✠ One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you ✠
The Word of the Lord Endures Forever
se cwide þæs béaggiefan ábireþ ferhþ
John 16,23b-28 [29-32] 33 2715
Rogate (5. Sonntag nach Ostern) 040 weiß
Comgall, Abbot at Bangor, ✠ 601.
10. Mai 2015
1. O Jesus Christ, Thou desires fellowship with us, we call upon Your Name, confess You to be our God and Savior, look to You for providence, for You stand by our side when trials and tribulations arrive so that we may be safely guided though them by Your omnipotence. Amen. (VELKD, Prayer for Rogate § 1)
2. »Jesus said to His disciples: „In that day you will ask nothing of Me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in My Name. Ask, and you will receive, so that your joy may be full. I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is arriving when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in My Name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I arrived from God. I arrived from the Father and have descended into the world, and now I am leaving the world and ascending to the Father.“ His disciples said: „Ah, now You are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that You know all things and do not need anyone to question You; this is why we believe that You arrived from God.“ Jesus answered them: „Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is arriving, indeed it has arrived, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave Me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with Me. I have said these things to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.“
3. Jesus teaches His disciples about prayer in today’s pericope. So lets ask the first question: what is prayer? A: Prayer is speaking to God; it consists prayers, supplications and thanksgivings that we speak to God (Philippians 4,6). Jesus promises in today’s pericope that His Father hears and answers our prayers.
4. Jesus even taught us how to prayer and what to ask for in our prayers. The Lord’s Prayer contains specific petitions to bring before God.
5. The Lord’s Prayer begins with an invocation: »Our Father who art in heaven hallowed be Thy Name.« With this invocation Jesus tenderly invites us to believe that He is our True Father and that we are His true children, and so with boldness and confidence we may ask Him as dear children ask their father or mother for something. The relationship God has with us is as a father to a child. God created us, protects us and preserves us. God provides everything we need to live. Now God is our Father in two ways. 1. God is the Father of all people, believers and unbelievers alike. Jesus said: »God makes His sun rise on people whether they are evil or good, and He lets rains fall on them whether they are righteous or unrighteous« (Matthew 5,45). 2. God is the Father of all Christians that is unique from His relationship with all unbelievers. God is our Father, Jesus is our Brother and we are all brothers and sisters to one another because we are each a son or a daughter of God, for we have been baptized into His heavenly family. Therefore, we pray to God who is in heaven, and this phrase assures us that our heavenly Father is Lord over all things, sees our needs, hears our prayers, and daily and richly provides for us out of His merciful, Divine Providence.
6. Jesus next teaches us the petition that God’s Name is hallowed and holy. The psalmist records God’s exhortation to us: »Call upon Me in the day of trouble, for I will deliver you and you shall glorify Me« (Psalm 50,15). We hallow God Name when we call upon Him in every trouble, pray, praise and give thanks. Praying to God in every circumstance is to treat His Precious Name with holy respect.
7. Next we pray for God’s kingdom to arrive and for His will to be done on earth. In this petition we ask God to give us the Holy Spirit so that we believe His Word and lead godly lives as children in His kingdom of grace. We ask here that we live with the certainty that God’s kingdom is now here upon the earth and that God is in control of every great and small event in our lives and in the history of humanity. Jesus also tells us what God’s will is: »My Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day« (John 6,40). Thus God’s will is done in our lives when He hinders the plan of the devil, the world and our sinful flesh which all attempt to destroy our faith in Jesus and walk a path that is against God’s commandments and His grace. Thus, we are certain that God’s kingdom arrives and that His will is done on earth, for God Himself guarantees that His means of grace establish and sustain His kingdom and will. The Prophet Isaiah records what God had said to him: »My Word will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it« (Isaiah 55,11).
8. In the 4. petition we ask for our daily bread, which is simply everything we need in this earthly life to live and prosper. The psalmist speaks of daily bread when he writes: »The eyes of all look to You, O Lord, and You give them their food at the proper time. You open Your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing« (Psalm 145,15-16). Daily bread is not only food and drink necessary for our nourishment, but also includes everything that has to do with the support and needs of the body, such as clothing, shoes, house, home, lands, animals, money, goods, a devout spouse, children and workers, devout and faithful rulers, good government, good weather, peace, health, self-control, good reputation, good friends, faithful neighbors and many other similar things.
9. The 5. petition deals with forgiveness. We pray in this petition that our Father in heaven would not look upon our sins, nor deny such petitions on account of them, for we are worthy of non of the things for which we pray, neither have we deserved them; but that He would grant them all to us by grace; for we daily sin much, and indeed deserve nothing but punishment. So will we truly, on our part, also heartily forgive and also readily do good to those who sin against us. This is why our Divine Service is prefaced with the preparatory rite where we confess our sins and receive Christ’s absolution for those sins. The law reveals God’s wrath, and the gospel promises His grace. The psalmist assures us: »Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love; according to Your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin« (Psalm 51,). »For if You, O Lord, kept a record of sins, O Lord, who could stand? But with You there is forgiveness«, and this forgiveness is merited by Christ Himself for each one of us. As God in Christ has forgiven us, so we in Christ forgive others. Jesus teaches: »I tell you, you shall not forgive your brother who sins against you a mere seven times, but you shall forgive him seventy times seven« (Matthew 18,21-22). We thus forgive as Paul teaches: »Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you« (Ephesians 4,32).
10. The 6. and 7. petitions exhort us to pray: »Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.« Here Jesus teaches us to petition God to protect and us from the devil and his evil machinations. Thus, we pray in this petition that God would guard and deep us so that the devil, the world and our sinful nature may not deceive us or mislead us into false belief, despair and other great shame and vice. Furthermore, we pray that our Father in heaven would rescue us from every evil of body and soul, possessions and reputation, and finally, when our last hour arrives, give us a blessed end, and graciously take us from this valley of sorrow to Himself in heaven. God in Christ has triumphed over the devil. Jesus Himself was tempted by Satan, and He did not sin. Instead, He put the devil to flight and He sends His holy angels to uplift us and support us when the devils try to tempt us to despair of God’s love and mercy. Ultimately, Jesus triumphed over the devil when He was crucified and rose from the grave. Jesus paid the price for sin, ransomed us from the devils tyranny and tore asunder hades’ gates and opened the graves so that we may be assured of our forgiveness, salvation and eternal life with the Triune God and all the Christian host of heaven.
11. God does not deliver us from every temptation or misfortune. Sometimes He intervenes and rescues, but other times He allows the circumstances to follow their logical course. In both instances, God is in control over it all, and all outcomes further His agenda and His good and gracious will. Nevertheless, He watches over us, protects us and sends His angels to minister to us throughout our daily lives. What God told St. Paul in a revelation remains true for us today: »My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecution and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong« (2. Corinthians 12,9-10). In this, we follow in Christ’s footsteps. »The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men« (1. Corinthians 1,25). »For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved the word of the cross is the Power of God« (1. Corinthians 1,18). »God chose what is low and despised in the world to bring to nothing things that are« (1. Corinthians 1,28). Thus Christ arrived lowly and humble, God made flesh, to suffer, be crucified, die and be buried. Christ humbled Himself in order to save us. Christ rose from the grave, and in doing so glorified Himself in order to glorify us. Thus we boast in Christ our Lord (1. Corinthians 1,31).
12. Christ is the Humbleness of God and the Glory of God. He is our Brother and our Savior. All things are in His hands. He bids us to pray to Him, rely on Him and petition Him for all good things. God the Father will do all this, and much more, for us because of Christ Jesus, His Son, our Lord.
13. Jesus Christ is our Amen and God’s Yes. »For all the promises of God find their Yes in Christ. That is why it is through Him that we utter our Amen to God for His Glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put His seal on us and given us His Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee« (2. Corinthians 1,20). Truly, Yours, O Lord, are the Greatness, the Power, the Glory, the Victory and the Majesty; for all that is in the heavens and on the earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as Head above all (1. Chronicles 29,11). Amen, Amen and Amen!
14. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, blessed are You, for You do not rejected our prayers or remove Your steadfast love from us! Keep us in Your thoughts so that we may overcome all the trials and tribulations that this world throws against us as Your Christian people who trust in Your glorious resurrection. Amen.
To God alone be the Glory
Gode ealdore sy se cyneþrymm
✠
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27. Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2013 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2013 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
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