SERMON NOTES for Lay Readers, 3rd Sunday after Easter, 11 May 2025
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. John 14:3
ALMIGHTY God, who showest to them that are in error the light of thy truth, to the intent that they may return into the way of righteousness; Grant unto all those who are admitted into the fellowship of Christ's Religion, that they may avoid those things that are contrary to their profession, and follow all such things as are agreeable to the same; through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our Collect for today very masterfully summarizes our two lectionary texts from both the Gospel and the Old Testament reading. How do we know, in the first place, that we are sinners without hope of redemption apart from that salvation offered in the Promised Seed of Abraham – the Lord Jesus Christ? We know through the Law given at Mt. Sinai. If perfect obedience to the Law were required for salvation, all would be hopelessly condemned to the fires of Hell. So, by the Word of the Law, we realize our own depravity; but by the Word of the Gospel, we find means of being accounted righteous in the eyes of God the Father through the sacrifice of His only Begotten Son.
We are reminded in our Old Testament text from 2nd Samuel of the tender manner in which God reveals to us our sinfulness and need for repentance. It is also a reminder that our sins, though forgiven, leaves scarsand hurt to its victims.
David has committed adultery with the wife of Uriah and has even arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle in order to cover his sin of adultery. It seems that pride, combined with lust, had driven David to sin in such a horrific manner. He doesn’t even seem to be aware of the gravity of his sin until confronted by Nathan. God makes David aware by the story of the poor man who has a little lamb that he loves as a daughter. A rich man, who has hundreds of lambs, takes the poor man’s lamb and slaughters it to make a feast for a visiting dignitary. At hearing this hateful injustice, David says the man will not only die but pay fourfold for his offense. Nathan then tells David that the man is David himself. It was at this point that David became aware of his grievous sins.
Even those of faith sometimes fail to realize their capacity to sin egregiously. David knew the promise of a Redeemer made to Abraham, and he believed in that promise; yet he was still capable of great sin. So are we if we allow our hearts to be drawn away by greed, pride, and lust of the flesh.
The boy-child whom Bathsheba had borne for David was struck with a terrible illness. The child was conceived out of wedlock, and the matter was made even more serious due to David’s being the anointed of the Lord as King of Israel. In earnest, David sought the Lord for healing of the child’s affliction.
David fasted and lay upon the bare earth for seven days after which the child died. David’s mourning had been so intense that his servant’s feared to inform him of the child’s passing. When told of the child’s passing, instead of continuing in mourning, David arose, bathed himself, put on a change of attire, and anointed himself. Then he came into the house and requested bread and ate. This puzzled the attendants; but David explained that he could not bring the child back; however, David said, “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me.”
David knew of the Promise of his Redeemer, and he knew, as well, that the innocent child was with that Redeemer even now. David would go, in the process of years to the child, but the child could not return to David presently.
This passage reveals in astonishing frankness the manner in which God reveals to us our need of repentance and forgiveness for our sins. It also demonstrates that there is mercy even for David’s terrible sins – therefore, there is hope for every sinner in Christ.
David’s faith brought relief from the agony he felt while the child suffered. He does the same for you and me.
In our New Testament text from the gospel of St Jon 14, we learn of the place that our Lord is preparing for all who are the chosen of God in redemption from the bondage of sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ is the WAY, the TRUTH, and the LIFE. He is not ‘a’ way – He is not ‘a’ truth, and He is not ‘a’ life; but He is the ONLY way, the ONLY truth, and the ONLY means of life eternal.
In the Hebrew wedding custom, the marriage maker finds a suitable bride for the son of a father. A meeting is arranged at the home of the prospective bride. There will be a cup of wine placed on the serving table between the two. If, after casual conversation, the prospective bridegroom finds the girl appealing, he will sip from that single cup of wine. Likewise, if the prospective Bride is amenable to the betrothal, she, too, will drink of that same cup. That seals the betrothal. That custom bears strong meaning for our observance of the Lord’s Supper in which we drink from the same Cup of our Lord.
The father then departs with his son and supervises his son’s building of a suitable home for his future Bride in Marriage. That is a beautiful picture of the Church as the Bride of Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ as Bridegroom. He is preparing a place for His Bride with the Father in oversight.
The betrothed bride must remain in waiting till the bridegroom returns after many months of preparation. She knows not hour at which he and his groomsmen will return to whisk her away to the Wedding Feast. It is usually around the hour of midnight when one of the groomsmen, will sound a trumpet outside her quarters at which time she must immediately go with the company to the Feast.
That is an exact prefigure of the return of Christ to whisk away His Bride for the Marriage Feast. Like the Hebrew bride, we know not what hour He shall come, but we do know that we must be prepared in waiting for that return. The trumpet will sound, and the dead in Christ shall arise first, followed by those of us who remain, to be with Christ in an eternity of joy and splendor.
“1 And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.” Revelations 21:1-4
To constantly speculate on when these things shall come to pass is futile and irreverent. If we are bearing our faithful testimony hour-by-hour and day-by-day, it should not matter at what day our Lord returns. We wait in patience for the sounding of the trumpet. We do not mourn, either, the past terrors to which sin had bound us, but rest in the sure knowledge of David that we shall go to be with the Lord in the end of our days.
