Jesus Prays for Us - May 29, 2022 - Seventh Sunday of Easter - Text: John 17:20-26

On Thursday of this past week we celebrated the fortieth day of Easter which was Ascension Day. I pray no one missed that day of celebration. Ascension day is the day we celebrate Jesus ascension back into heaven, the place from which He had descended in order to redeem the world, us included. You may have noticed then, that beginning this morning and until Christmas and our celebration of Jesus’ birth, except on Baptism Sundays, the Christ candle will no longer be lit.
 

As we get to our text, I want to remind you, brothers and sister in Christ, that I pray for you. Every morning I begin my day by bringing to the Lord any special requests which you have brought to my attention, the people listed in our bulletin for whom we have been asked to pray, and every morning I pray for one segment of the congregation, so that you can be sure that at least once or twice, sometimes even three times a month, I pray for you specifically by name, again, more often if you have expressed a particular prayer request to me. As I pray for you, so I continue to solicit your prayers on my behalf.
 

The context of our text for this morning is prayer, specifically, Jesus is praying. At the beginning of chapter seventeen He is praying for Himself, then He prays for His disciples and now, here in our text He prays for all believers, namely, He prays for us.
 

Jesus prays for us, that we may be one with each other, with Him and with the Heavenly Father. In other words, Jesus is praying for our faith, because it is only through faith that we have a part in His Kingdom and are a part of Him. Jesus is also praying for our message, the witness we make, as He says, “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word” (v. 20).
 

So, Jesus’ prayer is that we might live our faith. How we live our lives is the message of our faith. As the cliche says, “our actions betray us.” We cannot separate our actions from our faith, because it is our faith which moves us to act. We are called by God to faith and to be different from the rest of the world. We are called to bear witness of the faith that is in us through our lives, that is through our actions, as well as through the words with which we speak to each other and to others. So Jesus’ prayer is that we might boldly live differently, and so differently, so much so that the world notices. And the world will notice. Will Willimon, campus pastor at Duke University, tells of the story of a young college student who came to him for counseling. The student was a member of a fraternity and at one meeting he was confronted by the group because they caught him going to church. Their accusation was that he was no different from them. He partied as much as they did. What right did he have to think he was better than them by going to church? His observation was that the world does notice.
 

Thus, Jesus is praying that the world might see our faith and that the result will be that they too will come to faith in Him, in other words, that the world might be saved. Jesus’ concern is for us as well as for all people. It is Jesus’ will that all people are saved and come to a knowledge of the truth. Jesus does not want anyone to be lost, even though He knows that there will be many who reject Him, as John expressed in the words from his vision in Revelation, that there are those who are outside the kingdom of God. Jesus knows that there will be those who do not want to be different from the rest of the world.
 

Jesus prays that we might know the love of the Father for us. The Father’s love is such and is so much that He did not spare His only Son, but gave Him up for us all. We are sinful human beings. David reminds us that we are shapen in iniquity and we were conceived in sin. In and of ourselves we are deserving of eternal death and hell, that is the wage, the cost, the price for our sin, eternal death and hell and that is what we deserve. Thanks be to God the Father for His great love for us, so much that He did not spare His only Son, but gave Him up for us on the cross.
 

And so, Jesus prays that we might know the love He has for us. He did not go to the cross against His will, but freely, of His own free will and because of His great love for us. He went to the cross and suffered the eternal death penalty of hell, the wage, the cost, the price for our sins. He did not shy away, but freely acknowledged His relationship with us and that it was for us that He was giving His life.
 

And Jesus prays that we might see Him in all His glory, in other words that we might be saved. Jesus knows the struggles we have in this world. He knows and understands, because He has suffered the temptations and even greater temptations than we suffer. He knows the temptation to live “en cognito,” in other words, He knows the temptation to just blend in with the rest of the world and He knows how much of our faith we must compromise in order to do so. And so, Jesus prays for us.
 

As we hear this text for today we know that Jesus’ will is that we might not lose faith. Jesus knows and understands the trials and struggles we face each and every day, the challenges to our faith. Jesus’ prayer is for us to be strengthened in our faith. And how are we strengthened in faith? Luther suggests that we grow in faith through prayer, meditation and affliction. Thus we see the importance of being in the Word, that is, reading our Bibles and being in Divine Service and Bible Class. We see the importance of being in prayer and we see the importance of turning to Jesus during times of trial, tribulation and struggles in our lives. Also, please understand that affliction is not God’s will. Affliction comes from our living on this side of the fall into sin and the fact that our world is tainted with sin. Jesus uses this affliction for the best for us, that is He uses our times of trial, tribulation and struggles to strengthen us in faith.
 

Not only is Jesus’ will that we are strengthened in our faith, His will is that we might live our faith and thus share our faith. Jesus does not want us to “keep the faith,” at least not in the sense of keeping it to ourselves. He wants us to give it away. He wants us to live our lives in such a way that we show forth the faith that is in our hearts. Remember the old song, “They’ll know we are Christians by our love.”
 

Jesus will is that we might have eternal life with Him, as He states, “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world” (v. 24).
 

So what?, we might ask. Well, the “so what?” is this, Jesus loves us and He has shown His love for us in the giving of His life, freely, of His own will, for us, suffering the wage, the cost, the price for sin which we should have suffered. The “so what?” is our response to all that He has done for us and all that He continues to do for us?
 

By the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, we are moved to have an urgency about our own faith. This urgency includes a constant working to strengthen our own faith. In other words, we know this urgency through our desire to read God’s Word on our own, to have personal and family devotions, to attend Divine Service and Bible study as often as offered, and certainly to pray without ceasing, in other words to, as often as possible be in prayer to our Lord. And as the Holy Spirit is working this urgency in us, the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh will be working to distract us and keep us from making regular and diligent use of these means of grace. The devil, the world and our own sinful flesh will work to keep us so involved in our troubles and problems, working to convince us that we need to get our social lives together before we concern ourselves with our spiritual lives. Which is opposite of what we need to do, because it is only as we get our spiritual lives together that we can get the rest of our lives together.
 

By the power of the Holy Spirit, working through the means of grace, the Word and the Sacraments, we are moved to have an urgency about the faith of others and even about the salvation of the world. We are concerned about the faith and salvation of other people, especially our close friends and family. We want to make sure that they know Jesus as their Savior. We want to make sure that they will be in heaven to share eternal life with us. Thus we have an urgency about us that we are about living and sharing our faith with them, through our actions as well as through our words. And here again, as the Holy Spirit works in us this urgency about the faith of others, so the devil, the world and our own sinful nature will work to distract us from bearing witness of our faith to others. The devil, the world and our own sinful flesh would work to keep us occupied with our own problems, cares and concerns so that we do not have time for bearing witness to others.
 

Simply stated, the devil would have us not participate in the things of God, working to strengthen our own faith, working to share our faith with others, family and friends, and working to make a witness to the world. And the Holy Spirit works to motivate us to make regular and diligent use of His means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments so that we might grow and be kept in faith until Christ comes again, so that we might reach out to our family and friends and so that we might work in cooperation with others to spread the Gospel to the world. So, we continue to see the old battle rage within each of us between the devil, the world and our sinful flesh and the Holy Spirit. Thanks be to God that Jesus has already won the war for us. Jesus has defeated sin, death and the devil for us and we are His. We have forgiveness, life and salvation. Next week we will celebrate His sending of the Holy Spirit and His giving us His authority to speak His Word to others and His promise that He will be with us to give us the very words to speak.
 

Perhaps you have never thought about it, but whenever we pray “Thy Kingdom Come,” in the Lord’s Prayer, we are praying for God’s Kingdom to be spread throughout the world, in other words, that we do spread the message of salvation to all people, so that all people might have the opportunity to hear the good news and be saved. We are also praying for the end of the world, that Jesus would come and bring us to His Kingdom in heaven, where we will sit at the Lord’s table in perfect fellowship with Him and with each other, eating of the eternal manna and drinking of the river of pleasure for eternity.  My prayer for each one of you, every day, is that you are ready. My prayer is that Jesus will come quickly to take us from this vale of tears to be with Himself in heaven for eternity where we may gather around His throne with all the saints and boldly proclaim, to Him be the glory. So, as John says, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.” Amen.

Jesus Has Overcome the World - May 22, 2022 - Sixth Sunday of Easter - Text: John 16:23-33

Perhaps you have heard the phrase or adage, “You have not because you ask not.” Those words are actually written in the book of James, yet it is almost as if Jesus was wanting to express those very words to His disciples in our text for today, but they were not quite ready, not quite at the point where they might understand and take action. Perhaps you have been told by one of your more “evangelical,” or “pious,” “churchy” friends, that you have not because you ask not. Perhaps there is some truth in this statement and maybe, just maybe we have not because we do not ask and we do not ask because we are afraid of what might happen. Remember the other age old adage, be careful what you pray for, you just might get it. And maybe that is why we pray, “Thy will be done.” Indeed, God does know what is best. 

In our text for today, Jesus is on the verge of His trek to the cross. He has been speaking to His disciples about the events which are about to take place including the sending of the Holy Spirit. Jesus has been with these disciples for some three years, traveling with them, living with them, teaching them, and teaching them as He taught the crowds. Many times Jesus would teach using parables, you know those earthly stories with heavenly meanings. Sometimes Jesus would speak plainly, other times not so plainly. 

Jesus has been living with these disciples and teaching them. He has been doing signs, wonders and miracles in their presence. Our Gospel writer John makes much of these signs, wonders and miracles Jesus has been performing. These signs, wonders and miracles are what point to the divinity of Jesus, that is that He is truly God in human flesh. Who else but God could heal people, still the seas, cast out demons, feed five thousand, and raise people from the dead. Who else can forgive sins and prove sins have been forgiven by having a quadriplegic get up and walk. Yet, not only did the Pharisees and teachers of the law not get it, not only did many of the people who listened to and witnessed Jesus not get it, even Jesus own disciples did not always understand. And even today, certainly there are times when we have doubts and misunderstandings in our own lives. John helps us to see that we are in good company. 

Yet, now, as Jesus is about to go to the cross, He is speaking plainly to His disciples. He is not speaking in parables, He is not simply demonstrating what He wants them to get, He is speaking plainly, as a matter of fact they confessed and “29said, ‘Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! 30Now 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’” (v. 29, 30). Yes, it seems as if the disciples may finally have gotten it, but let us not jump to conclusions too soon. 

Jesus teaches His disciples through word and action. And Jesus encourages them to pray. Before Jesus was with His disciples, the Children of Israel, the disciples included, prayed through a mediator. It was the priest who entered the temple to offer atonement for the people. After Jesus’ resurrection, even at His death, we witnessed the curtain in the temple be ripped in two from top to bottom as Jesus opened the way for all to come directly to God the Father. As God’s children today we can pray directly to our Father in heaven and we can be certain that He does hear and answer our prayers. 

As Jesus prepares to go to the cross and prepares His disciples for His suffering and death, He promises the sending of the Holy Spirit. Although the Holy Spirit is most certainly present where Jesus is, and although the Holy Spirit has most certainly been with and has been working in the lives of these disciples, the full extent of the power and work of the Holy Spirit will not be seen until after Jesus resurrection and the sending of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. 

On the day of Pentecost and the sending of the Holy Spirit, then the Holy Spirit will bring understanding, then the Holy Spirit will exercise His full power and do His work of giving and strengthening faith. It is after Pentecost that the disciple have complete understanding of Jesus’ life and all that He did while living with them. 

As Jesus is speaking plainly to the disciple and as the Holy Spirit is working in the hearts and minds of His disciples, their response was that they now understand, at least they thought they knew and understood what Jesus was and is saying. 

Jesus’ speaks encouragement to His disciples. He tells them of His soon to come about suffering, death and resurrection. He tells them that they will all scatter leaving Him alone. Of course we know this happened when Jesus went to the cross, but Jesus’ words here point not only to His crucifixion, but even more to after His resurrection when the disciples will be scattered, yet, Jesus will not be alone because He will be with God the Father.

It is Jesus’ promise of the Holy Spirit which is to bring comfort to these disciples. Up until now these disciples have been with Jesus and have been pretty much protected by Him. At the point of His suffering, death and resurrection, Jesus will not be with them every day to protect them and then they will have struggles. Indeed, life is difficult at times and no where does God ever promise that life will be easy and even for Christians there is no guarantee of a struggle free life. 

Jesus tells of tribulation, tribulation which has been around since the fall into sin; tribulation which will follow until the day of judgement; tribulation which will especially follow Christians as the world continually degenerates until God has had enough. As a matter of fact, the very fact that one is a Christian will bring tribulations because the world, the sinful, sin infested world which thrives on sin, idolatry and paganism cannot stand the exclusive claims of Christ and His Church. The reason the Christian Church is so hated by the rest of the world is because of Christ’s claim that there is only one way to eternal life and that only one way is through faith in Jesus alone. So, not only does a Christian struggle with the normal struggles and tribulations of the world, he also struggles with the tribulations of being persecuted as a Christian. 

Of course there is hope for the Christian. Jesus declares that He has overcome the world. Jesus is true God as we have seen time and again, as demonstrated by the signs, wonders and miracles He performed. As true God He gave up the glory that was His in heaven, not because He had to but because He wanted to, because of His great love for us, His creation, His children. Jesus gave up the glory of heaven in order to take on human flesh and blood in order to live for us, in order to fulfill the demands of God for us that is in order to live a perfect and holy life in our place. Jesus suffered the struggles of this world and greater struggles than we will ever face. Jesus suffered tribulation worse than we will ever suffer. And Jesus overcame the world. Jesus defeated Satan and his temptations. Jesus lived perfectly, never disobeying any of God’s command. Jesus fulfilled all God’s promises perfectly, for us. What we could not nor can do, Jesus did, for us, in our place. And then, after living for us, He took our sins upon Himself, our sins of commission, doing the things we should not be doing and our sins of omission, not doing the things we should be doing. The price for sin that was set in the Garden of Eden, eternal death and hell, and God’s demand is that we are to be perfect. Since we have failed, since we cannot be perfect, Jesus who was perfect, who knew no sin, took our sins upon Himself in order to pay the price for our sins. And He did. He suffered hell for us on the cross because of His great love for us. 

Jesus is speaking with His disciples and us, before He goes to the cross. He knows what is ahead and that is why He is speaking to His disciples and to us. He is encouraging, not only His disciples, but also us in our own lives, in our struggles and tribulations. He encourages us, especially in times of struggles and tribulations to pray. 

And so we do pray. We pray because God tells us to pray. And yet, unlike the children of Israel, we do not pray through a mediator, we pray directly to God. And even while we pray directly to God, we do have a mediator, our brother, Jesus. Remember, death and the grave had no power over Jesus. He rose victorious over death and the grave. He rose and showed Himself alive for forty days after Easter, the time of the church year we are currently celebrating. He rose and then on the  fortieth day after Easter He ascended to the place from which He had descended so that now He is seated at the right hand of the Father where He is watching over us, ruling over us and most especially interceding, praying for us. 

We pray because God commands we pray. We pray because God promises to answer our prayer. Of course, we understand that God’s promise to answer our prayers does not necessarily mean that He will always answer yes, nor that He will answer according to what we believe we need. Sometimes God says no, because He knows that we are asking for something He knows is not good for us. And we rejoice when He answers no. Sometimes God’s answer to us is to wait, because the time is simply not right. And we rejoice when God answers wait. And sometimes, according to God’s good and gracious will, He does answer yes. 

Finally, as a response of faith, we share the good news because the Holy Spirit helps us. There are too many in our world who do not know Jesus, or simply do not take Him seriously. As a response of faith, because of all our gracious and loving God has done for us and given to us, we respond by living lives of faith. We respond by making regular and diligent use of His means of grace, being filled to the point of overflowing and spilling our faith on to others. We respond by always being ready to give an answer for the hope that we have in our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus came into the world to overcome the world which He did through His life, suffering, death and resurrection. Jesus speaks words of comfort to His disciples reflecting the events about to take place. Just as He sent the Holy Spirit to give them all knowledge and understanding of the events so that as they face the tribulations of the world in all confidence in their faith in Jesus who has overcome the world, so He continues to send the Holy Spirit to give, strengthen and keep us in faith so that we might, with all boldness and confidence come to Him in prayer and go out into the world bearing witness of our faith. As always we get it right when we point to Jesus. Jesus does all and gives all and we are done to and given to and we rejoice as He even stirs and moves in us to respond in faith, even saying, to Him be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Hearing Sheep - May 8, 2022 - Fourth Sunday of Easter/Mother’s Day - Text: John 10:22-30

In our text for this morning John tells us that Jesus is in the temple during the time of the Feast of Dedication, that is what today we know as Hanukkah. Today we gather in the Lord’s house on this the fourth Sunday of Easter and our yearly celebration of Mother’s Day and although they are not the same celebration we still want to say welcome especially to our mother’s and wish you a very happy Mother’s Day. We are so glad you and your families are here today.
 

As we listened to our text, when you first read or hear our text what might come to mind is a school hallway setting in which the students are busily getting their books from their lockers and moving on to their next class. Then there is a break in this scene. Several of the school bullies have cornered an unsuspecting student and are confronting him. In the scene from our text we are not in a school hallway, but we are in the temple courts and the bullies are not after Jesus milk money, they are after His reputation.
 

John tells us, “So the Jews gathered around [Jesus] and said to him, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly’” (v. 24). At this point we have to stop and define the word, “Christ.” The word, “Christ,” is a Greek word which means christened one or anointed one. One who is christened or anointed is one who has had oil poured on them, and they have been anointed for a purpose. The word, “Christ,” comes from the Hebrew word, “messiah,” which also means anointed. In Old Testament times prophets, priests and kings were anointed with oil which was a symbol of their being put into their specific office, as either a prophet, a priest or a king. If Jesus were simply the christened or anointed one, that is, if He were simply anointed to be a prophet, or a priest perhaps, but certainly not king, there might not have been a question concerning His true identity. The problem is that this word, “Christ,” also has deeper connotations for the Jews. The Jews were looking for a “Christ,” a “Messiah,” to come. But their idea of the “Christ” or “Messiah” who would come was more than just a prophet, more than just a priest, even more than just a king. They were looking for an anointed one, a Christ, a Messiah, a Savior, who would come to deliver them from their bondage by the Romans. And that is the rub of Jesus’ identity. “Are you the Christ?” “Are you this Savior we define?” is the question asked of Jesus.
 

Before we continue, I want to reiterate what you have heard me say many times, that is that in the Garden of Eden, immediately after Adam and Eve disobeyed God, ate from the fruit of the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil and sinned, immediately after God dispensed His judgement and cursed the world, God promised to send a Savior, a Christ, a Messiah and this promise was made before there was a Jew or a Gentile, or any other ethnicity for that matter. The promise was for a spiritual, eternal life in heaven Savior. When God promised that the Savior, the Christ, would be born through the line of Abraham, He did not make a new promise, He simply narrowed the line of fulfillment of the one promise He made in Eden. As the Children of Israel continually sinned, fell away and were allowed to be disciplined through other nations and as God continually forgave and restored them, because of God’s previous deliverences, their history inferred God’s promise of a social, political Savior so that by the time Jesus lived too many were no longer looking for or thinking in terms of a spiritual, forgiveness of sins, eternal life in heaven Savior, Christ, Messiah, they were continually looking for a deliverer them from their enemies, a social, political Savior, Christ, Messiah.
 

Now, back to our text and the question, “Are you the Christ?” At first we might think that Jesus is avoiding their question. “Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not part of my flock’” (v. 25-26). Time and again Jesus pointed to His works, His miracles, His teaching and preaching. Jesus is asking the question, “What do you see?” “Do you see the works that I am doing?” “Are you listening to the message I am preaching?” The Gospel writer John makes much of these signs, wonders and miracles of Jesus. Who else could do the things that Jesus was doing? Certainly, no mere mortal could do these things; heal, cast out demons, forgive sins, bring back from the dead; only God could do these things. So, Jesus does not answer directly, but points to His preaching, teaching and the miracles He has performed.
 

Fast forward two thousand years and we have a new group of Jews gathering around Jesus and asking the question, “Are you the Christ?” “Are you the Messiah?” “Are you the Savior?” This new group of Jews is the society in which we live and often includes us. We live in a society which constantly asks the question, “Is Jesus the Christ?” “Is He the Messiah?” “Is He the Savior?” And, “What does it mean if He is the Christ or the Messiah or the Savior?” Certainly we must all confess that there are times in our own lives when we too ask these questions, if not out loud, at least with our actions. We are not immune to the temptations of doubt and misunderstanding brought by the world in which we live. We are not immune to the struggles of life which bring doubts in our minds. Sometimes we may wonder, “Is Jesus the Messiah?” We question Jesus’ Messiahship when we fail to acknowledge our sins, when we fail to recognize our need for a Savior, and we do this when we fail to make regular and diligent use of His means of Grace, being in Divine Service and Bible Class, reading our Bibles, having personal and family devotions and the like. Anytime we think we do not need Christ as our Savior, or anytime we try to lessen our total dependence on Him for forgiveness and salvation, such as when we believe that Jesus had to die only a little for us, we question His Messiahship.
 

Too often, today, we, like the Jews, look for Jesus as the Christ according to our own understanding or misunderstanding of who He is. Here again, when these struggles, temptations and doubts arise we are pointed back to where Jesus pointed the Jews, back to His miracles, back to His teachings. Today we are pointed to His Word and that is where we see the signs, wonders and miracles He performed. That is where we see that He is, indeed, the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior and He is the Christ as He defines Himself, the spiritual Savior of the world. That is also where we are shown how we too, along with the Pharisees fail to recognize and confess our sins, how we daily sin much and are in need of a Savior and forgiveness.
 

Very often Jesus used the imagery of the sheep and shepherd. The sheep and shepherd relationship was quit close, because the shepherd was with the sheep twenty four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. The shepherd knew each sheep individually and the sheep knew the voice of their shepherd. The sheep, then, are those who listen to Jesus’ voice, who know Him and who follow Him. Those who have no faith are not His sheep, they cannot see Jesus for who He is, their Savior. For those who have no faith they also have no hope, only death, even eternal death and hell.
 

We are Jesus’ sheep. He is our shepherd. He knows us, intimately. He knows everything there is to know about us and we might rightly say, and He loves us anyway. And we know Him. We know His voice, because we hear His voice as He speaks to us through His Word. We are members of His flock and, as the saying goes, “membership has its privileges.” As a member of the Body of Christ we see Jesus as the Messiah, that is we see the signs, wonders and miracles which He performed and know that they are what show Him to be truly God.
 

As a member of the Body of Christ we believe Jesus is the Messiah. We believe that He is the one who came to take all our sins upon Himself and to suffer and die for our sins. He is the one who paid the price, the wage, the cost for our sin, the cost of eternal death and hell.
 

As a member of the Body of Christ we hear the Shepherd’s voice. Every time we read and hear read His Word we hear His voice. Every time we read and hear His Word we are given the gifts which He has to give, forgiveness of sins, faith and strengthening of faith. Every time we read and hear His Word, His Word does, in and for us, what it says, that is it brings and gives us forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
 

As a member of the Body of Christ we are protected. We have Jesus’ promise, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and  no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand” (v. 29). We have security in the hands of God the Father. Surrounded by His almighty hand we are protected from the wiles of the devil, the world and our own sinful flesh.
 

As a member of the Body of Christ we have forgiveness of sins and all the other rights and privileges of membership. As a member of the Body of Christ we have the privilege of reading, hearing and understanding His Word. We have the privilege of being reminded of our Baptism and the fact that His name is on us, that we are His, that we have forgiveness and eternal life. As a member of the Body of Christ we have the privilege of confessing our sins and hearing His awesome words of forgiveness and knowing our sins are forgiven. As a member of the Body of Christ we have the privilege of coming to the Lord’s Table to eat and drink His Holy body and blood and thus to participate in His death and resurrection, so that His perfect life becomes our perfect life, His death becomes our death, His resurrection becomes our resurrection, and His eternal life becomes our eternal life.
 

As a member of the Body of Christ we have eternal life. This is not something we have to wait for, this is something we have now. Eternal life is ours right at this time. Yes, we will have to wait until we pass on from this world until we enter into heaven, but it is ours now. It is somewhat like if you were to purchase a retirement home to move into after you retire. It is yours now, but you will not use it until you retire. Heaven is ours now, but we will not move in until after we pass on from this world. As members of the Body of Christ we are given all the rights and privileges from this membership.
 

How are we members? We are members first and foremost by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection. Faith given to us through the Word of God and through Holy Baptism. Faith strengthened through the Word and the Sacraments, in other words, faith strengthened through our continual reading of God’s Word, faith strengthened through our being mindful of our Baptism and faith strengthened through our making regular and diligent use of the Lord’s Supper.
 

By God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ, His perfect life, suffering, death and resurrection from the dead, faith given through the Word and the Sacraments, we are all sheep. We are all members of the flock. We all have eternal life. Just look around and see those with whom you will be spending eternity. To God be the glory for Jesus’ sake. Amen.