St. Luke Ev. Lutheran Church of Watertown

Sermon delivered by Pastor Anthony E. Schultz

Epiphany 7 February 19, 2006 Isaiah 43:18-25

¹⁸ "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.  ²⁰ The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,  ²¹ the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.  ²² "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.  ²³ You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense.  ²⁴ You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices.  But you have burdened me with your sins and wearied me with your offenses. ²⁵ "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.

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

A bunch of scientists and pudgy natives visited an island by the Foja Mountains of Papua province. The island has more than two million acres of old growth tropical forest. This place is so remote—there was not a single trail or path. Scientists simply picked up two Long-beaked Echidnas—a primitive egg-laying mammal. They found a new species of honey eating birds—with bright orange on their face. They found a flower—almost six inches across each blossom. That’s a big flower! They found tiny microhylid frog—less than a half inch long—and five new species of palm trees. They took pictures of the Golden-fronted Bowerbird—showing off his bachelor pad to females. The Golden-fronted Bowerbird’s nest is called a bower. It’s a tower of twigs and other forest materials. The male hangs up blue forest berries to attract a mate. They found a Golden-mantled Tree Kangaroo—an arboreal/a tree jungle-dweller new for Indonesia—and previously thought to be almost extinct! Oh, they said—this is practically the Garden of Eden! Not even close! This island is almost untouched—because of people fighting and killing each other. They estimate 100,000 people have been killed nearby—in a rebellion that has been going on for decades! There is no corner of this planet that is not infected with death and decay because of sin. Our only hope is the blood of Jesus Christ—which washes away all our guilt and shame! Today God’s Word gives us comfort and help.

We Are Saved By Grace Alone!

1. We don’t do anything to deserve forgiveness

2. The LORD remembers my sins no more!

The part of God’s Word we are concentrating on is from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. We read from Isaiah all the time here in church. This year—ILCW Series B—like it says on the back of the worship folder—we will have readings from Isaiah 17 times! 17 times out of 52 weeks! That’s a bunch! Advent—Christmas—Epiphany—Ash Wednesday and Good Friday, Easter dawn and Easter day—Trinity Sunday and Sundays after Pentecost—there are readings from Isaiah! That’s because Isaiah is rich in word pictures—showing us the painful ugliness of our gross sins and the soothing comforting healing power of the Gospel! Remember the context: some 650 years before baby Jesus is born. Isaiah chapter 1 through 39 mostly law while chapters 40 through 66 mostly on balance—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! As horrible as our sins might be—God’s forgiveness is powerful. How can you explain it? There’s twice as much forgiveness as there is sin!

¹⁸ "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  ¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? The former things—the past--the LORD’s rescue of his people from bondage and slavery in Egypt! This is what the LORD says—he who made a way through the sea, a path through the mighty waters, who drew out the chariots and horses, the army and reinforcements together, and they lay there, never to rise again, extinguished, snuffed out like a wick…forget the former things… If you are a child of Abraham—if you are Jewish—there are few things more precious than Passover—the lamb and unleavened bread and sweet grape wine—that recall Israel’s rescue from Pharaoh. This is what the LORD says—let my people go! When the Pharaoh said—who is the LORD that I should listen to him? I will not let his people go! Pharaoh found out. For the LORD to crush the most powerful army in the world was no more difficult than blowing out the smallest candle. As crushing as the 10 plagues—as wondrous as the dry path through the Red Sea—as glorious as the deliverance from slavery in Egypt—it would pale to insignificance compared to rescuing the whole world from sin! Forget the former things—don’t dwell on the past. Look forward to the Lamb of God. He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. Isaiah 53:7 Jesus would die to save us all!

¹⁹ See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland.  ²⁰ The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the desert and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen,  ²¹ the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise. Wild animals—jackals and owls—what does that mean? What do we know about jackals? Jackals look like pointy nosed dogs with bushy fox like tails. If you talked about jackals to people in ancient Israel—they would immediately have thought of the Egyptian god—Anubis—a man with a jackals head. Anubis guided the dead to those who judged their souls. People were very superstitious about jackals because of their cleverness, the fact jackals do things under cover of darkness, have an eerie howl and are scavengers—eating almost anything—including the prey of bigger fierce animals. There is irony in having of all animals jackals—giving honor to the LORD—the Great I AM! Again it is the weak—the lowly—the even despised who give glory to the LORD. Owls! What do we know about owls? There are 134 distinct kinds of owls in the world—11 kinds of Barn Owls and 123 other kinds. Owls lave large immobile eyes—eyes where you have to move your whole head to look around. Owls have fluffy plumage—such soft thick feathers that when they fly they make almost no noise whatsoever! They have hooked bills, hooked claws and usually feathered feet with a reversible outer toe. To find owls look on the ground for these little pellets that they throw up—the fur of a mouse—wrapping up all the little sharp bones of a mouse they have eaten. Sometimes you can find an owl—by listening for flocks of small songbirds—flying around—screeching and screaming at an owl that’s trying to sleep! Again—owls—often despised and unwanted by the pretty little song birds—the ones giving glory to the LORD! Jackals and owls—giving thanks to their Heavenly Father for giving them water in the rocky stony barren wilderness. Makes you think of the living water that Jesus gives us—a well of water springing up—so that we aren’t parched in our deepest soul!

²² "Yet you have not called upon me, O Jacob, you have not wearied yourselves for me, O Israel.  ²³ You have not brought me sheep for burnt offerings, nor honored me with your sacrifices. I have not burdened you with grain offerings nor wearied you with demands for incense.  ²⁴ You have not bought any fragrant calamus for me, or lavished on me the fat of your sacrifices. The LORD went looking for Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah. You have not chosen me—I have chosen you—our Heavenly Father says. If you watch the news—if you watch shows about law and order—about guilt or innocence—you are familiar with the Latin phrase—quid pro quo—this for that. It’s all about a deal. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. This is not how our Heavenly Father operates! People did not earn God’s love—by bringing sacrifices! You don’t earn God’s love—by bringing offerings. You couldn’t earn God’s love with lamb chops or bushels of grain. You couldn’t earn God’s love by burning the sweetest incense. You couldn’t earn God’s love by bringing sweet calamus—that is fragrant sweet cane oil. Calamus was used to make the oil to anoint the utensils of the Temple. You can buy calamus oil on the Internet for $6 for ¼ oz—the same price for small bottles of frankincense and myrrh. But you can’t buy the love of your Heavenly Father! Your Heavenly Father doesn’t love you because you brought lots of fat and grease from the plumpest beef cattle! You can’t buy God’s love. It is yours by grace alone!

²⁵ "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Transgressions! Transgressions are a crossing of the line—going too far. Sometimes it’s a fine line. A fine line between right and wrong—a fine line between good and evil. When you are on a date—when you are going to say good night—good bye—and you want to give your date a kiss! OK—a little kiss—your lips touch—is ok isn’t it? But then comes the part about—a hug too. And you put your arms around them—and then what? You really like them—and they really really like you! And the next thing you know—you have crossed the line! How do you know? You know because in your heart you feel ashamed! That wasn’t right. That was going too far! I’m sorry! I’m ashamed! Too much to eat? Again you know when you hear yourself say, “I’m stuffed! I couldn’t eat another bite! I think I’m going to explode! I don’t feel so good!” You have had too much to drink when you start to think or say or do things you wouldn’t do if you had not had anything to drink. You are under the influence of alcohol—if it is influencing you in a bad way. The idea is not to see how close can I get to the line without going over. How far can I overstuff the trash bag before it bursts and I am caught in a sin. The idea is to stay far away from the line so I don’t transgress. Jesus is our strength so we don’t trespass.

²⁵ "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. I have told you about my childhood sins—my silver cup with the dent in the bottom—the handle that I pounded off. The vegetables I packed into the bottom of my Tupperware dinner bowl. I packed onions in the little hole in the top of the steam iron. I bounced a basketball in the house and broke a flower vase. I remember being told I had horrible handwriting when I was in grade school. I remember making snowballs that were icy and hard I remember being behind on my book reports when I was in 8^th grade. Do you remember mistakes you made when you were little? Do you remember things you did when you were in high school—that could have gone so horribly wrong that somebody could have been injured—even killed? Do you remember saying things without thinking—trying to be funny—when you were frustrated—that you would give anything to take back? How sweet is this verse, “I even I …remember your sins no more!”

²⁵ "I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. I remember when I was in about 3^rd grade. We lived in an old farm house. We rented the downstairs. Our neighbor—Mr. Howard and his wife rented the upstairs. I remember one afternoon—Mr. Howard was carrying groceries from his car up the steps to his home. I remember throwing snow balls at him. I remember pelting him with this really “packy” snow again and again. He was yelling—and I kept shooting snow balls—nailing him again and again. Well as little as I was—I didn’t have a clue how upset he was—until he came back down stairs and picked me up and threw my stout little body into a snow bank—then practically smothered my face with snow—yelling—how do you like it? Well, not too much I thought! I remember that like it was yesterday! I shouldn’t. The simple profound truth of God’s word this snowy day is I, even I am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Thank God for that. Amen!

To God alone all glory!

Rev. Anthony E. Schultz