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THE SIXTH SUNDAY OF EASTER May 10, 2026 Pastor Tom Steers Christ the Saviour Lutheran Church, Toronto -- A Confessional Lutheran Church Divine Service III – Pages 184-202 Lutheran Service Book OUR OPENING HYMN: 773 “Hear Us, Father, When We Pray” The Invocation Page 184 Lutheran Service Book Confession and Absolution Page 184-185 THE INTROIT Psalm 66:1.2a; 17, 19-20; antiphon: Isaiah 48:20b With a voice of singing, declare this with a shout of joy to the end of the earth. Alleluia. The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob! Alleluia. Shout for joy to God, all the earth; sing the glory of his name. I cried to him with my mouth, and high praise was on my tongue. But truly God has listened; he has attended to the voice of my prayer. Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me! 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. With a voice of singing, declare this with a shout of joy to the end of the earth. Alleluia. The Lord has redeemed his servant Jacob! Alleluia. The Kyrie (Lord Have Mercy) (from Mark 10:47) Lord, have mercy upon us. Christ, have mercy upon us. Lord, have mercy upon us. The Salutation – Pastor: The Lord be with you. Congregation: And also with you. OUR COLLECT PRAYER: O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; 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: Old Testament – Numbers 21:4-9 Psalm 107:1-9 Epistle – 1st Timothy 2:1-6 The Verse – Liturgical Text: John 16: Gospel Reading - John 16:23-33 THE APOSTLES’ CREED Page 192 HYMN OF THE DAY: 895 “Now Thank We All Our God” THE SERMON Grace, peace, and mercy to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen. In today's Gospel reading, our Lord speaks words that are both comforting and bracing. He invites us to pray. He promises that the Father hears us. He assures us our sorrows will turn to joy. And yet, in the same breath, He tells us plainly: “In the world you will have tribulation.” This is not the kind of promise the world would write in a greeting card. But it is the counselling words of Christ. And a promise that’s filled, not with despair, but with deep and unshakable comfort. For Jesus does not leave us in tribulation. He says: “Take heart; I have overcome the world.” That’s the key to everything in this text. Not that we’ll escape trouble. But Christ has overcome it for us. So, in Him, we too overcome. Our Lord begins by talking about prayer. “Whatever you ask of the Father in My name, He will give it to you.” These are astonishing words. Jesus is opening the door of Heaven to His disciples. He’s telling them that through Him, they have access to the Father. Not as strangers. Nor as beggars who have to settle for scraps. But as beloved children who are heard. This ties directly to what we hear in the Epistle reading from 1st Timothy. St. Paul urges that “supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people.” Why? Because “there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This is the heart of Christian prayer. We don’t pray because we are worthy. Or because we’ve earned a hearing. We pray because we have a mediator who directs us to. We pray in Jesus’ name. That means as Christians, we come before the Father clothed in Christ. His righteousness becomes our own. His beloved status before the Father is now ours by grace. This is why Jesus says, “The Father Himself loves you.” Not because of anything in us. But because we are in Christ. Because we believe that Jesus came from God. This is pure Gospel — free, undeserved, overflowing grace. And yet, Jesus knows the hearts of His disciples. He knows our hearts as well. So, He goes on to speak honestly about what lies ahead. “The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered.” And then: “In the world you will have trouble.” This is where our expectations often falter. We hear of the promises of prayer, of joy, and the Father’s love. So we might be tempted to think the Christian life should be smooth and easy. That if we pray “correctly,” or believe strongly enough, we’ll be spared hardship. But Jesus says otherwise. He tells us the truth. There will be tribulation and suffering in this world. There will be moments when we feel scattered, alone, even abandoned. This shouldn’t surprise us. For it was true, first, of Christ Himself. He was the one who was forsaken on the cross. Bearing the sin of the world, our sin. Enduring the wrath we deserved. And yet, even there, He was not ultimately alone. “The Father is with Me,” He says. And through His suffering and death, He accomplished the victory over sin and death. “I have overcome the world,” Jesus explains. This is not only a hope for the future. It’s a present reality. The victory has been won. Sin is atoned for. Death defeated. The devil overthrown. Christ reigns. And this victory is given to you. This is where the Old Testament reading sheds light on our Gospel. In Numbers Chapter 21, the people of Israel are in distress. Fiery serpents are biting them, and they’re dying. So God provides what might seem a strange remedy: a bronze serpent lifted up on a pole. Whoever looks at it lives. This solution does not come by human reason. But it is God’s appointed means of salvation. And Jesus Himself tells us in John 3:14-15 that this points directly to Him. As the serpent was lifted up, so must the Son of Man be lifted up on the cross, Christ told Nicodemus. There, the cure for sin is given. There, life is won. And now, whoever receives the Gospel, the Good News of Christ, lives. In the desert, the Israelites bitten by snakes looked at the bronze serpent on a pole to be healed. Likewise, humans bitten by the “poison” of sin look to the lifted-up Jesus for spiritual healing and eternal life. This is how we overcome the world. Not by our own strength. Not by avoiding suffering. But by looking to the One who was lifted up for us. By trusting in His victory and receiving His gifts, His means of grace. This is also why our Lord says, “You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” This isn’t the denial of sorrow. Jesus doesn’t say that sorrow will vanish immediately. He says it will be transformed. Turned into joy. Like a woman in labour, Jesus says elsewhere in this chapter, pain gives way to joy when a child is born. So it is with the Christian life. Our present sufferings are real, not imaginary. And they’re often not insignificant. But they’re also not the final word. Christ’s victory is. And that victory reshapes everything. Even now, in the midst of trouble, we have peace. “Peace I leave with you,” Jesus says in the same farewell discourse. “That in Me you may have peace.” Notice where peace is found. Not in the world. Nor in circumstances. But in Him. This is why a Christian can have peace even when things are outwardly falling apart. Because our peace is anchored in Christ’s finished work. In His overcoming the world. Martin Luther once wrote words that capture this truth: “Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness.” That’s exactly what Jesus is teaching here. We don’t have to twist God’s arm. We don’t have to convince Him to care. The Father Himself loves us. And so, we come to Him boldly. Confidently. Not because we are strong. But because Christ is. And so, brothers and sisters, what does this mean for us today? First, that we should pray. Not as a last resort. But as a first response. We’ve been invited. Commanded, even. To pray individually, and together in the Church, in worship, where the Third Commandment tells us we should be. To bring our needs, our fears, our concerns before the Father. For ourselves and one another. For all people, as St. Paul says. And we do so in the confidence that we are heard. Secondly, it means that we should not be surprised by tribulation. When suffering comes, it does not mean God has abandoned us. And it doesn’t mean our prayers have failed. It means that we are in a world that Christ Himself has already overcome. And thirdly, it means we should take heart. Not in ourselves, but in Christ. His victory is sure. His promises are certain. And His joy will not be taken from you. Even now, we have that joy, that peace. You have access to the Father through Christ. We have His gifts within the Church—His forgiveness in the Absolution, His Word, His very body and blood in the Lord’s Supper. One day, the sorrows and troubles of this world will be gone. And the joy will be complete. Until that time, we live by faith. We pray in Christ’s name. We endure in His strength through His victory. “Take heart; I have overcome the world,” Jesus says. That is the promise, the comfort. That is the Gospel. Amen. PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH THE SERVICE OF THE SACRAMENT Page 194 THE LORD’S PRAYER THE WORDS OF OUR SAVIOUR INSTITUTING THE LORD’S SUPPER The Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) The Distribution (Our hymn during distribution is 627 “Jesus Christ, Our Blessed Saviour”) Post Communion Collect (Left-hand column) Page 201 Salutation and Benedicamus Page 201 The Benediction Page 202 OUR CLOSING HYMN: 918 “Guide Me, O Thou Great Redeemer”