Sermon for the Fourth Sunday of Easter - Isa 40:25-31

 

   Easter 4

                                                                                                Isa 40:25-31

                                                                                                5/11/25

 

            “I am the greatest.” The boxer Muhammed Ali – then known as Cassius Clay – made this declaration in 1964 as he was about to fight Sonny Liston for the world heavyweight championship.  At the time, Ali was just a challenger.  But this wasn’t the first time he had expressed the claim. The previous year he had made a record with lyrics that he helped write. The title of the album: “I am the greatest.”

            Ali defeated Liston to become heavyweight champion.  During the 1960’s and 1970’s he held the title three different times – something no one else has ever done. Ali has been widely known by the epithet “The Greatest,” and many consider him to be the greatest heavy weight boxer of all time.

            Sports fans engage all the time in arguing about who is the GOAT in each sport – the greatest of all time.  Is the greatest basketball player Michael Jordan? Is the greatest quarterback Tom Brady? But these are conversations that others have about an athlete.  Few athletes have ever come out and said this about themselves – certainly not in a way as memorable as Ali.  He declared that he was the greatest – that there was no one who could compare with him.

            In our text from Isaiah this morning God declares that there is no one who can compare with him.  He is the greatest. He is the Creator of all things. There is no end to his strength and understanding. Because this is so, his people can trust him to give them strength and salvation.

            Isaiah wrote in the eighth century B.C. He lived at a time when God brought judgment upon the northern kingdom of Israel because of their sin and unfaithfulness as they were taken into exile by the Assyrians. Yahweh’s dramatic intervention spared Judah. Yet while God had given the southern kingdom the opportunity to repent, it seemed very unlikely that they would do so. Judah continued on the same path of sin and idolatry.

            Yahweh brought judgment upon Judah in 587 B.C. when the temple was destroyed and the nation was taken into exile in Babylon. But in his prophecy, Isaiah looks beyond this to the restoration that God is going to provide.  He speaks of how God will bring the people back from exile.

            Isaiah begins this chapter by saying, “Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the LORD's hand double for all her sins.” God’s punishment was over and he was going to bring the people back from exile. He was coming and Isaiah declared, “And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.”

            Yahweh was going to act for his people. He – the almighty One – was going to deliver them. Before our text Isaiah declares, “Get you up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, ‘Behold your God!’ Behold, the Lord GOD comes with might, and his arm rules for him; behold, his reward is with him, and his recompense before him.”

            God is the almighty One and there is no one who can be compared with him.  Just before our text Isaiah says, “To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him? An idol! A craftsman casts it, and a goldsmith overlays it with gold and casts for it silver chains.”

The idols made by man are nothing. By contrast, God is the Creator.  Isaiah says, “Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in; who brings princes to nothing, and makes the rulers of the earth as emptiness.”

In our text, God again declares through Isaiah that there is no one who can be compared with him.  He says, “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing.” God created the heavenly bodies, and by his power they continue to exist.

Judah would bring the judgment of exile upon themselves. But Isaiah describes how as the years passed by in Babylon they would feel that they had been abandoned by God. They would feel like he was not caring for them. We hear, “Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God’?”

It is not only Judah in the sixth century B.C. that feels this way.  There are times when we do as well.  We want to say, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God.” Like Judah, sometimes our sins have contributed to the situation as we have made decisions and done things that are against God’s will. At other times, the hardships and difficulties that we experience have been completely out of our control. We get sick. We lose a job.

The life of faith is always a struggle against unbelief. The presence of doubt is unbelief seeking to gurgle up and quench out faith.  Doubt and feelings of despair – feelings that we have been abandoned and wronged by God – are unbelief gnawing away at our faith in God. They are the presence of the old Adam that causes us to break the First Commandment as we fail to fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

In our text, God responds to this by saying, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.” When we struggle with doubt and feelings of despair, God calls us back to himself. He reminds us that he is the Creator who has all power. He is the One who acts in ways that we cannot understand.

But he is also the One who acts for us.  Isaiah says in our text, “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Yahweh did act for Judah in the sixth century B.C. In an unexpected development he used the Persians to defeat the Babylonians. The Persian king Cyrus issued a decree that the people of Judah could return to the land and rebuild the temple. He renewed their strength as they saw that their way was not hidden from the LORD, and their right had not been disregarded by their God.

God’s act of deliverance and salvation in the sixth century B.C. for Judah pointed forward to an even greater action that he would carry out. He worked through Israel, for Israel and for all people.  He sent forth his Son into the world as he was conceived by the Holy Spirit, and born of the virgin Mary. Jesus was born as the Christ – the descendant of King David promised in Isaiah’ prophecy. As the Christ, he was Israel reduced to One.  He was the fulfillment of what the nation was meant to be. 

Jesus was the Servant of the Lord. Anointed with the Spirit at his baptism he went forth to provide deliverance from our sin. In obedience to the Father, he walked the way of service that led to the cross to give us forgiveness for the ways that we doubt and fail to trust in God.

Jesus Christ died on the cross as the suffering Servant.  God laid upon him the iniquity of us all and judged our sin in Christ. Jesus received God’s wrath that we deserved as he cried out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” and died.

A little later God says in Isaiah, “Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.” God’s action for Judah pointed to the new thing that he has done in Christ – the beginning of the new creation.

On Easter, God raised Jesus from the dead. He defeated death in Christ as the age to come broke into our world. God did the new thing as Jesus Christ was raised with a body that can never die again. Paul told the Romans, “We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him.” And his resurrection is the beginning. It is the beginning of the life of the world to come. It is the resurrection that will be ours when Jesus returns on the Last Day, for as Paul told the Corinthians, “Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”

A little later in Isaiah God says, “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants.” Israel lived with the expectation that the end time salvation of God would see him pour out his Spirit.

Forty days after Easter, Jesus ascended into heaven. And then on the fiftieth day – on Pentecost – Christ poured forth the Spirit upon his people. Peter declared, “This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.”

And now, you have received the Spirit. In baptism you received the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.  Your baptism continues to be source of the Spirit’s work in your life.  And through the God’s word – the word inspired by the Spirit – you continue to receive the work of the Spirit.

Isaiah says in our text, “He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength.” The Spirit of Christ gives us strength to believe and trust in God.  He works through the Means of Grace to strengthen our trust as we reject doubt and despair.

There is no denying that at times we feel faint and weary.  But God who has called us as his own promises to give us strength to walk in faith. He says through Isaiah, “Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”

Like the people of Judah, there are times when we want to say, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God?” In response, God says, “Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable.”

The almighty God has acted to give us deliverance and salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Through faith in Christ our doubt and failure to trust God is forgiven. The Spirit poured out by the risen and ascended Lord gives us strength to continue to walk in faith. Certainly, we do not understand many of the things that God does. But we do understand what God has done for us through Jesus Christ. And through this knowledge, the Spirit gives us strength to trust in the Lord.

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Easter - Jn 10:11-16

 

         Easter 3

                                                                                                Jn 10:11-16

                                                                                                5/4/25

 

 

            Surveys and research have documented that there has been a steady decline in the work ethic in our country.  It has declined in each generation – from the Boomers, to Generation X, to the Millenials, and on to Generation Z.  The largest decline has been observed during the last five years in Generation Z – those born between about 1995 and 2012.

            This decline in the work ethic is seen in the Labor Force Participation Rate - the percentage of able-bodied workers who are either employed or are looking for work. In 2024 it stood at 62.5%. This means that over 37% of able bodied Americans who are not students, retired, or caring for children at home have chosen not to work.

            Businesses often struggle to find workers to fill positions.  And when they are able to hire people, the decline in work ethic is a concern. After all, employees are often the face of a business. The impression formed by the public about a business occurs in large part on the basis of the interaction that people have with its employees.  If the employees just don’t care all that much about the way they carry out their job, the public is unlikely to have a good experience.

            In our Gospel lesson this morning, Jesus describes a first century employee who doesn’t really care about the way he does his job.  He refers to the hired hand who doesn’t care for the sheep when there is danger, because they don’t belong to him.  In contrast, our Lord describes himself as the good shepherd – the shepherd who lays down is life for the sheep.

            As we read the Gospels, we want to recognize that on many occasions, the text we are reading has a relationship to what has just preceded. That is certainly the case in our text this morning from John chapter 10. In the previous chapter, Jesus had healed a man who had been born blind. Christ had done this miracle on the Sabbath. And so the Pharisees accosted the man and his parents about what Jesus had done. 

            The man confessed that Jesus had worked this miracle.  He said to the Pharisees, “Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.” But the Pharisees replied, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.

            As religious leaders, the Pharisees were supposed to care for God’s people.  Instead, they were causing harm as they opposed Jesus. Unfortunately, this was nothing new. In the same chapter as our Old Testament lesson, God chastised the religious leaders of Ezekiel’s day using the metaphor of a shepherd.  He said, “The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd, and they became food for all the wild beasts.”

            The Pharisees had harmed the man as they rejected Jesus.  Now, in chapter 10, Jesus describes himself in a way that stands in marked contrast. He said, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Christ used the language of the Old Testament in order portray himself.

            Jesus says that he is the good shepherd.  This adjective “good” is defined by the following statement: “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  Christ states that he is the shepherd who cares for the sheep in the greatest way possible – he sacrifices himself. 

Our Lord immediately distinguishes himself from the behavior of others. He adds, “He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.” The hired hand has no investment – no commitment to the sheep. In the face of danger he abandons them.

Because of the Gospel lesson, today is often called “Good Shepherd Sunday.”  “Good Shepherd” has become a commonplace in the life of the Church. After all, our congregation is named “Good Shepherd.” Yet the phrase “good shepherd” is so familiar that the absurdity of it often escapes us.

Jesus says, “The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” That’s just not how it works.  Shepherds do not die for sheep.  Sheep are a commodity. They are sheared so that their wool can be used to make clothing and textiles.  They are slaughtered in order to provide meat.  No one dies for sheep.

In this metaphor, Jesus is the shepherd and we are the sheep. That is not particularly flattering.  Sheep are followers – they have a natural tendency to flock together and follow one of the sheep.  The whole flock will follow that one sheep even when it is a terrible idea. Sheep have been known to follow off of cliffs to their death and into rivers where they drown.  In the face of danger, the herd panics and follows one sheep no matter where they are going.

Like sheep, we are followers. We follow the guidance of the world as we define happiness and success on the basis of the things that we own – a life that always leave us wanting more. We follow the world as we accept its attitudes about the use of sex, and view pornography. We follow the world as its eagerness to speak ill of others becomes our habit and we harm the reputation of others.  Instead of living lives that are guided by God’s will, we speak and act in the ways of the world.  As Isaiah wrote, “All we like sheep have gone astray.”

We are sheep who go astray from God’s ways. We are people who sin against the holy God.  But in his love, God acted to save us.  Earlier in the Gospel Jesus said, “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” The Father sent forth the Son – the Word became flesh as he was incarnate by the work of the Spirit.  Jesus Christ, carried out the Father’s will.  He did it out of love for the Father.  He did it out of love for us.

No one dies for sheep.  Certainly, there was nothing about us to prompt Jesus to lay down his life.  But because of the grace and mercy of God, he did just that.  On Good Friday, Jesus lay down his life as he allowed himself to be nailed to a cross.  He suffered and died for us. Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” Christ set us free from sin through his death.  Because of him, we have forgiveness before God.

Jesus died for us and was buried. But during this season of Easter we rejoice that this was not the end.  In the verses immediately after our text the Lord goes on to say, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus is the risen Lord who has begun the life that will be ours.  Because of him we no longer fear God’s judgment, and we already have eternal life now.  Christ said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” This defines our present, and we know that Jesus will raise up our bodies on the Last Day. Jesus continued by saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

Christ says in our text, “I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” We know Jesus the good shepherd because we have heard his voice. At the beginning of this chapter Jesus spoke of the shepherd and said, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”

            Jesus speaks about us in this text. He says, “And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.”  We were not part of Israel. We were not descendants of God’s people. But through Christ we have now become the people of God.

            We have heard Christ’s voice and listened as he called us.  He did this through his Word and baptism. In baptism we were born again of water and the Spirit. Because of the Spirit’s work upon us we have been called to faith.  We have been born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

            Jesus says this morning, “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”  This is not the way of the world.  Shepherds don’t die for sheep. But Jesus Christ did.  He lay down his life for the sheep – for us, and then he took it up again on Easter.  The crucified and risen Lord is the reason that we now live in ways that do not fit this world.

            On the evening of Maundy Thursday Jesus said, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”  Jesus loved us as the Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep.  Now through the work of his Spirit, we love others and put their needs ahead of our own. Jesus said, “By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

            Sacrificial love is not the way of the world. The world tells people that their own needs must come first.  People end marriages because they declare that “it is time to be about me.”  In a world of Tik Tok people are trying to call attention to themselves, and not focusing on others.

            However, we are not of the world. Jesus said, “If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world.”  Jesus has called us out of the world.  We have heard his voice and follow him as those who have been born again of water and the Spirit.

            And so by his Spirit we love others as he has loved us. This love is shown as husbands and wives choose to do things that will assist their spouse. It is shown as sons and daughters help their parents with chores, without being asked.  This love is shown as a people take the time to help their neighbor or provide a caring ear.  We do this because we believe in Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd who lay down his life for the sheep, and took it up again on Easter.

           

 

Mark's thoughts: Our offering in the life of faith

 

“In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).

 

“One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (Galatians 6:6-7).

 

These are the first two Scripture passages that are listed in the Small Catechism’s Table of Duties under the heading “What the Hearers Owe Their Pastors.” They state the biblical truth that Christians are to provide for the material needs – the livelihood - of the pastors who preach and teach the Gospel to them (see also 1 Timothy 5:17-18). Congregations support their pastor through their offerings.  Of course, the congregation also needs a place where it can gather to receive the Means of Grace as this ministry takes place.  And so the offering given provides for the pastor and church building, along with the necessary expenses that occur in the life of the congregation. 

 

Our offerings are used for a very practical purpose.  This purpose, however, is not the reason that we give offerings. Instead, Christians give an offering for two reasons.  First, it is a way in which we keep the First Commandment. We give thanks to God and honor him as the source of every blessing that we have received.  As Proverbs 3:9 states, “Honor the LORD with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce.” Second, we do so in response to gift that God has given us in the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus Christ. When Paul talked about the collection that the Corinthians were taking up to support the Church in Jerusalem he said, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Corinthians 8:9).

 

These are the reasons that we give an offering.  Scripture also tells us the attitude with which we are to do this.  St. Paul wrote: “The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Corinthians 9:6-7).

 

The New Testament does not tell us how much we are to give as we live in this time when Christ has died for us and risen from the dead.  However, the Church has seen the practice that God commanded for Israel to be a model.  Israel was commanded to give a tithe – to give ten percent.  This tithe was given at different times to be used at the celebration of the festivals in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 14:22-26), to provide a livelihood for the Levites (Numbers 18:24) (who were themselves to give a tithe out of this tithe; 18:25-26), and to provide for the sojourner, the fatherless, and the widow (Deuteronomy 14:28-29).

 

The tithe – ten percent – provides a biblically grounded goal for our offering.  We give on the basis of the blessings that God has given to us.  There may be times when a tithe is not possible.  When this is the case, we give as we are able.  This evaluation also requires us to be honest with ourselves about the various other ways we are using the blessings we have received.

 

The goal of the tithe is based on the blessing that God gives to us each year.  We seek to give a tenth of our income in our offering during the course of the year.  This process of giving is not always smooth and even. There are times when we are unable to attend the Divine Service.  There are times when we may forget to bring an offering.  Technology can be a great assistance in this.  Many congregations provide the opportunity to give your offering via direct deposit. In this way the offering is given regularly and without interruption.

 

Our offering is something that we should consider each year as we look at how God is blessing us.  Where the tithe is a goal that we are working towards, we examine whether it is possible to make a small step forward – say one percent.  Where the tithe is the offering that we are giving, we check to see whether our offering still reflects the income that we are actually receiving. As God blesses us with more, we respond by giving more. Likewise, if God blesses us with less, we will probably end up giving less.  Since our income usually changes from year to year, our offering will as well. This yearly examination of our offering is part of the life of faith.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mark's thoughts: Easter and Earth Day

 

This year, Easter (April 20) and Earth Day (April 22) fall in the same week.  Earth Day was founded in 1970, and is an occasion that emphasizes environmental protection of the planet.  This juxtaposition leads us to consider what the celebration of Earth Day gets right and what it gets wrong about God’s creation. 

 

Scripture teaches us that God made this creation and considered it to be very good (Genesis 1:31).  We learn that after God created man as male and female, he blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28).

 

We receive more details about the creation of man in Genesis chapter two.  There we read that God planted a garden in Eden (Genesis 2:8). After God created Adam, “The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it” (Genesis 2:15).  Genesis chapters 1-2 teach us that God made creation for man’s use.  It also teaches us that God has given man stewardship over creation.

 

In Genesis chapter three we learn about the Fall as sin enters into the world through the disobedience of Adam and Eve.  This sin brings harm upon creation itself as God says, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field” (Genesis 3:17-18).  It is this sin that brings death to the animals of creation.

 

The celebration of Earth Day does emphasize the goodness of God’s creation, and it leads us to consider how man is carrying out his stewardship of that creation.  We will want to act in ways that “keep the garden” and seek to maintain its goodness.

 

However, the celebration of Earth Day is often driven by several ideas that are contrary to the revelation of God’s Word.  The first is the manner in which Earth Day considers creation apart from God the Creator.  Instead, it divinizes creation as God is collapsed into creation.  There is a long history of treating creation as a Mother goddess.  The United Nations has declared that April 22 is “International Mother Earth Day” and we are told on Earth Day to “Love your Mother.” 

 

In contrast, Scripture teaches us that there is a sharp distinction between God and creation.  God and creation are separate from one another because God is the Creator, and creation has been made by him.  God says in Isaiah, “To whom then will you compare me, that I should be like him? says the Holy One. Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name, by the greatness of his might, and because he is strong in power not one is missing” (Isaiah 40:25-26). Scripture avoids female language for God that would lead us to identify God and creation with one another. 

 

The second is the way in which Earth Day treats man as if he is simply part of creation. He is just one element in “the circle of life.” Man does not have greater worth and value, and the needs of creation are accorded equal importance.

 

However, only man has been created in the image of God (Genesis 1:27).  He is the crown of God’s creation, and God has placed man as his representative in the midst of creation.  He is to subdue and have dominion over it (Genesis 1:28).  Creation is there for man to use, and the First Article of the Creed teaches that as he uses creation, God’s continuing act of creation provides for man.  Man is the steward of creation as he “keeps the garden,” and in a fallen world there will always be a tension in deciding what constitutes use or abuse. But man is over creation in biblical thought, and not just one equal part of it.

 

Finally, much of the thought surrounding Earth Day treats man as if he is the greatest threat to creation.  It is as if creation would be perfectly fine apart from the presence of man.  Yet creation itself is in fact a place of chaos, and not a place of balance. It is a world that is red in tooth and claw.

 

Scripture teaches that creation itself has been impacted by sin.  It bears the harm of the curse, and it is no longer “very good” as God intended it.  Paul told the Romans: “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now” (Roman 8:20-22).

 

Paul went on to connect what will happen to creation, with what will happen to us. He states, “And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies” (Romans 8:23). The redemption of our bodies will take place in the resurrection of the dead.  The apostle describes the Spirit as the “firstfruits” because the presence of the Spirit in us now means that our bodies will be raised.  Paul had just said, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

 

In Scripture, resurrection is a Last Day event.  The resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter was the beginning of the Last Day.  Paul told the Corinthians: “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).

 

The Lord Jesus will raise and transform our bodies when he returns in glory (Philippians 3:20). He will also renew creation and make it very good once again.  He will free it from the “slavery of corruption” so that it too shares in “the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21).  Scripture refers to this as the “new heavens and new earth” (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22; 2 Peter 3:13; Revelation 21:1). Freed from sin, creation will again be what God intends.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sermon for the Feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord - Isa 25:6-9

 

         Easter

                                                                                                Isa 25:6-9

                                                                                                4/20/25

 

 

            The Surburg family has a tradition called “wine time.”  It started when I was away at college. My parents began the habit of having a glass of wine together before dinner when they got home from work.  This was an opportunity for them to unwind and talk about their day.  At some point, something to eat was added to this – cheese and crackers, or some summer sausage.

            My parents have continued the practice in their retirement.  When the day reaches around 4:00 p.m., it is wine time.  This was always the case when my family visited them, and so wine time became part of being with Papa and Grandma. Of course more people meant more food, as the variety and the amount of snacks grew.

            Wine time is now an established tradition that is part of visiting with my parents. It is something that we do when they come to see us in Marion.  When we have wine time with them at our house there are two things that happen.  First, my parents bring some good wine for us to drink. This always an upgrade from what we would normally have, and it’s not hard to tell the difference. And second, Amy prepares a charcuterie board filled with a variety of cheeses, meats, and crackers.  It borders on being a meal in itself. Good wine and good food make wine time a joyous occasion as the Surburg family gathers together.

            In our Old Testament lesson for Easter, the prophet Isaiah describes a joyous occasion that is also a time of good wine and good food.  He describes the feast of salvation – the occasion when God will have destroyed death forever. Today on Easter, we rejoice that in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has begun that victory for us.

            In the chapters leading up to our text, God has revealed through Isaiah that the Messiah descended from King David will bring peace and salvation for God’s people. In chapter eleven we learn, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” This One will destroy the wicked and bring peace that extends to creation itself as the wolf will dwell with the lamb.

            Isaiah tells us in chapter twelve that God’s people will rejoice in response to this.  They will say, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.” Isaiah adds, ‘With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. And you will say in that day: ‘Give thanks to the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples, proclaim that his name is exalted.”

            The flip side of salvation for God’s people is judgment upon their enemies. Those who oppose God and his work will receive destruction from God. And so, in chapters thirteen to twenty three, the prophet shares oracles of judgment against the surrounding nations. The enemies of God’s people are the enemies of God, and he will destroy them.

            The description of God’s judgment against individual nations leads in the chapter before our text to something much more extensive. We hear about a universal judgment that Yahweh will bring upon the world – upon all people. Isaish says, “Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants.”  He adds, “The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the LORD has spoken this word.”

            In this scene of judgment, all joy is gone. In ancient Israel wine was a central feature of celebrations. And so Isaiah says that there is no wine.  He announces, “No more do they drink wine with singing; strong drink is bitter to those who drink it. The wasted city is broken down; every house is shut up so that none can enter. There is an outcry in the streets for lack of wine; all joy has grown dark; the gladness of the earth is banished.”

            Isaiah tells us why this judgment of God will come upon all the earth.  He says, “The earth lies defiled under its inhabitants; for they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant.” God is the Creator of all things. He is the One who ordered his creation, and determined how things are to work. This is a truth that applies to all people, of all cultures, and of all times. His law is an expression of his will for life.  It determines how we are to live as those who are in fellowship with God.

            Yet since the sin of Adam, we have all been people who break God’s law.  We are people who sin. We break God’s law as we create false gods – as we place more effort, money, and time into our sports, hobbies, and interests than we direct towards God and his Word.  We sin as we are jealous and covet the success and wealth of others.  We break God’s law as we lust and sin sexually.

            We learn from Isaiah that God acted to give us the forgiveness for these sins.  The holy and just God did indeed judge this sin. He did so through the suffering Servant. Isaiah says, “All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned--every one--to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”  The prophet tells us, “But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed.”

            The surprise of Jesus Christ is that the Messiah and the suffering Servant are one and the same.  Jesus descended from David and the Spirit was upon him as the Christ – the Messiah.  But at his baptism, he was also identified by God as the Servant. On Good Friday, Jesus fulfilled Isaiah’s words as he hung on the cross. God judged and condemned our sin as Jesus suffered and died.

            Sin brings death. But at the beginning of this chapter we hear, “O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.” Isaiah tells us that God has a plan for the future, and that this plan will bring the destruction of death.

            The prophet begins our text by saying, “On this mountain the LORD of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.”  In the previous chapter, God’s judgment had been the occasion when there was no joy and no wine. But now his salvation is described as a joyous feast. It is a feast which does not just have wine.  It has very good wine.  It is a sumptuous feast that includes the meat that was a rarity in the diet of ancient Israel.

            Isaiah tells us that this will be the occasion when God destroys death.  He says, “And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord GOD will wipe away tears from all faces, and the reproach of his people he will take away from all the earth, for the LORD has spoken.”

            God defeated death today, on Easter, when he raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  Jesus had died as the suffering Servant, and had been buried. But on the morning of Easter, when the women went to the tomb, they found that it was empty.  Angels announced to them, “Why do you seek the living among the dead?

He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee, that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men and be crucified and on the third day rise.”

            Later that day, Jesus appeared in the midst of the room where the disciples were gathered and said, “Peace to you!” They were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit. So he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me, and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.

            God vindicated Jesus by raising him from the dead.  He demonstrated that he was in fact the Christ. Yes, he had died as the suffering Servant.  But this was part of God’s saving work to give us forgiveness.  Jesus is also the Christ – the Messiah – the One who brings God’s end time salvation as Isaiah had described.

            On Easter, God raised Jesus from the dead with a body transformed so that it can never die again.  Scripture teaches us that the resurrection is a Last Day event.  The resurrection of Jesus was the beginning of the Last Day.  It was the defeat  of death in Christ that will be true for all of us.

            St. Paul told the Corinthians that our resurrection has begun in Christ.  He said, “But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ.”

            When Jesus Christ returns in glory on the Last Day he will raise our bodies and transform them to be like his own. We will live with bodies that can never die again.  It is in this action that Isaiah’s words will find their fulfillment: “And he will swallow up on this mountain the covering that is cast over all peoples, the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow up death forever.”  Christ will destroy death forever when he returns on the Last Day and raises our bodies.

            In our text, Isaiah declares what our response will be. He writes, “It will be said on that day, ‘Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.’” We will rejoice in God’s salvation as we live in the new creation – the creation made very good once again.

            For now, we do wait.  We wait for our Lord’s return. Death has been defeated in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  But it has not yet been destroyed as Isaiah describes.  We await the consummation of God’s saving work – the feast of salvation that we hear about in our text.

            And so in the present we are sustained in faith by the foretaste of the feast to come that we receive in the Sacrament of the Altar.  The risen Lord comes into our midst as he is present in his true body and blood.  Through the Sacrament he gives us the forgiveness of sin that he won for each one of us by his death and resurrection. Through his body and blood he gives us food for the new man to enable us to wait in faith.

            Because Jesus Christ rose from the dead on Easter, we know that the wait will come to an end.  The risen and ascended Lord will return in glory. Death will be swallowed up – it will be destroyed forever when he raises our bodies to be like his.  There will be no more tears, and instead we will declare: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”