Jubilate 2009

JUBILATE

3 May Anno + Domini 2009

"In a Little While”

John 16:16-22

In the Name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.

He Is Risen!  (He Is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!)

We boldly confess that Jesus is risen, and yet something deep within our fallen pessimism tells us that when our Lord says we will see Him in a "little while' that it is akin to the doctor saying, "this will only hurt a little bit.”  We are the people who live on credit, buying now and paying later, paying for the rest of our lives, some of us; we are the people who flip the channels during commercials or even during the program; who groan in complaint if the hymn has more than four stanzas or the sermon goes over fifteen minutes.  Patience is not one of our more obvious traits.  We are not given to waiting.

I suspect that there has never been a more agonized waiting in the history of men than that restless Sabbath when our Lord's Body laid in the tomb.  That was the first "little while.”  It must have felt like an eternity for the disciples behind those doors shut in fear, uncertain as they were in their doubts with their ears plugged by false grief.  Their sin had made them deaf and they were confused.  But our Lord is patient.  He came to them on the third day just as He had promised - despite their faithlessness, despite their fear, despite their doubts and worries, betrayals and hiding.  He came to them and they saw Him again - just as He had said they would.  They saw Him for a "little while,” for forty days.  Then He ascended to the Father and they waited again.  They waited 10 more days, another "little while,” and then they saw Him again in the flames of Pentecost.  And ever since the Church has endured a "little while.”

When have you shut the door in fear, plugged your ears with false grief, and wallowed in your doubt?  When a loved one died, perhaps?  Or when you suffered some unforeseen tragedy, injustice, or betrayal.  It is not usually right away, though.  We usually handle the immediate onslaught fairly well.  Our faith is trained.  Our prayers arise spontaneously.  We are strong and hopeful.  God's Word comforts us.  And that is good.  But when the "while” of the "little while” settles in, when we realize that we have to live with this, with these consequences, with these limitations, with this broken trust, with this past and this sad future, we grow scared.  It seems too much, too unbearable, too long.  We want things the way they were and know they cannot be.  We quickly grow tired of the wait.  Ask the widows.  Ask those in prison.  Ask the parents who sit in hospitals.  This world is broken and dying.  It is not right.  It hurts.  And waiting is always riddled through with pain.  The widows know, and so do you.

But still the promise of God endures:  "Lo, I am with you always, even during this 'little while.' You will see Me again.  I am coming back.  I will keep My Word.”  The flames of Pentecost still burn.  They burn where God has placed Himself in mercy: in the preaching and the reading of His Word, in your prayers, and in the giving of His Body and His Blood.  He did not abandon the disciples on Holy Saturday.  He was faithful.  He kept His promise.  He has not abandoned you.  He has not forgotten you.  You will see Him this very day even as Simeon beheld Him in the Temple.  And after seeing your salvation, God made Man in the Flesh for you, hidden in the bread, you will be able to depart in peace, ready even to depart from this cruel world and go to your reward, just like Simeon was ready.

And having been justified by faith, you have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  You have peace, dear friends - peace that is able to get you through the "little while” you spend in this dead and dying world!  You have peace, because you know by faith that you are merely sojourners and exiles in this world for a "little while”; that your citizenship is in heaven and that you will spend eternity in the Paradise of Christ's eternal kingdom. 

But, still, even with the comfort of this peace which passes all understanding, you must endure this "little while,” and that's not easy.  It's not easy to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which war against your soul.  It's not easy to keep your conduct among others honorable.  It's not easy to endure suffering, especially when it comes upon you unjustly.  Life in this vale of tears is not easy, especially for you who wait for the eternal life promised to you. 

So it is that your Lord Jesus Christ continues to come to you here in this Holy Place to turn your sorrow into joy.  He comes to remind you of the fact that you are a baptized child of God.  He comes to fill your ears with the Good News of His love for you, reminding you that when you were still without strength, in due time, He died for you, that you might be forgiven and free.  He comes to fill you with Himself, that you might be strengthened and preserved in the faith for the journey through the "little while” of this earthly life until He calls you home.  He comes here to give power to the faint; to increase the strength of those whose might has failed. 

Do not underestimate this great blessing, my friends.  Do not take what happens here for granted.  You are blessed to know where your Lord comes to you during your "little while” in this world.  Many are not so blessed.  In fact, many doesn't quite do it.  The truth is that most are not so blessed.  Most people, even most who consider themselves Christian, do not know what you know.  They don't know that Jesus fulfills His promise to be with us always in His Holy Church through His Word and Sacraments.  They look for Him in other places - in their hearts and try to locate Him in their emotions and feelings.  When pain and sorrow come their way, doubt and uncertainty usually overcome them, for they haven't been fed and strengthened by the Lord.  They're forced, then, to rely on wishful thinking, hoping that maybe, just maybe, Jesus is there for them. 

But, you know differently.  You do not have to rely on maybe.  You have the assurance of God's Word, for you are fed on that Word here regularly.  And so, when sorrow comes your way - and it will, that's a guarantee - you have the strength to endure.  And, you know, because you've been fed by your Lord time and time again in His House from pulpit and altar, that the same Lord who visits you here, whom you see now only with the eyes of faith, is coming back to bring you to be with Him forever, when you will finally see Him as He is, face to face.  That's also a guarantee.       

So, wait on the Lord, dear friends.  Be of good cheer and courage.  He shall strengthen your heart.  You shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  This "little while” is just that - a little while; a very little while when compared to the eternity you will spend with Him and all the saints and angels in His kingdom, which has no end.   

Patience may not be your most obvious trait.  I know it's not mine.  But it is yours, and it is mine, for t is a gift from God, a fruit of the Spirit that abides in you, even though you don't often realize it.  Though it may wax and wane during this little while, though you may shed tears, yet you endure, and with wisdom born from above you have come to this day to see Jesus, to receive His grace, to be strengthened and encouraged until such time as you are relieved of these burdens, the tears all wiped away, and the good work begun in you is complete. Wait on the Lord.  You will not be disappointed.  In a "little while,” you will see Him, and no one and nothing will be able to take your joy from you ever again. 

He Is Risen!  (He Is Risen Indeed!  Alleluia!)  In Jesus' Holy and Precious Name.  Amen.

Now the peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, unto life everlasting.  Amen.