Sermon for Easter 6: "Life in the Vine" (John 15:9-17)

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Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

 

Jesus said: “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love” (John 15:9-10).

 

These are the words of Jesus on Maundy Thursday, which are known as His farewell discourse to which we began last week. It is remarkable that in just a matter of hours, Jesus will experience betrayal, abandonment, unlawful arrest, cruel abuse, and execution. Despite knowing what would soon take place, Jesus speaks of both His and His Father’s love for His apostles and disciples. Today, on this Sixth Sunday of Easter, Jesus continues to speak about our relationship to Him.

 

And what is this relationship? Jesus is the true Vine, we are the branches, and God the Father is the Vinedresser. This is a relationship of life in the Vine. A relationship where we, the branches, never chose to be in the Vine, but the Vine chose us out of His love as His branches. For Christ says, “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” (John 15:16).

 

Jesus never picked us because we were wiser, stronger, wealthier, or smarter than others. He chose you because He loves you. That love has its origin in Jesus being loved by God the Father. And this love’s intention is that we, whom Jesus loves, will also love others.

 

From eternity, Jesus has been loved by the Father. This love is the foundation of all things. Love is the essence of the Holy Trinity. Before there were any created beings to love, the Father was always loving the Son. Love was the basis for creation. God who is love created precious creatures to love, especially the crown of His creation: humanity.

 

This God the Father loving God the Son relationship continued throughout Jesus’ earthly mission. At both Jesus’ Baptism to fulfill all righteousness and at His Transfiguration atop the mountain, God the Father called Jesus His beloved Son. 

In this love, Jesus chose you and me, for He says, “As the Father loved Me, so I have loved you” (John 15:9). Remember, we never chose Jesus. As sinners, we do not have the will or ability to ever choose Jesus because our fallen nature only wants to flee from Him and all that He desires to accomplish with us.

 

Despite our sinful nature, Jesus loves you and me the same way the Father loves Him. So, just as the Father has loved Jesus, Jesus eternally loves us. He displayed this love when He “[laid] down His life for His friends” (John 15:13). Through His death, He won for His friends salvation on that cross! There, He took our dirty, wretched sin onto Himself, forgave that sin, and destroyed sin’s power over His friends. There, on that cross, Jesus chose us who were by nature His enemies and declared us to be His friends – and at the cost of His own life.

 

Jesus has chosen us, who were His enemies, to abide in His love! He says: “As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love” (John 15:9). Now, what does abiding in Christ’s love look like? Well, it means that we abide in keeping His commandments.

 

Unlike the Father’s love for Jesus and Jesus’ love for us, our love for God and our neighbor often falls short.

 

Remember, Jesus is speaking these words on Maundy Thursday. Again, He was fully aware of what would soon happen. Christ foresaw how Satan would sow discord, anger, impatience, hatred, and envy among His followers. And unfortunately, Satan has never let up, as this discord, anger, impatience, hatred, and envy still remains. As branches connected to the true Vine, we must constantly be pruned and purged by God’s Law and Gospel, because we are simultaneously saints and sinners. 

 

As branches, we face many daily frailties and shortcomings. Bumps and trials never cease, especially when we are living in this fallen world, which is led by the Father of Lies, Satan. Our flesh is weak. We get caught up in the devil’s poison and suspicion enters our hearts because of a single word or a single glance which stirs up mutual animosity. Satan is the master of this art. He employs his craftiness before anyone is really even aware of it. This is what the devil did in the case of St. Paul and Barnabas, who had a sharp dissention and parted ways (Acts 15:2). Trifles can lead to quarreling and enmity that only results in great harm. The blood begins to boil, then the devil shoots his venomous darts into the heart by means of evil tongues, and finally no one says or thinks anything good about the other. The devil keeps on fanning the flames and is eager to set people against each other and spread misery.

As branches of the true Vine, we must be on guard against Satan’s craft and cunning. We must repel any suspicion and hostility that may be stirred up in us and remind ourselves not to let love depart and die out for this reason but to hold onto love with a strong hand. And if aversion and discord have arisen anywhere, we must restore and improve the love and friendship through forgiveness and reconciliation.

 

Love, on its own is rather easy. Love doesn’t require any great skill, but remaining in love takes realskill and virtue.

 

In marriage, the husband and wife are initially filled with affection and passion, but later, they could become bitter foes. The same happens with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ as they are branches of the Vine. A trivial cause may separate those who should be really bound with the firmest ties, but that trivial cause turns them into the worst and bitterest enemies. This, of course, is to Satan’s delight and joy. You see, Satan strives for nothing else than to destroy love among Christians and to create utter hatred and envy. For Satan knows that Christianity is built and preserved by love.

 

Therefore, Christ admonishes us to solemnly and earnestly hold firm to love as His branches. Again, He places both Himself and His Father before our eyes as the most perfect examples: “As the Father has loved Me, so I have loved you” (John 15:9). Jesus suffered and died for you, so that you would abide in His love.

 

Love is not doing whatever you want. Love is sacrificial. Love is caring. Love is disciplining.

 

As branches of the true Vine, we now abide in Him, lest we be misled by false doctrine and thus be cut off from Jesus. For wherever love and unity are destroyed and schism and discord take root, there pure doctrine disappears, and defection from Christ ensues. The branch cuts itself off from the true Vine.

 

So, we must all examine ourselves. For Christ says, “If you are truly My branches, it will surely become evident that you are My disciples by your fruit. If you refuse to bear fruit, I will not acknowledge you and accept you as My disciples.” So, how do we show ourselves to bear fruit? Well, right along with the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5 are the Ten Commandments: 

§  First, you shall have no other gods.

a.    Do you trust God for your financial security, physical safety, and emotional support?

b.    Do you fear God’s wrath in avoiding every sin?

§  Second, you shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.

a.    Do you keep all the vows you have made in the Lord’s name, such as confirmation, marriage and legal vows?

b.    Do you carelessly speak or misuse God’s Name?

§  Third, remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy.

a.    Do you attend the Divine Service faithfully, or would you rather prefer to be elsewhere? 

b.    Do you pray for and encourage your pastor?

c.    Do you support the church financially?

§  Fourth, honor your father and your mother.

a.    Do you honor all authorities as gifts that God has put over you?

§  Fifth, you shall not murder.

a.    Have you unjustly taken the life of anyone, born or unborn?

b.    Do you hate anyone, or are angry with anyone?

c.    Do you hold grudges or harbor resentment?

§  Sixth, you shall not commit adultery.

a.    Do you look at others lustfully?

§  Seventh, you shall not steal.

a.    Are you selfish, stingy, and greedy with your time and money?

§  Eighth, you shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

a.    Do you gossip, listen to rumors, or take pleasure in talking about the faults or mistakes of anyone?

b.    Do you speak truth in love, trying at all times to explain everything in the kindest way?

§  Lastly, you shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

a.    Do you resent or envy those who have what you do not?

b.    Do you encourage disharmony?

c.    Are you manipulative or controlling?

 

To be good branches of the true Vine, we keep Christ’s commandments. However, all too often, we fail to keep Jesus’ commandment to love.

 

If you have failed to keep Christ’s commandment to love, Christ gives us another fruit of faith. This fruit is repentance. You see, whenever we fail to abide in His commandments, in love Christ calls us to repent. When we repent, it is by God enabling us. He warns us by His Law, but then He makes His loving purpose immediately evident as well. 

True repentance is nothing else than to have contrition and sorrow, or terror, on account of sin, and yet at the same time to believe the Gospel and absolution, that that sin has been forgiven and grace has been obtained through Christ, and this faith will comfort the heart and again set it at rest. So now we are able again to bear fruit and abide by His commandments again.

 

Fellow branches, who are forgiven and saved, the love of Christ is transformational. The evidence of our faith – our fruits of faith – is seen in the changes that take place in our lives. God uses words like “born again,” “rebirth,” and “regeneration” to describe what Christ’s love does to us. Each time we repent, we are indeed “born again” in Christ to live out our lives as good branches that bear fruit.

 

In order to strengthen and increase our faith, love, and obedience, God gives us the Means of Grace – His Word and Sacraments. The Word of God together with the Body and Blood of Jesus under the bread and wine nourish us in love as the Holy Spirit transforms us in the Divine Service. We are transformed into desiring to keep Christ’s commandments, to obedience as evidence of our fruits of faith. “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3). This is our life in the Vine. It’s a life of obedience and repentance, as we rejoice in God’s love for us! Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! Amen.

 

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

+ SOLI DEO GLORIA +

Sermon for the Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus: "Marked" (Luke 2:21)

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! Amen! Dear brothers and sisters in Christ:

[Intro]

“And at the end of eight days, when He was circumcised, He was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb” (Luke 2:21).

Tucked between the events of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and just before He is presented at the temple at 40 days old, an often-overlooked verse reveals one of the most significant moments in salvation history.

This single verse tells us of what happened on that first eighth day of Christmas. This evening on New Years’ Eve – the Eve of the Circumcision and Name of Jesus, the very Son of God fulfills one of the most important moments in salvation history as He is marked in His flesh and He is marked by His name for us! Through these marks, He opens the new way to salvation for God’s people.

[The Mark of Circumcision]

For the Old Testament people of God, circumcision was important. In fact, even some first generation Christians believed that a person must be circumcised in order to become a Christian. This was such a critical debate as it led to the First Church Council in Jerusalem since many Christians were proclaiming, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). This was all because circumcision was a promise of Abraham. For God said in Genesis 17:10, “This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.”

Circumcision was important because it was the Jewish initiation right. Circumcision is what made a Jew a Jew. Circumcision is what marked them as one grafted into Israel. It was a sign on the flesh, like that of a branding or tattoo. It was something that marked them as a child of the promise and as the offspring of Abraham.

So, as good Hebrew parents, Mary and Joseph do exactly what good Hebrew parents do, they take their son to be circumcised on the eighth day.

Here on His eighth day out of Mary’s womb, this Infant — Emmanuel: God with us — begins His mission of fulfillment. Through the working of the Holy Spirit, His parents lead Him to begin His faithful obedience to the Law. On this day, He first sheds His blood as He upholds the covenant of circumcision.

But by this Infant submitting Himself to the covenant of circumcision, He is submitting to His own promise. He is submitting to His own covenant of blood.

Since He was “born of woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5), He needed to be marked as a son of Abraham, because He had to fulfill what Abraham was promised. So, through the covenant of circumcision, this marks Him as one of Abraham’s people. Again, this also initiated Him into the nation of Israel.

But this Infant does not undergo circumcision for Himself. He undergoes circumcision for you and me! He fulfilled the Jewish ceremonial Law to bring and dispense what the Abrahamic covenant promises.

By the shedding of His blood, His foreskin represents sin and rebellion against God, but He does this without any sin of His own. He does this by taking His place as the sin bearer. Here, He is taking our place under the Law, by shedding His blood for the first time on our behalf. He does this as a once-and-for-all sacrifice for us, since through His fulfillment, no one will enter God’s family by a physical circumcision. But, instead through Baptism and Faith in the One who has fulfilled God’s Law.

The Apostle Paul confirms this fact in Colossians 2 as he writes, “In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:11-14).

So, we have joined our Lord, not by the circumcision of our flesh, but by Baptism — a circumcision without hands. Our circumcision is by water and the Spirit. Our circumcision cannot be seen, but our circumcision is more permanent. It’s a union with Christ. He shed His blood on the eighth day for us. Baptism now replaces the circumcision of the flesh as the way in which we enter into eternity with God.

We enter eternity by Baptism and Faith in Christ! Through Baptism, we are marked as a child and heir of God.

[The Mark of the Name]

After the child of Mary and Joseph was circumcised, He then was marked with His Name. 

In the ancient world, names for children were also extremely important. Names conveyed something about the child. Names often were considered a confession and a blessing. 

For example, consider the names of some of the Old Testament prophets. Elijah means “the Lord is God.” Isaiah means “the Lord gives salvation.” Jeremiah means “the Lord lifts up.”

Mary and Joseph named their son as a confession of faith. Recall, Gabriel’s words to Mary: “You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus” (Luke 1:31). And in a dream, the angel of the Lord said to Joseph: “You shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

This confession of faith is their trust in God, who is doing the naming. So, here, the Second Person of the Trinity is naming Himself. For Mary and Joseph, they likely knew the meaning of Jesus’ name as they each heard from the angel: “for he will save His people from their sins.”

The eight-day-old Infant, now being named Jesus is marked in His flesh and is now marked by His name as the Savior, the One who has shed His blood as the sin bearer, the One who will through His life, death, and resurrection show us that He is the One who has come to save us from our sins!

But even with His Name — Jesus — He will blend in as a child. He is not distinguished in any way. On all outward appearances, He is just like any other child, but without sin.

From the very beginning, Jesus was set to go to the cross for us. There, He would be marked by nails and a spear that would pierce Him through, the cross that was borne for me and you. There is where the Savior from sin would live out and die the meaning of His name: “The Lord saves!”

Then, three days later – on the eighth day of the week – He rose from the dead to prove at He is the Savior from sin and that our faith in Him is not in vain!

[Marked by Baptism and Faith]

Now, Jesus is not the only Person who has been marked by His flesh and by His Name. You see, we too, have been marked. Through the circumcision and Name of Jesus, God says to us: “And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses” (Colossians 2:13). Through Christ alone, we have been adopted as children and heirs through God! (Galatians 4:5, 7). 

This is such great news! Consider all of our failures, all our mistakes, all our shortcomings. Consider all the thoughts, words, and actions of the past year or years that you would like to take back.

Right there as He is physically marked by circumcision and marked in His name, Jesus is our Savior from sin! 

Back at that First Council in Jerusalem, there was much debate on circumcision as the way to become an heir to the promise, but in the end, the Holy Spirit led the council to proclaim that Christians are not saved by a circumcision made with hands, but we are “saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (Acts 15:11).

As we soon begin a New Year, our New Year’s Resolution should always be to remember who we are — that we are His — that we are Christ’s and that His Name is upon us!

Since our Lord and Savior was named Jesus, we too, bear His Name on our bodies, as we were marked with His Name as He marked us with the sign of the cross at our Baptism. This is who we are! Our identity is in Christ and we confess His name as He is the only Savior from our sins.

As children marked with the promise of salvation, Jesus continues to serve His people through what is known as the Marks of the Church: Word and Sacraments. As the world changes around us, we can always hold on to God’s Word, since His Word never changes. When we need hope, He is the One sure and certain hope as He gives us His Body and Blood, which gives us hope through the forgiveness of our sins and the strengthening of our faith in Him!

In the New Year, we may not know what events are on the horizon, but we know by repentance and faith in His Name and by His grace, that our sins are forgiven, and by Baptism and faith in Him, He has marked us heirs of His eternal Kingdom! In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

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

T SOLI DEO GLORIA T