Sunday, June 1, Seventh Sunday of Easter

Psalm 133; Acts 5:15-21; Revelation 22:12-20; John 17:20-26

Divine Service III with Holy Communion

Hymns: #525 “Crown Him with Many Crowns”; #461 “I Know that My Redeemer Lives”; #955 “Let the Vineyards Be Fruitful”; #643 “Sent Forth by God’s Blessing”

It’s All About the Fruit, Part VI: 

Who Do You Know Who Doesn’t Know Jesus?

This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples. (John 15:8)

Dear Friends in Christ,

     Grace, mercy, and peace to you, from God our Father and from our risen Lord and Savior Jesus. Amen.

     I heard a story about a man who had a next-door neighbor. This neighbor was the scourge of the neighborhood. His yard was always a mess, his porch was sagging, his house was badly in need of a coat of paint. His wife had left him. He was ornery, he was mean and obnoxious, he was drunk most of the time. Then one day the news went around the neighborhood – grumpy old Bob had found Jesus! He’d cleaned himself up, he’d been going to Church – he was a changed man. This neighbor of his decided to congratulate him, and to tell him how happy he was that he’d finally found the Lord. And Bob stood on his porch with a tear in his eye, and said, “Thank you! I’m so happy now; life is good! … But I have a question I need to ask you. You and I have been neighbors for all these years; how come you never told me about Jesus?”

     Once again today, folks, we’re reminded that it’s all about the fruit. Jesus says, “This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.”

Why else are we here, but to bear good fruit - the fruit of faith - for God and for His Kingdom? What other purpose do we have, what other reason to exist, what other  reason to gather and meet together, than to be fruitful here in this vineyard where God has planted us? It’s easy to say, in a generic, from-a-distance kind of way, that “everyone needs to know about Jesus.” We all know that, right? But knowing that’s true is one thing - but using your own life and time to actually get up and do something about it, is quite another. Thinking about “bearing good fruit for God,” or wishing for it, or even praying for it, just isn’t enough. That’s like browsing a seed catalog and expecting a garden! In fact, knowing that someone needs to know about Jesus, and not doing anything about it, just has to be a terrible sin. So what if we make it personal? Time is of the essence, after all. So who do you know who doesn’t know Jesus? 

     Jesus says, at the end of the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible: "Behold, I am coming soon! My reward is with Me, and I will give to everyone according to what he has done.” How soon is soon? Only God knows. But for safety’s sake, we have to assume that soon means soon - this year, this week, tomorrow, even today. Jesus says He’s bringing His reward with Him, and His reward is life, eternity in heaven with God, and salvation from having to spend eternity in that other terrible place. And Jesus says here that our reward will be given on the basis of what we’ve done – both “what we have done, and what we have left undone.” But in another place, someone asks Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” And He answers, “The work the Father requires is this: to believe in the One He has sent.” So, our reward is the reward that comes from faith; and that makes faith, and the fruits of our faith, the key to life and heaven and everything, both for us and for the people we love. “Believe in Jesus Christ for your salvation and you’ll live” is the simplest way to put this. So who do you know who doesn’t know Jesus?

     Jesus says here, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.” There is no alternative way to be saved, no other way but faith in Jesus to have a hope of heaven. He’s the Alpha and the Omega, the A and the Z, the whole holy alphabet of salvation. He’s the first and the last, the only hope of the world from the first breath of Adam until the last trumpet sounds. There’s no other place to look, no other place to go, and no one else in heaven or on earth for us to turn to. Our prayers go out today to anyone who’s relying on some other thing, or who’s lost any hope of being saved at all. That’s just too sad to let it be.

     Jesus says here, “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city.” Those who have washed their robes are those who’ve confessed their sins and turned from them, and have come asking for forgiveness at the foot of Jesus’ cross - those who’ve been washed in the blessed water of Baptism, and washed by the precious blood of Christ. That’s how you get to heaven! Not by your works or your merits or by trying to be good, but by confessing that you’re not good.

     We can’t do the necessary washing ourselves; we have to consent to being washed, like a toddler being put in a tub and scrubbed behind the ears. Humiliating, perhaps; but humility is what we need. “Wash me, Lord, and I will be whiter than snow.” “Create in me a clean heart, O God.” “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the forgiveness of your sin, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Bend your knees, and bend your heart, to God and to His Son, and you’ll be able to walk through the gates of heaven, and eat from the tree of life that still stands, waiting for us, in heaven’s garden. Adam and Eve, by their sin, cut us off from it; Jesus has opened it up for us again. But do take note that everywhere God’s Word talks about forgiveness, the need for repentance always comes first; first one, and then the other. There is no forgiveness, and no life, outside of Jesus and His cross, and no hope for anyone at all without turning to Him. So who do you know who doesn’t know Jesus?

     And Jesus warns us here, “Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” Much as we’d like not to think about it, there is an inside and an outside when it comes to God’s Kingdom. There will be both sheep and goats at the end of all things. There’s a real heaven and also a real hell. This world does have “dogs” in it, people who live by their bellies and their animal instincts, taking what they want and never looking up to God. And the word for “those who practice magic arts” is pharmakoi in the Greek, which is kind of funny – not that I’m casting aspersions on pharmacists. But the world is full of people who think we can conjure up a paradise here on earth if we find just the right program, or formula, or scientific breakthrough, or magic pill; but who never think to ask God what the answers to our problems might be. And the world, as always, is full of immorality, and murder, and idolatry, and liars of every stripe. Jesus warns His Church in the Book of Revelation that we live “where Satan has his throne.”

     St. Paul gives a similar list of sinners in 1 Corinthians 6 – adulterers, thieves, slanderers, and such – but then he says, “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, your were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” The fruit you and I are called to produce in this world isn’t the fruit of hate or judgment; we won’t gain anything, or anyone, by having mean, unforgiving spirits, or by using condemning or angry words. Even the “dogs” are children of God and loved by Him, and precious souls He wants to save. (A little bit of “dog” comes up in me every once in a while, to be honest; not a day goes by that I don’t have to confess and ask to be forgiven). But forgiveness is the thing, folks. It’s the goal, it’s the fruit, it’s the point of the exercise. Forgiveness and grace and heaven for everyone is what we should all be praying and working and living for. So who do you know who doesn’t know Jesus?

     Jesus says here, “I have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star." Jesus has sent His angel, His messenger, to give this testimony, this Gospel, this Good News, to His Church here on earth. We have the best news there could ever be to share, Good News come down out of heaven from God. Our job, our place, our holy calling, is to keep the Good News about Jesus alive and living and spoken in this world, wherever the day may find us and wherever we may be. From the heart to the lips to the ear, from the heart to the lips to the ear…

     Jesus is both the Root and the Offspring, both the borning Seed of salvation and its everlasting fruit. He’s the Word that said “let there be” at the beginning of time, and the Last Word that will say “It is finished” at the end of all things. He’s the Bright Morning Star, the hope and the promise that the darkness in this world won’t last forever, and that there will be life and grace at the end of all things. Until then, “the Spirit and the Bride” say “Come!” The Spirit of love and truth, the Holy Spirit is still active and working in the world. Anyone God sends you to, to bring them the Word, the Spirit has already been there, already at work in that person’s heart; all we’re doing is following up. And the Bride Jesus mentions is “The Bride of Christ,” this holy Christian Church. And the Spirit calls, from us and through us, to call people to come home to Christ. The Spirit will lead us and directs us and guides us, and all we have to do is listen and follow and go where we’re lead. Who do you know who’s thirsty - literally dying of spiritual thirst for hope or help or peace - and who needs the “free gift of the water of life” that we have here? Who can you invite to come? Jesus says, “This is to My Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be My disciples.” “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’” So who do you know who needs to know Jesus? 

     Father, we pray, as Jesus did, for all those who will come to believe by the Good News we have to tell. We pray that many will join us in worship here on earth, and that we’ll all see the glory of heaven together. Help us, O Lord, to know You and love You more and more, and to make Your love known in the world around us, until You come at last to take us home. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. We pray in His name. Amen.