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

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Saints Triumphant November 15 & 18, 2007 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.

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

A mommy in Seattle, Washington, was pushing her little one year old child in a stroller across the street. All of a sudden a little black car plowed not only into the stroller—but literally over and on top of the stroller. It pinned the baby and the stroller under the car. The mommy screamed. She cried out for help! Nearby construction workers came running! Guys wearing hard hats—wearing those orange vests with reflector strips—wearing worn and scuffed work boots—came running. Ten construction workers literally picked up this car and pulled the crumpled stroller and the scared little baby out—to safety! How cool is that?! Pick up the car and pull the little guy to safety! I bet those ten guys were so pumped up to save that little baby that they picked that car way up. I bet those ten guys were so pumped up—that a couple of them could have picked up that car. This was a physical rescue. Jesus came to save our souls! Jesus came—not to be strong for one moment—but to live a life without sin—then to die a tortured death to rescue us! I don’t know the name of any of the construction workers who saved this little baby. But I bet the mommy does. And I bet the little baby—when he grows up—will know the names of the people who saved him. And I bet on October 31^st from now on—this mommy and this child—will talk about how this little person was saved! This is but a pale picture of all that Jesus did to save us. Jesus knew the price he would pay. Jesus was born to sacrifice his life to rescue us. Jesus came to lay down his life—so that by grace through faith:

We Are Saints Triumphant!

1. The painful past will be replaced

2. The sound of weeping will be heard no more.

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on—is part of the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. Of all of the Old Testament prophets—Isaiah might be the best known of all. Remember—Isaiah is 66 chapters long. Chapter 1 through 39 is mostly but not completely law. Chapter 40 through 66 is mostly but not completely Gospel! It’s easy to remember the cut off part—when chapter 40 begins with the Advent good news. Remember? “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.” Then comes the very familiar promise that John the Baptist would come. This, too, is an Advent theme: “A voice of one calling: ‘In the desert prepare the way for the LORD; make straight in the wilderness a highway for our God. Every valley shall be raised up, every mountain and hill made low; the rough ground shall become level, and the rugged places a plain. And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” There is perhaps no more powerful promise of all that Jesus would suffer to save us than Isaiah chapter 53: Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Jesus was hurt so that we might be healed eternally. Jesus died so that we might live forever by Him in Heaven.

“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…” The LORD—the Great I AM—the Holy One of Israel—will create new heavens and a new earth because the old one is spoiled by sin. The painful evidence of sin is everywhere! In our back yard there is a nice little pine tree. It’s about two and a half feet high—with short little needles—except they aren’t green. They are kind of reddish brown. And if you touch them—they all fall off. That nice little tree is dead. We have a nice pudgy little apple tree. Every year it has more and more apples. Right now there are still two apples on that tree. They are small and shriveled with a bug hole as big as a quarter—dug into the spoiled side. There are little grey spots on the bark. I don’t know what that is. I’m sure it’s not good. There are little patches in our lawn—kind of like crab grass. It’s not like the rest of the grass. When the lawn service guy comes—he says his weed spray won’t kill that grass. You are supposed to dig it out by hand. I don’t have time to do that! Bunnies ate the bark off our lilac bushes last winter. I should put up some chicken wire—or I bet they will do it again this winter. There are plastic flowers and those little Styrofoam circles from the cemetery that roll down the hill and get stuck in the cat tails in the retention pond—along with cardboard from beer and empty green plastic pots that are in the back, too. And that’s just the little stuff. There are pitiful ducks and waterfowl by San Francisco that land in the ocean and are covered by the oil spill. There’s not enough water around Atlanta, GA—so there isn’t enough water in Florida—and little sea creatures in their shells are dying. How sad is that? Beside the highway are the white tailed deer that got hit by cars and trucks. There are squirrels in town and raccoons and opossums and skunks out in the country. There is hurt and sadness everywhere in this world darkened and infected by sin. Only Jesus can rescue us from all this grief and sadness—and Jesus did. That’s why—instead of dreading Judgment Day we can long for that day—when we will be safe from all that has ever made our hearts hurt. The sad things that fill our minds and memories will not be remembered nor will they come to mind. We will be glad and rejoice forever in what Jesus will create!

The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. When I was writing my sermon—examples of reasons for weeping and crying are exceedingly easy to think of. I even thought of some so sad—I’m afraid—if I tried to tell them—I would get too sad. Can you imagine that? Maybe this example will do. This past week there was a man in Washington state who was working on a classic car—a classic Lincoln Continental. For weeks—this little grandpa was working on this car. He was changing the tires—when he ran into a problem with the right rear tire. There was one little lug nut that wouldn’t let go. Do you have any idea how frustrating that can be? You can pull on a wrench as hard as you can—making that pained look with your face—till the wrench slips and you scrape your knuckles literally bloody. You can spray WD-40 on it. You can tap it with a hammer. You can heat it with a torch. You can get a piece of pipe and make a “cheater” handle—some six feet long—so you have all kinds of torque. This little grandpa tried everything—and nothing worked. By now he was so determined he did what? He got a 12 gauge shotgun—and standing just arm’s length away he fired his gun. If you know anything about shotguns—you can imagine what happened next. All those little bbs came hammering back into this man’s legs along with chunks of metal from the car. When the police got there—his injuries were described as severe—but not life threatening! And the really sad thing is—nobody seems to know—did he get the lug nut loose? I’m sure this little grandpa had tears in his eyes. I’m sure it hurt so suddenly—so badly that tears ran down his cheeks—in part from the pain—in part from the frustration—in part from the embarrassment! And this is not nearly the saddest I could tell you! I got an e-mail the other day about thanking a veteran. It had a picture of a little grandpa veteran hugging a U.S. Marine—a little grandpa—holding on to the chest of this big strong Marine—and then as you scroll down—you realize that the Marine has a mechanical arm and hand. And then you scroll down—and read that the Marine has also lost an eye—and that’s sad. Just part of the wonder of Heaven is this—there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain—for the old order of things has passed away. Behold—our Heavenly Father will make everything new!

I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people… People—Jesus takes delight in his people—humble repentant people who know they are saved by grace through faith. That would be you! Jesus takes delight in us—because he was washed away all our sins! Last Sunday I preached at a special service in Appleton. There is Immanuel congregation—where some people worship Thursday night, some worship Saturday night—some people worship at early or late service on Sunday. This one Sunday—as they are on the brink of building a new church building—they had one service—at Fox Valley Lutheran High School--at 9:30 Sunday morning--one service with all their people. So—here are about a thousand people—in the commons at Fox Valley—having fresh fruit and OJ and sweet breads and flavored coffees—visiting! Get a nice cup of coffee or spiced apple cider—and stand by the wall to the side. Straighten your tie—put a smile on your face—and wait. Wait and see if someone—anyone—will come over and visit with us—or just smile—walk past and get some more coffee. It wasn’t long at all—that a very nice lady—looking humble and tentative—not pushy or loud—but kind and gentle came over. Gently she offered her hand—introduced herself and said, “I know that there are lots of people here—who maybe go to a different service than I do. But I was just wondering if you might be a guest today. And if you are a guest—I just wanted to meet you and welcome you—and just for a moment or two—get to know you!” How nice is that? It’s more than nice! It’s more than—how very Martha Stewart—to offer your hand—meet new people and welcome a guest. This was sharing Jesus’ love in the most basic and fundamental and wonderful way! This is exactly what God’s people have the blessed privilege of doing—welcoming people at worship! We can do this! We can approach people we don’t know—and say—I don’t believe I have met you! That would be true! You aren’t saying—are you a member of St. Luke’s? If you are—and have been for a long time—you won’t be insulted! You are simply saying—I haven’t met you for any of a thousand reasons. Good morning! How are you? How am I? I am blessed! I am the recipient of countless blessings from God. That has nothing to do with how happy or unhappy I am feeling on a scale of 1 to 10! How am I? I am a person who has received good things by grace alone—because God is good! I will long remember that very precious lady from Appleton. I will long remember my God-father—who doesn’t stand on the periphery—but works his way through a room—telling people his name—asking theirs—asking them how they are doing—so he can pray for them if they are having troubles. Asking them what they do for a living—and telling them how he was a teacher—a shop teacher—woods and metals! Being outgoing comes quite naturally to some people. And some people are naturally shy, quiet and even bashful. And yet—with gentleness and humility—we too—can speak up—to share Jesus’ love. We can and we will with Jesus’ help--rejoice in spiritual Jerusalem and delight in God’s people!

The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more! It was about an hour before lunch—when a lady about 40 years old—was driving a huge dump truck full of trash. She must have been going too fast—because the next thing you know—she falls out of the truck—and then the truck pins her by her leg. How painful would that be? For an hour and twenty minutes this lady was pinned under her truck. Rescue people from everywhere were there—including three surgeons—in case she had to have surgery right there—to save her life! Again—if paramedics came and saved your life—would you thank them? The guy who came with the wrecker—to pick up the truck that had fallen on you—would you thank him? Would you take hold of his calloused and oil and grease stained hand—and thank him? Then think all that Jesus did to rescue you and me from all our sins! Think about how much Jesus loves you—to take such good care of you—every moment of every day! How can you thank him for the simple historical fact that we are saints triumphant? We thank him—by loving and serving him in our homes—at school or at our job. We thank him by reading our Bible and coming to Bible Class. We thank him—with our Thankofferings. We thank him with our hymns of thanks and praise. We thank him by sharing him with anyone and everyone—as God gives us opportunity. And we will thank him as saints triumphant—forever in Heaven. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz