St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown, WI-WELS

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Saints Triumphant November 14, 2004 Isaiah 65:17-25

“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 teach 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 ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the Lord, they and their descendants with them. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox; but dust will be the serpent’s food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain,” says the LORD.

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

Are you happy? If you have high blood pressure—they say you should have this “happy place”--this mental picture—close your eyes and go to this imaginary place of happiness, peace and relaxation! For many people—that imaginary happy place would be like Antigua—resting on a beach of white sand—with this little drink in a hollowed out cocoanut—with a little umbrella in it—clear water lapping up on the shore. And yet some people did a big study—over three years—to find where the most happy people were. And guess where they found them—out of 65 countries—where are all the happy people? In Nigeria! Not the United States—where we have more “things and stuff” than anybody. Not here in the United States where more and more people have attached three car garages. Where people have big screen TVs and surround sound—video games and i-pods loaded with digital music. Happiness is not here in the United States where every day brings ads and catalogs and commercials that say if you just buy this, that and the other you will be happy. People in Nigeria—the most crowded country in all of Africa say their happiness comes from “intense faith and spirituality that allows us not to feel trapped” by painful physical things happening around us. People in Nigeria say happiness is to be found in their faith—in their family—in a simpler life that celebrates their faith, their family, their friends and love! Today God’s Word reminds us—we have peace of mind and soul’s security in the powerful Gospel promises of God. The precious good news that:

We Are Saints Triumphant!

1. Some times we struggle, but…

2. The ultimate victory is never in doubt!

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on is from very near the end of the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah preached God’s Word to a people with calloused hearts. Do you have calluses? I have a friend who is a butcher—a meat cutter at a family meat market. The whole palm of his hand is a callus. It is hard, dead, lifeless—unfeeling! From time to time he has had this lifeless mass removed—surgically cut off. The Word of God that Isaiah preached was a powerful law—that pointed out this sin. The sad fact is—most of the people remained stubborn in their sins. Isaiah chapters 63 and 64 are a final prayer by the small faithful remnant that Israel would repent—would turn from her sin and be spared! Chapter 65 is the answer. It’s too late! The LORD’s crushing judgment would come—70 years of captivity in Babylon—a thousand miles away. But there is hope! There is hope by grace alone. The LORD would keep for himself a faithful remnant. The stump that was Jesse’s family tree would sprout yet once more! The Christ child would be born—to redeem us from all our sins. There is hope—that the children of Abraham—and those who are not—would be rescued—to be this New Testament Church—and to be God’s people—a harvest for Heaven!

It is by grace alone—that we are saints triumphant! The second part of our text—talks about God’s blessings on Jesus’ New Testament Church. God’s Word says, “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.” New Testament believers—that’s you and me—come under God’s special care and protection! How can you explain it? How can you express it? How can you illustrate it? What can you compare it to? God’s blessings and protection are like—the blessing of a long life! It’s like babies surviving! It’s like grandmas and grandpas all living to be a hundred! It’s not a literal promise. I have buried little babies—stillborn and newborn and sudden infant death syndrome babies—one back in West Bend--the day after we moved all our “things and stuff” to the St. Luke’s parsonage. But not often. Not all the time. I baptized a newborn—Isaac David Baker—newborn—delivered by C-section. His father was there when the baby was taken—the cord clamped and cut—David wrapped in a towel—into the hall and into the next room—where the water of baptism gave him new birth literally seconds after his first birth. Isaac David is a young man now--over six feet tall! He is doing very well! The point is—God blesses us! He gives us more good things than we can count! And when—from time to time—Jesus does call young people home to heaven—the scroll of the Prophet Isaiah says—“The righteous perish, and no one ponders it in his heart; devout men are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil.” Isaiah 57:1 Whenever we die—Jesus is taking us out of this world of evil and hurt and pain—to the safety and rest of heaven!

New Testament believers—that’s you and me—come under God’s special care and protection! 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 ones will long enjoy the works of their hands. They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them. God’s Word is full of promises—curses and blessings—disasters and abundance—the best of times and the worst of times! Try to live your life apart from God and his grace and forgiveness and you are in for nothing but frustration! Moses warned God’s people as they were about to enter a land flowing with milk and honey. Turn your back on the LORD and there will be horrible consequences! You will sow much seed in the field but you will harvest little, because locusts will devour it. You will plant vineyards and cultivate them but you will not drink the wine or gather the grapes, because worms will eat them. You will have olive trees throughout your country but you will not use the oil, because the olives will drop off. You will have sons and daughters but you will not keep them, because they will go into captivity. Swarms of locusts will take over all your trees and the crops of your land. Deuteronomy 28:38-42 Turn your back on the LORD—try to live your life apart from him? The LORD will strike you with wasting disease, with fever and inflammation…the LORD will afflict you with the boils of Egypt and with tumors, festering sores and the itch, from which you cannot be cured. The LORD will afflict you with madness, blindness and confusion of the mind. At midday you will grope about like a blind man in the dark. You will be unsuccessful in everything you do; day after day you will be oppressed and robbed, with no one to rescue you! Deuteronomy 28:22f All of this outward frustration is but a pale illustration of the deadly cancer of sin in our hearts. Jesus is our only hope—our only rescue—our only redemption!

After the frustrations of this world—we look forward to heaven. Isaiah wrote—the LORD promised—“Behold I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, not will they come to mind… It’s hard to imagine everything new! I like new bath towels—the first time you use them—so thick and soft. I like new T-shirts—the first time you slide them on. New silk ties—the first time you tie them—new shoes—two tone wingtips! But that’s just new things and stuff. Imagine everything new. I will have new fingers. This one pointer finger—will no longer have that little half circle cut just above my finger nail—where I cut myself with a box cutter—when I was trying to help put some molding in a bathroom they were finishing in the parsonage in Loves Park. I will have new knees—that no longer have the little marks from the sharp gravel in our farm drive way from that one day when I was riding my bike too fast and slipped and crashed and cut my knees till they bled. I won’t have the scar on my chin from the waste paper basket the cut it. I won’t have the scar on the back of my neck from my surgery there or the little scar on my shoulder blade—where I had a little operation there—where I can’t quite touch or see—but there was a little lump! All my teeth will be new—no fillings—reminders of tooth decay and all the other decay that is in this world! The former things will not be remembered, no will they come to mind… Better than the removal of all the physical scars—will be the removal of all the scars of sin and heart ache. Just try to imagine how it will be—when nobody remembers anything sad. No one will ever remember the things I said in anger or ignorance or thoughtless carelessness. No one will remember my painful and hurtful mistakes. I won’t remember touching cold hands of people I love who are gone to heaven—because we will see them alive again! Nothing sad will every come to mind again.

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. I read the other day about a doctor named Michael. He was a professor of emergency room medicine. He was so smart he taught doctors what to do in the pain and panic of the ER. This doctor named Michael not only knew what to do if you were in a horrible accident—and there was blood everywhere—and your heart wasn’t beating and your lungs weren’t breathing and everyone around you was in a panic. Michael was a mountain climber—a musician and song writer—a farmer—a caretaker of exotic animals, a guy who collected fossils from dinosaurs and was a gourmet chef! And yet—6 years younger than I am—he was in a one car crash—on his way to work in the ER—suffered head injuries and died! He couldn’t save himself—as skilled in all those things—skilled in poisonings, environmental emergencies, wilderness medicine and deep in the ocean medicine—he couldn’t save himself. We are all victims of our own sinfulness. We cannot begin to save our selves. We cannot wash away a single sin. Only Jesus could do that. Only Jesus did—by his innocent life and tortured death in our place. He washed away all our sins.

The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more! It was a three year study to find the happiest countries in the world. How surprising to fine all those happy people in Nigeria—in Mexico, Venezuela, El Salvador and Puerto Rico. A college student named Shemeia said she didn’t believe this survey. She said. “How can a survey tell how happy an entire country is? People have their good days and bad days. No one is eternally happy!” They say for about $1,054 you can buy a round trip ticket to Nigeria. As for eternally happy—we are because we are saints triumphant for Jesus’ sake. Amen!