Saint Luke Ev. Lutheran Church
Watertown, Wisconsin
Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz
Pentecost 13h August 18, 2002
Isaiah 12:2-6
Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be
afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my
salvation.” With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. In that
day you will say: “Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among
the nations what he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted. Sing to
the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of
Israel among you.”
People
of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of
the very Lamb of God:
Albert
Einstein. All you have to do is say that name and you think of brains—of being
incredibly smart. Albert Einstein equals genius. Albert Einstein was the Time
Magazine Man of the Century! Albert Einstein was afraid that when he died his
grave would become a place where all kinds of people might do all kinds of
crazy things—so he had his ashes scattered in a secret place so nobody knows
where he is sort of buried. They saved Albert Einstein’s brain. They removed it
and pickled it—and took it apart and studied it. Some say that the inferior
parietal lobe is larger than usual—the part of the brain Jesus made to do math.
The part of the brain that figures out how to pack groceries in a grocery bag
or luggage in the trunk of your car—or where to put the TV and the couch and
the daddy chair in the space of the living room! They say that Albert Einstein
was so smart that he replaced theoretical thought about the universe made up of
ether—with light waves and sound waves—and replaced that system with his theory
or relativity. This theory that has to do with the difference between a watch
on an airplane whizzing around the world and a watch that just sits there. They
say this theory of relativity is so complicated that only three people in the world
understood it—and Einstein himself wasn’t sure who the third person was who
really really got it! And yet—in spite of how brilliant Albert was supposed to
be—he had only an impersonal view of God. Oh, he thought about God—but he
called him the Old Man—the little old grandpa who was there at the beginning of
time—but not of much use or consequence in day-to-day life today! How sad! How
horribly eternally tragic to be such a genius—and yet to be ignorant of the one
essential truth—the one thing needful! Today we install new teachers to feed
Jesus’ lambs we remember. We install teachers who will teach Jesus’ blood
bought lambs the precious soul saving truth:
The
LORD Is My Salvation
The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on
today is part of the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah preached law and
gospel. The law was like an arrow—like a sword—like a dagger to the heart! The
law cut the hearts of God’s people guilty of the horrible sins of pride and
complacency! You know—that attitude that says, “I’m not perfect! Nobody’s
perfect! But—hey—I’m one of the good guys! I show up here in Church all the
time! I still have my little Sunday School lapel pin—perfect attendance for 6
years!” To the proud and the complacent—Isaiah is talking to me when he says, “Hear
the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you
people of Gomorrah!” Ouch! The LORD is talking to us—as if we were the
people of Sodom and Gomorrah! You know what the LORD did to the people of Sodom
and Gomorrah! He sent fire—burning boulders and lava raining down on them from
Heaven. He scorched them off the face of the earth! This is what I deserve!
This is what my sins deserve! But what about my showing up in Church all the
time? What about my little offering envelope? I bring that all the time! I pay
my “church dues”! Doesn’t that count for something? Isaiah wrote—“The
multitude of your sacrifices—what are they to me?” says the LORD. I have more
than enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have
no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. When you come to meet
with me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts. Stop bringing
meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths
and convocations—I cannot bear your evil assemblies…They have become a burden
to me; I am weary of bearing them. When you spread out your hands in prayer, I
will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen.”
That’s scary! To think of saying your prayers—and your Heavenly Father
won’t listen? When your Heavenly Father says I am sick and tired of your going
through the motions. I am sick and tired of your sitting in the pews—going over
in your mind your grocery list—the things and stuff you intend to buy on your
way home from church. Sick and tired of your wondering when church is going to
be over—so you can get home and turn on TV and watch hours of pregame before
the Packers and the Bear come on. Then the cursing and swearing and using God’s
name in vain—when grown men—playing a children’s game for millions of
dollars—don’t win! Our Heavenly Father is sick and tired of people who grumble
and complain—it never rains—and when it does it rains too hard and doesn’t soak
in. I hate—I hate it when it’s so hot and humid. When we complain—sure it’s a
nice day today—but just wait—we’ll pay for this come this next winter. As if a
blessing today means a curse this winter? I deserve the fire and brimstone of
Sodom and Gomorrah for my bad attitude! How embarrassing was it—we sat in Adult
Vacation Bible School and were reminded the average man has sinful thoughts
about “hugs and kisses” some 42 times a day? That’s close to once every 15
minutes morning noon and night? And what can you say? Oh, that’s all those
other guys? That’s not me? Shame on us! Shame on us for not having better
discipline of our minds! Discipline of our minds? What about discipline of our
mouths? “Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The
tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts
the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set
on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea
are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It
is a restless evil, full of deadly poison!” James 3:5b-7
Isaiah preached a
stinging law. But he also preached a wondrous Gospel. “Though your sins are
like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.” Isaiah 1:18b In chapter 12 Isaiah wrote, “Surely
God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my
strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” We are saved from sin
and death—so we will live forever in Heaven. Heaven is on the cover of Newsweek
this week. Did you see that? Inside there are all kinds of paragraphs by
all kinds of people trying to explain what they think heaven will be like. One
person says heaven is like a castle made of marble which contains 70 houses
made of rubies—each house having 70 rooms made of emeralds—each room having 70
servant girls to be with you. That’s wrong! The Bible never ever says if you
are a suicide bomber—murdering a bus full of people who are your political
enemies and oppressors—that you are guaranteed a place in Heaven where you will
forever have hugs and kisses! There is a very popular book that suggests Heaven
is a cube, 1,500 miles on a side. That would make heaven as big as from Canada
to Mexico—from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains—with room for 20
billion people—each with their own private 75-acre cube! That still leaves room
they say for streets, parks and public buildings. God’s Word never says that
either! The trouble is—Heaven is more wonderful than the human mind can
imagine. Heaven is more wondrous than pudgy little Italian babies—with little
wings to hover—and pudgy fists full of flowers! God’s Word says Heaven means no
more death or mourning or crying or pain. Heaven means the old
order of things—the forever decay where moth and rust destroy—where
thieves break in and steal—will be no more. In Heaven Jesus will make
everything new. There will be no terrorism—nothing to ever make anyone
afraid—not ever again! Heaven will not be dull. It will not be boring! No one
will come home to heaven and say—“Oh…well, it’s nice…I guess I just thought it
would be…I don’t know…better?” Heaven will be full—not with nameless faceless
zillions of people—but with those we know and love—with family, friends,
neighbors—brothers and sisters in Christ—family!
In that day you will say:
“Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what
he has done, and proclaim that his name is exalted.” You
show your thankfulness to Jesus by sharing your faith—telling anyone and
everyone—that Jesus is your Savior and King. I was by someone who was going to
have an operation. We were talking about how they didn’t need to be afraid. The
male nurse came into the room while we were talking and they too said, “You
don’t need to be afraid.” The patient said, “I know. I know someone is with
me!” The male nurse said, “Someone? Don’t be ashamed! Don’t be afraid! Say his
name—say it! Jesus is with you! Jesus will keep you safe!” We can say his name.
We can say his name in our classrooms—as Jesus’ littlest lambs grow in their
knowledge and understanding of all Jesus did to save us. We can say his name in
the world—where we work! We can point people to Jesus. And if there are painful
consequences—if someone—anyone does something hurtful to us—because we are
confessing Jesus—then Jesus will make us strong enough to bear up under that,
too. Sing to the LORD, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to
all the world. Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion, for great is the
Holy One of Israel among you. Be joyful—thankful—sing and make music in
your life for your Savior—and you will stick out. You will be different. You
will be special. You will give glory to the Holy One of Israel!
Sometimes we are fooled
by this world into thinking—if we were just smart enough. If we just went to
school long enough and used our brain well enough we could make all our
troubles go away! Think again about the example of Albert Einstein. Albert
Einstein had a daughter before he was married. A little baby girl that was very
sick. What happened to her? Nobody knows! Jesus knows but people don’t. Maybe
she died. Maybe she was adopted. People don’t know—but Jesus knows. You see
Jesus adopted her. Jesus died for her. Jesus died on the cross to wash away all
her sins. I wonder if she knew that! I wonder if anyone ever told her that.
Albert Einstein had a son named Eduard. You might think—surely he was gifted!
Surely he must have been brilliant. If your dad was Albert
Einstein—genius—smarter than anyone since King Solomon himself—surely he was
brilliant! He was. He was very smart. He was gifted in music and
literature—gifted not only in insight and understanding but like his father
creative and articulate and all that. But happy? He was so unhappy—so
confused—so paralyzed by mental and emotional problems he had to be cared for
in a psychiatric hospital in Switzerland. He died in that hospital—unable to
function in this world. I wonder if Eduard Einstein knew that Jesus loved him.
If he knew that Jesus lived a life without sin for Eduard—then gave up his life
on a cross to redeem and rescue him. I wonder if Eduard ever had a teacher who
taught him the LORD is your salvation! That’s all that matters! That’s all that
counts! Amen!