Easter 5

John 16:5-15 - Cantate - April 24, 2016
Speaking from God

Dear saints in Christ, grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen

The Gospel lesson I just read from the lectern is from the New King James Version of the Bible.  In this translation, we read that the Spirit of Truth does “not speak on his own authority.”  The English Standard Bible says the same thing – “on his own authority.”  The New International Version says, “He will not speak on his own,” and omits the word authority.  That’s actually closer to the original Greek in which the Holy Spirit first inspired these words (the word authority isn’t there).  The King James Version comes closest, “He shall not speak of (that is, from) himself.”  That’s exactly what St. John records.  The Holy Spirit does “not speak from himself.”  Now, what does this mean?  And what does this have to do with authority? 

Easter 5

John 16:5-15 - Cantate Sunday - May 3, 2015

The Threefold Work of the Holy Spirit

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Oh that I had a thousand voices
To praise my God with thousand tongues!
My heart, which in the Lord rejoices,
Would then proclaim in grateful songs
To all, wherever I might be,
What great things God hath done for me. Amen. 

Today is called Cantate Sunday.  Cantate (which is where we get the word chant) is the Latin word for sing.  It’s in the imperative mood, which means it’s a command to sing, as in, “Sing to the Lord a new song.”  What is a new song?  And why should we sing it?  Far from being a call to always be singing the latest and most up-to-date expressions of faith, this command to sing a new song tells us first to consider what is old and what is new.  This is a spiritual distinction, not a chronological one, and so it’s good that we learn it here. 

Easter 5

John 16:5-15 - Cantate Sunday - May 18, 2014
Convicting the World

“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30) 

What is a yoke?  My wife is reading Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder to the kids right now and so I had to explain this to them recently, because in the story the main character Almanzo got a yoke for his birthday.  A yoke is a rather simple device that binds two work animals together so that they learn to walk in a straight line rather than going off in their own preferred directions as young animals are prone to do.  In this way they’re able to share the burden that is placed on them and get stuff done.  What they are meant to do they must learn to do together – otherwise the work is too much for only one of them.  The more stubborn an animal is the heavier the yoke needs to be. 

Jesus says that the yoke he places on us is light.