In Me You May Have Peace

John 16:23-33

Easter 6

May 9, 2010

         ²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. ²⁵ “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. ²⁶ In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; ²⁷ for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. ²⁸ I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.”

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” ³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 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.”

            Our sermon text today comes from the Gospel of John. It is actually a continuation of the Gospel text which we heard last week. In that Gospel, if you remember, Jesus is telling His disciples that a day of sorrow is ahead of them. The great and terrible Day of the Lord, when Christ, the Savior of the World will be rejected by mankind and nailed to a cross. But Jesus tells the disciples that their sorrow will turn into joy. Why? Because after the crucifixion of Christ, there will be the resurrection, the dawning of a new life, not only for Christ, but for all the world, for every soul that would but trust in Him.

            And in our Gospel today, Jesus is continuing to speak to his disciples along these same lines. He is preparing them to go through the most monumental, dramatic, terrible, wonderful moment in all of history. The Day that God’s Son would die on behalf of the world, as Jesus says in John 3:17: “God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

            So this portion of John’s Gospel is quite important. We have today Jesus’ final words to the disciples before He is arrested. In John 14-17, we have 3 chapters of Jesus preparing and teaching His disciples. Our scripture today are the final words of preparation, which are then followed by a closing prayer of Jesus. After that He is arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane . So, needless to say, this is a very important night for the disciples.

            Today we need to hear Jesus’ words of preparation and encouragement. Words such as these:

* Your sorrow will turn into joy.

* In this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.

* I have said these things to you that in ME you may have peace.

            Today Jesus wants us to hear words of peace, because we, like the disciples, are going to face and indeed are already facing the hatred, and tribulation, and trial and sorrow that comes to all Christians in this world.

            You may already have much peace in your lives today. Your lives may not be terribly burdened right now. I’m sure many of you are satisfied with your life, your work, your pensions, your family. Things are going well. Today we celebrate the gift of Mothers. And for all these things we should rightly rejoice and be thankful. But what if things are not so well for a lot of us? Some of our mothers and family are ailing and sick. Parents are facing great trials and pain. Some of our children are hurting or have passed away. If the peace of God seems illusive, today Christ means to give you His Peace.

            So then, today, no matter where you are in your life of faith, we find encouragement from the Lord. And we begin today, really as we encouraged to begin every day of our lives, by approaching the foot of the cross. Every day, each one of us should awaken from sleep and remember our baptism. For in our baptism, we see the life of faith. We remember that in Christ we die to ourselves, we approach the cross and repent of our sins daily, so that in His resurrection we might walk in newness of life daily.

            Today, in our scripture, the disciples have come to the threshold of the cross. And it is not an easy place to come to. As in fact we know that the disciples would flee from the cross. Oh how often we do the same thing in our daily lives. We let Christ go on ahead, bearing our sins. But we don’t want to follow Him. We don’t want to share in that suffering. We prefer a life of ease. We don’t want pain, it’s understandable.

            Yes, we are just like the disciples. During Jesus’ 3 years of ministry, the disciples really had it easy. God was with them in the flesh, leading them, guiding them, speaking for them. But now, the disciples are going to be in need. They will find themselves feeling alone and scared. They will for a moment not see Christ any more. And no matter where you are in your life of faith, we will all face moments of darkness and even doubt. Did you know that in the Gospel of Matthew, just before Christ gives His disciples the Great Commission, after He had risen from the dead, it says many still doubted. The disciples in our text today are facing darkness and doubt. But it is exactly in a moment of darkness, when the light of Christ seems to fade, that we see today in our scripture how Christ never ceases to love us and to give us faith which overcomes our doubt and fear.

            Christ is giving peace to the disciples who are facing THE most terrible moment any man would ever face. They are coming face to face with the cross. Jesus says “in this world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the worl.”.

            So what? Jesus has overcome the world.           But what about us?       What does this really mean for us? I know so often in my life the world seems to overcome me!

How then do we overcome the world? How do find peace in these words of Christ?

            After Jesus has explained and prepared His disciples for what is about to happen, the disciples have a moment of great clarity. In the text, it is a little shocking. Several verses earlier during Jesus’ teaching, actually from the gospel text we heard last week, the disciples are confused and they don’t understand these lofty words of Jesus. Then here in our text, just a few verses later, the disciples suddenly seem to get it.

²⁹ His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! ³⁰ Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.”

            But just as they seem to understand, just as they are so sure that they are good Christians, that they have done enough, that they have come to church just enough, and they have all the answers, just as they become confident in themselves and in their own ability, and in their great theological understanding, just as they are confirmed, these great and wise confirmands, just at the moment where the disciples think their faith is set in stone and there’s not much else to worry about, Jesus says to them:

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone.

            How tempting it is for all of us, to retreat to the comfort of our own home. To flee from the challenge of faith. How tempting it will be for our Confirmands to not talk about Jesus in the midst of their friends who might not believe. How tempting it can be for mothers and parents to let the world raise our children because it’s easier. How challenging faith can be when we stand at the foot of the cross. For when a person first comes to the cross, they are necessarily faced firstly with the reality of their treacherous sin. The death of Christ does not at first glance appear to be Good News. For many in this world, even people who claim to be Christian, they see the cross as something to ignore, because it is too difficult and challenging to believe that humanity could be so sinful. Could God be so harsh as to require such a terrible penalty?

            But what we see today is not only suffering and sin. Christ shows us the victory of love. He shows even us how to overcome sin, and death, and sorrow, and trial.

He said:

³¹ Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? ³² Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

            Yet there is purpose in the suffering of Christ. There is something much greater than our failures and sins. There is the love of the Father, the One Who sent His Son to die for us. We come to cross every day of our lives so that we might also find the resurrection of Christ in our lives.

Christ continues and says:

³³ I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace.

            Today Christ shows us how to live life every day. We begin at the cross. Just as every worship service, we begin in confession, so that we might receive absolution. Every day, I encourage you and me to rise up from sleep and pray: “Lord have mercy, for I sinned yesterday, and I may fail today, but I will always trust in Your grace and love.”

            In fact, after Christ prepares and teaches His disciples on the night when He was betrayed, the final thing He does here in John’s Gospel is pray. And so we too must rise every day in prayer. It may only take 1 minute in the morning. It is not some holy dramatic thing to pray. It is as simple as breathing. There doesn’t need to be an inordinate amount of time, but there needs to be a time; a simple glance to heaven, a simple asking for God’s power in Christ to be in us. Indeed at the beginning of our scripture text, Jesus encourages His disciples to live in prayer:

²³ In that day you will ask nothing of me. Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. ²⁴ Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.

            The gift of Christ today is the gift of faith, and the righteous shall live by faith.

Our faith unites us to Christ. Our faith receives the blessing of God. God’s love and peace are for you. In our scripture, even on the very night of Christ’s betrayal, at the height of sins power, we can see Christ loving His People unconditionally. His love is yours forever. Grasp onto God’s Love every day by prayer and the Word, and God’s peace will be with you always.

            So now as we conclude, I would remind you that today, Mother’s Day, for us who have mothers or do not, who are mothers or are not, today is a day to remember not simply the love of mothers, but truly the love of Christ given to us all. And yet, even Christ Himself does compare his unconditional love to that of a mother hen who gathers her chicks under her wings. And a mother bears in her very own body, the life of a child. Her very own food and nourishment she gives directly to her child. She bears through the great pain of bringing life into this world. A good mother gives to her children unconditionally. And not just in the days of infancy, or toddler, or youth, or adulthood, but to the very day of her dying. A mother is mother for her whole life.

            God says through Isaiah: He says, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, even yet I will not forget you (says the Lord). Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.”

            “In this world you have tribulation, says Christ, but take heart, I have overcome the world, and in ME you will have peace that is everlasting.” Amen.