Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and may our Lord and Savior sanctify you in the truth, for His word is truth. Amen

Seventh Sunday of Easter (2009) Rev. Toby Byrd

Sanctified in the Truth

John 17:11b-19 (ESV)

Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one. [12] While I was with them, I kept them in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. [13] But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. [14] I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [15] I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. [16] They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. [17] Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. [18] As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. [19] And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.

Susie and I just completed one of those weeks which brings one closer to God by it events. Thankfully, God closed it with a marvelous weekend! In these past two days we have been part of and witness to the loving hand of God in the marriage of David and Cindi Rhodes and the golden anniversary of Dwayne and Eva Nolte. By the grace of God, Dwayne and Eva have obtained a blessing few couples experience and it is our fervent prayer that David and Cindi will be blessed by our heavenly Father to enjoy that same blessing.

Those of us who have been married for some time know the ups and downs of married life, the pitfalls and traps that the world lays before us as we try to walk with God and each other for as many years as God wills. True enough, as was said in the wedding sermon, using a golf metaphor to describe marriage as a golf game, you cannot play with only your long game; you must have a short game as well. You must be committed to every aspect of marriage for it to be successful. Moreover, married couples must remain connected to God to ensure a successful marriage because we know that it is only by the grace of God that we are able to achieve marriage milestones such as a twenty-fifth or fiftieth anniversary. Moreover, we know that forgiveness and reconciliation is more than a concept in a Christian marriage, it is a Christian marriage. Therefore, without a strong and blessed faith in the sin forgiving death of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, few marriages will ever obtain to anniversaries such as Dwayne and Eva enjoy today.

As joyous as the weekend was, the end of the week brought tragedy and concern into our lives. On Thursday a very close friend suffered a neurological aneurism and on Friday, we learned of the tragic death of two young girls and a young woman; the girls were only thirteen years old. One girl was a close friend of a member of St. Luke’s and an often visitor to worship. They lost their lives in a tragic auto accident in which there were two survivors, an older aunt and a two-year old boy. However, both of them are in intensive care, and the aunt’s survival is in serous doubt.

Our friend who suffered the aneurism was blessed by God, who continues to hold him in His loving hands, having seen him successfully through surgery and on the road to recovery. Sadly, there is no longer anything we can do for those whom God took from this world; but, we can and do comfort those who mourn their deaths by bringing them God’s merciful news of salvation and eternal life in Christ Jesus. I say all this to impress on each of you that even during times of great joy we find the world to be unforgiving, demanding, and bent on our destruction. Such is the lesson we learn from the Gospel text for today. Moreover, we learn there is but one solution to the problem; to remain Sanctified in the truth of God’s Word.

The apostle John records that our Lord Jesus’ mission on earth is drawing to a close and He will soon be departing, returning to His heavenly home. As such, His disciples will be left without His physical, earthly protection; they will be left to the mercy of the world. Jesus knows to be in such a position is perilous at best, thus He fears for their spiritual safety. The world is a godless and angry place, filled with spirits contrary to God’s will. Spirits whose only purpose is to destroy what God has created and what God loves. Moreover, of all that God loves, His chosen children are the main targets of the godless world. The world cannot abide in a Christian community, a Christian church, because it is contrary to them. The Church seeks to save as many as possible from the culture of the world, which is centered on man and his ambitions, by teaching as many as will listen, to abandon their glorification of self by proclaiming only God’s glory through the Gospel. The Church seeks what God desires, to have all men “to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4 ESV). However, the spirit of the evil one is strong and his sway over the world is not easily broken. Because of this, the world rejects God and everything to do with God and therefore it rejects the Church and those who are her members. Faced with this danger, where, can a believer find protection from such a strong and overpowering enemy as the world, drawing strength to persevere? There is but one resource to which we turn, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Jesus prayed for our protection when He prayed, “I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one” (v. 15). Jesus prayed this petition because He knew the work of the disciples and all future believers would be more than simply warring against flesh and blood. He knew those who followed Him would be required to wage war against demon spirits as well; they would wage war against the evil one. All the hatred of the world against the disciples was inspired by Satan, and it is still true to this day. The world is full of delusion, dissension, discord, and hatred. It is a world which spurns the name of God; therefore, the disciples needed divine care lest they should lose their connection with Jesus. Moreover, it is not that each may be protected individually, but it is as a unit, one body, the Body of Christ, that they would be protected over against the wiles of the world and the assaults of Satan. In His petition, Jesus has full confidence that His heavenly Father will actually do what He requests.

The disciples sat at the feet of our Lord Jesus for three years while He taught them and admonished them with God’s Word, thus, Jesus knows His disciples are one with Him. However, Jesus wants the disciples to continue to be one with Him after His departure, just as He and His heavenly Father are one (v. 17). Therefore, He wants them to be unified in doctrine and theology, in worship and practice, because He knows this is the only sure defense over against the world. However, they are not to be unified in man’s doctrine and theology or worship and practice; that which glorifies man. Rather, they are to be unified in God’s Word which alone will unify them in true doctrine and theology, worship and practice which alone seeks only to glorify God and bring comfort to repentant sinners through God’s promise of His eternal love and protection to all who believe in the atoning sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. Thus, Jesus petitions His heavenly Father to ensure that His disciples will remain in perfect unity with Him and in perfect unity with each other, as the communion of saints, remaining in true Word and Sacrament ministry which proclaims forgiveness, healing, witness, and loving service to each other which is essential lest the world overcome them.

The disciples, who will remain in the world after Jesus has ascended, are to fulfill the Church’s Great Commission; to baptize and proclaim the Gospel to all. This is only possible when their hearts are filled with the same love and joy that fills the heart of Jesus. Moreover, this love is not based on a worldly love. No, it is based solely on the love of God. Their hearts are to be overflowing with the love of Jesus, like a cup which has been filled to the brim. Moreover, the disciples are to proclaim this love through Word and deed to the joy and benefit of the world. There is to be no dissension or division among them, and as long as they remain in His Word of truth, there will be none. We, too, are given that same love and joy when the Holy Spirit calls and gathers us in the love of Christ and fellowship with the Father. It is a love that leads us to reject our selfish desires in order to serve others. It is a love that says I want the world to know what I know, that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who gave His life for the forgiveness of sin. It is a love that rejects the calling of the world to be individualistic while holding firmly to the oneness of unity in Christ. It is a love that says I will cling to God’s Word, both the Law and its admonishments and the Gospel and its proclamation of peace, forgiveness, and eternal life. It is a love that knows that all this is possible only by remaining firmly planted in the God’s Word; by remaining Sanctified in the truth.

St. Paul, in writing to the church at Ephesus, exhorts them, and therefore us, to speak, “the truth in love,” and “we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ” (Eph. 4:15 ESV). We are to be one body in Christ. In unity, we are to remain faithful to God’s Word and the doctrines of Holy Scripture. If we hold fast to this exhortation of St. Paul’s we will readily recognize false teachers and false doctrine as those attempts of the evil one to steal our souls. Furthermore, if we speak the truth in love, we will refrain from hurting others through our angry and hurtful words, rather, we will always seek to forgive and reconcile, a lesson the worldly do not know. Moreover, as all catechumens learn in their confirmation classes, speaking the truth in love is following God’s eighth commandment, not to bear false witness against your neighbor. Rather than speak falsely against a brother or sister, we are reminded by Luther to defend our neighbor and speak well of him, putting the best construction on everything that we do regarding our neighbor. This is a lesson seemingly too difficult for some to learn, especially those who are not living the sanctified life. Failure to heed this lesson leads to schism within the Body of Christ.

Moreover, living the sanctified life naturally leads one to do good works; to help their neighbors and to work for harmony, peace, and love throughout the Church, but not at the expense of the truth of God’s Word. St. Paul tells us, “God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work” (2 Cor. 9:8 (ESV)). This is a very telling statement by the apostle Paul. Only God is able to make all grace abound in us. It is His grace and His effort that brings it forth. Good works emanate from our hearts filled with faith. True Christian love, tenderness, pity, strength, courage, energy, zeal, enlightenment, wisdom, giving, and helping are gifts from God. He alone put them into our hearts. The waters of Baptism not only granted us the forgiveness of sins; in those waters we were also gifted with the Holy Spirit. In that wonderful moment you became a child of God, the Holy Spirit took up residence in your heart and from Him then comes all good works. He is the Great Sanctifier; that is His job. Thus, with each passing day of our Christian lives, we continue to grow in the faith, becoming more and more sanctified leading us to perfect sanctification after we are called to our heavenly rest.

When the newly confirmed triumphantly enter the church they take a giant step in living the sanctified life of the Spirit. However, there sanctification process does not end with their catechism studies and devotions by which they obtained confirmation; rather, it is only the beginning of a long and fruitful walk with the Lord; however, it is a walk not without peril.

Throughout our Christian lives we face one obstacle after another that challenges our faith, seeking to shake our trust and love in God. Although seemingly coming from all angles, Scripture makes it clear, they from only one source; Satan, but he uses worldly means and human weakness to bring them about. His quiver of hatred is full and he will use every dart at his disposal to destroy lives committed to the Lord. Sadly, too often, he succeeds. Yet Satan is only successful when a child of God’s sheds the belt of truth and the breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14), turning from God’s Word relying on his own strength and understanding. The road to hell is paved with people who decided their way was better than God’s. But thanks be to God, He established the office of the holy ministry to bring His Word to world, to proclaim the Gospel of the forgiveness of sins in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to lead people away from hell and into heaven, and this, through the aide and blessing of the Holy Spirit, is the task of every pastor.

Desiring all to remain in the unity of one doctrine and theology, every good pastor will exhort his flock to continue their sanctified walk with God by making diligent use of the Holy Scripture in private and public worship. St. Paul instructed Timothy to, “continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (2 Tim. 3:14-15 ESV). We cannot know God’s Will for us without knowing what He has revealed to us through the inspired words of Holy Scripture. Thus, Jesus, in His High Priestly prayer, prays, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (v. 17). Jesus makes it plain; the truth He speaks of is not a worldly concept of truth, but God’s holy Word. Thus, Holy Scripture provides us with His commandments by which we are to live and His grace by which He has saved us. No other writings in all the world open for us the doors of heaven except Holy Scripture.

Moreover, a good pastor urges his flock to continue living the sanctified life by: Seeking the company and companionship of their fellow Christians, working with them in the holy task of spreading the Gospel; attending the Lord’s Supper frequently to strengthen faith and to receive the forgiveness of sins; witnessing for Christ in all they do or say, because He has called them out of darkness into His marvelous light; praying regularly for themselves, for their fellow Christians, for their congregations, and for all mankind; laying their sins on Jesus, the spotless Lamb of God, daily repenting of the evil they have done and the good they have failed to do; and by living every day as though Jesus died yesterday, rose today, and is coming back tomorrow.

Our Lord Jesus prayed, “As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. (v. 18). You are ambassadors for Christ and ministers of reconciliation (2 Cor. 18, 20); therefore Christ sends each of you into the world to proclaim the Truth, that even though we were still sinners, Christ died for us and through His death; God is reconciled to the world. Therefore, hold fast to God’s holy Word, the word I preach to you; hold fast to your confession that you believe in the sin atoning sacrifice of Christ Jesus; hold fast to the hope that is set before you, Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Thus, having been sanctified in the truth, you are now able to live the sanctified life, walking firmly in the Truth of God’s Word. Amen.

May the Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.