St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown, WI

Sermon by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

August 30, 2007 and September 2, 2007

Isaiah 66:22-24

“As the new heaven and the new earth that I made will endure before me,” declares the LORD, “So will your name and descendants endure. From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD. “And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.”

People of God—rescued from the flaming lake of fire in hell by the innocent blood of the very Lamb of God:

Where did the summer go? I can’t believe it’s Labor Day! This weekend Americans will sleep late. They will mow their lawns. They will roll out their grills and have bratwurst and corn on the cob and cold cans of soda one more time. They will watch the Brewers and the Cubs and worry that they have come so far only to choke now. People will watch the Packers and worry that once again we have a quarterback—but not sure who he is going to throw the ball to—and who’s going to run the ball. People will close up their cottages up north. Children will grumble and complain about all their home work—already! Now begins the long grim push before we can say—“I can’t believe it’s Thanksgiving—Merry Christmas—Happy New Year—Easter is March 23^rd!” This Labor Day—we who labor in America ought to think about all the sin that is rampant in our country. There is the sin of materialism. Did you see the stock market went down another 180 points? People are failing in their mortgage payments and may lose their homes. People are failing in their credit card payments because they have tried to make their mortgage payment with their credit card—and now their credit cards are maxed out. There are horrible crimes of violence against wives and girlfriends with babies in their tummy—almost to be born. There is murder—and then lies and denial—and then guilt and despair and people self-destruct. There are young people who abuse drugs and alcohol and tobacco. People thirteen and fourteen years old who stand around downtown Watertown smoking cigarettes. I wish it was possible for these young people just once—to see what happens when at 2 in the morning—someone with cancer from second hand smoke—is so desperate for a breath that they literally scratch their throat till it bleeds and seem as if they are being strangled by invisible hands—and then come home to heaven. As horrible as that is—people need to overcome an addiction to tobacco before it’s too late! This Labor Day weekend we need to think about the gross evil of our sins—and the greatness of Jesus’ blood bought forgiveness. Today God’s Word is a message of powerful comfort:

The Great I AM Gives Us Rest!

1. The wages of sin is death…

2. The LORD’s work lasts forever!

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on—is Isaiah chapter 66. It is always important to understand the context. The Holy Spirit showed Isaiah what to write down some 650 years before baby Jesus was born. In very general terms—the scroll of the prophet Isaiah has two main parts. Chapters 1 through 39 is for the most part a stinging, crushing even killing law that tolerates no excuses. That listens to no rationalizations. That is not impressed when we try to blame anyone and everyone else for our sins and failures! Chapter 40 begins with the powerful Gospel promise, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the LORD’s hand double for all her sins!” Isaiah 40:1,2 The part of God’ s Word we are concentrating on—is chapter 66. Chapter 63 and 64 contain a prayer for grace and for deliverance of God’s people. That means rescue and redemption—for all our sins. Grace is mercy, love and forgiveness that we do not deserve! Chapters 65 and 66 describe God’s wondrous answer to this prayer. Isaiah writes about Heaven—just like the Revelation to the apostle John. “Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed. They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen one will long enjoy the works of their hands.” How about that—on Labor Day! Do you have painful memories from work? If we went through church—could everyone tell a story about a boss who treated you like he was the owner and you were his slave? Could you recall a time when you trusted a co-worker and told them something in strict confidence—and they used that to stab you in the back? A co-worker that was so ambitious they used you—then pushed you out of their way—confident that they didn’t need to be kind to people on the way up the ladder of success because they never planned to come back down that ladder? Can you recall a time when a customer literally screamed and hollered at you—cursed you and swore at you—even physically threatened you? When we come home to heaven—the former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. That has to be one of the very most comforting aspects of heaven—that the painful memories of the near and distant past will be utterly and completely gone!

Chapter 66—the chapter we are concentrating on—has the heading Judgment and Hope. Judgment and hope is again law and gospel—always that combination—always in that order—judgment on account of our sins—and hope because of the LORD’s grace and unconditional forgiveness! Again we kneel in awe at the greatness of our Heavenly Father. This is what the LORD says: “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool.” Think about that! This planet is not even a footstool—a place to rest your stocking feet—for the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Who does the LORD respect? He who is humble and contrite in spirit, and trembles at my word. Do we show respect for God’s Word? I was cleaning my bookshelves the other day—and came across my copy of Den of Lions—by Terry Anderson. Do you remember Terry Anderson? He was a reporter back in March of 1985—when he was taken hostage by terrorists. Yes, there was terrorism over 22 years ago—Americans taken hostage and terrorized! I reread about Terry Anderson—chained to a bed—so that he could not even sit up—chained by his hands and by his feet and blindfolded—punched and slapped whenever he did anything that displeased his captors. Finally when he thought he could stand it no longer—they asked him, “What do you want?” What would you say? After twenty four days—days of being chained until your muscles cramped so that you wanted to cry out—when you were beaten for rolling over too loudly. What would you want? Something cold and refreshing to drink? To be allowed to stand up—to walk around? Would you ask for a phone to call home—or paper and a pencil to write a letter to your loved ones? Would you ask for something good to eat? Terry Anderson asked for a Bible. He asked for God’s Word! He asked for the Scriptures! They brought him a new Bible. He smelled it—the smell of the leather cover—the smell of the paper and the ink. He read the title page—the publishing information—the editor’s notes. He read—In the beginning God… Maybe we need to lose God’s Word—before we treasure it like that!

From one New Moon to another and from one Sabbath to another, all mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD. How wonderful will it be—when we worship the LORD all the time! In Old Testament times—there were all kinds of rules and regulations—very precise—from the LORD! It was very difficult—what with all the things that make you clean or unclean. You had to be very careful about touching anything with blood. The LORD wanted his people to understand how special blood was. It would be through the blood of the Lamb of God—that all their sins would be washed away. You had to be very careful about what you ate. You couldn’t even touch anything pork—ham or bacon or pork chops—made you unclean—the same with shrimp or lobster. You couldn’t touch anything dead—dead animals or dead people—even if they were your parents or your child—made you unclean. If you had any kind of a rash or any kind of infection—anything that would ooze or weep or drip—anything contagious—made you unclean! There were important blood sacrifices to be made by priests—incense to be burned—oil and spices to be blended. It was all very complicated. To make a mistake in deed or attitude—and people were struck dead. People remembered Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu who burned incense. God’s Word says they offered unauthorized fire—and the LORD God struck them down—burned them with fire that rained down from heaven. There was the time the Ark of the Covenant was on a new ox cart—being moved. David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God with songs and instruments. When they came to a threshing floor—Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled. The LORD’s anger burned against Uzzah, and he struck him down, because he he had put his hand on the ark. So he died there before God. Then David was angry because the LORD’s wrath had broken out against Uzzah… 1 Chronicles 13:8f People angry with the LORD—how backwards is that? How wonderful will it be—when we are at home in heaven—worshiping—thanking and praising God without fear—with joy and praise—that is a wonderful celebration!

And they will go out and look upon the dead bodies of those who rebelled against me; their worm will not die, nor will their fire be quenched, and they will be loathsome to all mankind.” Sin is rebellion against our Heavenly Father. The ultimate consequences of that sin—for unbelievers is eternal suffering in hell. How horrible will that be? Did you see the other day—the hot air balloon that caught fire? Most of the people jumped out when the whole balloon and the basket started to burn. But not everyone got out. There were people in the flaming basket going up and up and up with flames all around them—higher and higher then down and down—still fire all around! Imagine living through that—again and again and again and again—for all eternity! That’s the thing! Hell is unspeakable suffering for eternity! It will never stop. It’s like a squished worm on your driveway—dying and dying but never to know the peace of death! How unspeakably horrible must that be? It is only by grace through faith that we will know heaven and not hell!

“All mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD. It’s hard to imagine how wonderful it will be—when we come home to heaven. In this world there are troubles! Listen to the news. Little toddlers twins—left in a bathtub—one drowns and one is in critical condition. A sixteen year old young man wants to go back to juvenile court after shooting someone during a robbery—because in adult court the penalties will be much worse. There is another sixteen year old who has a gun—his girlfriend is babysitting and keeping his gun—little people get a hold of the gun and another little person is shot. And, oh yes, one more top story—somebody dug up a putting green. Somebody rooted up the very perfect lawn—around a hole in the ground with a flag in it—with a number on it—that people try to roll a little white ball with dimples in it! Somehow—this doesn’t seem to matter—next to the deaths of people—caused by sin—does it? It happens all the time! Earthquakes and hundreds are dead—hurricanes and floods and suicide bombings where hundreds are killed or maimed—and the Brewers lost 8 to nothing. Somehow that doesn’t really seem to matter either—does it? What matters is for people to know how wretched our sins are—and how great Jesus’ mercy and forgiveness is—so we can come home to heaven—whenever we die—wherever we die!

“All mankind will come and bow down before me,” says the LORD. We will bow down before the great I AM—the Holy One of Israel—because Jesus died and rose again to save us. That’s all that matters. That’s all that counts. Imagine a young person—drives their car way too fast—under the influence of alcohol. They drive so fast they lose control and crash into a lake—and very quickly their car is under water. The driver manages to get out—and cries out for help. She tells the first people on the scene that there were other passengers in her car. That these other people were trapped in the car and are in danger of drowning. Very quickly a guy arrives—and hears that there are people losing their lives—trapped under water. What does he do? He throws his wallet and his phone on the grass—then dives into the water to try and rescue those who are drowning. Wait a minute—first he reaches in his back pocket—gets a hold of his wallet—and puts it on the lawn? Why? Because he wasn’t want the genuine imitation calf skin leather to get wrecked? Will his credit cards get ruined of they get wet? Will his laminated drivers license get wrecked if it gets wet? His business cards—that he has 250 more in a box in his desk? Does he have photographs of his loved ones that cannot be reprinted? Does he have a spare house key or car key—in case he gets locked out? Will water hurt them? And his phone—will that get wrecked? Absolutely! Will he have to buy a new one? Maybe—with a mail in rebate—how much will that cost? What if he explains it to the phone company will they give him a break? Hey—wait a minute—somebody’s drowning—and he’s fishing out his phone?!?! If it was your loved one—your child—would you hesitate to get your phone out? I don’t think so? How great is the love God the Father has lavished on us—that we should be called children of God—and that is what we are—because God sacrificed his one and only Son to a tortured death on the cross to save us. That’s how much God loved wretched sinners like us. This Labor Day weekend—as you might have time to just stop and think—think about how much Jesus loves you. Think how he did not hesitate to save you. Think about how you can show gratitude for Jesus’ forgiving love—by loving one another for Jesus’ sake. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz