12<\/sup>Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.\u00a013<\/sup>But rejoice insofar as you are sharing Christ\u2019s sufferings, so that you may also be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed.\u00a014<\/sup>If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the spirit of glory, which is the Spirit of God, is resting on you. 1<\/sup>After Jesus had spoken these words\u00a0[to his disciples], he looked up to heaven and said, \u201cFather, the hour has come; glorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you,\u00a02<\/sup>since you have given him authority over all people, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.\u00a03<\/sup>And this is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.\u00a04<\/sup>I glorified you on earth by finishing the work that you gave me to do.\u00a05<\/sup>So now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed. <\/p>\n In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n Alleluia! Christ is Risen! He is risen indeed, Alleluia!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Well about two months ago, on March 16, just a few days into the impact of the pandemic here in Connecticut, I made a fateful decision one night–just one more reason why you shouldn\u2019t make big decisions late at night! That night, before going to bed, I decided to get on Facebook Live, and pray the service of Compline, or Night Prayer, from our worship book. And, in a way, so began our online ministry that has become the main way we gather together as a congregation these days–this week we will mark 100 services and studies that have been broadcast over Facebook Live. As imperfect as this medium is, I think many of us have found that prayer\u2014whether via Facebook or not\u2014is really our most important tool in this pandemic. We pray for those we feel otherwise so unable to help, we grieve the raging sickness and heartbreaking losses through prayer, we soothe our increasingly-frayed nerves and agitated bodies and spirits through prayer, we stay rooted in our faith and connected both to God and to one another in prayer, and in the ancient service of compline we can end the day in prayer, literally \u201ccomplete\u201d the day–the root of the word \u201ccompline\u201d–by putting it back into God\u2019s who gave it to us in the first place. Those of you who have tuned in for compline prayer or otherwise know the service will recognize our second lesson today from 1 Peter, which from ancient times is one of the lessons to be read each night at compline: \u201cHumble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.\u00a0Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.\u00a0Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.\u00a0Resist him, steadfast in your faith.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve meditated many nights on this passage, which has been a particular balm these days. \u201cHumble yourselves under the mighty hand of God,\u201d Peter instructs us. You\u2019re not God, you\u2019re not in charge, the timing and unfolding of everything in a worldwide crisis is not up to you! So we ask for help, we put everything humbly into his mighty hands, we shelter not just at home, but in his strong hands. And humbled, under Christ, we see and trust that God will raise us up! It may take \u201cdue time\u201d: three days, or three months, or even a lifetime, but he will indeed exalt you. And \u201ccast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you,\u201d Peter continues. Throw your worries on him, and let him take it! \u201cYou\u2019re gonna have to do this Lord, because I can\u2019t do it.\u201d And you will do this, Lord, because you care for me, loving me more in Christ than you even loved yourself.\u00a0 And finally, \u201cDiscipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around\u2026resist him, steadfast in your faith.\u201d\u00a0 We are under attack, Peter warns, there is a danger you cannot see\u2014these days we get it!\u2014for we are eyed by a stealthy, hungry beast that would love to destroy us and our faith and destroy the lives of our neighbors. The only way to resist is not by our power or strength, which just get us further stuck and exposed. But rather, \u201cresist him, firm in your faith.\u201d We resist by the Faith that we\u2019ve been given.<\/p>\n All of this makes for a beautiful encouraging passage of Scripture, and a great prayer to complete the day with, by entrusting ourselves completely into God\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n In our gospel lesson today we are given the opportunity to eavesdrop on another prayer, another prayer of completion, as we hear part of Jesus\u2019 so-called \u201chigh-priestly\u201d prayer that he prays to his Father on the night before he surrenders to betrayal to death. As the Cross looms before Jesus, as the center of his saving work appears before him, he prays to his Father, recognizing that now his work on earth is finished, that now his mission is accomplished. \u201cFather, the hour has come,\u201d Jesus prays. The time is now here! \u201cGlorify your Son so that the Son may glorify you.\u201d Now \u201cglory\u201d in the Bible means the way the power of God is brought into our human experience. Jesus spent his whole earthly ministry glorifying God, showing forth God\u2019s glory by healing the sick, casting out evil spirits, feeding the hungry, blessing children, forgiving sinners, even raising the dead! Jesus\u2019 whole life and ministry of complete faithfulness to the Father show us what God\u2019s glory looks like! It\u2019s the glory of human beings, restored to how God made us in the first place! It\u2019s the glory of you and me and the whole world reclaimed from sin and death to belong to God again forever!\u00a0As the Church Father St. Irenaeus said, \u201cThe glory of God is man fully alive.\u201d So part of God\u2019s glory is the power Christ has to give eternal life to everyone who believes. For God to love us so much that we can live with him forever\u2014now that is God\u2019s glory! And Jesus is clear that \u201cthis is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.\u201d Eternal life is to know God! So if you know God\u2019s mercy and grace now, through faith in his Son Jesus, you don\u2019t have to wait for the end, you don\u2019t have to wait until heaven, you already have eternal life! God\u2019s glory is already at work in you, his power has been unleashed to rescue and save and redeem you his beloved child, his glory shines upon you!<\/p>\n \u201cSo now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had in your presence before the world existed.\u201d Christ came down from heaven, we confess every week. He left behind the heavenly glory of being seated at the right hand of the Father, and was instead born in a barn among the animals, to an unwed teenage mother, and lived among the poor, the sick, the suffering, and the despairing. But now on the Cross, now on Easter morning, now in his Ascension back to the right hand of the Father in glory he returns to that glory, returns to where he came from, but this time with me and you and the whole world firmly in his nail-scarred hands; this time returning as victor, who laid down his life for you and me and the whole world; this time with the grave empty and death behind him; this time he returns to glory having completed his task to rescue, redeem, save, and bring the whole world back to himself–the whole world, including and especially you!<\/p>\n The scope of Jesus\u2019 work here, the way he shows forth God\u2019s glory, is so vast, so broad, so deep, so all-encompassing, that all the usual distinctions between us seem to break down in light of what he has done! We know that more than ever these days, don\u2019t we? That what affects one, affects all, and that we are all more connected that we could have imagined. And that when it comes down to it, we\u2019re not ultimately defined by what we look like or come from, but by the fact that we share a common humanity, and have all been loved in Christ with an everlasting love. So Jesus prays a blessing for us all today\u2014for all those he has rescued, for all those he has saved, for all those whom he has given eternal life\u2014a blessing of protection and a blessing of our ultimate unity in him: \u201cHoly Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.\u201d<\/p>\n Those of you who have ever shared in a Compline service here, know that for a long time I used a Byzantine icon of the crucifixion. On it Christ hangs not despairingly on the Cross, but seemingly in charge of it all, and over his head is a \u201ctitutlus,\u201d a sign, not reading the usual \u201cINRI\u201d for \u201cJesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews,\u201d but instead reading: \u201cThe King of Glory.\u201d I have always thought it a bit odd, to depict a man naked, alone, dying, with a description of, \u201cThe King of Glory.\u201d But there on the Cross, Jesus showed forth God\u2019s glory, didn\u2019t he? God\u2019s glory to die our death, God\u2019s glory to rescue us from sin and shame, God\u2019s glory to raise us up to life with him on the 3rd<\/sup> day, God\u2019s glory to grant eternal life to all whom he has chosen! This is why Jesus says from the Cross, prays from his Cross\u2014\u201cIt is finished.\u201d Because his saving work is finished! His mission is accomplished! Has has completed everything. And now he has death behind him, and 40 days after Easter has returned to the glory of his Father, having won your salvation. By laying down his life he has revealed to you the glory of God\u2019s love, and has purchased for you eternal life. So it\u2019s over, it\u2019s complete: you belong to him, for he has made you his own. By his glory, death is destroyed, and now you will live with him, forever.<\/p>\n And the Peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills<\/p>\n New Haven, Connecticut<\/p>\n Pastor@TrinityLutheranNH.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Seventh Sunday of Easter | May 24, 2020 |\u00a0A Sermon on 1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11 and John 17:1-11 | by\u00a0The Rev. Dr. Ryan D. Mills | 12Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.\u00a013But rejoice insofar […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,54,157,108,110,380,366,3,109,212],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-2774","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-johannes","category-1-petrus","category-beitragende","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-04-chapter-04-1-petrus","category-kapitel-17-chapter-17","category-nt","category-predigten","category-ryan-mills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2774"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2775,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2774\/revisions\/2775"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2774"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=2774"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=2774"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n5:6<\/sup>Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time.\u00a07<\/sup>Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.\u00a08<\/sup>Discipline yourselves, keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.\u00a09<\/sup>Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.\u00a010<\/sup>And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.\u00a011<\/sup>To him be the power forever and ever. Amen. (1 Peter 4:12-14; 5:6-11, NRSV).<\/p>\n
\n6<\/sup>\u201cI have made your name known to those whom you gave me from the world. They were yours, and you gave them to me, and they have kept your word.\u00a07<\/sup>Now they know that everything you have given me is from you;\u00a08<\/sup>for the words that you gave to me I have given to them, and they have received them and know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.\u00a09<\/sup>I am asking on their behalf; I am not asking on behalf of the world, but on behalf of those whom you gave me, because they are yours.\u00a010<\/sup>All mine are yours, and yours are mine; and I have been glorified in them.\u00a011<\/sup>And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.\u201d (John 17: 1-11, NRSV).<\/p>\n