Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

"Don’t Put the Heart before the Course"

From the Epistle of the Day: Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. [1 Peter 4.12]

From the Holy Gospel: But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember them. [John 16.4a]

The end of the Easter season has arrived. This 6th Sunday after Easter is the 7th day in what is called "The Week of Weeks." It is a day of anticipation, and bears the name, "Exaudi: ‘Hear, O Lord’ Sunday."

Many Christians believe that the point of the coming of the Holy Spirit is to create wonderful things coming from the inside of the Christian to make him or her glorious on the outside. This is wrong. The message of Ascension, as was covered on this past Thursday, promises that Christ will send the Holy Spirit to cover the sinner on the outside, not to endue the sinner with glory on the inside. Heart-felt religion, bubbling up to the surface of the Christian is the religion of man. Outwardly forgiving religion, that covers sins and thus gives the sinner a glory of sins forgiven, is the religion of Jesus the Resurrected and Ascended One.

There is a famous saying, "Don’t put the horse before the cart," which reminds us that having the right order of things is what gives us the right results. Then, there is the silly mixing of terms, "Don’t put the heart before the course," which is far more than silly – it touches on the importance the correct way in which the Christian life is to be lived. The issues of the heart – emotions, feelings, reactions – are not the basis for Christian living, but rather the outcomes. What is the basis for Christian living is the course that is set before you, where your Savior sets forth the course of the life of the cross and leads you through this course, by the Holy Spirit whom He sends, that you may receive faith and live by faith in this fallen world. Don’t get the heart before the course!

I.

Through the Epistle of the Day, you hear St. Peter speak to you, "Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to "test" you, as though something strange were happening to you." Here, the word "test" does not mean to check on you. It does not refer to a pop quiz in your life. Rather, the term "test" here comes from the realm of metallurgy, speaking of a process of purifying and hardening for future use. The fiery trials of life prepare you for present faithfulness and future glory. Again, the things of the present in the life of a Christian are only rightly understood when they are seen through the covering of your sins with Christ. Your daily life, seen is the light of God’s Word, is not simply a result of the past and a reward of the present. The things of this life are seen in the light of God’s Word as a looking ahead to that which is yet to come from the hand of a good and merciful God.

And so it is that Jesus says to you, in the Holy Gospel of this day, "But I have said these things to you, that when their hour comes you may remember that I told them to you." There is more to what yet comes in this earthly life, and it has to do with the life of the world yet to come, the world of eternal existence in peace and joy with Christ and with His entire holy family.

It is important that you rightly understand how the things left to come upon you in this present life, impact your everlasting life in the new creation of God. Many times in the history of the Church, the conclusion was drawn that the behaviors of this life get you closer to the life to come, that they – in effect – earn the life to come, either by what you now endure or by what good things you accomplish. That is NOT what Scripture teaches. These things that come upon you, that seem so difficult, that seem so harmful, serve God’s process of bringing this present world’s existence to its final culmination. And they serve you, in that the testing, the trying, the strengthening of your faith prepares you for the life yet to come.

II.

Dr. Luther speaks of this Christian life this way: There are two kinds of comfort. The first is a worldly comfort, which is false and counterfeit, because it directs a person to rely on material goods, fame, honor, power, and the assistance and sympathy of the high and mighty…. [Jesus], however, will give you a different type of Comforter, the Holy Spirit, Who will comfort you when you are frightened and discouraged, miserable and wretched, forsaken both by other people and by your own hearts.

Christ says very definitely, "The Holy Spirit will witness of Me," of Me and not of someone or something else. Beyond this witness of the Holy Spirit about Christ there is no sure and abiding comfort. That is why one should write the words "of Me" with capital letters and diligently remember them. For of this we may be certain, that the Holy Spirit promotes no other doctrine, preaches neither Moses nor other laws whereby to comfort the conscience. If the conscience is to be comforted, it can only be by the preaching of the Gospel. The preaching of law, good works, holy living, whether commanded by God or men, is incapable of comforting a person in times of need and guilt and death; instead the preaching of the law – so precious in much of the Christian church, leaves the Christian uncertain and in despair, frightened and tormented. If we consider God without Christ, [or of we add more after preaching Christ] we find no comfort but only righteous wrath and displeasure. But whoever preaches Christ proclaims and brings true comfort, so that it will be impossible for hearts not to be joyous and of good cheer.

Over against the factious spirits and false preachers, this fact stands sure: When the Holy Spirit comforts, he does so in no other way than to witness of Jesus and picture him to the human heart. In contrast, by means of law, which is always emphasizing sin and death, the evil spirit frightens the conscience. This the Holy Spirit must combat through his witness as he speaks through the Word to our hearts, saying: Hold on, man, what are you up to anyway? Can’t you think of anything but sin, death, and damnation? Take your eyes off this gruesome, frightening sight and look here; don’t you know the man named Jesus Christ, of whom it is written: conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried, descended into hell, and on the third day rose again, and ascended into heaven?

So, then, what are you to make of this present life while you are looking ahead? It is the life entirely in God’s hands, depending not on you, or your works, or even your faith! Your present life is God’s work, according to God’s plan. As He says through the prophet, "Thus says the Lord God: It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of My holy name."

Throughout our lives as Christians, God is busy working His will and fulfilling His promises for the world. Sometimes, it looks wonderful. Sometimes, it is most painful. But all the time, it is God at work – the God who has chosen you by sheer grace – chosen you for His call; His converting act; His creation and nurture of faith; His gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation; and His unbreakable promise of life eternal.