“Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!”  (Psa 66:20 ESV) That is the watchword for the 5th Sunday after Easter (Rogate: Pray!), which is based on the victorious resurrection of Jesus Christ, who taught his disciples to pray: “Our Father, who art in heaven…” and also promised them: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. (Joh 16:23 ESV). This is very comforting in this time and age – and it gets even better, because we believe that Christ is at the right hand of God ruling all in our favour since his glorious Ascension  and since he has wonderfully fulfilled his promises to hear our prayers on that holiday of Pentecost, the birthday of the one, holy Christian Church from all nations and every corner of the world.

The Old Testament reading is from Exodus 32,7-14: “And the LORD said to Moses, “Go down, for your people, whom you brought up out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves. They have turned aside quickly out of the way that I commanded them. They have made for themselves a golden calf and have worshiped it and sacrificed to it and said, ‘These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt!'” And the LORD said to Moses, “I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may burn hot against them and I may consume them, in order that I may make a great nation of you.” But Moses implored the LORD his God and said, “O LORD, why does your wrath burn hot against your people, whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, your servants, to whom you swore by your own self, and said to them, ‘I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have promised I will give to your offspring, and they shall inherit it forever.'”

Here God’s word teaches us so much about his holiness, but also his willingness to hear his servants pray – for sinners rightly deserving punishment, death and hell – and Moses also tells us a lot about our triune God: his faithfulness to his own promises made to the fathers, his absolute authority over all nations and his willingness to stand up for his majesty and glory – even if his people fail him and don’t live up to his holiness and absolute divinity.

The Epistle from St. Paul’s first epistle/letter to his disciple Timothy holds a lot of wisdom and truth for our prayer life as we struggle more or less successfully to live faithfully as Christians in the public domain and in various callings of our life in society, culture and other spheres – praying for all people (even for our enemies as our Lord taught us by his example on the cross of Golgatha: “Father: Forgive them, for they know not what they are doing!” St.Paul writes to Timothy in the 2nd chapter:  “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.  This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, (1Ti 2:1-6 ESV).

This is strong medicine against the fallacy and heresy that God desires the damnation of some people and also that some people are hopeless cases. I remember Missionary Peter Rehr at that time in Salem, Mpumalanga telling our Youth from Wittenberg some years back that you can’t hate those, you are praying for. He was encouraging us to pray for our neighbours and compatriots and fellow citizens like St.Paul encourages us to pray for all people – especially the government, leaders, people in responsible positions. Prof. Volker Stolle has written a remarkable essay on the 4 verse “Gottes Hilfe fuer alle Menschen (1.Timotheus 2,4)” in the Festschrift fuer Friedrich Wilhelm Hopf: “Unter einem Christus sein und streiten” (Verlag der Ev.Luth. Mission Erlangen: 1980, Pg.26-36) Creation, salvation and sanctification of all by the triune God are an active antidote against fallacies and heresies of racism and supremacist ideologies of some or other “Herrenvolk“.

Tomorrows gospel is found with St.John in the 16th chapter. Jesus says to his friends and disciples: “Truly, truly, I say to you, whatever you ask of the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Until now you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full. “I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures of speech but will tell you plainly about the Father. In that day you will ask in my name, and I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world, and now I am leaving the world and going to the Father.” His disciples said, “Ah, now you are speaking plainly and not using figurative speech! Now we know that you know all things and do not need anyone to question you; this is why we believe that you came from God.” Jesus answered them, “Do you now believe? Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” (Joh 16:23-1 ESV)

What wonderful news that the Father himself loves us and that he grants us his peace and that Jesus Christ has overcome the world. Therefore take heart and pray to the Lord in good and bad times, since he himself has encouraged you: “Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

Tomorrows sermon is on Colossians 4,2-4: “Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving. At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison– that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.” It is short enough to memorize, meditate and practice the entire week and all of our life!

Here are the sermons in both isiZulu: wz1226120513 Rogate and seTswana: wt Rogate, written by Rev. E. Mkhabela and translated by my father Rev. E.A.W.Weber. Thanks to the support of LHF these sermons are also available in hardcopies. Please make use of them and distribute them as you deem fit.

Here is also the link to tomorrows gradual: http://youtu.be/OHU1av6TOuI  and thank God that his only begotten Son Jesus Christ taught us to pray.

Praying that tomorrow will be a very blessed Sunday for you and that you will taste and see how friendly our Lord God is, who hears our prayer and grants us his grace forever more. Amen +