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The Fifth Sunday of Eastertide

Cantate

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.

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An Overview

We once again find ourselves in the upper room on the night when Christ was betrayed. We do not hear about bread and wine or body and blood, but instead Jesus is preparing His disciples for what is about to happen in His passion, and what will happen to them once He ascends to heaven.

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So too, Jesus is preparing us for what life looks like for the Christian. It is not one of rest and relaxation, but of betrayal, judgment, and persecution. Amidst all of this, we are given the Holy Ghost (the Helper) to guide us into all truth.

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It is for this reason that the epistle reading (as it was last week) contains many words of instruction and encouragement. We must not only hear the words of Christ - we must do them.

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This piece of art (a model for a clock) depicts Faith - offering the written word and the cup of Christ - and Charity - nursing and protecting those she loves.

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Artwork: Faith and Charity, Félix Lecomte. French, 1792. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Old Testament

Isaiah 12:1-6​

  • v. 1 - "that day" refers to the raising up of the righteous branch in chapter 11. The "shoot from the stump of Jesse" is a prophecy of the coming of Jesus Christ.

  • vv. 2-6 - This "First Song of Isaiah" is set to music in LSB 927. What a joy that the Lord is our strength, our song, and our salvation

  • vv. 3-4 - drawing water form the well of salvation," recall the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4. While this alludes to baptism, the greater teaching is drawing from the "well" of Christ's teaching.

  • vv. 5-6 - The name of this Sunday in Latin is "Cantate" which means "Sing!" We sing to God because of His glorious deeds, and we make those deeds known to others by proclaiming His truth.

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Translation Notes

  • v 1 -"give thanks" is more literally "praise" (Greek OT: "Bless")

  • v 2 - "anger" it's a fun accident of language that the word for "anger" is also the word for "nose." The idea, in Hebrew, is that anger causes the nostrils to flare.

  • v. 2 - "salvation" is the same root as the name Joshua/Jesus. Thus, we could read this is "Behold, God is my Jesus...and He has become my Jesus."

  • vv. 3 - 4 - "you" is plural here. Not an individual, but the entire congregation is being addressed.

  • vv. 5-6 - the commands "Sing" and "Shout" return to the single, not the plural form. While the entire congregation sings, individuals must be the ones who make the confession of faith.

The Epistle

James 1:16-27​

  • Before our reading begins, James tell his hearers that they should count it a blessing when they meet trials, because the testing of faith produces steadfastness (1:2-3). With this understanding, we can see why James is so blunt in his description of the Christian religion

  • vv. 16-17 - A reminder that everything good in the world comes from God, and since God is unchanging, His will (and thus what He calls good) is always the same

  • v. 18 - since we are made by God, we should act like our Creator. Just as fruit, when matured, behaves like the tree that produced it.

  • v. 19 - As the old saying goes, God gave you two ears but only one mouth, so listen twice as often as you speak.

  • vv. 19-20 - anger is worthless. Backbiting does not produce any righteousness, but only more anger. Since God is love, unbridled anger leads us away from God.

  • v. 21 - since we are God's firstfruits, we must put away all things that are ungodly: filthiness and rampant wickedness. The opposite of being filthy and wicked begins with hearing the "implanted word." 

  • v. 22 - nonetheless, the implanted word does not sit and stagnate. Just as a seed grows roots and produces a shoot and leaves and fruit, so the Christian is never merely a hearer - he is also a doer.

  • vv. 23-24 - James uses helpful imagery here. If we only hear the word of God but don't live according to it, we're like a man who looks in a mirror (hears preaching), sees what he looks like (knows how he is to live) and then walks away and forgets his own face (lives a life not in accord with God's word).

  • v. 25 - But when one looks into the mirror of the "Law of Liberty" then he realizes that he is not only commanded to live a certain way, but also freed by the blood of Christ to live a life of love. This man, a true Christian who doesn't "forget his face" will be blessed.

  • vv. 26-27 - James leaves no room for doubt concerning the point he is making. If you call yourself religious, if you call yourself a Christian, and don't bridle your tongue, your religion is worthless. True religion -- which always begins with the "implanted word" -- looks like this: you visit the orphans, you visit widows, and you keep yourself unstained from the world. To say it another way, true religion includes faith in Christ, and a life that accords to that faith. 

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Translation Notes

  • "firstfruits" - literally "those things from the beginning." It can figuratively mean "first-fruits" of the harvest season.

  • "anger" Greek: or-gay. This is the root of the English word "orgies." The term itself is a mockery of the Lord, it simply means "the product of God's wrath."

The Holy Gospel

John 16:5-15​

  • v. 5 - "Now I am going," Jesus says this some 43 days before His ascension to heaven. In the minds of the disciples, they thought Jesus was speaking about something immediately. Jesus is using the language of "going" to refer to His cross, His burial, His resurrection, and His ascension (see John 20:17).

  • vv. 6-7 - Jesus recognizes that His disciples are sad because of His impending death. He tells them that it is to their benefit that He goes away - and this is true. But He is also prophesying of His ascension in which it is their GREAT benefit that He goes away and the Helper (the Holy Spirit) comes to earth.

  • vv. 8-11 - the Holy Spirit is not an idea or an energy, He is a person. And this person does not contradict what the other person of the Trinity do or say - He convicts the world when its sin and teaches about righteousness and judgment. The Holy Spirit never works against the Son or the Father, thus, Scripture never disagrees with itself.

  • v. 12-13  - Jesus has hardly said everything He has to say during His three year earthly ministry. But we're not missing out on anything because the Holy Spirit will come and guide the apostles to write the New Testament down.

  • vv. 13-15 - Again, the persons of the Trinity never disagree. Thus, if someone claims to be led by the Holy Spirit, but their actions are in disagreement with Scripture, it is not truly the Holy Spirit who is guiding them. Everything the Holy Spirit says, He only says because the Son already has it in His heart.

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Translation Notes

  • "Helper" Greek "paraclete." Sometimes we transliterate instead of translating this word, especially in hymnody. It can also be understood as "advocate."

Poetry Used in the Liturgy on Good Shepherd Sunday

  • Psalm 98 -  when we are told to sing to the Lord a "new" song, this is not a condemnation of tradition. James in the epistle says that there is no shadow of change in God, and so the "newness" of a song is about the things of God - which are permanent - as they become "new" to us.

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  • Psalm 66:1-8 - we are again shouting, singing (Cantate!) to God for all the wonderful things He has done. There is also a missional thrust to this Psalm, we are always to tell unbelievers "come and see what God has done," as we invite them into the mysteries of the written Word and the Holy Sacraments.​​

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  • Psalm 118 - though we only hear a portion of this psalm in the liturgy, it is a robust and repetitive confession that the Steadfast Love of the Lord endures forever. Even in the midst of a world that surrounds us and attacks us as though we were caught in a swarm of bees, we confess that the Lord is the one who welcomes us through the gates of righteousness when our trials produce steadfastness (James 1:2-3).

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  • Romans 6 - this great chapter on baptism and rebirth is placed in the context of the Gospel, in which we are reminded that "Christ being raised from the dead will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him," what else can we say but "Alleluia!"?

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  • To God the Holy Spirit, Let us Pray - we will begin our worship with this hymn by Martin Luther, reminding us that this long season of Easter is anticipating the gift of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost

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  • Dear Christians, One and All, Rejoice - this hymn (also by Martin Luther) is a perfect description of what the Christian life looks and sounds like. The lyrics are spoken, at times, by the Christian, but other stanzas are spoken by Christ.

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Artwork: Apostles Spoon: St. James the Less, William Cawdwell. British, 1592/3. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

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Further Reading & Listening

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Artwork: "S. Esaü prophète, July 6th," from Les Images De Tous Les Saincts et Saintes de L'Année. Jacques Callot. French, 1636. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

St. John's Lutheran Church
 

1-307-548-7127

stjohnslovell@gmail.com

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On the Corner of 5th and Montana

Lovell, Wyoming 82431

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