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Take heart. Good morning. The end of the gospel reading is the message of today’s sermon. After describing about his going home, Jesus had said, take heart. There are so many worries coming before you. There are so many struggles throughout your life, but always remember, Jesus said, I am not alone but with my Father.
Dear beloved, today on this seventh Sunday after Easter, when we come before the Lord, this is a message we hear, the same message, the voice of the Lord. He’s the one who said, I am the Alpha and Omega. He’s the one who said, I am the bread of life. He’s the one who said, I am the Good Shepherd. He’s the one who said, on the life and the resurrection, still at the peak moment of that time, before he was betrayed and given to the hands of the enemy, on our behalf, to be tried, to die, Jesus spoke to his disciples.
The gospel, according to St. John, is giving us this depiction of a kind of farewell speech to say, hey, you know what, I’m out. I’m going. It’s like a good friend or a father saying goodbye to his family and the disciples. When Jesus finished his teachings, of course, he prayed for his disciples. He prayed for the church. He prayed for the well-being of that small community, that they were able to sustain the pressure, persecution, hatred, and danger. And he knew also who was betraying him, and he even prayed for everyone, including Judas. That’s why Jesus taught, love your enemy.
Different than even the commandment that says, love thy neighbor. It goes to another level. To the enemy who is next to you, the one who dipped in the same dish to dine and eat with you. He is the one in the inner circle in your midst, and he is the one who knew and who knows everything about you. Jesus had already warned his disciples about the sufferings, persecutions, anxiety, and the sorrow that will befall them in the days, months, and years to come, and some said this will never happen. We know that. Some said who would that person be? Of course, he promised them his comfort, and he said, and he promised them, saying the Holy Spirit will be given to you when you face challenges. The Holy Spirit will help you to overcome the challenges and to overcome the struggles.
But above all, he said this clearly, when you pray, pray in my name. You haven’t yet prayed about my name. That name we know, name above all names, that all knees will bow down. The name of eternity, Christ himself. And as we hear today’s gospel, we have also an opportunity to hear the marvelous thing. It is that we not only have the privilege of speaking to the great sovereign Lord, but we have the privilege of knowing and understanding the Lord Christ Jesus, our Savior. He’s the one who partook our life and our body and became one of us. He’s the one who shared his life for us. He’s the one who reconciled us to his Father and one another.
And he mentioned that God the Father is the perfect father. And that’s why he said, I’m not alone, but with my Father. Dear beloved, the image between the relationship between the Father and Son sometimes is misleading when we have some fathers who are rude and tough, cruel and dangerous, not protective, not loving, not caring, but that’s not the kind of father Jesus was referring to. Just like he mentioned about the good shepherd, he was referring to the good Father, the perfect Father.
Well, Jesus three times said a very important word. The time has come. And he used that word always. Repent and believe in the kingdom of God. It is at hand. The time has come. The time has come that the Son of Man will be lifted up. The time has come that the Son of God will be given into the hands of the enemies. The time has come that persecution, troubles, dangers are around us. Sometimes we don’t see it, especially when we live in this part of the world where we have peace, provision, protection, joy, such kind of even worshiping environment.
But where I come from, this word has a significant meaning in our life. The word the time has come is an always, it is a continuing word that always keeps our heart and our minds ready for what is next. We can just for a grant relax in sitting, sometimes even napping in the pew like what we have here. Back home in Africa, in Ethiopia where I was born and raised, anything happened at any time. In a time when we say hallelujah, all of a sudden we find militant, Muslim militants just penetrating, or just blowing themselves, or shooting, or something happens.
Or in the time when we felt it is time to go home from church and headed an hour walk to get home, anything could happen. There could be a war between two tribes, then a tribe may be just lurking there to find someone from another tribe just to kill. They had no idea. You didn’t do anything. Just for the reason something happened on the other side of the country, they revenge here, and you see yourself caught up between forces. Or rebels come and kidnap you and take you to the jungle for the rest of your life, or a flash flood comes and just takes you away in a second while you are in your bed.
The time has come, Jesus said, anything could happen. It doesn’t make sense for his disciples. Why? Because they saw Jesus was feeding the hungry. They saw Jesus was healing the sick. They saw Jesus had raised Lazarus. They saw Jesus is a prominent figure and a great leader. To some extent, some of them believed he is the Messiah who delivers them from the bondage of Rome. But Jesus said, the time has come. The Son of Man would be lifted up and glorified.
Dear friends, this is the same name of the one who suffered on our behalf. That same name we know, Jesus the Christ. That same name Peter and the disciples used even to heal the sick and to rebuke the evil spirit. That is the same name that works still here, not bound by time and space. That same name, Jesus, is a sweet name and a powerful name.
A while ago, we were reading Bible verses, which we kept them written on our hands because we cannot carry the Bible like what we do here. Back in the days when the communists ran that poor country, Ethiopia, I was an 11th grade high school student, but I was coordinating high school student fellowship or Christian high school student fellowship everywhere, and my role was always to recite and memorize Bible verses and share them to people, penetrate into my peers and share the gospel.
Before we knew it, we were in a very, very wooded area, savanna grass. We thought we were hiding there; nobody could see us. Before we knew it, the communists just apprehended us, and they came with a Kalashnikov and they put that barrel on our head and asked us to lay down on the ground. That was like the time has come. Because we knew what would be next if we were executed would be like a shame even for our parents. If our parents went and asked the communists, where is my son’s body? And the communist cadre would say, hey, we wasted our bullet on that dog. If you wish to recover his body, you have to pay for the bullet.
That’s how it was really, cruel and hard time, and we all just knelt down and we were grounded and were sleeping on the ground, and then these guys just talked to each other, and they talked different tribal languages. Fortunately, I speak five of the languages, and English is my fifth language. And when you know what they say, especially, makes your heart beat to increase, and one said just blow their heads, and I said, oh my God.
Then I said Jesus, and then they said what did you say? I said Jesus. I probably said out of fear; there is no word that I could say at that moment. And the other guy said, search them if they have the Bible. And they did search all our backpacks and everything. They couldn’t find a single Bible. Then they said, yeah, it is not your day. Had we had the Bible at your hand, that would justify to blow your head. Then they left.
And we just tear and cried. I still have that moment in my life. Every day when I think of that time, I feel it. I still feel it as if they’re there. The voice is there. You know, the footsteps and everything what they did was there. And then we said, Jesus, Jesus. That’s the name above all names, that only with bow down, and this is the name that we have, we are lifting up, and this is exactly what God was teaching us in Christ Jesus. When you pray, pray in my name.
Dear Saints at St. Paul, I’m not preaching something strange, but I’m telling you the truth. What we have here from the Gospel reading today is that God the Father is the perfect Father, even for those who have a broken image of their parents, their fathers. And God the Father is the one who brought this world out of nothing. And through His Son, God redeemed each and every one of us and sanctified us through His Holy Spirit and through His means of grace. That same Jesus, who is risen and sitting at the right hand of God the Father, is still with us, embedded within and under the bread and the wine, coming to us and saying, I am that Jesus.
When we come here today to receive that body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, that’s exactly what we say, Jesus. And we are receiving that Jesus that refreshes us, strengthens us, and keeps us moving upward. And with that, I want you to be reminded, even in this memorial weekend, when you think of those who paid great sacrifice on our behalf and defended our freedom and our right and fought for this nation, even for me to be part of this great nation. Remember that fact also. Our faith in Christ is not only earthly, but it is also bound heaven.
And we all are heaven-bound and rejoicing, singing, praising to that Jesus. And share that Jesus now and every time because he will send his Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit connects us to faith through the word and the sacraments. And Jesus said, I will send you my spirit, the comforter, the guider, and the power that gives you courage. But what you need to do in your life is take heart, be courageous, stay strong. On Christ, the solid rock, he’s the one who sustains your faith, now and forever.
And let the Church say, Amen. Amen. Thank you.
