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THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER May 18, 2025 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto Our Opening Hymn is: “Salvation Unto Us Has Come” Lutheran Service Book 555 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLX699wYJ9I Text: Paul Speratus (1484-1551) Music: Etlich Cristlich lider, Wittenberg, the First Lutheran Hymnal published in 1524. 1 Salvation unto us has come by God’s free grace and favor; good works cannot avert our doom, they help and save us never. Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone, who did for all the world atone; he is our one Redeemer. 2 What God did in his law demand and none to him could render caused wrath and woe on every hand for man, the vile offender. Our flesh has not the pure desires the spirit of the law requires, and lost is our condition. 3 It was a false, misleading dream that God his law had given that sinners could themselves redeem and by their works gain heaven. The law is but a mirror bright to bring the inbred sin to light that lurks within our nature. 4 From sin our flesh could not abstain, sin held its sway unceasing; the task was hopeless and in vain, our guilt was e’er increasing. None can remove sin’s poisoned dart or purify our guileful heart, so deep is our corruption. 5 Yet as the law must be fulfilled or we must die despairing, Christ came and has God’s anger stilled, our human nature sharing. He has for us the law obeyed and thus the Father’s vengeance stayed which over us impended. 6 Since Christ has full atonement made and brought to us salvation, each Christian therefore may be glad and build on this foundation. Your grace alone, dear Lord, I plead your death is now my life indeed, for you have paid my ransom. 10 All blessing, honor, thanks, and praise to Father, Son, and Spirit, the God who saved us by his grace; all glory to his merit! O triune God in heaven above, you have revealed your saving love, your blessed name be hallowed! The Invocation Page 184 Divine Service III – Pages 184-202 Lutheran Service Book Pastor: Halleluiah, Christ is risen! Congregation: He is risen indeed. Halleluiah! Confession and Absolution Page 184 The Introit Psalm 98:2-6; antiphon: v. 1 1Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. 2 The Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. 3 He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 4 Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! 5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! 6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord! Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit; as it was in the beginning is now, and will be forever. Amen. 1Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy) Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. Gloria in Excelsis (Glory to God in the Highest) Page 187 Our Collect Prayer: O God, You make the minds of Your faithful to be of one will. Grant that we may love what You have commanded and desire what You promise, that among the many changes of this world our hearts may be fixed where true joys are found; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord. who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. Our Bible Readings: First Reading: Acts 11:1-18 Psalm 148 (antiphon: v.13) Second Reading – Revelation 21:1-7 Gospel – John 16:12-22 The Apostles’ Creed – I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. On the third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen. Our Hymn of the Day is: “To God the Holy Spirit Let Us Pray” Lutheran Service Book 768 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEIsDFgEkaw Text: Martin Luther (1483-1546) Music: Eyn geystlich Gesangk Buchleyn, the first Lutheran hymnal for choir, published in Wittenberg in 1524. The collection has been called the root of all Protestant song music. It contains 32 sacred songs, including 24 by Martin Luther. The Sermon – Today's Gospel takes us to the upper room. Jesus has completed the Last supper, and is now preparing His disciples for His death. This dialogue is called the Farewell Discourse. It was meant to be instructive and comforting, for the disciples, and for us. In a few hours Christ and the Twelve will be in the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus is arrested and taken before Annas and then Caiaphas, the high priest. The next morning, Christ stands before Pontius Pilate. He would spend much of the next day nailed to a cross, and in less than 24 hours, Jesus would be dead and buried in a borrowed tomb. Then on the first day of the next week, Jesus bodily rose from the dead. We, with our historical vision, know through the Bible account that all these things will soon happen to Jesus. Christ also knew . . . but the disciples did not. Jesus was revealing what would take place over the coming days, but His followers weren't yet able to understand. There's a tension and drama that comes from the fact that Jesus must prepare His disciples for His arrest and death . . . . . . and yes, even their temporary abandonment of Him, and later joy at His resurrection. An irony here is that though Jesus tells them these things, the Twelve can't come to terms with all this until after it's happened. In between the words and reassurance of Christ, the disciples’ humanity, their human frailty gets in the way. Doubt, fear, grief and regret will plague them over the next 72 hours. The Gospel of John portrays this drama and tension. John dedicates five whole chapters of his Gospel to these things as the Apostle gives us the Bible's most complete account of the last night before the crucifixion. Jesus, in His great love, is trying to prepare His closest followers. Even though the disciples don't understand – despite the fact that the next few days will overwhelm them – the words of Christ are there for comfort and strength. Today's Gospel account begins at a crucial place in these last hours before the crucifixion. Jesus took a few moments to look out beyond the next three days. He was looking forward to a time when this frightened little band of disciples would be the Apostles of His Church. They would be the ones who conveyed His teachings to the next generation with their speech, and out into the ages and to us with their writings. He also knows they won’t be prepared to do this until after they’ve lived through His execution and resurrection. Jesus was looking at the work the Holy Spirit would do among His followers. Christ said, "I still have many things to say to you, but you can't bear them now." It wasn't that Jesus' teaching had been incomplete. He had taught them everything they needed to know. Yet they couldn't receive the full benefit of that teaching until after they’d lived through His death and resurrection, and then received the Holy Spirit. At that time, they also couldn’t bear the knowledge they too would suffer martyr's deaths for Christ, all except John. They also would endure imprisonment, and in some cases torture, before they’d be reunited with Jesus in Heaven. Often in our lives it is too much for our hearts to bear to think about the things this broken world will bring us before we too are reunited with our Saviour. Jesus told the disciples, "When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth." With these words, Jesus assured the Apostles the Holy Spirit would cause them to remember everything Jesus had taught them. They would remember and, by the power of the Holy Spirit, finally understand. In a few weeks, we'll celebrate that special day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit revealed Himself with miraculous signs, when He came upon the disciples in tongues of spiritual flame, and created the Church. These words of Jesus point forward to that blessed event. It’s easy to understand why these words were so important to the Twelve, but why are they also important to us? How does it help us to know that the Holy Spirit deepened their understanding? How does it benefit us to realize the faith of the disciples matured under the guidance of the Holy Spirit? Just as the disciples doubted, denied, and abandoned their Saviour, we also fail to live up to God's Commandments as we live out our lives. Just as the disciples repeatedly failed and needed forgiveness, we too need grace and absolution for our sins. Jesus earned that forgiveness for us with His perfect life, and His suffering and death on the cross. We have the assurance of that forgiveness through His resurrection. We have the comfort of Jesus’ presence through His Holy Spirit and the true Church. We have all these things, but they do us no good if we don’t know about them. That’s how today's Gospel gives us such deep comfort. Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would help the disciples, not only for their benefit, but for ours. We’re the recipients of the teachings of those disciples as we read God’s Word, and hear it preached and taught. It is an ultimate benefit and comfort to us, for it is the very teaching of Jesus Himself, God in human flesh speaking directly to us, and promising that the Holy Spirit will remain with us, and guide us. Guide and comfort us when we feel alone and abandoned. Guide and comfort when we face persecution and difficulties. Guide and comfort when we face our own human mortality by assuring us there is an eternal life beyond this one of joy and happiness. And that is a joy this world, with all its brokenness, can never take away. Through the words of Jesus conveyed with the power of the Holy Spirit, we today know God's love and His wish for our lives --that we love Him, and love one another. We can learn about the holy life Jesus lived for us, and about His innocent death in which our sins were nailed to the cross. We learn that although we sin much every day, it is all forgiven for Jesus' sake. The Bible is not only history. It is the living Word of God there for us now, speaking the eternal truth God has for us today. Nothing could be more timely or relevant. Nothing is more cutting edge. Nothing is truer. We don't just participate in the death and resurrection of Jesus by hearing about them. Through the words of the Apostles and the Holy Spirit, the Church receives Christ's gift of Baptism in the name of our Triune God. Through the words of the Apostles and the Holy Spirit, we have the spiritual and bodily connection to Jesus in the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper. It is not just a ritual, but a sacred communing with the Saviour who died so we could live forever. The Apostle Paul says this about Baptism: “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? “We were buried therefore with Him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like his. (Romans 6:3-5) These words teach us that we participate in the death and resurrection of Christ through our Baptism. In His death we die to sin, and through His resurrection we live with Him. The words of Jesus in today's Gospel passage assure us of this. By the power of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles also share the gift of the very body and blood of Jesus as given and shed for us on the cross. Paul wrote this about the Lord's Supper: “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?” (1 Corinthians 10:16) From these words we learn we are participating in the death and resurrection of Jesus in the Sacrament of the Altar. The body and blood we eat and drink are the body given and the blood shed on the cross. Nevertheless, these are not dead body and blood, but living, for Jesus Christ has risen from the dead, and lives forevermore. That's why we offer Communion at every Divine service. Because it's Biblical. As Jesus said, do this as often as you eat and drink of it. What is the main message of this Holy Word of God? Peter said it well at a time when many were abandoning Jesus. Christ had asked the Twelve, "Do you want to go away as well?" (John 6:67-69) Peter replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God." Holy Scripture doesn’t say, "God so loved the world, that he showed us how to live with strict rules only." The Bible tells reassures in John 3:16, "For God so loved the world, that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." May God our Father, and the risen Son, through the power of the Holy Spirit, sustain, comfort and strengthen you this day and forever. Amen. THE PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 Sanctus (Holy, Holy, Holy) Page 195 The Lord’s Prayer Page 196 The Word of Our Lord Instituting the Lord’s Supper Page 197 Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) Page 198 The Distribution Nunc Dimitis – The Song of Simeon Page 199 Post-Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 The Benediction – The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. Our Closing Hymn is: “Joyful, Joyful We Adore Thee” Lutheran Service Book 803 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDtPG8KYQhA Music: Ludwig van Beethoven Learn more about our faith and our Church: http://christlutherantoronto.org/beliefs