A Little While…
John 16:16-22
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
St. John 16:16 “A little while, and you will not see Me; and again a little while, and you will see Me, because I go to the Father.”
Dear fellow redeemed in Christ our Lord… How many times in our lives have we heard or said the phrase, “A little while?” As parents we tell our kids who are impatient about waiting for supper, “Just a little while; don’t worry, you won’t starve!” Just before Christmas we have to remind our children, “Just a little while and you can open your presents.” When I was young I was told to wait “a little while” before going swimming because I had just eaten a meal. I never really understood that as a kid.
Have you received your stimulus payment yet? I hope you have, but if not, wait just a little while. Have you ordered a package from Amazon? It will be here in a little while. Have you found enough toilet paper or sanitizer? Those items will be back in the stores in a little while. When will the current restrictions come to an end? In a little while. When can we gather as an entire congregation again? In a little while.
And while we wait for all those things, we get anxious, we get more worried, we get more frustrated, we get angrier. We may even begin to lose hope. Probably the most difficult thing to deal with in all of this is the glaring fact that we are not in control.
In pondering these things and dealing with our discomfort, we can begin to understand the concerns the disciples had in our reading today from John 16. Jesus is preparing His disciples for the time when He will longer be with them in the way they can see Him. They are concerned that their dear Lord Jesus has told them that He is going away. They don’t want Him to go away, any more than any of us would want any of our loved ones to go away, especially if we don’t know how long it will before we see them again or IF we will see them again. These concerns are real; these emotions are real, and they are intense. The disciples are human, and sinful, and weak, and worried…like us.
“A little while and you will see Me no more. Then a little while and you will see Me.” The disciples just don’t get it. Even on the night when Jesus was betrayed, they didn’t know what was going to happen. Jesus was taken away. He was forced to undergo a mock trial. Then He was mocked and whipped and crucified. Even those who saw Him die didn’t see Him for a little while because He was in the tomb. In order to go into suffering and death for sinners, Jesus was taken away from His disciples for a little while. They were terrified and sad. They were miserable and broken.
But after a little while, on the Third Day, they saw Him again. He was alive. Death and the devil and hell were cast down; the stone was rolled away and Jesus was alive! But they didn’t believe it would happen. He told them they would not see Him, and then they would see Him. But they didn’t get it. They didn’t believe it. So, when it happened, they didn’t believe…not at first.
But then they saw Him and He taught them about His resurrection, and they believed. And the sorrow they had at His death was turned into the joy of seeing their Lord alive. And this sorrow which was turned to joy for the disciples is a small picture of our lives as Christians.
This is our life. We are full of sorrow because we suffer in this life. But joy will come when our Lord returns. We have a taste of this each week as the Lord gathers us for His Divine Service. Out there is sorrow, sickness, suffering, death, trouble, brokenness, frustration, bills, family problems, struggles, crosses, and heartache. A little while and you will not see Jesus. The Divine Service will be over and out you go into the world to suffer those things! But a little while and you will see Him. Here. At His font. At His altar. In His Word.
Dear friends, we run to Christ’s church to receive the comfort that comes from Jesus’ words in order that our sorrow will be turned into joy. In this world we will suffer. In this world we will weep. In this world we will mourn. We may, like the disciples, be tempted to think that Jesus is gone for good. But He is not. It only seems like He is not there, so that all the more when we receive Him, when He comes to us, we rejoice and are glad all the more! When it seems as if Christ is absent, He comes to us to give us that much more joy.
Dear fellow redeemed, here in the church, where Jesus’ word is, there is true and lasting joy. Here is the Good News that the Jesus who went away from His disciples did it to save them and us from our sins. Here is the promise that the Jesus who seemed to be taken away was taken away to die for our sins and rise again. Here in Christ’s church is the joy of the holy washing of water and the Word, the Lord’s promise that our sorrow will be turned to joy. Here in Christ’s church is the word of absolution, declaring that the sorrow of our sin is turned into the joy of being fully forgiven and pardoned by our Father in heaven. Here in Christ’s church, in the holy meal of His body and blood, Jesus turns our sorrow into joy.
This can be long working hours; lack of time spent with the partner etc. may also have negative fallback on sexual health. * To manage external stress from destroying sexual life, the person needs to maintain a daily routine including exercise, recreational time, occasional breaks unica-web.com viagra no prescription cheap from causal aspect etc. Mix six ounces of water with one tablespoon of coriander seeds in cheap viagra no prescription a glass of water and an hour prior to the love making session. It can be an extremely painful canada super viagra https://www.unica-web.com/documents/statut/satzung.pdf situation and affects your joints. Erectile dysfunction or premature ejaculation No sildenafil discount sexual desire Unwanted sexual fetishes Lack of confidence during sexual intercourse.
True, we will have much sorrow in this life. And while we do, the world will laugh and have its joy. But we have Christ, and He is all the joy that we will ever need against all the sorrow that we will ever have.
And herein lies our repentance, dear Christians. For Jesus says, “You will weep and mourn and the world will rejoice.” The world has its joy now, but its sorrow will last forever. The great temptation we face is to trade our sorrow now for the joy now. Our temptation is to give up our sadness in this life and exchange it for the joy that the world offers. That certainly is tempting, and many do it. Many say they cannot handle the sadness, the misery, the sorrow, and so they seek their joy and fulfillment in this life.
And they find it. They comfort themselves with lots of money or the toys this world has. They give themselves to the ways of the world and it makes them happy…for now…for this life. But when they die, they will perish in sorrow, for their earthly and fleeting joy will turn out to be ashes and dust and death.
This is not what Christ’s people do. Hear St. Peter’s warning in our epistle today not to give in to our fleshly lusts and to use our freedom in Christ for things “that war against the soul.” Dear Christians, the world has its joy now. It is comforted. It laughs at the misery and sadness we have now. But while the Lord’s people will have the rejoicing of eternal life, those who have given up Christ for the pleasures of this life will have an eternity of bitter sorrow and unquenchable misery.
Therefore, hear our Lord’s words and repent; repent of anything that would lead you to joy now at the expense of casting away Christ and His eternal joy that has been given to you in His gifts. Run back to your baptism. Run back to absolution. Run back to the Supper. Run back to these things so that by these gifts that Christ freely gives you will be strengthened and bolstered against all temptations to temporary happiness and be kept in Christ who is the only source of our lasting joy and gladness.
Finally, dear baptized ones, be comforted by the promise of Jesus that there will come a time when our weeping will be turned into rejoicing once and for all. When Jesus returns, He will turn our sadness into joy, and no one will take that joy away from us. The world will have its joy snatched away on the Last Day. But on that Last Day you and I, the baptized children of God, will have our sorrow taken away and replaced with everlasting joy.
As the Psalmist says, “You turned my mourning into dancing!” (Ps 30:11) And elsewhere, “Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning.” (Ps 30:5) And yet again, “You have put gladness in my heart.” (Ps. 4:7)
This is how we have to face our problems, dear friends: whatever sorrow or suffering comes our way, this we know and this we confess: Yes, we now have sorrow. But all that we suffer in this life – all that brings us down, all that causes us to weep – all of this is going to turn into the most wonderful joy when our Lord comes back and raises us from the dead and gives us eternal life. There is nothing in this life that can overcome our Jesus and what He has done for us. Just a “little while” and it will be all joy and gladness in Christ.
Just like when a woman delivers a baby: it’s scary, it’s dangerous, it’s painful, it’s hard work, it’s misery. But then, when that little one is born the pain turns into joy and tears of happiness because the child is born. So it is with this life: we suffer for now, but then we shall have joy.
Have no doubt, have no fear, dear Christian, that our suffering will soon be past. Our risen and ascended Lord Jesus will appear again and we will have joy that NO ONE can ever take away!
In the Old Testament, Jeremiah witnessed a most horrible thing: the Babylonians came and destroyed Jerusalem. They burned the city and even destroyed Yahweh’s temple. It was the Old Testament equivalent of 9/11. Jerusalem was laid in ruins and Jeremiah had to run for his life with a handful of Israelites. Yet even in the midst of this sorrow, he who was a prophet that pointed to the hope and comfort of the Savior can say: “Though He brings grief, yet He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.” (Lam 3:32)
For a little while, the disciples wept while Jesus was gone. But then they saw Him again and rejoiced. For a little while, we deal with the troubles and trials of this life – the restrictions, the frustrations, the fear, the unknown. For a little while, the time between each Divine Service, we suffer sorrow, but after that little while, we once again hear God’s Word and receive His gifts, turning sorrow into joy.
For a little while, the length of our lives, we suffer and weep while the world laughs. But the time is coming in just a “little while” when Jesus will be back. And our sorrow will be turned into joy. And no one will ever take that joy from us ever. It will always be ours in Jesus. We have Christ, and He is all the joy that we will ever need against all the sorrow that we will ever have.
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
