Sermon for Easter 7: "Holy In Jesus"

 + Easter 7 – May 12^th, 2024 +

Series B: Acts 1:12-26; 1 John 5:9-15; John 17:11-19

Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church

Milton, WA

 

 

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

 

We call Jesus’ prayer in John 17 the High Priestly prayer for good reason. Sanctify. Consecrate. Sanctified. These are priestly words spoken by Jesus the great High Priest to us his priestly people.

 

Sanctify them^[b] in the truth; your word is truth. ¹⁸ As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. ¹⁹ And for their sake I consecrate myself,^[c] that they also may be sanctified^[d]in truth.

 

When Jesus prays to the Father “Sanctify them in the truth of your word” he was first speaking to his disciples, but also to us who hear his word through the disciples. And for us, as for his disciples, holiness (sanctified) is always a gift received, not something we achieve. That’s worth repeating. We don’t self-generate holiness. It is always and only his gift to you in Jesus. 

 

To sanctify something is to make it or declare it holy. That word “holy” is used a lot around churches: Holy Bible. Holy Baptism. Holy Absolution. Holy Communion. Holy Christian Church. 

 

You see it in Scripture a lot too: people, places, time, spaces, and things are holy. Picture the tabernacle and the temple of the Old Testament: the sabbath time of rest in God’s holy promises. Aaron and his sons, the Levites were a holy priesthood. The holy ground around the burning bush where Moses knelt before the Lord. The holy objects and the holy space within the temple itself. The holy place and the holy of holies. All were called holy. Why? It’s rather simple: God was there. And where God is, there’s holiness.

 

Holiness is always connected to God’s presence. Where God is, there’s the holy. For he and he alone is holy in and of himself. We are not. Any holiness we have is always and only in connection to Christ. Christ’s Holiness is always a gift given and received, not something achieved.

 

For something or someone to be holy they must be connected to the presence of the Holy One of God. 

 

All of this is the foundation and background to Jesus’ words in John 17: Sanctify them^[b] in the truth; your word is truth.

 

Sanctifying – making and declaring holy – these are priestly words. And this is Jesus’ priestly work for you. Whenever you hear the word holy and sanctifying in the Scriptures, know that God is at work. And that God is doing the work of declaring and making holy.

 

But our sinful flesh always wants to sneak in and take credit, even here with God’s holiness. We think holiness is a quid-pro-quo; it’s not – it’s a gift. We think holiness can be achieved by following seven principles for holy living. It’s not. It’s a gift in the holy life and death of Jesus. We think holiness has something to do with our goodness. It doesn’t. It has everything to do with Jesus your holy and great high priest. Christ’s Holiness not something achieved; it is given and received as a gift, just like faith.

 

How then do we become holy? How do we holy lives as his holy people? 

 

Remember, holiness is a gift. Holiness is always connected to the presence of the Holy One of God, Jesus. Your holiness is given to you in Jesus. You are holy by being connected to Jesus, Holy One of God. He is your temple. Your holy of holies. Your holy place. And in him you are holy. In his promise and presence you are holy.

 

This is where Jesus’ prayer in John 17 is so incredibly comforting. Sanctify them^[b] in the truth; your word is truth.

 

Jesus prays for and does the sanctifying work for you. He makes you and declares you holy by his life, by his cross,  by his resurrection, by his promise, and his presence. You live a holy life in him: the good fruit you bear, he prepared for you and through you; the sinful, unholy failures we all have, he forgives those too. 

 

And it’s his holy word that does it all. Jesus’ word declares that we all were unholy and dead in sin, but on account of Jesus' suffering and bloody death, we’re now holy and alive in Him forever.

 

Your sanctification – your life of holiness – begins, ends, and is sustained in Jesus. 

 

Christ’s Holiness is always a gift given and received, not something achieved. And to give us holiness, our Lord Jesus continues to be present with us in holy things:

 

When we hear God’s holy word, the Gospel, we are forgiven and sanctified in Jesus.

When we are baptized, we are sanctified in Jesus.

When we confess our sins and receive his absolution we are sanctified.

When we receive Jesus’ body and blood, we are sanctified.

 

You are holy in Jesus…and that means….the world will hate you for this, for your faith in Jesus, for his cross, for his forgiveness, for all his grace. The fallen world will rage  and hurl all sorts of unholy things your way. But remember that the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh gave Jesus our worst on Good Friday. In Jesus you are kept from the evil one. In Jesus you have a sure and certain word that holds as your anchor even in the most violent of storms and a light in the darkest of nights. In Jesus life and death and promise and presence, you are holy. 

 

Here in John 17, Jesus prays for his disciples. And he prays for you. And when he prays for you, he also sanctifies you. You are his saints. You are holy in Jesus.

 

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