Introit (Psalm 27)
1 Peter 4:7–14
St. John 15:26–16:4
In the name of the Father and of
the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Last Sunday, our Lord told us rogate, that means, “Ask.” He gave us a
promise that when we pray our Father will answer. This Sunday, we respond to
this promise by saying, exaudi, that
means, “Hear.” When our God tells us to ask of Him, then it is only right that
we start praying. Hear, O Lord, when I
cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
There seems to
be a lot of crying aloud these days. Not necessarily crying aloud in grief,
certainly not crying in repentance over sin, and probably not crying to God for
help either. But there’s a lot of crying aloud in outrage and fear, people
crying out that they are offended. Our college campuses are full of young
adults crying for “safe spaces.” Our courts are listening to people who are
crying that they be accommodated even in their self-delusions, as they insist
that there is no created difference between men and women. Now I will admit
that a lot of the crying going on in our country has been coming from my own
generation, people in their 30s and younger. But these millennials were taught
by the generations before them, and in any case, much of our society has bought
into the idea that each and every one of us is special, that we can do whatever
we think we should be able to do, and that we should be protected from anything
or anyone that might tell us “No.” My generation might be the worst, but I
think all of us must admit to some degree that we are incredibly weak minded. We
are incapable of making distinctions between right and wrong, and holding fast
to these convictions. Yet at the same time, our weak minds are quite capable of
thinking far too highly of ourselves. So when faced with adversity our reaction
is to protest, and cry aloud like the teenager, “Nobody’s listening to me!”
This is not the
same as the Christian crying aloud in prayer to the Father, because the Lord
has told us to cry to Him. He says, rogate
– Ask the Father. We say, exaudi –
Hear me. We don’t expect Him to listen because we think He should. We don’t cry
aloud for our ideas of fairness or safety. We expect Him to hear because we
know He wants to. We cry to Him because He has told us to do just that, and we
want His answers, His ideas for justice, protection, and our well-being.
In Psalm 27 the
Lord says, “Seek My face.” And we
respond, “Your face, Lord, do I seek;
hide not Your face from me.” He wants us to find Him and know Him. And that
is why we ask Him to hear us. That is why we have confidence to pray and cry
aloud, not shouting vainly into a megaphone, but like dear children we calmly
and reverently ask our dear Father.
The weak-minded
souls of this world have much to fear because they do not have the conviction
that comes from the Holy Spirit’s Word. They lack the absolute certainty of
salvation by the forgiveness of sins in the blood of Jesus. And they do not
know the love that the Father has for all who are baptized into His Son. So
when a leaf rustles they shout and cry in fear. When they’re told that they are
wrong and must repent, they chafe against it because they are afraid. They have
no sure defense, no solid foundation, apart from their own hearts and minds
that have been twisted and confused by sin.
But the
Christian is not afraid or weak when confronted by danger or lies. Not because
the Christian is so courageous or strong on his own, but because the Christian
has the Lord. The Lord is my light and my
salvation; whom shall I fear? The
Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? The
crucified, risen, and ascended Lord is on your side. His death satisfied God’s
wrath. His blood demolishes the accusations of the devil and even quiets the
fearful objections of our consciences. His resurrection is the proof that we
have peace with God and we have power over the enemies of sin and Satan. Jesus
lives. The victory is won.
And yet, it’s
not over till it’s over. And as long as this world is allowed to endure, the
enemies of God still run rampant, threatening and attempting to do as much
damage as they can to God’s Church and to themselves. The reason people cry and
lash out at the Truth is because they are afraid. They have not known the Father, nor
Jesus, so they are afraid of God and they are afraid of themselves, afraid of
what they have made themselves by their sinful rebellion against His will.
So when we are
attacked by these enemies, attacked by Satan, by our sinful minds, and by the
poor deluded souls in this world that reject God’s Word, then we go to our
Father and ask for His help. We are not afraid. We pray. Teach me your way, O Lord, and lead me on a level path because of my
enemies. Give me not up to the will
of my adversaries; for false witnesses have risen against me,
and they breathe out violence.
While none of
us want to have enemies, no Christian should be surprised by it. Jesus told His
disciples, “The hour is coming when
whoever kills you will think he is offering service to God. And they will do
these things because they have not known the Father, nor Me.” Just a few
paragraphs earlier Jesus said, “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but
I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember
the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If
they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” Nevertheless,
even though we should not be surprised by this, we do not suffer it stoically,
without feeling or thinking or speaking out. Psalm 27 cries aloud to God: Hear
me and teach me because of enemies and false witnesses. We ask our God to pay
attention to the lies that are spoken to us and about us that He may comfort us
with the truth. We are surrounded by the noise of false teaching and sin, so we
need God to cut through it all and shine the light of His face upon us. We need
Him to guide us in His Way so that we know what is right.
Now, Satan is
the chief adversary of the Christian, the leading false witness. He accuses us
of sin that has been atoned for by Jesus. He would have us believe that we are
not forgiven and so cause us to despair of God’s mercy and protection. And then
there are the other false witnesses that rise up from among our fellow men. They
call Christians bigoted and sexist, intolerant and narrow-minded. They seek to
discredit us in the eyes of the world, triumphantly pointing out when we fail
to live by God’s commands, calling us hypocrites and liars. Like Satan, they
want us to despair of our hope in God and give up the convictions that we have
from God’s Word. Satan breathes out
violence and it is carried out by the mouths and hands of unbelieving men
intent on hurting God’s Christians. Their words do violence to reputations. Their
teaching does violence to marriage and the family. Their actions do violence
against the womb and the life that is sheltered and nurtured there. They do
violence against the Christians who refuse to bend the knee to any other god. In
summary, they breathe out violence against God’s Word, that is His Way and
Truth, which the Spirit of Truth has revealed in Holy Scripture.
False witnesses breathe out violence. But Jesus breathes out the Holy Spirit. Beloved, do not
be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though
something strange were happening to you. But
rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and
be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are
insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory
and of God rests upon you. The Comforter, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
He bears witness to you about Jesus. He
is the opposite of the false witnesses. He
witnesses to the Truth of Jesus’ death and resurrection. With His Word He comforts you with the assurance that your sins
are forgiven because of Jesus and the Father receives you as His beloved child. Picture yourself in God’s courtroom:
Jesus, your Advocate, stands before God on your behalf, contradicting the
demonic accusations with His blood. And the Holy Spirit is the counselor, the
attorney sitting by your side, whispering in your ear, “Don’t worry. We’ve got
this in the bag. It doesn’t matter
what any adversary says. You are
righteous on account of Christ and you have nothing to fear.”
This knowledge
from the Holy Spirit also strengthens you to bear witness about Jesus to the
world. Jesus breathes out the Spirit for you so that you may learn God’s Way
and confess, speak aloud His Word of Truth. The Holy Spirit comforts and
strengthens your conviction in God’s Word so that you may say, your “Amen” when
God condemns the unrepentant and also say your “Amen” when God forgives those
who repent and believe. Although Christians are susceptible to the ways of this
world, they are also different from the fearful and weak-minded belonging to this
world. You are baptized. That makes you different. You hear and believe God’s
Word. That makes you different. Being baptized and believing means you have the
Holy Spirit the Comforter. Jesus
has sent Him and continues to send Him to you in these ways.
So whom shall
you fear? The Lord is on your side. He has not hidden His face from you. He
bids you to seek Him in His Holy Word and Sacraments, precisely where He has
promised to be found. And He certainly hears when you cry aloud.
Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He
is risen indeed! Alleluia!
In the Holy + Name of Jesus.
Amen.
