Easter 5 2026

Text: John 16:7 “7 Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you.”

Christ is risen. He is risen indeed. Alleluia. Not long ago, you heard Jesus say, “A little while, and you will see Me no longer, and again a little while, and you will see Me” (John 16:16). There your Lord taught you that sorrow would give way to joy. The cross would not be the end. Resurrection was coming. Grief would be overturned by the risen Christ. But now Jesus leads you further. What about the long little while that follows? What about this age in which Christ is risen and reigning, yet unseen? What about these days, when suffering remains, evil still prowls, and you wait to see your Lord again? You are often tempted in two opposite directions. At times, you are tempted toward passivity. “Just hold on.” “Just survive.” “Keep your head down.” “Show up when convenient.” “Try not to lose the faith before Jesus comes back.” That temptation is real. It reduces the Christian life to maintenance mode. Faith becomes little more than private survival. At other times, you are tempted toward anxious striving. You begin to live as though Christ’s kingdom depends primarily on you. You can act as though the Church will stand or fall based on your wisdom, your planning, your activism, your vote, your budget, your effort. You can see it in broader church life. In a little less than two months, our Lutheran Church—Missouri Synod will hold its next convention. There are pastors and laypeople who are obsessed with that whole process. They are pouring over the convention workbooks, researching the candidates, preparing to debate the resolutions. They are spending hours on social media arguing over all of it. Then there are the pastors and laypeople who would have a difficult time naming any of our district or synodical officers. Nothing that happens at the convention will be on their radar. That may be understandable—you do have a life to live, after all—but is it really what a faithful, Christian life looks like? Neither one really is, is it? Either: “If we do not win this fight, everything may collapse,” or “I thank God I am above all that.” And closer to home, you can see it in congregational life. So long as worship happens, so long as the lights stay on, so long as others teach, serve, give, organize, and labor—you may be tempted simply to benefit. This is not faithfulness. For Christ has not gathered you merely to consume His Church while others bear its earthly burdens alone. As budgets are set, officers elected, and responsibilities carried, service can easily become little more than “taking your turn,” a burden to bear, rather than joyful stewardship flowing from Christ’s work. Or you may simply detach, content to let others carry what you assume does not concern you. But both temptations miss the truth. Jesus says: “It is to your advantage that I go away” (John 16:7). His departure is not abandonment. Christ has not left His Church as a fragile institution whose future depends entirely on your management. He has not handed over His kingdom like a desperate owner leaving an unstable business. No—“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me” (Matthew 28:18). He reigns. He continues His work. First, Christ works for you. He goes to the cross for you. “Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows” (Isaiah 53:4). He bears your sin for you. “The Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all” (Isaiah 53:6). He rises for you. “Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again” (Romans 6:9). He ascends for you. “He always lives to make intercession” (Hebrews 7:25). He defeats Satan for you. “Now will the ruler of this world be cast out” (John 12:31). Before you ever act, before you ever serve, before you ever organize, before you ever vote, Christ has already secured both your salvation and His Church. This means the Church does not ultimately belong to you. It is Christ’s Church. “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). That burden belongs to Him. When you begin to believe that Christ’s Church finally rests upon your shoulders, stewardship becomes fear-driven exhaustion. And when you begin to believe that Christ’s Church is simply someone else’s responsibility, stewardship withers into passive neglect. But Christ has not called you to replace Him. Neither has He called you to stand idle while others bear the burdens of His Church. Instead, He continues His work in you. “I will send Him to you” (John 16:7). The Holy Spirit comes. He convicts. He comforts. He teaches. He sanctifies. He is at work in you. “Receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21). Christ still creates faith. Christ still preserves His Church. Christ still governs His people. You are neither abandoned, nor unnecessary. The Holy Spirit comes not to replace Christ, but to deliver Christ to you. “He will glorify Me, for He will take what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:14). The Spirit speaks Christ’s truth. The Spirit preserves Christ’s Church. The Spirit convicts, comforts, teaches, and sanctifies. Christ is still actively governing His people. He is still creating faith. Still forgiving sins. Still preserving His Church. Still sustaining His kingdom. You are not abandoned. And you are not left to carry Christ’s Church by your own fragile strength. This is the middle path. Not: “Just hold on.” Not: “It all depends on you.” But: Christ continues His work within you. And because Christ continues His work in you, He also continues His work through you. You are called to more than just hanging on, marking your time until Christ gets back. You are disciples of Jesus Christ. You are stewards of His gifts. At the same time, stewardship is certainly not frantic anxiety over saving the Church. It is faithful participation in the work Christ Himself continues to accomplish. Christ preserves His Church. And as He does, He graciously allows you to participate. He works through you—through your gifts, through your service, through your witness, through your vocation, through your offerings, through your love. That includes voters’ meetings. Budgets. Boards. Elections. Service. Mercy. Witness. Not as mere institutional maintenance. Not as “taking your turn.” But as Christ Himself continuing His work through His people. “Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them” (Romans 12:6). Not because the Church would collapse without you, but because Christ delights to use you as an instrument of His living work. This is why Isaiah sings: “With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation” (Isaiah 12:3). Not panic. Not desperation. Not fear. Joy. And then: “Give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples” (Isaiah 12:4). Christ’s gifts overflow into Christ’s mission. So yes, you are called to faithful stewardship. But faithful stewards are not those who imagine themselves carrying Christ’s kingdom. Faithful stewards are those who trust that Christ is carrying His kingdom—and who joyfully labor within that confidence. Because Christ works for you. Christ works in you. Christ works through you. So while you wait to see Him again, do not retreat into passivity. Do not collapse beneath false burdens. Do not imagine that Christ has left His Church to your fragile strength. He has not. He reigns. He preserves. He sanctifies. He sends. And therefore, you may serve boldly, give freely, love joyfully, and labor confidently. For the Church does not finally depend on you. It depends on Christ. And Christ is still at work. He is still at work in and through you. In the name of Jesus. Amen.