Sing a New Song
John 16:5-15
May 19, 2019 anno Domini – Redeemer
What’s your favorite song? Why is it your favorite? That song does something for you. It stirs your patriotism, brings you back to better days, or boosts your adrenaline. Maybe it is simply the best of the best of your favorite kind of music. You judge music. If it does something for you it is good. If it isn’t your style or substance it’s not on your radio or playlist. My favorites are a combination of church music, classic music, rock from the 80s, and a little folk music. No rap, no country, no contemporary Christian. No offense, but it is my music, not yours.
Today’s introit invites us to sing to the Lord a new song. His song is new because it is not your song or my song. Until our ears are unstopped and our mouth opened in Baptism by the gift of faith – we want nothing to do with God’s Song. To the unbeliever the sound of God’s Word is as pleasing as your daughter’s first practice session on her brand new Bundy clarinet.
In today’s Gospel reading the 12 had nothing to sing about. Jesus was going away to His Father by means of the cross. Even though Jesus had repeated the refrain of His crucifixion to His disciples it just didn’t harmonize with their taste. They thought Jesus was heading for a great crescendo where everyone would rise to their feet like we do at the national anthem and swear allegiance to Jesus. But they were beginning to realize the sweet song of Jesus was going to have a bitter ending. At Jesus’ Word sorrow filled their hearts. He wasn’t singing their song.
This is why the hymns of the Church are at odds with the songs of the world. Jesus would win by losing. He would succeed by failing. He would live by dying and by dying He would bring life to the world. By going away He would actually be closer to all people. By His departure to the Father His disciples would gain and not lose. They would gain the Helper, the Holy Spirit.
The three persons of the Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are equally eternal, almighty, Divine, but from a human perspective they seem to be in competition – a competition of love and grace, not for themselves, but for you. The Father desires to restore you to your place as His child so He selflessly sends His Son as the sacrifice for your sins. The Son gladly accepts His Father’s command and takes up residence in a very dangerous place, the womb of an unmarried woman. His life is in danger from the moment of conception, yet He joyfully goes about His task. Throughout His life, Jesus of Nazareth marches to a different tune. He dines with the least, the last, and the lost. He forgives sinners and rebukes the self-righteous. The world hates Him and finally kills Him. The Son dies to satisfy His Father’s desire for you and to quench His Father’s anger at your sin. When the Son rises from the dead, it’s as if the Spirit says, “OK guys, let me loose. I have love to proclaim, forgiveness to give, and mercy to share.” The night Jesus rose from the dead He turned the Holy Spirit loose when He said to His apostles, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
Note the different melody of God’s love for you. His love does not deny the truth. His love is active. The world loves by lying and passivity. The world’s song has one refrain, “Whatever I love is true. If I love myself by thinking I am a pink unicorn then it is true – I am a pink unicorn and you’d better call me Pinky.” Jesus loves by going to the cross for your sins. He will not deny who you are. He says, “I tell you the truth.” If He created you to be a male, every cell in your body scientifically proclaims His truth. If you want to create a child God’s way is the only way for that to happen – one man and one woman. Even the social sciences have finally discovered that the very best place for that child to grow up is if that one man and one woman remain united together for life. Amazingly it only took the sociologists 6000 years to sing the same tune God sang in Genesis 1-2.
The Holy Spirit is eager and active to love you with the truth, so when He comes He will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment.
The Holy Spirit loves you from the Father through the Son. He doesn’t dodge the truth. You sin and your sin is caused by unbelief. You don’t trust God as you should. You trust you belly and your mind and your other sin-sickened appetites. So the Spirit convicts you of sin.
But the Spirit does not convict you to imprison you. He convicts you to free you. There is one way out of sin (it’s the truth and it is offensive). That way is the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Jesus did what you cannot do. He was the perfect son who never disobeyed His mother or Father. He was the perfect man who never withheld anything from His bride. He loves her (you) even when she isn’t that lovely. He laid down His life for His bride. He took His wife’s sins and covered them up by dying for them. You are the bride of Christ. You are a child of your heavenly Father. You are forgiven. All is right between you and God by Christ alone.
Finally the Spirit convicts the world of judgment because the ruler of this world is judged. The Devil is the biggest loser of all time. He lost heaven by his rebellion. He lost his power over the world at the cross. Soon He will lose his freedom to torment and tempt us. In case you haven’t noticed the world is coming to an end. We aren’t evolving. We’re devolving. It’s going to get worse and then the final judgment will come. The great good things which God has sung through His Church soon become a discordant cacophony in the world. Women’s rights were brought about solely by the influence of Christianity. If you don’t believe me go to a country where Christianity did not or does not sing its song. What has the world done with women’s rights? Seven justices of the United States Supreme Court invented a right of privacy that exists only for pregnant women and only if they want to kill their unborn child. 30 million female Americans have been killed by abortion. An unbelieving culture has taken away the biological truth that only females can be women. Now grown men can be women and use locker rooms and restrooms with our wives and daughters. Mediocre high school male athletes are now state champions in girl’s event. Women are forced to see the horrors of combat, something that every age of civilization until our own has thought no woman should be forced to endure. If you see none of this as indicative of the Devil’s devolution, Lord’ have mercy on you. The Devil is judged. It’s over. Stop singing his song. Repent.
Sometimes we tire of the church’s song. At Redeemer we don’t have a band. We don’t do country Christian or easy listening Christian or 80’s rock and roll Christian. We just sang a German Chorale written over 500 years ago. You probably zoned out on verse 3 or counted the verses and groaned. Go home and reread or sing that hymn from your hymnal. I dare you to find a better hymn to sing the Lord’s song. There’s a reason it’s lasted 500 years. It’s good and true. It’s a bit Martin Luther’s song and then beginning in verse 5 God sings. He sings His Son into the world. Then Jesus sings of His work and His spirit.
You’ll never hear what we sing at Redeemer on the radio. God willing you will never hear anything at Redeemer that sounds like your playlist. Why? Because we sing to the Lord a new song, the song of His marvelous deeds. He has saved us, His way. That makes His song a solo, sung only in the name of Jesus. Amen.