Rogate, The Fifth Sunday after Easter, 2014
Pastor Gregory L. Jackson
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/bethany-lutheran-worship
Bethany Lutheran Church, 10 AM Central Time
The Hymn # 202 Welcome Happy Morning 4:28
The Confession of Sins
The Absolution
The Introit p. 16
The Gloria Patri
The Kyrie p. 17
The Gloria in Excelsis
The Salutation and Collect p. 19
The Epistle and Gradual
The Gospel
Glory be to Thee, O Lord!
Praise be to Thee, O Christ!
The Nicene Creed p. 22
The Sermon Hymn #458 Our Father 4:50
Prayer Is the Fruit of Justification by Faith
The Communion Hymn # 207 Like the Golden Sun 4:76
The Preface p. 24
The Sanctus p. 26
The Lord's Prayer p. 27
The Words of Institution
The Agnus Dei p. 28
The Nunc Dimittis p. 29
The Benediction p. 31
The Hymn #657 Beautiful Savior 4:24
KJV James 1:22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. 23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. 26 If any man among you seem to be religious, and bridleth not his tongue, but deceiveth his own heart, this man's religion is vain. 27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
KJV John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. 24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full. 25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father. 29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
Fifth Sunday After Easter
Lord God, heavenly Father, who through Thy Son didst promise us that whatsoever we ask in His name Thou wilt give us: We beseech Thee, keep us in Thy word, and grant us Thy Holy Spirit, that He may govern us according to Thy will; protect us from the power of the devil, from false doctrine and worship; also defend our lives against all danger; grant us Thy blessing and peace, that we may in all things perceive Thy merciful help, and both now and forever praise and glorify Thee as our gracious Father, through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, one true God, world without end. Amen.
Prayer Is the Fruit of Justification by Faith
KJV John 16:23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing. Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
The central teaching of the Bible is faith in Jesus, as he clearly taught in John 16, a teaching reflected in many different ways throughout the Scriptures. The Holy Spirit will convict the world of sin - because they do not believe on Me.
We should recognize that faith in all Christian believes who trust in the Savior for their forgiveness, their salvation. That cannot mean faith plus something else, but faith alone, apart from any works or merit of our own. Most Protestants and many Roman Catholics agree about this basic teaching of the Bible. That should be acknowledged.
But there are also many attacks on this from all quarters, which do not need to be described in details. No group or denomination is lacking in those who have another concept, an opposing view, and want to impose it on everyone.
Given that truth, it is sad that so many barriers are put in the way of teaching the Biblical view. Simply put, believing is forgiveness, as Jesus taught. Or, to use the Latin-based words: believing is justification (forgiveness) and justification is sanctification. Good works naturally flow from faith in Christ.
The Gospel is the unquenchable energy of the entire Bible. People may throw all kinds of philosophical wet blankets and legalistic condemnations on the Gospel, but that energy still breaks through.
It is like that humble little pumpkin seed. I just ordered some on sale, since we have late autumns here. I bought the Atlantic Giant variety to share with various children. The vine creates enormous leaves that look like green umbrellas, and big ugly pumpkins known only for their size. When a pumpkin starts growing, it invades the property of other people. I told one neighbor in Midland, long ago, "Chop out what you don't want in your yard. You can't hurt it."
The Gospel seed has that power, to invade and spread and show its influence. Forgiveness of sin is the ultimate blessing, so the Gospel blessings lead to the blessing of others.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you.
Nothing says more about faith than prayer, because prayer defies rational analysis. Even in those wacky shows where they refuse to name Christ, someone will say, "What can I do?" The answer is - "All you can do now is pray."
And what does human reason say? I can think words, and God will answer me, one little individual? Or I can speak them out loud without any proof Someone is listening?
Faith in Jesus means we also believe these words - "Whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He will give it to you."
And then the battle of faith begins. We wonder - whatever? And will He really give it? When? This begins the war against faith waged by our sinful flesh, Satan, and the unbelieving world.
Faith is renewed by worship, where we receive grace through the Means of Grace, where our weak or confused notions are corrected by the Word of God.
24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name: ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.
When the years of training were drawing to a close, Jesus taught His disciples to pray on their own, praying in His Name. We have many associations with that. When there is a message or request backed by another person, we pay attention to that.
Children name the other parent when making a plea for something. "Mom already said it was OK, if you agree, Dad. Please?" How can that be turned down?
England even passed a law based on this concept. The Riot Act had specific language, which ended "In the Name of the Queen, I order you to stop. So the riot act became a figure of speech, but it was a law. Now we say, "The boss read the riot act to us about sales." The point is - another authority is invoked.
Jesus' words are Gospel. They do not condemn but encourage us to ask.
25 These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father. 26 At that day ye shall ask in my name: and I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you: 27 For the Father himself loveth you, because ye have loved me, and have believed that I came out from God. 28 I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world: again, I leave the world, and go to the Father.
These three verses belong together, pointing toward the post-Resurrection appearances and teaching of Jesus. What will give them the faith needed is the horrible trial they will face, experiencing their fears and weakness, being restored by Jesus' forgiveness and blessing.
The more they know of the Father, the more they trust asking in Jesus' Name. Sometimes much is made of the Apostles' courage, since almost all of them died violently because of the Christian Faith. They were not inherently better than any of us. They were imbued with faith in God's power and mercy, because Jesus taught them the pure Word and helped them grow in their appreciation of it.
This passage includes a great blessing that everyone should remember, when God seems to be silent or absent. "The Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have trusted that I came from God."
The world may frown, and it often does, but God loves those who love His Son and completely believe in His Sonship.
29 His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb. 30 Now are we sure that thou knowest all things, and needest not that any man should ask thee: by this we believe that thou camest forth from God.
When Jesus taught, He often used figures or parables that left the dabblers puzzled. That was the intention, since many dropped by to see what they could get for themselves. Jesus knew their thoughts, so He explained the parables and sayings to the disciples. And this is embedded in the Christian faith to this day.
The plain, basics teachings of the Bible are clearly stated in many places, in many ways. The deeper meanings need to be studied. The difficulties (for us) make us want to study more.
In many instances, perhaps most instances, we need to know and believe what is taught before we encounter the challenges of life. And they encourage us to return to the Scriptures to learn from God.
Luther used his dog as an example in complete trust. Dogs never tire of asking. Sassy has many signals:
1. Licking her lips - time for some food.
2. Ear flapping - time to go outside. She has no doggy door.
3. Wake the dead bark - I need to go outside this second, and you haven't noticed my signals.
4. The grin - that means, "You know what I want. I will stare you down with this goofy grin until I get it."
5. Paw tap - I need attention.
6. Paw scrape - I need attention now.
7. Dragging the master down on the bed by clawing the sweater - "No more computer. I want some love."
Sassy pawed me to sing the second verse of her song, The Cattle Dog Blues.
Prayer means asking, although we do more than ask in prayer. We offer thanks. We confess our sins. But this lesson teaches us to always to be asking. Asking means trusting, and trusting is another word for believing.
If we do not trust God to answer prayer, we do not believe in His true nature. We have let human reason, our sinful flesh, or Satan teach us. The Word never deceives, never errs.
