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INJ
John 15:26-16:4
"I’ve Arrived"
Exaudi (Sunday of the Ascension) | 1 June 2014
Dear Norma,
Dear Joe,
Today is a day of great joy as you are welcomed to the Lord’s Altar, to His Supper, to His body and blood for the forgiveness of your sins. It is not because we are worthy that we come here, but because we are unworthy, we are sinners, we need what the Lord gives out. And this is true for all the baptized.
Coming to the Lord’s Supper is the culmination of our Christian life, it means we have arrived, but where have we arrived? I’ve heard people say that, maybe in the movies, “I’ve arrived.” They have been accepted into the prestigious school or received some great promotion, moved into the nice neighborhood or been given some sort of great reward. “I’ve arrived. I’ve accomplished something great.”
That is what the Christian says when they stand here before the altar, “I’ve arrived.” But where have you arrived?
Certainly not to a graduation. We are never finished learning, never finished listening, never finished praying, never finished meditating on the Scriptures.
Have we arrived to a place of fulfillment? To a place of great wealth or health or happiness? No, we come here with our sickness, with our dying, with our poverty, with our failures.
Have we arrived here having achieved some great holiness? Have we managed to do something or accomplish something to make us holy? No, that is not why we are here. We already confessed our sin, that we are poor, miserable sinners. That we deserve the Lord’s temporal and eternal punishment.
(And this is a point not to be missed. We don’t come to the Lord’s Supper because we are holy. We might be tempted to think, because we practice closed communion, that is: we have agreement in the teaching before we have the Lord’s Supper together, that there is some sort of holiness standard for coming to the Supper. You have to be so good to be part of the club. Perish the thought. I can’t think of an idea that would be more contrary to the Gospel.)
Some people might worry about it in the other direction: I’m not good enough to come to the table, to come to the Lord’s Supper. That would be like saying, “I’m too sick to go the hospital.” You go to the hospital because you’re sick. You come to communion because you are a sinner.
We come to the supper not because we are holy, but because we are unholy. We come not because we have but because we need. We stand here before the Lord not because we are good enough, but because we are in a desperate need for His mercy and kindness.
Coming to the Lord’s Supper is not lining up to be let into a fancy ball at the country club, it is standing in the soup line at the homeless shelter. This is why the Evangelists are always telling us the stories of the beggars, the wounded, the sick, who cried out to Jesus for mercy. That’s you. That’s me.
They found a scrap of paper in Luther’s pocket after he died. I’ve told you this story. On it were written these words, “We are all beggars, this is true.” This is true. We all have nothing to claim as our own. And while the Lord has provided most of us with a house and home, family, daily bread, and all the things we need to support this body and life, when it comes to eternal life, when it comes to standing before the face of God, when it comes to judgment day when the only currency that matters is righteousness, all of us are beggars. We have nothing on our own.
“No one is righteous. No, not one.” We are impoverished, empty, with nothing to give to the Lord. We are sinners, poor miserable sinners, dragging around our sinful flesh, breaking God’s commandments at every turn, but then to know this, to know our sins and despair of ourselves and our own righteousness, this means: You have arrived.
You have come to the place where the Lord wants you. You are repentant. You have put aside all your works and your trust in those works. You have set aside the illusion that your are wealthy with goodness and good deeds and righteousness, and you have seen yourself as an unworthy sinner, a beggar in need of help, a dying person in desperate need of rescue. You have arrived.
Because when arrive at last at the end of ourselves, there we find Jesus. When the law has spoken the last word, then the Gospel takes up its place. When we’ve abandoned all hope in our own righteousness, there we find the righteousness of Jesus.
So we have arrived to the place where Jesus says, “Take and drink, this is the cup of the New Testament, shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.”
He does not say, “Shed for you for your great success and happiness in this life.” He certainly does not say, “Shed for you as a reward for your great holiness.” “Shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.”
Because this is what we need most of all, and this is what Jesus gives most of all: forgiveness for sinners. Forgiveness for you. In His death, in His resurrection, in His ascension, in His Word, in His baptism, in His Supper, in His absolution, in His church He is lavishing us with His mercy, the riches of His kingdom, the treasure of His righteousness, the glory of His love. He calls you His own, adopts you into His family, gives you His name, turns away His face from your sins and credits you with all the good works of Jesus. He smiles upon you, thinks about you, hears your prayers. He sends His angels to protect you, and beats back the devil. He washes you with His blood, covers you with the white robes of His righteousness, seats you in heavenly thrones with Himself, and all of this is just the beginning.
When we breath our last breath He will send the holy angels to fetch us to His presence. He will fill us with joy and speak kindly to us, give us crowns of His generosity. And when the last day comes Jesus will call up your body from your grave, and give it back to your soul perfect and without corruption. And you will stand before Him, as the blessed of the Father, and your will sit with Him in the great feast of the Lamb that has no end, and your tears will be gone and your sin will be put away and the devil will be cast far off and there will be no more death or sorrow but only life and joy and peace in the Lord’s presence.
Dear saints, you have arrived. Not to the reward of your own righteousness, but to Christ, who gives you more than you could ask for or even imagine. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all understanding guard your heart and mind through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Pastor Bryan Wolfmueller
Hope Lutheran Church | Aurora, CO