spain, a remarkable land full art, architecture, history, olives, and full of tremendous vineyards, from the green north to the sunny south, rolling hills and valleys filled with rows and rows of vines, vineyards that produce wines from the palest golden yellow to the deepest burgundy: abundant, terrific wines.    

   My mom Agnes had a grapevine on back fence of our lot, behind the garden.  I do not remember that it ever produced a lot of grapes: Forsyth, Montana is not known as wine country.  But it was beautiful.  Every spring the grapevine foreshadowed the Resurrection.  The bare woody vines running along the top of the fence exploded in color, seemingly dead vines bursting forth with bright, pale green leaves. 

    Grapevines attract bees, which is probably why Agnes wanted it running behind her garden.  Grape vines can also give shade, or provide privacy, as they fill a fence with leaves.  And, of course, grapevines provide us with grapes.  I think maybe Agnes tried to make jelly from our grapes a few years, but I don’t remember it ever working out terrifically.  Regardless, our vine blessed us, and shown with abundant loveliness.   

   Abundance.  Do you know how much wine can be produced from one acre of grapevines?  If a vineyard produces a low harvest, still one acre can produce 1,400 bottles of wine.  If the harvest is plentiful, if the bunches of grapes sag heavily on the vines, requiring stakes and wires to support, then one acre can produce more than 7,000 bottles of wine.  When God provides, vineyards can produce astounding productivity. 

   And grapes are almost self-vinting.  All the liquid and all the sugar needed is naturally present, in the grapes.  Even the yeast needed to ferment the grape juice into wine is just there, naturally resting on the skins of the grapes.  All the vintner needs to do is harvest the grapes, crush them, put them in a vat, and wait.  Now, making a truly fine wine takes knowledge and experience, oak barrels and a lot of time.  But the basic wine-making process is almost automatic.

   How appropriate then that God chooses the super-abundance of grapes and wine to reveal to us the super-abundance of His grace and love.  The amount of wine possible from the world’s vineyards seems limitless, but God’s reservoir of forgiveness and reconciliation is even greater, is truly limitless.  And so the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. 

   The abundance of grapevines is wonderful.  But of course, in this fallen world we have always had problems with wine.  That is the tragedy of us sinners: we are always abusing God’s good gifts.  And not just alcoholic drinks.  God provides us with bountiful harvests of healthy food, more than enough to feed everyone.  But we tend to scorn the healthiest foods and overindulge in empty calories, damaging the health that God has given us food to support.  Meanwhile, others souls go hungry. 

   God blesses us with wealth, and we respond by trusting in our bank and investment accounts, and forget to thank and worship the One who has made us rich.  Sex is a wonderful gift, given for joy and fulfillment of husband and wife, and for the procreation of more children for God to love.  But far too often we turn sex into an ugly, empty act, used to control people and sell things.  Meawhile the culture of death in which we live encourages mothers to kill their babies, if they are at all inconvenient.  Leisure and pleasure are blessings from the Lord, but we all too easily make them our idols, and forget the Giver of every good and perfect gift. 

   We by our inherited fallen nature are always at risk of worshiping created things, instead of the Creator who has provided us with them all.  Such abuse is certainly possible with wine.  I am not a prohibitionist; it is false to say that any consumption of alcohol is a sin.  But I can understand the feelings and thoughts of Christians who have suffered through the ravages of alcohol abuse and addiction, their own or in their families.  The impulse to reject wine altogether is very understandable if it has ruined your family, your life. 

   Good gifts abused by sinners is a constant theme in Scripture.  The prophet Jeremiah uses a choice vineyard gone bad to describe faithless Israel.  God’s special chosen people, Israel nevertheless became faithless idolaters, through the worship of alcohol and other created things.  

   And so we learn that life as God’s people in this fallen world requires discipline, and correction, daily repentance, and constant prayer for the Lord to return us to His Way. 

    To bring in the Catechism, salvation is always God’s work, we sinners cannot add anything to our own rescue, our conversion is God’s work, for us, 100%.  As Jesus told His disciples, “You did not choose Me, but I chose you.”  The Apostles were not saved by any decision or work of their own.  For “by works of the law shall no man be saved.”  Salvation from sin and death are a free gift, from God’s gracious heart, a gift given, without an merit or worthiness in me. 

    We do nothing to save ourselves, but we are not saved for nothing.  We are saved for something.  Jesus teaches “You did not choose Me, but I chose you, and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should abide,” endure, last forever.  God saves us so that we will then bear fruit, by loving one another, by playing our part of God’s ongoing mission, by living as Christians in this world, still sinners, but at the same time also saints, eager to please our Savior. 

    Being saved by grace, not by our works, is true and wonderful.  But we must beware of our sinful flesh and the temptation to think that Christian life is like driving on cruise control downhill, requiring no effort on our part, no concern for sin, no concern for bearing fruit.  This is a dangerous lie.  Jesus saved us so that we can bear fruit.  Besides, salvation is about life coming out of death.  How can we who died to sin still live in it?  May it never be! 

   So, discipline is required, Christians are called to avoid abusing God’s gifts, to avoid sin, and also to love, to seek to serve the people God puts in our lives. 

    Still, the potential for our abuse does not stop God from using His wonderful gifts to help us understand and believe in His salvation.  The Old Testament poetic book “Song of Songs” uses the romantic, physical love between a man and a woman as a metaphor to proclaim the relationship between Christ and His Bride, the Church.  Jesus Himself provides super-abundant meals, filling thousands of bellies with miraculous bread and fish, even though He knew some diners would worship the meal, instead of the Host of the meal.  The joy of a good glass of wine is used to describe the joy of heaven.  At the Wedding at Cana, Jesus meets the earthly need of a wedding party running out of wine, not with just a bit of wine, but rather He creates 120 gallons of the best wine, saved for last.  Jesus did this to show His power, His identity, and to point us to the joys of heaven, the eternal feast of the choicest fat meats and the very best fruit of the vine.   

    Yahweh Sabaoth, the LORD of Hosts, our Savior God, revealed in Jesus Christ, is all-knowing, infinite, all powerful, eternal, and holy.  For all these reasons, our worship is always reverent, and centered on the forgiveness we need to come into His presence.  At the same time, our God is also eminently practical, working out mundane, earthly solutions, for our good.  Why did God choose to use vineyards and wine as both a central metaphor and as chosen instrument of salvation, as one of His special means of grace?  Well, despite the risk of our abuse, the Lord, by using wine as a means to deliver the Gospel, expands our opportunity to see, hear and taste His grace.  Through the Cup that we bless, the Lord shares His wisdom, the Lord draws us into heavenly mysteries.  In, with and under the wine of His Supper, Jesus pours out His love, given for us to drink into our mortal bodies, preparing and securing us for the glory of heaven. 

    Why is wine such a good choice?  Wine in the ancient world was a staple; it was often necessary for life.  For most of history, finding clean water to drink and keeping it clean in storage has been difficult.  The ancients may not have understood germ theory, but they knew that water could quickly become undrinkable.  The liquid we need for life easily became so full of disease that drinking it would threaten life.  But, the fermentation process makes the water in grapes safer to drink, and easier to store.  The alcohol in wine kills or prevents the growth of many organisms that can make us sick.  So, taken in moderation, wine was often vital for life, providing hydration to our bodies when clean water was hard to come by. 

    Through wine, God the Creator and Provider gives us hydration, and delight, even great joy, especially when combined with a plate of calamari, or cheese, or ribeye.  Just as He did with water, bread, and plain old human speech, the Lord chose common, earthly things to deliver His Good News of free forgiveness.  Choosing such common earthly means helps us earthly creatures to grasp His truth, to understand salvation, to access His love.  God is good, and practical.   

     The Vine and Branches passage, full of mystery and beauty, is also full of propositional truths.  In these few verses we find many connections the Catechism, to the teaching of Christ, the truth that saves sinners, the truth that sets us free.   

    I AM the True Vine.  This is one of Jesus I AM metaphors, by which He identifies Himself with the God of the burning bush, who appeared to Moses: I AM who I AM.  True God and True Man, Jesus of Nazareth is Yahweh, the Lord God, in human flesh, come down from heaven to be our Savior.

    Christocentricity – only in Jesus is there salvation.  Salvation and good works depend on being connected to Jesus.  “Abide in Me as a branch to a vine, and you will live, and produce good fruit.”  Be warned, of course, God the Father, the divine vinedresser, is going to work on you, pruning you clean throughout your life, so that you will produce more and more good fruit.  God through His Word corrects, forgives, restores and moves His faithful to love their neighbors.  The life of the Christian depends on the Word daily; we live in daily repentance, forgiveness and love.   

    The risk of eternal damnation – any branch that does not bear fruit, the Vinedresser removes, and throws away to be burned.  Christian faith not a lucky rabbit’s foot, a lucky charm, kept in a drawer, only to be brought out when danger threatens.  No, Christian faith is a living, active, busy thing, the very center of life. 

    The Centrality of God’s written and proclaimed Word.  Faith is created in us and endures by God’s Word: “You are already pruned clean” Jesus assures, “because of the Word I have spoken to you.”  So, abide in Christ by abiding in His Word!

    In the Vine and Branches we see the unity of the Church.  We are one, because we are all rooted in Christ, joined to God, and so also we are joined to each other.  The Holy Spirit does not make “Lone Ranger Christians,” living solitary lives.  Every saint is joined to Jesus, and to each other, one Vine and many branches, the very family of God.  And so we love one another.  We do good to all, but especially we do good to those of the household of faith, because we are brothers and sisters in Christ.     

    That sinners like you and me should have the closest communion with God, this is the Lord’s goal.  That we may be His own, and live with Him in His Kingdom, in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness.  Abiding in Christ our Vine is true life, joyous, abundant life, the foretaste of the heavenly feast to come, that has no end.   

    This is love, not that we loved God, but that in Jesus, He loved us.  Living from Jesus’ self-sacrifice, we are loved, and we are moved to love each other sacrificially.  None of us has to lay down our lives to pay for the sins of the whole world.  Jesus alone could and has done that task.  It is finished.  Abiding in Him, we receive the life that flows from His Cross to this altar.  Here, from the One Cup, we who are many receive Him who drained down to nothing the Cup of God’s anger against our sin.  Jesus has drained the Cup of God’s anger, down to the dregs, so that now we receive His forgiveness and new life, the Cup of the New Testament, in His blood.  By loving us in this way, Christ in us moves us to love others in our daily lives.   

    Enduring Life, Abundant Fruit, Fullness of Joy, for you, and all who trust in the True Vine, who feeds us with Himself, today, and forever and ever, Amen.   

Three Convictions of the Holy Spirit

Fifth Sunday of Easter – Cantate, May 3^rd, A+D 2026
Our Savior’s and Our Redeemer Lutheran Churches
Hill City and Custer, SD
John 16:7 – 11

Audio of the Sermon available HERE.

     Jesus says to His Apostles:  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. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:  concerning sin, because they do not believe in me;  concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you will see me no longer; concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.

     Got it?  Is Jesus’ point clear as crystal to you?  If you are struggling to understand, you are not alone.  These three ‘convictions’ of the Holy Spirit are challenging, not because Jesus is unclear, but because our understanding is so limited.  This is one of those passages I sometimes think I understand, but then the next time I hear it, or maybe right after I explain it to someone, suddenly I’m at a loss again, struggling to come to any confident conclusions. 

   Of course, God through His Scripture is always saying things deeper than we can fully grasp, which is why we can spend a lifetime digging into the Word, and never get to the bottom of it.  Still, it is good to be able to draw some basic conclusions, good to have a level of confidence about what God in His Word is saying to us.  We want to be assured that we understand, at least in a simple way, how this particular Word fits within the overall Good News of God’s salvation.  Lord willing, today we’ll get there together, with these three convictions of the Holy Spirit. 

     Jesus promises to send the Helper, and says this is better for the disciples, and by extension better for us, than it would be if He remained.  The Helper is identified by Jesus in a nearby section as God the Holy Spirit, and His sending is, by Jesus’ definition, a particularly wonderful gift.  But the way Jesus describes the Spirit’s ministry is pretty hard edged.  The Helper, the Comforter, is coming to convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.  That doesn’t sound comfortable.  What is this convicting all about?  How does it work?  What does it mean for me?   

     Jesus goes on to explain a bit: The Helper will convict the world concerning sin, says Jesus, because they do not believe in me.  What does this mean?  Well, it helps to consider how this first conviction sounds a lot like another challenging teaching of our Lord, that the only unforgivable sin is the sin against the Holy Spirit.  (see Matthew 12:22-32)  What is the sin against the Holy Spirit?  Well, the Holy Spirit’s central message is that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and the only Savior of sinners.  To reject His message is the unforgivable sin, for salvation comes only by faith in Jesus.  Unbelief is the unforgivable sin, because it rejects the only way God has given for sinners to be saved.  This is the sin for which the Helper convicts the world.  As Jesus said to Thomas eight days after the Resurrection: Stop doubting, and believe!   

     Here’s how this works:  As John the Baptist declared, Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.  All the sins of all people.  All of them.  In today’s Gospel reading, the Cross, upon which Jesus would swallow the sins of the world, was coming, the very next day.  On that Cross, the Lamb of God has poured out His holy and precious blood on all our sins, paying for every last human sin.  By this, Christ reconciled the world to His Father, by means of His own suffering and death, in our place.  As the eternal Son of God made man, the forgiveness earned by Jesus’ death is limitless.  But this reconciliation by forgiveness is received by each individual sinner only by faith.  There is forgiveness for everyone, but it is only received through personal faith in Christ. 

   Since Jesus has paid for all sins, anyone who believes in His forgiveness is saved.  So, ever since Jesus died and rose again, disbelieving the convicting testimony of the Holy Spirit is the only way to be condemned.  If you have no faith in the Cross and Resurrection, you are still in your sins.  But, if you believe in Jesus Christ as your Savior, all your sins have been taken from you, and you are declared righteous and holy by God.  When you believe in this blood-bought forgiveness, you have life, life in fellowship with God, both today, and forever and ever. To bring people to believe in Jesus’ forgiving blood, the Helper comes, giving the gift of faith by the preaching of the Gospel.  

     This is good news, the very best.  However, the sinner’s road to faith is rocky.  Before anyone, you, me or anyone else, will even begin to look for a way out of our predicament with God, we must first believe we are in a predicament.  We must know how bad our predicament is.  Being confronted by your sin, and God’s wrath against sin, is the only way anyone will ever look to Jesus for rescue.  This is why the Helper comes to convict the world concerning sin.  The ministry of the Holy Spirit, and so also the ministry of the Christian Church will until the Last Day necessarily include the condemnation of sin, and sinners, for the sake of saving them. 

     Easier said than done, of course.  Proclaiming God’s law and the reality of human sin to people, especially to outwardly nice people whom we like, and whom we want to like us, has never been easy.  Today in America, naming and condemning sin is extremely unpopular.  The world tries to redefine sin after sin as a simply part of a lifestyle, as free choices made by independent, autonomous, consenting individuals.  So the claim is made that homosexual acts are not the sad extreme of the sexual sin that afflicts us all, but rather just an alternate lifestyle.  The same goes for heterosexual sex outside of marriage, and also living together before marriage. Speaking ill of your neighbor, cheating just a bit on your taxes, scheming to live off someone else’s money, worshiping your recreation time and ignoring the gatherings at God’s house, all of these sins are not so often named as sins these days.  God’s unchanging Word against these sins still stands, but nobody wants to speak it. 

     Thankfully, the ultimate proclaimer of the Law is the God the Holy Spirit.  A preacher may idolize popularity and so stop short of speaking the plain truth.  But God’s Word still stands.  Through His Church, through His faithful preachers, in pulpits, and around dining room tables, Holy Spirit causes His Word of conviction to go forth.  God the Holy Spirit convicts the world, including you and me, of sin, for the sake of forgiveness.  Forgiveness is the ultimate aim of the Helper’s first conviction, because forgiveness brings salvation, which is the Father’s desire for every sinner. 

 

   The forgiving love of Jesus is also the only power for a truly amended life, which God also wants to see.  God the Holy Spirit joins us by faith to Jesus Christ, and so gives us life in Him, connecting us to His power, which causes us to begin to live differently.  Scolding people into outward conformity with the law can reduce outward sin, somewhat.  But, this only works so long, and the Law doesn’t change hearts.  Only God’s forgiving Gospel makes real change in sinners, the good news of underserved favor, the free gift of salvation.  And, this Good News must have its way prepared by the Law.

     So the Church which has the Holy Spirit will be preaching against sin and sinners, for the sake of salvation.  When we do this, the world will accuse us of bigotry, hatefulness, of trying to hurt and control people.  But proclaiming God’s law in order to lead sinners to forgiveness is truly the only way to fully love a sinful world.  This is the dynamic of Law and Gospel, the condemnation of sin, in order to apply Christ’s righteousness, His forgiveness, which restores, resurrects, and gives joy to sinners.  This is the Holy Spirit’s first conviction.

     Jesus goes on to say that the Helper will convict the world concerning righteousness, because no longer will the Apostles, or anyone else, see Jesus.  The righteousness of Christ must be learned and received through the Spirit’s convicting Word; seeing Jesus with our fallen eyes is not the way of salvation. 

     Jesus in His visible ministry was certainly righteous: perfectly faithful to God His Father, perfectly loving to His neighbors, teaching, healing, feeding and comforting.  Jesus’ earthly ministry was wonderful, and definitely attracted many people to come and see Him. 

     But the star power of Christ tended to make people miss the essence of His ministry.  His healings, His great moral example and teaching, the comfort He gave, the power and wisdom He displayed, all of these were wonderful.  All of these were true and Godly.  But none of it could save anyone from sin.  All of the amazing works of ministry Jesus did were preliminary to the main act.  Because the wages of sin is death, and so rescue from sin and death requires a death, a full payment for sin.  So Jesus saved the world through death.  Ugly, sad, and frightening though it was, His death makes our life. 

     Jesus achieved our righteousness and future glory, through suffering.  And so, the amazing miracle worker, the wonderful preacher, the one to whom the crowds flocked, goes away, so as not to be seen for His brilliance.  Jesus goes away so that through His Word the Spirit can give eyes of faith to the Apostles, and us, and to people all around the world, eyes of faith to see His true beauty, in His Cross.  The Holy Spirit displays the righteousness of Christ Crucified and Resurrected, through His Word, which gives us eyes of faith to see and receive Jesus, the only Savior. 

     The third conviction flows from number two.  The Helper also convicts the world concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world is judged.  This means there is no “neutrality,” no safe place to exist between the kingdom of God and kingdom of Satan.  Every human being is either in one kingdom, or the other.  Sin is extra painful in the life of the believer because when we sin, we who belong to God are trying to put one foot in Satan’s kingdom.  Straddling fences, whether barbed wire or spiritual, is painful. 

     The Helper comes to remind the Church and to convict the world that the kingdom of Satan stands condemned, defeated.  The Helper convicts, so that believers would put both feet back in God’s kingdom, and unbelievers would look for the way to escape Satan’s power.   

     The judgment of Satan is also a comfort for believers.  This world is still under Satan’s control.  But, because of Jesus, the old evil foe is only angrily and bitterly awaiting the final enactment of his eternal defeat.   At the Cross, the power of Satan’s kingdom, his ammunition for accusing sinners, was destroyed.  Satan’s power flows from the combination of God’s Law and our sin.  Satan uses God’s law against us, pointing out how we have failed, tempting us to hate God and flee, or persuading us to believe that God could never love such as sinner as you or me. 

     But Jesus by His life of good deeds and by His Cross fulfills God’s Law, both positively and negatively.  All the good works that God’s Law demands are fulfilled by the Good Works of Jesus.  You are free to do the good works God has prepared for you to walk in, free to live as Christians precisely because you don’t need your good works to win God’s favor.  God the Father is completely pleased with you and everyone who is joined to His Son by faith, because Jesus shares the credit for His perfect life of good works with His believers, His people.  With you. 

     As on the positive side, so also on the negative.  All the punishment and the death that God’s Law requires for human sin was suffered by Jesus at Calvary.  It is finished.  In Christ, there’s nothing left.  In the blood of Jesus, all your sins are washed away.  So, Satan has nothing left to say to you.  His kingdom is judged, destroyed, powerless over those who are in Christ.  This bad news for Satan is our great hope, the heart of the Gospel, for you and me and all people. 

   Satan may still accuse you of your sin, he may try to fool you with his lies.  And it is truly frightening that in our sinful flesh we continually try to emigrate to Satan’s kingdom.  Despite what we know and believe, despite what God has made us to be, members of the body of His Son, the Church of Christ, still, we sin.  The good that we want to do, we do not always do, and the evil we do not want to do, too often, we do.  This is the first great struggle of Christian living, daily realizing and repenting of our sins, from which we cannot free ourselves.  Lord have mercy. 

     Lord have mercy.  And, He does!  The Lord does have mercy, for you.  The Holy Spirit, day by day, forgives you all your sins, and the sins of all believers, in His Church, by His Word.  Repent of your sins, and trust in Jesus.  Trust in the truth of His Word, trust in the power of His blood.  For the truth is, Jesus Christ is your all in all, your righteousness, your forgiveness, your holiness, your resurrection from the dead.  Look to His Cross, and be convicted of this: Satan’s power over you is a lie.  In Christ, you are free, free to rejoice in God’s grace, free to live under Him in His kingdom in righteousness, innocence and blessedness, today, and forever and ever, Amen.