[Sermon Archive] - [Weekly Devotional Guide]

This Week's Sermon THE FIFTH SUNDAY OF EASTER 20 April 2008 "Seeing the Father" John 14:1-14 LSB Series A Vicar Heath A. Trampe Soli Deo Gloria!

Throughout the Old Testament, wondrous and amazing events surrounded God's chosen people, the Jews. In Exodus, for example, God's glory was manifested through mighty plagues that scourged the wicked Pharaoh and his kingdom. Not only did God bring the plagues, but He came in massive pillars of fire and smoke, parted the Red Sea, and miraculously fed, watered, and protected His people for forty years in the wilderness. In the books of Judges, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, and beyond, God allowed a small number of Jews to destroy countless enemies, even providing them with normal men and women who performed miraculous works. It seems that God's people will never suffer defeat when He is with them. God the Father is power and He is might. This is most certainly the mindset of Jesus' disciples as they sit with their Lord on Maundy Thursday, just hours before the Crucifixion. They've heard Christ predict His death, but they assume that He'll take out their enemies before He goes. Jesus says nothing of the sort, but only reassures them by saying

I. Jesus is the only way to the Father (visible manifestation of God's glory), but we look elsewhere.
--By experiencing God's creation around us.
--Through pious or even ecstatic feelings.
II. The cross of Christ is the true glory of God and source of life.
--We want to see the Father.
--The Father reveals Himself in the suffering of Christ.

This revealing statement says volumes about Christ's person and work, but the disciples just don't get it. Philip, speaking for all of them, urges "show us the Father, and it is enough for us". Philip is asking for some great manifestation of God's power, such as the parting of the Red Sea or the mighty plagues. If Christ will just show them the Father, then they will believe.

How do we see the Father? The Creeds state that God the Father is almighty and that He created heaven and earth. In light of this, many suppose to find the Father in His creation. We recall David's words of praise in Psalm 95: "In His hands are the depths of the earth; the height of the mountains is His also. The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land. Oh, come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker!" (4-6). Surely God's power is revealed in the strength of an oak tree or the sheer size of a mountain.

We imagine God as a manifestation of Thor, hurling lightening bolts from heaven when someone dares to blaspheme His holy name. God has revealed His glory this way in the past, smiting people for much less than blasphemy. Throughout the Old Testament, God appeared to be an angry Judge towards His people and their constant sinning. He punished them with death by fiery serpent and disease, as well as military loss. Indeed, if we looked at God through the lens of the Old Testament, we see only a Creator and Lawmaker, but that is not the reality. The reality is Jesus Christ, who rightly proclaims "I am in the Father and the Father is in Me". There is no Father apart from Jesus Christ.

Even in light of Christ and His direct message, many seek God elsewhere. In the late 17th century, Jacob Spener, a Lutheran dissatisfied with the incongruity between the teachings of the church and the university, proposed that God may be found in experiences and feelings rather than in the Divine Service and the Sacraments. This movement, which came to be known as Pietism, would change the shape of Lutheranism and Christianity for all time. Now Christians felt that to know God, they had to live piously, always in eager anticipation of the Holy Spirit, who would surely come upon them if only they were sincere and pure of heart.

. This movement produced many strange and bazaar traditions, namely speaking in tongues and even convulsing or barking as a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. God's Word and Sacraments become secondary to living a clean life and experiencing the Holy Spirit in various ways. We are tempted to depend on our own works and piety for salvation, ignoring Scripture's clear message that salvation is found nowhere else than in Christ's death, and subsequently, the Word and Sacraments. In Pietism, Christ is obscured, shoved under the carpet, and ignored. They seem to have forgotten that the Holy Spirit's divine purpose is to point to Christ.

For those of us who would accuse the Pietists of ignoring Scripture's plain message, be warned. Many of their trappings still cling to modern Lutherans, guilting us into outward shows of obedience to appease God. Pietists recognize Christ's death and resurrection, but only so far as they walk the straight and narrow line of God's law. There is no true comfort in Pietism, as Christ and His Sacraments become a mere afterthought.

Seeking God in nature, Pietism, and even seeing Christ as a mighty warrior rather than a Suffering Savior all have their roots in the same misconception. As unique as these misunderstandings may be, all result in a Theology of Glory. Even the phrase 'Theology of Glory' sounds wonderful, but it seeks to rob Christ of His work and sacrifice on the Cross.

Pietism was a major force behind this Theology of Glory, tempting Christians to look away from the cross of Christ to see the Father in His splendor. To seek God apart from Christ is impossible, as He states in today's Gospel. "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'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?" The mystery of the Trinity is a difficult concept for any Christian to unpack. However, Jesus' words are simple and direct as He calmly explains that to see the Father, we must look at Him.

If Christ is our focal point, what is it that we should know about Him? The disciples wanted Christ to establish an earthly kingdom, bringing back the military excellence of the Old Testament Jewish armies. Certainly He could have accomplished this. He healed the sick and blind, walked on water, controlled the weather, and raised the dead. This God-man Jesus Christ could defeat all of Rome if He desired. This was the sincerest wish of the Jews. This is how Satan tempted Christ throughout His life. This is the Theology of Glory, always seeking God in His power and might. But God had other plans for Christ.

As is usually the case, God gives us more in the person and work of Jesus Christ than we could ever ask for or imagine. The Jews wanted freedom from Rome; Jesus gives them freedom from their sins. The Jews wanted an earthly kingdom; Jesus gives them a heavenly kingdom that can never be taken away or destroyed. The Jews wanted a mighty warrior who would fight for them; Jesus gives them a Suffering Servant who dies on the cross for them. We want a Theology of Glory; Jesus gives us a Theology of the Cross.

God the Father can be seen nowhere else than in the cross of Christ. As you gaze upon the crucifix, you are not looking at a graven image, as so many would have you believe. You are not looking upon a scene of death, but one of life. Many Christians want to see the empty cross; they want to always focus on Christ's resurrection and His victory over Satan. To skip the crucifixion, however, is to focus only on God's might without reflecting upon His wisdom. God knew that our salvation could be won only in the death of His Son, whom He indeed raised from the dead. Christ's death is our life.

In today's Gospel, Jesus reassures His disciples, who are terrified that their Lord may soon be dead. He does so with a simple description of Himself as the Way, the Truth, and the Life. Christ is truly the only WAY to heaven for sinners. We hear His blessed Word preached from the pulpit and read from the altar, which is the only TRUTH. Our LIFE is found in His death, which He shares with us through Baptism, where we drown and die to be resurrected with Him. Our LIFE is found in His death, which He shares with us through the eating and drinking of His body and blood, which were truly given and shed for you for the forgiveness of all of your sins. Our LIFE is found in His death and nowhere else. This is the Theology of the Cross. Human reason cannot grasp this message; it is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Like Philip and the rest of the disciples, we beckon Christ to show us the Father. He does this by giving up His life and dying on the cross, which is masterfully expressed in the words of Thomas Kelly's "Stricken, Smitten, and Afflicted" (LSB 451):

Stricken, smitten, and afflicted, see Him dying on the tree!
Tis the Christ, by man rejected; Yes, my soul, 'tis He 'tis He!
Tis the long expected Prophet, David's Son, yet David's Lord;
Proofs I see sufficient of it: Tis the true and faithful Word.

Here we have a firm foundation, Here the refuge of the lost:
Christ, the Rock of our salvation, is the name of which we boast;
Lamb of God, for sinners wounded, Sacrifice to cancel guilt!
None shall ever be confounded who on Him their hope have built.