St. Luke’s Evangelical Lutheran Church
Pastor Mark Gartner
Sermon for Easter 6 – May 10^th and 13^th, 2007

Revelation 21:10-14, 22-23

Dear Children of God,

Nestled in the Blue Ridge Parkway on the East Coast near the city of Asheville, NC there sits the largest privately owned home in the USA. It is called the Biltmore Estate. George Vanderbilt built the Biltmore Estate over the years of 1888 – 1895. The Biltmore was built on a plot of land that was 125,000 acres. This included a small village and farms to support the people living and working at the Biltmore. Today the Vanderbilt family still owns the home and 8,000 acres of the land. The Estate itself is quite beautiful and large. The home itself is 175,000 sq. ft. and covers 4 acres of land. It has 250 rooms, 65 fireplaces, 43 bathrooms, 34 bedrooms and 3 kitchens. It has a 70,000-gallon indoor pool as well as an indoor bowling alley. One of the amazing things about this home is that it had two elevators, full electricity, forced air heating and was one of the first homes to have light bulbs for its lightening. Outside the home you will find gardens and vineyards and many other beautiful sights of scenery.

As we gather today to worship our Lord and Savior, we realize that God has promised us a mansion that will be called our home. This mansion is heavenly and this mansion is where we need to keep our hearts and minds focused. The picture that the Apostle John paints for us is about our eternal dwelling place called heaven. While the Biltmore Mansion is magnificent, the Biltmore Estate is not anywhere near the glory and splendor of being with our Savior in heaven. Our theme for today will bring this out:

As we read these words from the Book of Revelation, we need to once again be reminded that these are only pictures of heaven. Heaven will not actually look alike the things that we will be talking about today. Rather these words are being used by God to help teach us about the important truths about heaven and the relationship between Jesus and his Church. Once we have established this fact, we will soon realize that the pictures of the book of Revelation are meant to help us more and more appreciate what God is doing for us and our eternal welfare.

The first example of this wonderful picture of heaven is found in these words, ^"And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. . . It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹³There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west." In the days of ancient history, we realize the importance of having high and big walls around your city. These high walls served for safety and protection of you and the people living in these cities. Isn’t that safety and protection even greater when we think about what it will be like as we enter through the gates into the Heavenly Jerusalem which is our home in heaven? Once we have entered into our eternal home through these great and glorious gates of Jesus, we will be completely free from all the attacks of sin and the devil. Our body and soul will be eternally safe from all evil and spiritual danger.

We could spend lots and lots of time trying to figure out what the twelve gates are and what the 12 angels stand for and what it means that the 12 names of the tribes of Israel are written on the gates, but we will only spend a short amount of time. The number 12 symbolizes the church and its completeness. The 12 tribes of Israel most certainly remind us that only the true people of Israel, which are those who believe in Jesus as there Savior, will be in heaven. The 12 angels most likely is meant to remind us that we will really be protected in heaven. We even have the angels of God watching over us.

Rather than spending too much time on the picture, let me ask you a question, how do we enter through the gates? This is a very important question. There are many other people claiming that they know the way to heaven and that we should enter through their gates. There are many people claiming that they have been enlightened and will lead us to the gate that will bring eternal enlightenment. But as children of God, we realize that it is only through the power of the gospel found in God's Word and the Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord's Supper that we can enter through the gate into our eternal city of heaven. At times this gate may seem like the more difficult gate to enter, but our Lord has told us that the gate to heaven is the narrow path and the small gate. God has led us through faith to see this gate and daily leads us to this gate.

The picture of this wonderful home continues with more pictures and more numbers, ^"The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." Just like the number 12 in the previous verses, we once again see that this mansion is built on 12 foundations with the names of the 12 apostles written on them. As we said before the number 12 stand s for Jesus’ church – the true church of believers. As children of God, we need to recognize that building on this foundation is extremely important for us and all believers. Maybe we need to back up a second. What does it mean to build on the foundation of the apostles? Does this mean that we are building on the words and actions of the 12 men whom Jesus taught? Does this mean that we are to follow the ways of men, rather than God’s Word? Absolutely not! The apostles received their words from the Holy Spirit and they wrote them down for us and all people to read and grow from. It was not their words. They were God’s Word. They were inspired by the Holy Spirit to write down God’s Words exactly -- No changes what so ever.

As we think about our lives on this earth and the eternal home that God has built for us, we need to recognize that we always have to build our faith on the truths of God’s saving Word. There is no place else that we can build. There is no other foundation, but what is found in God’s Word. How have you and I been doing at building on the only foundation of God’s inspired Word? What a foundation we have, but how much do we know about this foundation? How many books are there in the Bible? 66 – 39 in the Old Testament and 27 in the New Testament. Whom did God use to write more books than any other writer of the Bible? The Apostle Paul who wrote 12 or maybe 13 books if we would include the book of Hebrews. Which book of the Bible gives us the simplest summary of God’s plan for salvation? The book of Romans. Which books would we read if we wanted to find out about the life and words of Jesus? The four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. What Psalm would talk about King David being confronted by Nathan the prophet and David confessing his sin, which is great reminder for all of us about confessing our sins. This would be Psalm 51. What part of God’s Word would tell me that Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities etc.? This would be part of Isaiah 53. How well have we been doing at building on the foundation of God’s Word? I pray that we continue to grow as we dig deeper and deeper into God’s Word. We have Bible Classes on Sunday, Wednesday nights, Thursday mornings for breakfast and Thursday at 9:30 am. What better place to build than to be where God’s Word is being discussed and taught.

As we look at this wonderful home of heaven, there is one thing that seems to jump out the most. It is the brightness and glory of this place that God has prepared for his children, ^"It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. . . ²²I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. The glory of God describes the brilliance that we will see when we are in the presence of the Lord. In a spiritual sense, it is this light of God that has turned our spiritual dark hearts into hearts that shine like the sun. The light source for this wonderful home we are going to is God himself. His glory will fill the New Jerusalem. This light is the light that has changed our hearts and has given life to Christ’s church. As Jesus spoke, he said he was the light of the world and that those who follow Jesus will never walk in darkness.

As we sit in these pews this morning our hearts are filled with this glory. We don’t deserve this glory, but God gave it to us as he changed our hearts to believe and trust in him as our Savior. What can we possibly do to say thank you to God for giving us the light of salvation? If you said nothing, you are correct. We can certainly do nothing to truly say thank you enough for giving us the gift of heaven. But God does want us to dedicate our lives to worshipping and praising God. One week ago, we sat in a full church as 25 young people publicly confessed their faith in the one true God. They wore white robes and answered questions from God’s Word. Today, they are coming to the Lord’s table for the first time to receive the true body and blood of Jesus that was shed on the cross of Calvary together with the bread and wine. They are worshipping their Lord and Savior, but more importantly they are being reassured that their sins are forgiven and they are being strengthened for their daily struggle against sin and the Devil. This is a very important day for them and it is very special. Is it that special for the rest of us who have done this over and over for many years? Do we get that feeling of excitement in knowing that Jesus is personally coming to me for the forgiveness of my sins or is just a routine that we follow?

Dear confirmands and their parents, because this is a very special day, I’m very sure that I will see all 25 of you today, but what about next Sunday and the two Sundays from today? Will I see all 25 of you and your parents in God’s house worshipping and praising the God who has given us a very special home in heaven? What about one year from today or 5 years from today? Dear congregation, how has your worship life been? No, I don’t just mean your church attendance or attendance at the Lord’s Supper. I mean the whole package. How have we been doing at entering through the gate and building on the foundation of God’s Word? How have we been doing at living a life that is dedicated to serving and worshipping our God? May the Lord give us the strength to daily sit back and marvel at what God has given to us. May we sit back and marvel at the eternal mansion that God has offered to us and is ours by his grace alone. May we daily sit back and find more and more ways to say thanks for this wonderful gift of eternal life. Amen