Manuscript for the 4th Sunday of Easter

+ FOURTH SUNDAY OF EASTER +

P In the name of the Father and of the T Son and of the Holy Spirit.

C Amen.

P If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

C But if we confess our sins, God, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

P Let us then confess our sins to God our Father.

C Most merciful God, we confess that we are by nature sinful and unclean. We have sinned against You in thought, word, and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone. We have not loved You with our whole heart; we have not loved our neighbors as ourselves. We justly deserve Your present and eternal punishment. For the sake of Your Son, Jesus Christ, have mercy on us. Forgive us, renew us, and lead us, so that we may delight in Your will and walk in Your ways to the glory of Your holy name. Amen.

P In the mercy of almighty God, Jesus Christ was given to die for us, and for His sake God forgives us all our sins. To those who believe in Jesus Christ He gives the power to become the children of God and bestows on them the Holy Spirit. May the Lord, who has begun this good work in us, bring it to completion in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

C Amen.

+ SERVICE OF THE WORD +

KYRIE LSB 152

A In peace let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A For the peace from above and for our salvation let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A For the peace of the whole world, for the well-being of the Church of God, and for the unity of all let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A For this holy house and for all who offer here their worship and praise let us pray to the Lord.

C Lord, have mercy.

A Help, save, comfort, and defend us, gracious Lord.

C Amen.

THIS IS THE FEAST LSB 155

C This is the feast of victory for our God.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.

Refrain

Power, riches, wisdom, and strength, and honor, blessing, and glory are His.

Refrain

Sing with all the people of God, and join in the hymn of all creation:

Blessing, honor, glory, and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen.

Refrain

For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign. Alleluia.

Refrain

SALUTATION AND COLLECT OF THE DAY

P The Lord be with you.

C And also with you.

P Let us pray.

Almighty God, You show those in error the light of Your truth so that they may return to the way of righteousness. Grant faithfulness to all who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ’s Church that they may avoid whatever is contrary to their confession and follow all such things as are pleasing to You; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

OLD TESTAMENT READING Lamentations 3:22–33

²²The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end;
²³they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
²⁴“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
²⁵The Lord is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
²⁶It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord.
²⁷It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.
²⁸Let him sit alone in silence when it is laid on him;
²⁹let him put his mouth in the dust— there may yet be hope;
³⁰let him give his cheek to the one who strikes, and let him be filled with insults.
³¹For the Lord will not cast off forever,
³²but, though he cause grief, he will have compassion according to the abundance of his steadfast love;
³³for he does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

EPISTLE 1 Peter 2:11–20

¹¹Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh, which wage war against your soul. ¹²Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

¹³Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, ¹⁴or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. ¹⁵For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. ¹⁶Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. ¹⁷Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. ¹⁹For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. ²⁰For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

A This is the Word of the Lord.

C Thanks be to God.

ALLELUIA AND VERSE LSB 156

Alleluia! Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Alleluia, Alleluia!

HOLY GOSPEL John 16:16–22

P The Holy Gospel according to St. John, the sixteenth chapter.

C Glory to You, O Lord.

¹⁶[Jesus said:] “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” ¹⁷So some of his disciples said to one another, “What is this that he says to us, ‘A little while, and you will not see me, and again a little while, and you will see me’; and, ‘because I am going to the Father’?” ¹⁸So they were saying, “What does he mean by ‘a little while’? We do not know what he is talking about.” ¹⁹Jesus knew that they wanted to ask him, so he said to them, “Is this what you are asking yourselves, what I meant by saying, ‘A little while and you will not see me, and again a little while and you will see me’? ²⁰Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy. ²¹When a woman is giving birth, she has sorrow because her hour has come, but when she has delivered the baby, she no longer remembers the anguish, for joy that a human being has been born into the world. ²²So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.”

P This is the Gospel of the Lord.

C Praise to You, O Christ.

SERMON

Jesus said, “A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.”

And his Disciples wondered what He meant. This was on the night when He was betrayed. We, from our viewpoint, can understand what Jesus meant. He would be taken from them, put on trial, convicted and executed, dead and buried for a little while. Then they would see Him again and their joy would be like no other. Then further along, there would be a time to come when Jesus would ascend into heaven, to sit at the right hand of His Father, so again for a little while, His disciples would not see Him. But His promise is that after just a little while, a very short time in the grand scheme of things, He would come again and the joy for those who await His coming, will be eternal.

This is where we Christians, find ourselves today -- in this “little while” until He comes and we see Him with our eyes. We who believe in Him and who have come to love Him, are for this short time, away from the Lord. We long for the joy promised when we see Him.

“A little while, and you will see me no longer; and again a little while, and you will see me.” With these words Jesus was preparing His disciples, He was preparing all believers for living apart from the Lord. While we are apart from Him, there is some sorrow and some apprehension. We can’t help but wonder, “Is His coming near? Is the end soon?”

You can hear troubled emotions like this in the disciples in the Gospel reading today. You can guess some of the things that they must have been feeling in those days after Jesus died. We are told there was fear among the disciples, crippling, immobilizing fear that left them hiding behind locked doors. There was grief of course at the loss of their Dear Teacher and Friend. And there was some shame, some regret. They felt horrible for not remaining steadfast and faithful to their Lord while He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified and died.

As we wait this little while until our Lord returns, we have the Gospel message that Jesus is risen from the dead and ascended into heaven, and as such He fills the Whole universe so that no where is beyond His reach, no one is beyond His presence. We can’t see Him right now, nevertheless, we have heard Him promise us, “I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” He is present as His word is remembered, proclaimed and believed. He is present when His church gathers around Him to baptize, to meditate on His word, and to commune. We shouldn’t really have fear, or grief or shame and regret like the disciples had back then, because we believe that the Lord is with us. He comforts us and keeps us. We are not left alone in fear, grief and shame.

But even as I say these words, I know how easily a Christian can be tempted to doubt the presence and providence of the Lord. There are any number of causes for fear, grief and shame these days during this “little while” we are waiting out.

There’s cause for fear. The situation is apparently scary. There is the fear of a worldwide epidemic. There is a fear of worldwide economic decline. There’s so much fear available right now that many of us are debating which should we fear the most – dying from the virus or living out the rest of our lives in poverty and want?

Fear is a cruel mind game. It produces all kinds of problems; it makes people angry; it makes people do irrational things, it’s crippling, immobilizing. You ever hear what Jesus says about fear? Of course, you have. He says, “Fear not, don’t be afraid, I am with you.”

Then there’s also grief or sorrow, which is so inevitable in this sin stricken world. Things are so far from perfect that we so rarely get our way, what we were hoping for and working for. When there is a loss, whether it be a loss of loved one, the loss of a future we envisioned, the loss of the strength, the security, the happiness we once had, we grieve. Jesus gives a good reminder to us in this example of a woman giving birth. It’s painful for the moment, but she has joys in store that make the suffering seem small. Much more so is the joy awaiting us in God’s Kingdom to come!

And there’s shame, regret, guilt. We should have started with that one. Because the answer to our shame and guilt gives answer to our fear and grief and the answer is our Lord Jesus. In Lamentations, the Old Testament reading today, we are reassured that the Lord “though he cause grief, he will have compassion” (Lamentations 3:32).

In His compassion He calms our fears, He lifts our sorrows, He forgives our guilt and shame. Jesus went to His cross to take your guilt and shame. Jesus faced the punishment and consequence of your sin, so that your punishment and guilt and shame are no longer on you. They are left behind on the bloody cross and buried in the hollow tomb of your Lord.

In His compassion Jesus lifts our hearts out of sorrow and into joy, out of fear and into peace. Reflect on that. Your only problem worth fussing over is the problem of sin and guilt before your Creator and Jesus took care of that. What do you got to worry about?

Keep this gospel with you. I can’t blame you for having that temptation to fear, to sorrow, to feel shame and guilt. But in the midst of fears, sorrows or shame, listen to your Lord Jesus, who died for you and is now risen for you: He says to you, “So also you have sorrow now, but I will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you.” Amen.

APOSTLES’ CREED

C I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,  born of the virgin Mary,

suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.  He descended into hell.  The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heavenand sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.    From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins,

the resurrection of the body, and the life T everlasting. Amen.

PRAYER OF THE CHURCH

P Let us pray for the whole Church of God in Christ Jesus and for all people according to their needs.

Almighty and eternal God, worthy to be held in reverence by all people everywhere, we give You humble and sincere thanks for the innumerable blessings You have bestowed on us without any merit or worthiness on our part. We praise You especially for preserving for us Your saving Word and the Holy Sacraments. Grant and preserve to Your Holy Church throughout the world purity of doctrine, and provide faithful pastors to preach Your Word with power. Help all who hear the Word rightly to understand and truly to believe it. Send laborers into Your harvest, and open the door of faith to those who do not know You. Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer.

P Heavenly Father, in mercy bring to repentance the enemies of Your Church, and grant them amendment of life. Protect and defend Your Church in all tribulation and danger, and sustain with Your Spirit our brothers and sisters in Christ around the world who experience persecution. Strengthen us and all fellow Christians to set our hope fully on the grace revealed in Christ, and help us to fight the good fight of faith, that in the end we may receive the salvation of our souls. Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer.

P Loving God, bestow Your grace on all nations of the earth. Bless especially our country, its inhabitants and all who are in authority. Let Your glory dwell in our land, that mercy and truth, righteousness and peace may abound in all places. Bless also all who serve in our armed forces, that they may serve with integrity and honor. Protect the doctors, nurses, first responders and scientific researchers who are working to address the pandemic. Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer.

P Compassionate Lord, graciously defend us from all calamity by fire and water, from war and pestilence, from scarcity and famine, and from every other evil. Protect and prosper all who labor in their rightful callings, and let all useful arts flourish among us. Be the God and Father of the lonely and the forsaken; the helper of the sick, needy and unemployed; and the comforter of the distressed and those who sorrow.  Lord, in Your mercy,

C hear our prayer.

P Father, as we are strangers and pilgrims on earth, help us by true faith and a godly life to prepare for the world to come, doing the work You have given us to do while it is day, before the night comes when no one can work. And when our last hour comes, support us by Your power and receive us into Your heavenly Kingdom; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

C Amen.

LORD’S PRAYER

BENEDICTION LSB 166

P The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you.

The Lord look upon you with favor and T give you peace.

C Amen.

756 WHY SHOULD CROSS AND TRIAL GRIEVE ME

1 Why should cross and trial grieve me?
    Christ is near
    With His cheer;
Never will He leave me.
Who can rob me of the heaven
    That God’s Son
    For me won
When His life was given?

2 When life’s troubles rise to meet me,
    Though their weight
    May be great,
They will not defeat me.
God, my loving Savior, sends them;
    He who knows
    All my woes
Knows how best to end them.

3 God gives me my days of gladness,
    And I will
    Trust Him still
When He sends me sadness.
God is good; His love attends me
    Day by day,
    Come what may,
Guides me and defends me.

4 From God’s joy can nothing sever,
    For I am
    His dear lamb,
He, my Shepherd ever.
I am His because He gave me
    His own blood
    For my good,
By His death to save me.

5 Now in Christ, death cannot slay me,
    Though it might,
    Day and night,
Trouble and dismay me.
Christ has made my death a portal
    From the strife
    Of this life
To His joy immortal!

Tune and text: Public domain

Text (sts. 4–5): © 2004 Stephen P. Starke, admin. Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission: CPH Limited Promotional License no. 119000000

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Divine Service, Setting One from Lutheran Service Book

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the ESV^® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Created by Lutheran Service Builder © 2018 Concordia Publishing House.