Easter 6 + Rogate
Text: John 16:23-33 & James 1:22-27
Today’s Gospel occurs in the upper room before Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion. Jesus is now preparing His disciples for life without Him with His words. Not only is He instructing the disciples how to approach His Father in prayer, but Jesus is also preparing them for what will come in mere hours.
Jesus says,
Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone.
These words are directly related to the cross. Throughout the Gospel of John, “The Hour” refers to Christ’s crucifixion. It’s the reason they scatter from Jesus out of fear and then barricade themselves behind closed doors as Jesus’ body lay in the tomb.
The crucifixion and the cross of Jesus are the same reason you continue to scatter from Jesus, too.
In fact, the apostle Paul calls the cross a stumbling block for Jews and Greeks alike. (1 Corinthians 1:23) You might say, well, I’m not a Jew or a Greek, but you are a child of Adam, and the sin you inherited from your first parents leads you to look for earthly answers to all life’s challenges.
But Jesus went on to say to His disciples as He prepared for His death,
Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:32-33)
The Father is with Him, and He is with you.
But like the disciples, you treat this world and life as if it’s all there is, don’t you? This is one reason you have tribulation in the world.
Tribulation is trouble that inflicts distress, oppression, and affliction.
Tribulation comes in many forms and ways. Maybe you have watched the news and seen the protests and riots on college campuses over the past week, but look closer to home. Do you have a health issue? What about your rebellious children? Or maybe it’s your heart that is rioting and in distress, causing you to lash out at one another.
In these ways, we forget to take heart and remember that Jesus has overcome the world upon the cross.
But the truth is, as long as you are in this world, Jesus says, “You will have tribulation.”
You will have crosses to carry.
So, how do you proceed?
In today’s epistle, James calls us to “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only.”
The statement “Be doers of the word” refers to the Ten Commandments. Be doers of God’s Law and not hearers only.
Too often, Lutherans are led into believing works are not necessary, partly out of a fear they might appear to be Roman Catholics or evangelicals who see their works as their worthiness before God. But works can also be seen as unnecessary out of pure laziness.
But here, it is crucial to remember how James goes on to say a little after this morning’s reading,
For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. (James 2:26)
What does this mean? Good works must flow out of faith; they become part of who you are in Christ.
This gets to the core of the matter: true faith in the midst of your tribulations.
To have this faith, one must prepare now and not put it off.
What does true faith look like?
Hermann Sasse, a Lutheran Theologian, wrote;
“We know the hearer of whom our text speaks, the hearer, who one likens to a man ‘who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like’ [James 1:23-24]. And this man is not some neighbor of yours in the church or your opponent. No, ‘you are the man’ [2 Sam. 12:7]! When you leave your house you steal a quick look in the mirror, a fleeting glance, to see if your hat and tie are in the right place. And then you sit in the church and hear the Word of God, hear the Scripture readings, hear the sermon – and the impression remains as superficial, as transitory as the impression of the quick look in the mirror before. It is hardly remembered. It doesn’t bring any deep experience, at least not a serious, deep experience that shakes one’s being. It brings no joy for the Gospel, which is really the source and zenith of all true joy in the world.” (118)
Is Sasse speaking and describing you today?
Has your faith become superficial?
What has caused your lack of true faith?
Is it the same cross that rocked the Disciples?
Is it the crosses of your life that continue to weigh on you? Your health issues, family arguments, or hearts that riot and lash out at neighbors and fellow Christians?
Is this what brings you tribulation that inflicts distress, oppression, and affliction?
If so, turn and look to Jesus' cross and remember His Words, “Take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Aren’t these words a comfort to you?
Again, Jesus says, “Take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Alright, so what is often at the heart of your tribulations?
It is that you are not doers of the word, you do not remember who the Good Friday victor is, and you do not keep the commandments as you ought.
Has your tongue become the source of rioting and distress as you lash out at one another?
Confess your sin and relearn the Eighth Commandment.
Has your home become a harbor of rebellion and mistrust?
Study the Fourth Commandment again and confess your sin.
Does your health have your heart in knots as you await the doctor’s report?
Meditate upon the First Commandment, confess your sin, and remember who your true God is.
But look, let’s not try to bite off the whole apple at once. Let’s be intentional in our approach to learning again to “Be doers of the word.”
Begin here with the First Commandment, “You shall have no other gods.”
What does this mean? “We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.”
How do we do this?
Well, when tribulations of life arrive, remember this Word of God from Psalm 50,
“Call upon me in the day of trouble;
I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me.” (Psalm 50:15)
When you do this, when you call upon God, you remember God is with you too, and on the last day, He will deliver you from everything that causes distress, oppression, and affliction in your lives.
It’s this faith of calling out to God that glorifies Him and looks to Him and His cross He died upon to save you.
So begin here, my friends, by “[sitting] in church and hearing the Word of God, hearing the Scripture readings, hearing the sermon—and [permitting] the impression of this [Holy] Word to dwell in you so richly that it penetrates the depths of your heart, transforming and grafting you into the very life of Christ, who is not only “the source and zenith of all true joy,” but has “overcome the world” for you. +INJ+
Rev. Noah J. Rogness
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Tomah, WI
