Sermon for the Holy Trinity: "Trinity in Unity" (Acts 2:14a, 22-36)

 

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from the Holy Trinity – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit – in undivided Unity!

 

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

Happy Trinity Sunday and a blessed Memorial Day weekend as we remember our fallen military who risked everything – including their own lives – to preserve our temporal freedom.

On this Trinity Sunday, we confess the very complicated. We confess the triune nature of God. We confess that there is one true God and it is the Holy Trinity.

Over the years, many have taught the Trinity through earthly things, like apples and clovers. The apple is like the Trinity in that it has three parts and yet it is one apple with the peel, the flesh, and the seeds. Clovers are like the Trinity in that it has three leaves and is yet one clover. But even with all the analogies that we have thought of, we cannot fully comprehend the Trinity.

Although the Trinity is hard to understand, this is an essential article of the faith. This is why we confess the Trinity each and every Sunday throughout the Divine Service in the Invocation, in the Introit, in the prayers, in the Creeds, and in the hymns. God has revealed Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. All other gods are only a figment of human imagination. All other gods are fake and offer nothing. The Islamic false god known as Allah has no power. The Hindu false gods have no power. All earthly “gods” are completely worthless.

The one true God is beyond our human understanding. Unlike all fake gods, the one true God reaches out to us specifically in the Second Person of the Trinity, that is, the Son of God, as He became fully human, so that He could suffer and die for our sins and rise from the grave so that we could be with God in all eternity.

You see, although we may find it hard to understand the Holy Trinity, He is essential to our salvation. It is indeed comforting and reassuring knowing who the true God really is.

As we may give the Persons of the Trinity particular attributes – such as Creator for God the Father, Redeemer for God the Son, and Sanctifier for God the Holy Spirit – we must also remember that we cannot separate the Holy Trinity, since the three Persons of the Trinity work together as the one true God. In today’s Second Reading from Acts 2, we hear this perspective in Peter’s Pentecost sermon.

Surprisingly, Peter’s Pentecost sermon is not really about the Holy Spirit – although the pouring out of the Holy Spirit is certainly prominent on that Pentecost Day. Through his preaching, Peter shows us how the Holy Trinity works together to bring about our salvation.

[The Resurrection]

Although the term Holy Trinity is never mentioned in the Scriptures, the Persons of the Trinity are mentioned. Most prominently, Jesus’ Great Commission stands out the most as He says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:18-20).

Peter also proclaims the Holy Trinity in his Pentecost sermon as he says, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing” (Acts 2:32-33).

Here, Peter is stating the resurrection of Jesus as a fact that can be confirmed by witnesses. Peter’s point is not to establish the fact of the resurrection, but to explain its significance. So, what is the significance of the resurrection?

Since Christ is indeed raised from the dead, we are certain of our salvation. In his Pentecost sermon, Peter said, “This Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised Him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it” (Acts 2:23-24). You see, God the Father sent His Son to bear our sins and be our Savior and the Holy Spirit proclaims our salvation through proclaiming Jesus.

[The Athanasian Creed]

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, we dig deeper into the Triune nature of God. For centuries, humanity has attempted to understand who God is. As creatures created by God, we only know what God has revealed to us through His Scriptures and in nature. Through nature, we can only understand God the Creator.

But through His inspired Scriptures, He reveals so much more! He reveals how we are saved from the power of sin, death, and Satan.

This salvation – by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone – is confessed in the Athanasian Creed. Although this Creed does not fully explain the Trinity, it does give us boundary lines. We worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. Now, this Creed can be hard to fully understand in one reading as it does present complicated words and appears to go in circles with similar phrases throughout. The Athanasian Creed also does often brings up questions, especially with its anathemas. That is, the condemnations at the beginning and end of this Creed. Let’s begin with that as we see how this longest Creed proclaims our salvation.

“Whoever desires to be saved must, above all, hold the catholic faith. Whoever does not keep it whole and undefiled will without doubt perish eternally” and “This is the catholic faith; whoever does not believe it faithfully and firmly cannot be saved.” So, what does this mean?

To be short and sweet, it means just that. We must believe in the Holy Trinity in order to be saved. Now, we may not fully understand the Triune nature of God, but we are to trust in Him. This is what this means. This is faith. We are to trust. And in trusting in the Trinity, we are saved. For He is the one true God.

This is what we confess each and every Sunday, but the difference is that the confession of the Athanasian Creed says what we imply in the other Creeds. The point of the Athanasian Creed is that we confess the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity. Therefore, there are not three Gods, but one God who is coeternal with each other and coequal.

The doctrine of the Trinity is what Jesus constantly taught. On just a couple of those occasions, Jesus said, “Whoever has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9a) and “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30). This is Jesus proclaiming the oneness He has with God the Father, just as was said in Deuteronomy 6:4: “Hear, O Israel: the LORD our God, the LORD is one.”

So, there is not three Gods, but one God. Through the Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity, we are saved. Salvation is only found in the Holy Trinity – the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

[Trinity in Unity]

Again, Peter’s Pentecost sermon is not ultimately about the Holy Spirit, but rather about how the Holy Trinity works together for our salvation.

From Creation as recorded in Genesis through all the millennia, the Holy Trinity was working for our salvation as He inspired the Prophets to proclaim the coming Savior.

In fact, this is what Peter proclaimed from David:

“I saw the Lord always before me,
for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
my flesh will dwell in hope.
For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
Or let your Holy One see corruption.
You have made known to me the paths of life;
You will make me full of gladness with your presence” (Acts 2:25-28; Psalm 16:8-11)

Here, David is not telling of himself, since his flesh saw corruption and died as Peter rightly speaks. Instead, David is writing as a prophet as he foresaw the Christ coming. So, in fact, it is Jesus who is speaking these words from Psalm 16. It is Jesus who is at the right hand of the Father. It is Jesus who will not be abandoned to death. It is Jesus who will not be corrupted by sin. It is Jesus, with the Father and the Holy Spirit who is always before us.

Because Jesus has suffered, died, and rose for our salvation, this makes Him both Lord and Christ. This means that we can recognize that the risen and ascended Jesus is with us. So, our faith is not shaken by all the hardships that we encounter in this life, for David says concerning Jesus: “I saw the Lord always before me, for He is at my right hand that I may not be shaken” (Acts 2:25).

When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night (John 3:1-17), he thought he was only visiting a great prophet. But Jesus is more than just a prophet. He said to Nicodemus that the Holy Spirit will bring him to know that He is not just a great prophet, but He is the One who descended from the Father. Jesus taught Nicodemus and He continues to teach us that it is the Holy Spirit that brings us to faith in Him, since it is only through Jesus that we are able to enter the Kingdom of God.

So, whatever hardships we encounter – such as spiritual doubt, persecution, peer pressure – Jesus is with us as He offers us comfort as He says, “Take heart, do not be afraid for I have overcome the world” (Matthew 14:27, John 16:33).

This means that we can experience joy and hope because of the certainty that God will never abandon us. You see, Jesus’ death on the cross has reconciled us to God by forgiving the sin that separated us from Him. Now, since we have been joined to Jesus in Baptism and since God the Father did not abandon Him, we know He will never leave us in this life and the life to come.

On this Holy Trinity Sunday, Jesus enables us to see the Holy Trinity by Him coming in our flesh as He took away our sin through His death and resurrection. Through Christ alone, we know that we worship one God in Trinity and Trinity in Unity. He brought us to faith through the waters of Holy Baptism. He alone keeps us in the faith through the hearing and study of His Word and through the partaking of Christ’s very Body and Blood under the bread and wine in the Lord’s Supper, which forgives our sins and strengthens our faith. So, when we see Jesus, we see the Holy Trinity.

We may not fully comprehend the Holy Trinity, but we with the seraphim proclaim the salvation won on the cross through the Triune God proclaiming:

4    Holy, holy, holy! Lord God Almighty!
    All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!
    God in three persons, blessèd Trinity!    (Holy, Holy, Holy! Stanza 4)

Text: Public domain

Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Greater Love Has No One Than This...

Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13).

Jesus sacrificed Himself as He willingly suffered and died upon the cross so that humanity could be saved from the powers of sin, death, and Satan, so that by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone all believers receive forgiveness of sins, eternal life, and salvation. This was a once-for-all sacrifice for all of humanity. He suffered and died for His friends. He suffered and died because He loves all of mankind.

On this Memorial Day, we remember those servicemen and women who lost their lives to protect our temporal freedom of life, liberty, and property. They risked everything for the countless civilians they never knew.  Unlike them, the Holy Trinity inherently knows us all personally (Psalm 139:13-16). Even more so, the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) gives eternal protection and salvation to all who trust in Him.

Known as the sailor’s hymn, “Eternal Father, Strong to Save” proclaims the protecting and saving hand of God. Psalm 5:11 proclaims, “But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your name may exult in You.” So, no matter our station in life, the Triune God defends us from all harm and danger and from all evil. This means that in life or in death, for those in Christ, nothing can separate us from the love of God.

The first stanza of this hymn is inscribed over the chancel at the United States Naval Academy: “Eternal Father, strong to save, Whose arm hath bound the restless wave, Who bidd’st the mighty ocean deep It’s own appointed limits keep: O hear us when we cry to Thee for those in peril on the sea.” This recalls when Jesus calmed the stormy sea as His disciples were in fear (Mark 4:35-41). So even in the most perilous situation, God is there to calm our fears.

Each stanza of this hymn addresses a different member of the Trinity, but the final stanza praises the whole Trinity in Unity and Unity in Trinity: “O Trinity of love and pow’r, Our people shield in danger’s hour; From rock and tempest, fire and foe, Protect them where so-e’er they go; Thus evermore shall rise to Thee Glad praise from air and land and sea.”

On this Memorial Day, we remember our lost servicemen and women who died for our temporal freedoms, but most especially we are bound to confess our eternal salvation won for all of mankind through the Holy Trinity as God the Father sent His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to bear our sins and be our Savior. For us, this is only recognizable through the Holy Spirit as He proclaims our salvation through Jesus Christ.

The Almighty God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – bless us and direct us all our days!

Sermon for the Ascension of Our Lord: "The Ascended King" (Acts 1:1-11)

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from our risen and ascended Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

The Feast of Ascension is one of the most important feasts of the Church Year. We might not realize this because it is often a forgotten feast. After all, this holiday lands toward the end of the Easter season and right before the festival of Pentecost. The fact is, though, Ascension Day is right up there with Christmas and Easter in its importance.

About 30 or so years earlier, Jesus took upon Himself our human flesh. Before the Incarnation, Christ was only fully God, but at the Incarnation He chose to take on our flesh as He became fully Man to be our Savior from sin, death, and Satan. On Ascension Day, our Lord takes our flesh – our human flesh – with Him into heaven, where He sits at the right hand of God the Father with all authority.

But what does this mean for me? What does our Lord’s Ascension do for me? Well, if you understand that in your Baptism, you are the Body and Jesus is the Head. So, wherever the Head goes, so does the Body. (Ephesians 1:22-23)

So, now that Jesus has risen from the dead, so will everyone who believes in Him! Now that Jesus has ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father, by grace through faith in Jesus, you will enter heaven.

The Ascension of our Lord is a feast to celebrate Christ returning to His throne!

Even if we don’t quite understand what this means, don’t worry. You are in fact in good company, since the apostles didn’t understand everything either. Time and time again, the apostles were looking for Jesus to establish an earthly kingdom, rather than a heavenly kingdom. In fact, they asked Jesus that very thing just before His ascension: “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” (Acts 1:6b)

Time and time again, as Jesus spoke of His suffering, death, and resurrection, they did not understand why He had to die. In fact, right after Peter confessed Jesus to be the Christ, Jesus again revealed to them that He must suffer, die, and be raised. Peter immediately said to Jesus: “Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you!” (Matthew 16:22)

But oddly enough, the apostles did understand what was happening on this day, nearly 2,000 years ago.

[The Ascension of Our Lord]

As the apostles were on the Mount of Olives, a short distance east of Jerusalem, they witnessed Jesus being taken up into heaven. They saw with their own eyes Jesus ascending into the clouds.

The apostles knew that their risen Lord was disappearing from their sight in a different way than He had on various occasions during the past 40 days. This time, Jesus did not simply vanish as He had before. Before their very eyes, He was being taken up higher and higher in the air until a cloud folded itself around Him and hid Him from their sight. These men became actual witnesses as He ascended into heaven, for they had kept their eyes fixed on Him all the while He was making His ascent.

They stood staring up into the sky in amazement. And who wouldn’t?

So, here they are staring into the sky and with good reason. They are straining their eyes attempting to see Jesus after the cloud hid Him from their sight.

Then, suddenly, two men in white robes speak to them saying: “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” (Acts 1:11).

On this day, the apostles understood the meaning of what they were witnessing. They remembered the often-repeated promise of their Lord: “I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God” (John 20:17).

At this moment, the apostles were fully aware that they were seeing Him rise up to heaven, where He was before. It was equally clear to them that from then on, He would be what He was before. In other words, He would resume the use of which He had renounced in order to redeem them and all sinners.

Now, they knew, He would rule with supreme power over heaven and earth. No longer would He be visibly present among them as the lowly Son of Man, but He would be invisibly present everywhere with the same human body, now marvelously glorified.

[The Right Hand of God the Father]

When Jesus ascended, He took His seat at the right hand of God the Father. But is Jesus stuck in heaven? No! Jesus sitting at the right hand of God the Father gives us the picture that Jesus is the absolute sovereign who rules the whole universe both with the power of His authority and with the power of His grace.

You see, Jesus is not limited by space. Think of His promise: “Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:20). So, if Jesus were restricted to being in one place at a time, He could not fulfill this promise. He could not be everywhere with all of His believers at the same time. So, just because our senses cannot perceive Him, this does not mean that He is no longer present. We know He is here with us through His revealed Word in the Scriptures and as He provides His Body and Blood under the bread and wine to forgive our sins and strengthen our faith!

However, we, like the apostles, may question how this can be. But Jesus assures us saying, “This is my Body, which is given for you.” And “Drink of it, all of you; this cup is the new testament in My Blood, which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”

Jesus is present here as He has promised when we gather in His name. He did not leave us – His flock – to fend for ourselves. No, He is here where His Word is preached and His Sacraments are given.

[The King’s Return]

During His visible time on earth, Jesus exercised His divine powers in only a limited way. But once He had completed His redeeming mission on which His Father had sent Him, His renunciation of divine powers for a time, His self-chosen humiliation, came to an end.

Now, this same Jesus who bodily ascended into heaven will return with His crucified and risen body. At His departure, the apostles saw Him as the divine and human Jesus. At His return, everyone will see and recognize Him as His apostles did, and He will return without a doubt!

“For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

This event is full of promise for us! We indeed know He will return as the Judge who will strike paralyzing terror into His foes. But because He is and remains our Savior, the sight of Him will fill our hearts with overwhelming joy. For He will be our acquitting Judge, the Judge who will speak to us these gracious words: “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom is prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matthew 25:34).

This day, the Ascension of Our Lord, is the great coronation of Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, in heaven. As He bodily returned to heaven, the angels and the heavenly host marveled as a fully human being received the crown and is given all authority in heaven and on earth. As fully God and fully Man, His rule is now of grace and mercy, where repentance for forgiveness of sins is preached. He is the Lamb who was slain. Behold your Ascended King! Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T

Preached at GlenFields (May 11, 2021), Grand Meadows (May 13, 2021), 
and Orchard Estates (May 14, 2021)

Sermon for Easter 5: "The Branches of the Vine" (John 15:1-8)

 

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Christ is Risen! He is Risen, Indeed! Alleluia!

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

Jesus said: “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).

God’s Word is full of imagery depicting the relationship between Jesus and all who are baptized into Him. There are the pictures of Jesus and His Bride, the Church; of Jesus as the head and we as His body; of Jesus the Good Shepherd and of us His sheep. In today’s Gospel reading, we hear Jesus saying that He is the true Vine and we are united to Him in faith as the branches.

Now, what happens to a marriage where a husband and a wife are not united? What happens to a body that is separated from its head? What happens to the sheep without a shepherd? What happens to branches that do not remain in the Vine?

We have been united to Christ by faith, as branches to the Vine. The Vine – Jesus – is the source of our life and the fruit that we bear. Today on this Fifth Sunday of Easter, Jesus teaches us how we remain connected branches to the Vine as His disciples.

Jesus teaches us saying, “I am the true Vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit” (John 15:1-2).

Many of us have fertilized and pruned a variety of plants. Through this process, the plant grows and remains healthy. But what about us?

Jesus says that He is the true Vine and we are the branches. In saying this, like plants, we, too, must be fertilized and pruned.

Branches are useful in bearing fruit. Their source of energy and nourishment depends on being connected to the Vine. Even so, some branches appear connected but do not produce fruit because something is wrong with the connection. So, the vinedresser cuts off those branches.

Likewise, if the branch would lay unfertilized and unpruned, it would degenerate into a wild and unfruitful vine which would finally perish entirely. But when it is well cultivated, fertilized, pruned, and stripped of its unnecessary leaves, it develops its full strength and yields wine that is not only abundant but is also good and delicious. The question is, how are we fertilized and pruned?

[The Pruning of the Branches]

Jesus said: “I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). Apart from Jesus, we can do nothing. Here Jesus is speaking of salvation. We cannot do anything apart from Jesus to inherit salvation. So, apart from Jesus, we are disconnected. As disconnected people, the only thing we can look forward to is eternal death and damnation. Now, this is nothing to look forward to.

But the triune God – the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – wishes that everyone would be connected to Him. Like the disconnected Ethiopian Eunuch in our First Reading from Acts 8, we, too, were all once disconnected from Christ. But the Ethiopian Eunuch did not remain disconnected. You see, as soon as he was Baptized, this man was grafted into the Vine. Like you and me, this is what happened to us at our Baptism. At the font, through the water and the Word, we went from disconnected from Christ to connected in Christ. Here, through our Baptism into Christ, we became “a new creation” as branches of the Vine (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Now, as I have said many times before, baptism is not a get into heaven free card. Yes, we receive the ability to believe in Jesus as our Savior at Baptism, but we must also be pruned by God the Father – the Vinedresser.

As Jesus teaches us in the Great Commission: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

One aspect of our pruning is part two of the Great Commission: teaching. Through the preaching of God’s Word in the Divine Service, through catechism and Sunday School, we are taught the sound doctrine of God that comforts and saves. We are taught God’s unchanging Truth.

Unfortunately, not everyone connected to the Vine wants to hear God’s unchanging Truth. This is because our sinful nature remains. This is a constant struggle between our sinful flesh and the new man that we became when we were grafted into Christ at our Baptism.

So, instead of receiving the teaching joyfully as good branches, some become lazy Christians. They have God’s Word and His pure doctrine, but they do not live-in conformity with it. Others refuse the teaching and become wild branches. Now, like all branches, some grow very large. As Martin Luther once preached on this text, “This pruning is bad for the false branches; it frightens them. But the others, which [God the Father] He leaves on the vine, they suffer no harm when He trims them. This is to their advantage. But for the wild branches, it means being cut off and thrown into the fire” (LW 24, 201).

These false branches are not cut immediately. Like all branches, they are baptized, they hear the Gospel, and they have the forgiveness of sins. God is always giving every branch, even the wild branch a chance to repent and become good again, since God desires the salvation of every branch.

Because of this, we must not let our judgments be determined by the size and strength of wild branches. No, our one concern must be to recognize the true branches of Christ so that we only observe who has and retains the doctrine in Scripture in its truth and purity. “In this way,” Luther says, “you can see and know who are the true Christians” (LW 24, 203).

But this demands patience and perseverance in the faith. For God does not cut off the wild branches as soon as they emerge from the stalk; He permits them to grow until it is clear what they are. For this reason, Judas Iscariot was among the apostles, heretics were among the Early Church Fathers, and heretics are still among us today.

Instead of remaining connected to the Vine, these false branches chose to split from the true doctrine of Christ and into myths. These wild branches teach from the impure heart with which they falsify and abuse Scripture. Yes, they partake of the sap of the Vine, but they do not bear fruit, but only do harm. For as soon as they get this sap, they corrupt it and turn it into deadly poison for themselves and others.

Christ says: a “branch cannot bear fruit by itself,” so “apart from Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5). So, without faith in Christ we are like a severed branch that dries up and is thrown into the fire. Without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6). Without faith, our sinful human nature – as inherited by our first parents Adam and Eve – seeks and trusts in human help that suits our own desires and we choose to listen to what our itching ears want to hear, rather than the Truth from God’s Word (2 Timothy 4:3-5). Our sinful nature convinces many of us to trust human wisdom rather than to trust Christ. For many, instead of abiding in the Vine, we may choose to abide in earthly things for our hope and comfort. In doing so, we cut ourselves off from Jesus and become disconnected.

Another way that we are pruned is by the sinful world. Luther says that God the Father lets unbelieving leaders fertilize, prune, and trim us – the branches – through various persecutions, so that our faith would be strengthened. So, even when the Church is persecuted for remaining in the Vine, God will use the pruning of persecution to bring us – His branches – closer to Him, and so strengthen and preserve His true branches.

Likewise, many of us have gone through hardships in our lives. Many of us are going through them now. Here is yet another way God the Father prunes us, so that we can bear more fruit. Through every hardship, God the Father uses them to grow us closer to Christ, the Vine. Now, no hardship is ever fun or appealing, but God uses every hardship for our benefit, so that we would grow ever closer to Him as we trust and rely upon Him.

[Remaining Connected to the Vine]

So, how do we as branches remain connected to Christ, the Vine? We are maintained in the faith through the Means of Grace, in doing so, we remain in Christ and He remains in us. Through the Word, God the Father prunes us, and Jesus – the Vine – nourishes and energizes us – the branches – to live in faith.

Through the Word, Christ cleanses His followers as He shapes our wills to coincide with His will so that we bear much fruit and prove to be Christ’s disciples. You see, God’s Word – as revealed in the Scriptures – brings us together with Jesus and keeps us together, like a vine and branches. Through the Word, we bear fruit.

Here in the Divine Service, Christ comes to nourish us – to feed us – through His Word and Sacrament, so that we would remain connected to Him. He comes to us saying: “Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. For My flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on My flesh and drinks my blood abides in Me, and I in him” (John 6:54-56).

As we are fed and nourished, we receive the fruits of Christ’s Cross: forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Through this divine nourishment, we are able to bear good fruit. As branches connected to the Vine, we live through Christ and we have life through Christ. Through these Means of Grace, the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith in Jesus – the true Vine – who alone laid down His life for us and for our salvation, and took it up again, so that we – by grace through faith in Him – would remain connected to Him, the one and only true Vine.

Through being connected to Jesus – the true Vine – we produce fruit. These fruits are good works for the benefit of our neighbor. These fruits are the thoughts and actions that please God in accordance with His will and glorify Him. Apart from Jesus, we could not do any good works. So, through the Vine’s Means of Grace, Jesus empowers us to confess Him as the Son of God and to live God-pleasing lives as we abide in Him and grow ever more connected to Him (1 John 4:15).

Throughout His earthly ministry, Jesus spoke various “I am” statements, so that we – His hearers – would have a clearer understanding on who He is and the blessings that He provides to all believers. As the true Vine, Jesus gives us – the branches – the victory over the power of sin, death, and Satan, and all by grace through faith in Him alone!

O Lord Jesus, help us Your branches to always remain in You, the true Vine, for in You alone, we have forgiveness, life, and salvation. Amen.

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord. Amen.

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T