Shepherd of the Springs
Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod

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]

     This 6^th Sunday and final Sunday after Easter sits between the Feast of the Ascension, that we observed this past Thursday, and the Feast of Pentecost, which we observe next week. It actually models the 10 day wait that the apostles experienced between the day when Jesus was taken from sight (but not from their daily existence) and the day when they experienced the Pentecost blessing of the Holy Spirit upon them and their apostolic ministry.

     You will call that on the Sunday night of Easter Day, Jesus appeared to ten of the Eleven apostles in training – with Thomas not there, but pouting by himself, and in the presence of others who were with them, Jesus – to use our modern terms – ordained them into the holy, apostolic ministry. 50 day later, on Pentecost, they are installed into their ministry, as you will hear next Sunday.

     So, on this 6^th Sunday after Easter, they have been ordained to the ministry of the forgiveness of sins, but they are not yet installed into doing their apostolic work. Earlier in this 50-day period, but before the Ascension of our Lord, not knowing what to do with their time, the seven fishermen among apostles said, “Hey, lets do some more fishing.” And Jesus, standing at the shore, beckened them to join Him for breakfast and to receive more instruction from Him.

     But now, Jesus has withdrawn His visible presence from them. They still wait. Wait for whatever it is that will get them working in this ministry of the forgiveness of sins of which Jesus taught them. The disciples are caught in the middle of time – the between time. And, dear brothers and sisters in Christ, so are you! So, what do we do when it's “between.”

I.

     Well, first of all it is “between” in our liturgical life. We do the liturgy the way we do so that, year upon year, we are equipped  for the things that God calls us to receive when we are “in church.”

     This is not a play with 52 acts to it. This is Scripture, teaching you, Sunday by Sunday and holy day by holy day, through Word and liturgy and song, to understand that your every day existence is a life lived in God's hand and for God's purposes.

     And today is one of those “between” lessons, between the message of the Ascension and the outpouring on the Day of Pentecost. It is “between time,” a time to anticipate, and a time to pray, as the Introit of the Day teaches you to do: Exaudi – “Hear, O Lord” Sunday..

     It is a day of anticipation, and in this waiting, this “between” time, we are not simply imitating the historical event of the apostles’ waiting. This is not imitation, this is application. For as there was a 50-day period between resurrection and Pentecost, so there is a period of time, in which we live, between, Christ’s first Advent, in which the foundation of redemption occurs for you, and Christ’s second Advent, in which the fullness of redemption becomes yours.

     The prophet Ezekiel, in the Old Testament for the day, speaks, as most of the prophets spoke most of the time, of the two comings of Christ as if they are one. Ezekiel promises that a Day will come when “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your unrighteousness, and from all your idols.” Ezekiel continues, “And I will remove the heart of stone form your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to cause you to obey My judgments.” The fulfillment of this prophesy occurs when Christ arrives in human flesh, for in Him is the fullness of the Holy Spirit.

     The fulfillment of this prophesy also occurs when the work of the Holy Spirit begins to be seen as Christ working through His church, on the day of Pentecost. Again, the fulfillment of this prophesy also occurs when, in you life, you receive Holy Baptism, where God covers you with Christ in the forgiveness of sins.

     There still, remains, however, the old heart and the old Adam. And so, the fulfillment of this prophesy also occurs when Christ return on the Day of our ultimate and complete redemption, when the work of the Holy Spirit is seen in all its completion.  Thus, as you await these promises, it is “Between” time.

II.

     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.” The things of the present in the life of a Christian are only rightly understood when they are seen through the daily covering of your sins with Christ. Your daily life, your “between” life, seen in the light of God’s Word, is the result of the past , a blessing for the present, and a lo0king 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.

     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. To that end, He has placed in you the heart of flesh instead of a spiritually dead heart of stone. He keeps you always for His gracious purposes, and He will – through all suffering, through all pain, through all confusion, and even through all doubt – keep you for eternal salvation through Christ. Thus, in daily life, God give you His Word, His promise, His Gospel, that you may grow thereby, as you, by faith, stand “Between.”