Easter 6—Exaudi
Beloved. This past Thursday, holy Church remembered Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Jesus’ ascension does not mean that Jesus is no longer with His Church, as if He went away and great distances separate us. Instead, Jesus ascended into heaven not only because the work for the salvation of the world was done, but so that now as God and man Jesus, at the right hand of the Father/ in that position of power and authority, could rule all things for the good of His Church and for each of His dear Christians. Jesus ascended into heaven precisely so that He could be with His Church/ His dear Christians any- and everywhere. St. Paul writes that Jesus [Eph. 4.10]: ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. St. Mark [16.19-20] records Jesus’ ascension: He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God, and then adds that the disciples went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Did you catch that? –The disciples went everywhere and we know from Church history they went all over the place in different directions; and yet no matter where they were in the world the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Jesus was present everywhere with them, just as He is present everywhere with us and His Church today. That’s why the ascension is such a powerful and comforting event: during His earthly ministry, Jesus was at one place at one time; but now He is with us wherever we are as we go our separate ways. He ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.
Before Jesus ascended into heaven, He promised His disciples the Holy Spirit [Lk. 24.49; Ac 1.8]: Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high; and you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. It would be ten days between Jesus’ ascension and when He would send the Holy Spirit on Pentecost. Ascension Day was last Thursday; Pentecost is next Sunday. Today we are remembering that historical point between the Ascension and Pentecost. And that brings us to the question: what were the disciples doing between the time of Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost, the coming of the Holy Spirit? St. Luke tells: These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. What were they doing? –they were together in prayer. That is a very vital thing for us to remember—to be together with our fellow Christians and in prayer.
Like the disciples, we, too, find ourselves waiting for Jesus to deliver on His promise. He had promised to send them His Holy Spirit. And as they were waiting, they were together and they were united in prayer. For us, it is different. The coming of the Holy Spirit has already happened—on that first Pentecost. But we are still waiting for Jesus’ other promise—the promise of His return on the Last Day. The disciples had that promise too. But they also had the promise of the coming of the Holy Spirit, which would have to come first. At this point in history, they were waiting for the Holy Spirit. Jesus had simply said that He was sending the Holy Spirit but not when. What great excitement and uncertainty must have filled their hearts as they waited!
Now that Jesus had completed the work of the salvation of the world; now that He has sent the Holy Spirit in full measure who is mighty and active in the Church, in the holy word and sacrament creating, sustaining, strengthening faith; the only thing that remains is for Jesus’ return on the Last Day. And that’s where we find ourselves today—waiting for Jesus’ return. So how does that affect our lives?
That’s what St. Peter addresses in our text as He writes: The end of all things is near. Already in the days of the apostles, they together with all Christians were looking for the Last Day, the day of Jesus’ return. It may seem odd to us that over 1900 years ago, the holy, inspired apostle would write: the end of all things is near. Hasn’t history proven him wrong? Hardly! With Jesus’ first coming to bring about the salvation of the world, as its Savior, there is nothing more to expect but His Second Coming, this time as Judge, when He will bring all His dear Christians both living and dead into a glorious eternity in heaven. So what of this seeming delay on Jesus’ part? This is nothing more than His grace calling people to repentance and faith and into His Church. The fact remains: The end of all things is near. And this very fact must affect how we live our lives now. Again, think of the disciples between the ascension and Pentecost—what were they doing as they were waiting for Jesus to fulfill His first promise, that of sending the Holy Spirit [Ac 1.14]? These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. St. Peter puts it this way in our text: So have sound judgment and be self-controlled for the sake of your prayers. What is vital is prayer, that constant conversation with the Lord.
Notice how St. Peter describes it here. Prayer is not an optional or nice “extra”. It is, instead, part and parcel of the Christian life. So have sound judgment and be self-controlled for the sake of your prayers. The sound judgment and self-control serve prayer. Having sound judgment means controlling our actions, or perhaps better put: it means following the leading and guiding and influence of the Holy Spirit. Dear Christian, we have the Holy Spirit. That’s why we are Christians. He has worked that faith in us. Where that faith is, there is the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that we will not be tempted to sin; it does not mean that evil thoughts will not arise. But it does mean that we do not “have to” sin—we have the Holy Spirit who leads us and strengthens us in time of temptation. So led by the Holy Spirit and empowered by Him, we control our actions avoiding willful sin. And where we discover that we indeed sin—because led by the Holy Spirit we will always be examining thoughts, words, and deeds in the light of God’s holy word—we sorrow over that sin, ask the Lord to forgive that sin and by the power of the Holy Spirit we strive to root it out of our lives. Temptation must be fought and sin repented of because sin always separates and destroys our relation with God and with each other. Sin will hinder our prayers because it turns our attention and focus from God and His way and will and puts it on self. And when that happens, what happens to prayer?
So have sound judgment and be self-controlled for the sake of your prayers. This self-control means that we not cloud our thoughts by earthly things and earthly cares. Yes, we live in this world and we have the common cares and concerns that affect all people, but we dare not make them supreme in our thoughts and actions; they dare not consume us. If the common cares and worries become foremost in our thoughts, then the things of God—those things that are absolutely vital, after all the end of all things is near—get pushed more and more into the background. This self-control means to keep a clear head and stay awake spiritually. The thing is, the vital things, the things of God get pushed into the background slowly and imperceptibly so that we don’t even notice and then they are gone. As we wait for the Lord, we need that self-control to stay awake spiritually, to be controlled not by the latest trial or concern but with a clear head to keep the main thing, the main thing. And that is nothing else than relying on the Holy Spirit, hearing Him as He speaks to you in the word of God, as He keeps teaching and reminding you of the vital things of God. It is of highest importance that we keep everything in the proper perspective. When trials and temptations, care and concern, flood upon us—as they will—we handle them in the right way: by going to the Lord in prayer and entrusting them to Him. He will lead and guide us the right way; He will give us the strength; He will help in the right time and right way. Precisely when, by the Holy Spirit at work in us, we have sound judgment and [are] self-controlled, these things serve our spiritual good as they drive us to the Lord in prayer and keep us relying on Him!
So have sound judgment and be self-controlled for the sake of your prayers. Not only are our private prayers meant, but so also is meant our regular prayer and worship in God’s house. The Holy Spirit describes the early Christians this way [Ac 2.42]: They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in the prayers. They united in doctrine. The breaking of bread was not just a meal; it was also the Lord’s Supper. The prayers are the liturgical prayers, Christian worship. So since the end of all things is near, waiting for the Lord’s return means also being faithful and regularly in God’s house to hear His holy word, to receive His gifts in word and sacrament, and together with all our fellow Christians there to offer up our prayers for our needs and others, our prayers of praise and our prayers of thanksgiving. Here our focus and attention is on the Lord. Here we train ourselves to look for and understand what things are truly vital—the things of the Lord and to focus our attention on them.
And a wonderful thing happens when we are in worship! There our faith is strengthened and our bond with Him is reinvigorated. There we experience our Lord’s love as He forgives us our sin and gives us every heavenly blessing in Jesus. And as we leave, we, led by the Holy Spirit, want to show love especially to our fellow Christians/ parishioners. Especially as we worship the same Lord together and together receive from Him the same gifts, our love for each other flourishes. And how does this love show itself? Above all, love each other constantly, because love covers a multitude of sins. As we wait for our Lord, we will deal with each other in peace and unity—especially those in the same congregation. That is what we see with disciples waiting for the coming of the Holy Spirit: These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. A beautiful picture of the unity of the Church! This love toward the other—especially our fellow Christian, and especially our fellow parishioner—created by the Holy Spirit is the mark and characteristic of us as we wait for Jesus’ return. Notice, this love is a constant love or an enduring/ intense love. This means that there is work/ exertion involved. Love is not an easy thing because what does it do? It covers a multitude of sins. Love does not just have to overlook one or two quirks; it forgives! It forgives sin–a whole mountain of sin! Love forgives again and again and is glad to forgive. Why? –Because we ourselves have been forgiven much. As we forgive, as we love, we are remembering God’s love to us first. By His love God covers our sin—He covers it with the blood of Jesus His Son. With our sin covered/ forgiven by God, we then do the difficult work of loving the other by forgiving them their sin. Where this forgiveness reigns supreme—especially in a Christian congregation, there is a beautiful unity—we have each been forgiven by God and we love and forgive the other. They forgive/ cover a multitude of [our] sins and we forgive/ cover a multitude of [their] sins.
Just as the disciples waited with one accord in prayer and supplication for the Holy Spirit, so we today wait for Jesus’ return. Anticipating Jesus’ return on the Last Day influences our attitudes and actions—especially as we keep prayer front and center in our lives and love and forgive each other. INJ Amen