Seventh Sunday of Easter - Sermon and Video
Divine Service at St. Luke, Rensselaer, IN
2025 Easter 7 Acts 1:12–26 Revelation 22:1–20 John 17:20–26
Before readings: The Gospel reading is the third part of Jesus’ High Priestly prayer where he states that as the Father loved the Son from “before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24) so the Father loves the world. (John 17:23, 26). Through the Apostolic witness to Jesus’ baptism, cross, and resurrection, the Lord gathers His disciples throughout the world. In the reading from Acts, the disciples return from witnessing the Ascension of Jesus and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit begin to organize themselves by electing Matthias to replace the betrayer Judas so that they can be effective witnesses of Christ. Now they wait for Pentecost. The reading from the Revelation of St. John continues to give us a picture of what awaits the faithful in the new Heaven and new Earth.
Sermon: O Lord, let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable to you, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
This week I just finished reading Carolyn Weber’s autobiography of her adult conversion to Christianity while she was in Oxford working toward her master’s and Ph.D. in literature. The book is called Surprised by Oxford. The book has recently been turned into a movie which is how learned about it. Earlier this year, I read Holly Ordway’s book, Not God’s Type: An Atheist Academic Lays Down Her Arms, which is Dr. Ordway recounting of her own conversion to Christianity. What I found compelling about both these books are that first, the authors are highly intelligent, critical thinking women who are immersed in the world’s claims about modern individuality, truth, and feminism. Their assumptions and thinking must change, and they miraculously do. Second, neither of these women really had any kind of a connection to a church before. There are no Sunday School memories or stories about how Grandma took them to church when they would visit. They are without a churchly language or awareness. Third, that they both became conservative Bible believing and Bible quoting Christians: One an Evangelical; The other Roman Catholic. The fourth is the prominent role in which Christians around them played, both overtly or subtly, in drawing these two women into a confession that Jesus is the crucified and risen Christ. And, that they need Him, His forgiveness, and the presence of the Church to have a joy filled and meaningful life.
Many of us are frustrated and weary of the state of our congregations these days. The same challenges that we face are happening all over North America. And, quite frankly, even further than that. We can remember a time when, not so terribly long ago, there were more people in the pew, more activity, and so on. We are mystified that our children and grandchildren that were raised in the faith and were regularly brought to church just like we were, are not repeating the same habits and discipline and confession of faith, that we exhibited to them. So, when I read these contemporary adult conversion stories, I gain a sense of hope. Yes, the Holy Spirit is at work in the world. Yes, people who are primed to resist the Good News of Jesus Christ, do receive and respond to the Word of God. Sometimes at a cost to their place in the family or within their careers. Yes, they don’t just have faith, but they also settle into a community of faith and are active participants within their own congregations.
Jesus says that he is praying for His disciples. And that he is praying for those “who will believe in me through their word.” That word refers to Christian witness through both words and conduct. We bear the Word, Jesus, to those around us. Those who are Christians and those who are not. We, who have been sanctified in the truth of the Gospel of Jesus’ cross and resurrection, continue the Apostolic mission. Both Dr. Weber and Dr. Ordway, had people around them who could articulate the good news of Christ and the Christian faith in a way that they could hear it. These people are not clergy. Just regular Christians who pay attention and are faithful. Clergy did eventually become involved in these two women’s faith experience, but all the conversations that started the ball rolling, so to speak, happened outside the walls of a church building.
When the Holy Spirit directed the Apostles to move beyond the Jewish population, they essentially faced the same kind of environment that we do now. They were explaining Jesus, his death, forgiveness, and his resurrection to a people who had no concept of these things. Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit is a very different kind of God than what the world has produced in its many idols and gods. Those idols and gods are everywhere in the ancient world. But, somehow, God’s Word penetrated the void. The book of Acts gives us some rather startling examples of the myriad and mysterious ways in which the Holy Spirit creates faith and Jesus draws his disciples to Himself. The history of the Church is filled with the most unlikely of people becoming Christians.
It was not easy for the disciples in the first century. There was no seven-step plan to bring them all in. What the disciples did have is the same thing that we have. We have the solid promise that Jesus is with the church always. The Father loves us. Jesus loves us. He became incarnate for us. He died for us. He rose from the dead for us. He forgives us our sins. He abides with us always. In Holy Baptism, we receive the Holy Spirit who creates faith within us, and this Holy Spirit will lead us into a faithful witness in God’s good time.
In our weariness, in our frustration, we hold on to the Word of God for it is the source of our salvation and life. Through the Word of God we receive promises that we take to heart. The promise that rises to the top on this Seventh Sunday of Easter is that our risen Lord is with us. Where He is, there is the Father, and the Holy Spirit. They continue to abide with us. Our life, forever, is with them. The gift and witness of the Revelation of St. John is that we are assured that our life with God never comes to an end. In a new heaven and a new earth, we will dwell in the New Jerusalem, and we will know the fullness of God’s peace.
The peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.
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