St. Matthew Lutheran Church

Seventh Sunday of Easter
May 12, 2013

“Jesus Prays for Us” (John 17:20-26)

Did you know you are mentioned in the Gospel reading for today? You are. Jesus is talking about you–in fact, he is praying for you–in the passage known as his “High Priestly Prayer” in John 17. In the first part of that chapter, Jesus has been praying for his disciples, the ones he would be sending out soon as his apostles. You know, Peter, James, John, Andrew, Matthew–those guys. But then at verse 20 of John 17, Jesus shifts his prayer to include others, as well. He says: “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word. . . .”

OK, let’s pause right there. When he says “these only,” he’s referring to the disciples he’s just been praying for, those who would be his apostles. But then he goes on to say: “but also for those who will believe in me through their word.” And here he is talking about you. Yes, you. For you are among those who have believed in Jesus through the apostles’ word–the inspired witness of the apostles that we find in the New Testament Scriptures. Through the gospel that has been preached to you, through the apostles’ teaching, through the sacraments the apostles were commissioned to pass on to the church from generation to generation–through the apostolic ministry of Word and Sacrament, you and I have come to believe in, trust in, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And so you and I are included in this prayer of Jesus when he prays for “those who will believe in me through their word.” Here in his High Priestly Prayer, “Jesus Prays for Us.”

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Sixth Sunday of Easter
May 5, 2013

“In Jesus, Peace; In the World, Tribulation” (John 16:23-33)

Hear again the words of Jesus at the end of John 16, verse 33: “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.” This is our text.

“In Jesus, Peace; In the World, Tribulation.” This is what our Lord says his followers can expect. It was that way for his disciples back then. It is that way for his disciples still now. On the one hand, peace; on the other hand, tribulation. Both guaranteed, at the same time, for all those who follow the Savior in faith. How does this apply to you and me?

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Fifth Sunday of Easter
April 28, 2013

“A Little While” (John 16:12-22)

“We do not know what he is talking about.” Maybe you say that sometimes towards the end of my sermons. “We don’t know what he’s talking about!” Well, if so, then I’m in good company, because that’s what the disciples said about a sermon Jesus was preaching. We heard it in today’s Gospel from John 16. “We do not know what he is talking about,” the disciples said. What was it they were puzzled about?

It was this. Jesus had just told them: “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” Huh? Come again? Well, yeah, that’s just the point. Jesus will come again. He’s going away, and they won’t see him. Then he’ll come again, and they will see him. But it does sound like a bit of a riddle, doesn’t it? “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” So you can just see the puzzled looks on the disciples’ faces, as they turn to one another and say, repeating his words: “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’?” “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.”

What does Jesus mean? It’s not the easiest thing to figure out exactly, even now. In a way, we could say that his saying has kind of a double meaning, or at least a double application, one to the disciples’ immediate situation, right at that time, and then to a broader, longer-range situation that fits our situation also. So let’s see what sense we can make of all this. Let’s talk about this “A Little While.”

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Third Sunday of Easter
April 14, 2013

“By the Charcoal Fire” (John 21:1-19)

It’s been a couple of weeks now since Jesus rose from the dead and appeared to his disciples. Last Sunday, Jesus came and appeared to them a second time, on that occasion especially to bring Thomas to repent of his unbelief and confess his faith. Now today Jesus appears to the disciples–seven of them, at least–he appears to them a third time, this time not in Jerusalem, as on the previous two occasions, but now back up in Galilee, the home base for many of the disciples.

Jesus appears to them, unexpectedly, while they’re out on the lake in a boat, fishing, and he’s standing on the shore, standing by a charcoal fire he had made. They don’t know that it’s Jesus there on the shore, but he calls to them, and that’s when the fun begins. So now let’s find out what happens when we hear Jesus call us to come to him “By the Charcoal Fire.”

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The Resurrection of Our Lord: Easter Day
Sunday, March 31, 2013

“Lessons from the Paschal Candle” (John 1:4-5)

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John chapter 1, verses 4 and 5.

On this Easter Day, the most glorious day of the year, we join with the whole Christian church around the world in proclaiming and rejoicing in the Resurrection of Our Lord: “Alleluia! Christ is risen!” (“He is risen indeed! Alleluia!”)

Not only do we proclaim this great good news with our mouth, but also visually, the sacred artwork and appointments of the church show forth this same message. We see that today–we literally see it–in the paschal candle placed before our eyes. The candle itself is designed to portray the good news of Easter. And so our theme this morning: “Lessons from the Paschal Candle.”

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