Monday, May 11, 2020

Fifth Sunday of Easter (A) 2020

+ In nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti + Amen.

Text: John 14:8-9
Theme: Seeing God



Dear followers of Him who is the way, and the truth and the life,

The greatest struggle faced by any Christian at any time in any circumstance is the temptation of unbelief. On the surface of it, that claim may sound wrong-headed, inconsistent, and lacking in tangible evidence. After all, sincere, faithful, trust-filled Christians face all kinds perilous, torturous, and troubling adversities and still cling steadfastly to their trust in God’s mercy. Here the Holy Spirit is the champion; or we would all- strong or weak in the faith- lose hope in God’s aid. Our faith is never a self-sustaining reality. It is completely and continually dependent on the Spirit for its viability.

Think about the nature of being tested though. What does it mean to struggle with temptation? The very thing that causes an experience to be a struggle and not a joy is the temptation to doubt that God really is who He says He is or will do what He says He will do. Forget about the philosophical concepts of God, the Deity, being all-powerful or providential. The devil seeks to convince you that it is an utterly ridiculous proposition to believe that God, any god for that matter, omnipotent or otherwise, could be unfailingly attentive to you. Therefore, while the temptation of lust, or greed, or dishonesty, or over-indulgence may seem unrelated to the temptation of disbelief, they are really just symptoms, of which compromised trust in God’s ability or willingness to provide is the core problem. Today, Philip (and the other disciples) were wrangling with this core problem.

You see, the fully appreciated, unfailing attentiveness of God- once the consequences of sin are removed- is called heaven. Philip was looking for just such a God- one in heaven. He wanted to see the Father. He wanted to get a glimpse into heaven. Drawing on his inner Thomas, he wanted his senses satisfied. He wanted the perceptible glory of God. He craved the certainty of palpable evidence. He ought to have known Jesus pretty well. He witnessed many miracles. He saw Him command the elements and restore human frailty. He saw Him arrested and crucified. He witnessed the scars on His hands and in His side after His resurrection. Still, he said, “Show us the Father and that will be enough for us,”1. In other words, reveal the majesty of the Almighty and we’ll be convinced.

Philip wasn’t the first one to make such a request. Remember when Moses was ‘wrangling’ with God about the rebelliousness of the Israelites he said, “Show me Your glory…and the Lord said, ‘I will cause all My goodness to pass in front of you…but…you cannot see My face, for no one can see Me and live.’”2 That was God’s response to Moses. What was God’s response to Philip? “Jesus said to him, ‘Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'”?3

It would be arrogant, however, to suggest that Philip didn’t have faith. Clearly, he believed Jesus to be the Messiah. Still, he was apparently being tempted to believe that Jesus wasn’t fully God. Or, we might say, he was somewhat disbelieving. Yet, not in a depraved way. So, while faith can exist in the heat of temptation- in fact, faith is only honed through testing, not through resting- faith cannot coexist with steadfast unrepentance. A person cannot acknowledge his or her sins while simultaneously denying those same sins. Black is not white, and white is not black. You cannot desire God’s forgiveness or goodness while simultaneously despising that forgiveness and goodness.

Now, that doesn’t mean that a person can’t desire forgiveness and desire to trust in God while at the same time wanting to continue in a particular sin. More specifically, wanting the indulgence or pleasure that participating in that sin provides. The clarity is important, because it is central to repentance that in our heart, mind, and will we want to be rid of the sin, especially the sin of unbelief. Yet, it still controls us. So, we are often conflicted. We are characterized by paradox, paradox of the sort that typically reveals our falseness.

Jesus was telling Philip, and all who suffer from his temptation, including us, that He didn’t have power on loan from the Father. His was not a borrowed divinity. Jesus was God. Jesus is God. Jesus has always been God. Jesus will always be God. If you don’t know Christ as God, you don’t know the Father- and you don’t have the Spirit. And Jesus the incarnate Son of God, “God of God, Light of Light…being of one substance with the Father.”4 came to attend unfailingly to YOU! That is why He went to the cross and rose from the grave. No amount of re-interpreting the Scriptures can eradicate this truth. This is the eternal, published, candid, nothing-to-hide gospel.

Jesus doesn’t merely announce your salvation. He doesn’t just explain your salvation. He doesn’t even fast-track your salvation. Jesus Christ is your salvation. He is your “righteousness, holiness, and redemption.”5 In baptism, the Spirit cures your blindness so the in seeing Jesus you can see the Father. So, the sooner we cease and desist from looking for any lasting goodness, compassion, knowledge, tenderness, or understanding from God apart from the crucified and risen Lord Jesus the better off we’ll be. At the end of every Christ-less search for God is the devil. We’re not trying here to limit what God can do. God can do anything. We’re talking about what He has promised to do. He has promised to save us through Jesus. He has promised to come to us through the Word and Spirit. He has promised to be accessible to us through water, bread and wine. And, while God is present everywhere, He is NOT accessible for us ubiquitously.


Dear friends, this life is a continual fray, a fracas, a dust-up. Only death resolves it. Today is Mother’s Day and mothers understand that. We pray that you mothers who are listening are strengthened more by the promise that God is faithful than you are overcome by the temptation to desire the resolution of your mortality. Even our purest desires are tainted by sin. Yet, they are holy insofar as they are produced by the Spirit. That is exactly the struggle of following the will of God. Have a read of Romans chapter seven. The apostle Paul candidly discloses the struggle between the will of the sinful nature and the leading of the Holy Spirit. It’s a clash that will continue until we draw our final breath. It cannot be avoided. Satan doesn’t take holidays. The temptation to doubt, to disbelieve that God will be faithful is always lurking. Sometimes it steps out of the shadows. It doesn’t serve us well to ignore it. And we cannot mature beyond it.

Nevertheless, believers are truly freed from the condemnation of sin. The favour of God does rest upon us because Christ is our righteousness. We do possess a timeless and otherworldly peace. We have hope that is not wishful thinking or desperate wanting. Death has been defeated. Sin has been atoned for. The just verdict declaring that we are deserving of hell has been annulled. We are citizens of heaven. You are who you are not because of how you feel about yourself, how you define yourself, or how you perceive others define you. You are who you are because of your identity in Christ. You are His baptized. You dine at the family table. And what does our Scripture say today, “You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.”6

Martin Luther, in an effort to comfort a woman severely beset with doubt ended his letter to her in this way, “May our dear Lord Jesus Christ show you His hands and His side and gladden your heart with His love, and may you behold and hear only Him until you find your joy in Him.”” Her name was Barbara. God grant this also, for each of us. The countenance of Jesus is the unfailing attentiveness of God. Amen.


+ In nomine Jesu +

Fifth Sunday of Easter
10 May 2020
Reverend Darrin L. Kohrt

1 John 14:8 2 Exodus 33:18-20
3 John 14:9 4 The Nicene Creed
5 1 Corinthians 1:30 6 1 Peter 2:9
7 Letter to Barbara Lisskirchen, from ‘Letters of Spiritual Counsel’