The Lord be with you!
Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia!

The Sixth Sunday of Easter is a prelude to the next major festival—the Ascension of Our Lord on the 40th day after His resurrection. It also has historically emphasized the importance of prayer, concerning both God’s commandments and promises that pertain to this precious gift. The Collect of the Day urges our attention to our Lord’s good gift of the Spirit to guide into the way of holiness both our thoughts and our actions.

Let us pray:
O God, the giver of all that is good, by Your holy inspiration grant that we may think those things that are right and by Your merciful guiding accomplish them; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Amen.

Acts 17:16-31
The whole city of Athens was entranced by anything new. That’s quite different from the desire of the Holy, Christian Church, which is founded upon “That which is from the beginning.” (1 John 1:1) What sounded so novel was the two foci of Paul’s preaching, and he preached so adamantly that it sounded like he was talking about two gods, Jesus and “Anastasis,” that is, the Resurrection. But they are not two unknown gods, but one known and widely-published message of salvation. Jesus, who paid the price for mankind’s sin and separation from God, was raised to life on the third day, guaranteeing resurrection for all who place their trust in Him.

1 Peter 3:13-22
The defense of our faith that we give to anyone who asks comes from baptism that is the pledge and appeal of our good conscience to God. So with a conscience cleansed from guilt that no longer holds us down to this world, we gladly endure suffering for doing good, even though all we can see from it at the time is anything but blessing. This reading also highlights the confession we make in the creed that after His burial Jesus “descended into hell.” This true, historical event was a descent in glorious victory to declare that hell has no hold on Jesus, nor on us who cling to Him in faith.

John 14:15-21
The love that Jesus has for us is the love that binds us close to the Father who created us. This is a bond that is so close, we are in Christ, and in the Father. How could we not also have the Holy Spirit as our Helper, our Counselor, He who dwells in us as in a holy temple? The Spirit of truth grants us the assurance that we will not be orphans in this strange world, and we have the guarantee in the Spirit that we shall live just as surely as the risen Christ lives.

The risen Lord Jesus Christ is about to ascend out of view into heaven. God and man as one Person will occupy the highest position of glory, and yet will be everywhere on earth as He promised, “Lo, I am with you always.” Though we do not yet see Jesus, we know He is with us because we have His promise—we have the Holy Spirit. There may be days when we feel fear or anxiety more sharply, or we suffer unjustly as Christians in a world that is hostile to our Maker. Thanks to Jesus, our conscience is clear, and our joy is complete, because our Comforter and Helper assures us of His never-ending love.

Here’s Hymn 556, stanza 9:
Now to My Father I depart, From earth to heav’n ascending,
And, heav’nly wisdom to impart, The Holy Spirit sending;
In trouble He will comfort you And teach you always to be true
And into truth shall guide you.

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

Christ is Risen!
He is Risen Indeed! Alleluia.
God bless you!

Pr. Stirdivant