“The King of Creation Is Our Rescuer” Colossians 1.13-20 Last Sunday of the Church Year C Nov. ‘13

1.  Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The message from God’s Word this Last Sunday of the Church year, also called Christ the King Sunday, is taken from Colossians 1:13-20.  Here in this Epistle to the Colossians the Apostle Paul tells us that 1).​Christ the King of Creation came to rescue us from all evil (vv. 13, 14, 19, 20), and that 2). Christ the King will come to rescue us for eternal life with him (vv. 15–18).  The message is entitled, “The King of Creation is Our Rescuer,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.  Being good Americans, we find talk of royalty and kings difficult to bear.  We believe in democracy, not royalty.  But more important than our being good Americans, is our being good Christians.  And the truth is, the Church is no democracy.  As Christians we do have a King.  Not a president, not a prime minister, but a King.  His name is Jesus.  His is the Christ, the Anointed One of God, the Messiah promised of old, and he is our King.

3.  Colossians 1:13-20 fits well into the Last Sunday of the Christian year known as Christ the King Sunday or Sunday of the Fulfillment. On this Sunday, we’re reminded as Christians, that we’re subjects of Christ and Christ alone. Christ’s power transcends all other powers and that salvation in Christ has been achieved for all through His death on the cross for our sins.  This Last Sunday of the Church Year is like a New Year’s Eve, a time when people look back and reflect on the past year and look ahead with hope to the future. Christ the King Sunday shares themes with Palm Sunday. The reality of Jesus’ death hovers over Palm Sunday. On Christ the King Sunday, it’s the advent or coming of Jesus’ nativity that in one week’s time will be on our minds as Christians. Both days celebrate the multiple meanings of Christ’s identity: the same Christ who is hailed as king also suffers a cruel death at the hands of the state, and the same Christ who rules over all creation also enters the world as a vulnerable baby. But, you may ask how can the same God be so many things? Why are different meanings of divinity presented in such rapid succession here in Colossians 1? The paradox is important. Christ’s rule takes on special meaning when understood within the context of the whole narrative of his birth, life, suffering, death, and resurrection. Christ is no ordinary king. Returning to Colossians 1, the text gives us several clues as to what kind of king he is.

4.  Through St. Paul, the Holy Spirit reveals to us what the Kingdom of Christ is like.   In his holy kingdom, Jesus reveals the image of God.  Colossians 1.15 says, “15 He is the image of the invisible God.”  We live in this holy kingdom, because Jesus created us, and all things for his good pleasure.
Colossians 1.16 says, “16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.”  In his kingdom, Jesus reigns as Lord and our God, sustaining us in body and soul, leading us from death to life, and ruling over all.  Colossians 1.17-19 says, “17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell.”  As our King, Jesus has reconciled us with himself, with each other, and with all things in heaven and on earth by the shedding of his holy, innocent, precious blood on the cross.  Colossians 1.19b-20 says, “God was pleased . . . through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”  So, St. Paul writes at the beginning of our epistle reading for today, Colossians 1.13-14, “13 [God] has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

5.   The question for us today is: How do we become part of this kingdom?  You already know the answer, you've learned it from your youth.  But just in case you've forgotten, or maybe haven't yet begun your study of the Catechism, here it is:  [Small Catechism; Our Father; Second Petition; Explanation]  “How does God's kingdom come?  God's kingdom comes when our heavenly Father gives us His Holy Spirit, so that by his grace we believe His holy Word and lead godly lives here in time and [in his heavenly kingdom] in eternity.”  To live under the rule of Christ the King means we live as those who receive.  Our heavenly Father gives—we receive.  We receive the Holy Spirit.  We receive faith that believes the Word we receive from the Scriptures.  We receive Christ's redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  We receive holy guidance necessary to lead godly lives, both now and in eternity.  As those who live under Christ our King, we receive all the blessings of God, by his grace, through faith.  Subjects of a king receive gifts from him, and we, as subjects of Christ, are no different.  Christ's kingdom comes when God gives it to us, and we receive it in faith.

6.    Redeemed children of God that we are, citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, we still struggle to live as those who receive.  Here's what I mean.  Ask yourself this question: Why did I come to church today?  Did you come here today to receive Christ's forgiveness and redemption in his blood?  Or did you come perhaps to give something to God?  Oftentimes we come to Church to give God one hour of our week, or to give our offering.  Some folks even come to church to give the impression of holiness to their lives.  But our lives in the Kingdom of Christ are not about giving.  They are about receiving the gifts of our King, the Lord Jesus Christ.

7.    Certainly, giving has it's place.  In the world, we are called to give to those in need.  We are called to give of our time, our talents, and our treasures.  We’re called to give our blood and even our lives for the sake of the faith.  But when our giving becomes our goal, we've stepped outside the reign of Christ our King, and entered into the realm of sin; the realm of the Prince of this world, Satan himself.  So today, Christ our King calls on us to confess our sin.  He calls on us to bow before him at the foot of his cross and lay bare the sin in our souls.  Especially the sin of trying to give our way into heaven, rather than receiving it in faith from Jesus Christ, our King.  So we fall on our knees and join the repentant thief in prayer: "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom."

8.    In saying that prayer and making our confession, we are granted the opportunity once more to be receivers of the blessings of our King.  In response to our confession, Christ our King forgives us our sin, and welcomes us once more into the Kingdom of Heaven.  By his grace he delivers us from the domain of darkness and transfers us into his glorious kingdom of grace.  In this kingdom, we see the One who gives: we see our King, Jesus Christ give all that can be given.  We see him give up his life:  Luke 23.33 says. . . “when they came to the place that is called The Skull, there they crucified him, and the criminals, one on his right and one on his left.”  We see him give us forgiveness as he prays from the cross, Luke 23.34, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."   We see him give us eternal life, even as we face certain death:  [St. Luke 23.43] "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."

10.    This is life in the kingdom of our Lord.  Life lived as receivers of the most precious gifts in heaven and on earth: the forgiveness of our sins, life that never ends, and the salvation of our souls.  All these good and gracious gifts come to us from the one who was once crowned with thorns upon the cross and now reigns from the throne at the right hand of God the Father Almighty: Christ King of Creation is our rescuer.  To him be glory and blessing and honor, for he rules and reigns over us as the giver of all good gifts.  Amen.

“Surely the Day Is Coming!” Malachi 4.1-6 Pentecost 26C, Nov. ‘13

1.            In the name of our crucified and risen Lord and Savior Jesus.  Amen.  As the sun sets on another church year, our readings today point to the dawning of an eternal day—a day that will be ushered in by God’s judgment. We sinners need this sobering reminder because the sinful nature in each of us delights in God’s delay. There’s an arrogant side to all of us that wants to believe that the judge is never coming and that even if he should choose to return some day, his judgment will be no more than a warning ticket, giving us a second chance to get our spiritual house in order. The clear message of God’s law in our text rejects any such foolish notions.  The message from Malachi tells us that when the Day of the Lord comes it will be a day when the arrogant will burn like stubble (v. 1), but the righteous will shine like the Son (v. 2).  The message is entitled, “Surely the Day Is Coming!” Dear brothers and sisters in Christ.   

2.            The prophet warns us that the judgment is coming and that it will be final!  Malachi 4:1 says, ¹ “For behold, the day is coming, burning like an oven, when all the arrogant and all evildoers will be stubble. The day that is coming shall set them ablaze, says the Lord of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” What’s truly amazing is that this message, which is such a threat to our sinful nature, is at the same time the sweetest message of comfort to every Christian.  That’s why the Prophet Malachi says in Malachi 4:2, ²But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.” We can make sense of this law & gospel paradox only by fixing our eyes on Jesus. The law destroys every hope of finding comfort in the thought that God’s judgment won’t come or that it won’t be severe. With these myths dispelled, it’s the gospel alone that offers hope to us sinners. The gospel promises that Jesus is our sun of righteousness. With his perfect life he has provided the holiness we need to enter the home of our holy God. The gospel also promises that Jesus has already faced God’s terrible judgment for us. He’s paid all of sin’s penalty through his death on the cross for us and has removed all threat of further punishment. When our judge comes, it won’t be to destroy us but, rather, to welcome us into heaven’s perfection.

3.            Malachi reminds us that the Lord hasn’t forgotten us. At times it may appear that the proud and arrogant of this world have a better life, but this is only a sinful delusion. We have the best in life because we have the sure promises of our God. He’s delayed his return for no other reason than to give us time to share what we know and what we have in Christ with everyone.

4.            The Bible tells us that the Lord is patient in his return to judge the world, this is why the prophet Malachi wanted people to see things as they really were. It had been a while since the Lord had sent the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, and people in Judea were growing more and more jaded and arrogant toward the Lord. They brought miserable and half-hearted sacrifices to God, then they had the nerve to ask why he wasn’t glad to get them. While wearying God with their words, they questioned his Word. They had been faithless toward the One who always remained so faithful to them. They even began wondering out loud whether it actually made any difference for them to be his people.

5.            Can’t we see a lot of ourselves in them? Times and circumstances have changed, of course. But the basic problems identified by Malachi regularly occur among sinners, even those who have faith in the Lord. We may not regard these things as the headlines of our hearts, but in many ways they tell the real story. Actually, the Lord tells it by proclaiming his Law as he did through his prophet. He said an uncompromising “no” to arrogance and faithlessness at Malachi’s time. He says “no” to yours and mine too.

6.            That’s why the Prophet Malachi says in Malachi 4:4-6, ⁴“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and just decrees that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.  ⁵“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. ⁶And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction.”  Notice how verse 4 mentions the law. This is the word torah. It comes from the verb meaning “to teach” or “to instruct.” Here it doesn’t mean just the laws with dos and do nots but also, and especially, the words of promise and instruction, the complete revelation of God to his people. We are saved by the Word and through the Word that points us to our Savior Jesus Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  What a treasure we have in the Word of God. We can search through the will of God as a lawyer ruffles through a dossier or a student looks through a notebook. God gave his people his plan for life. How happy the devil is when we neglect the Word of God. But, how sad the devil is when we as God’s people make faithful use of God’s Word.

7.            The prophet Elijah was promised to the Old Testament people. Jesus commented on this in Matthew 17:11–13: “ ‘To be sure, Elijah comes and will restore all things. But I tell you, Elijah has already come, and they did not recognize him, but have done to him everything they wished. In the same way the Son of Man is going to suffer at their hands.’ Then the disciples understood that he was talking to them about John the Baptist.” And what Luke wrote in chapter 1:17 draws us even closer to these last words of Malachi: “He [John] will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.” These are the very words Malachi wrote in verse 6.

8.            The Word also speaks to us in other places about how, as the world nears its end, children will turn against their parents and parents will turn against their children. Our world is full of examples that this happens and is happening. Parents commit the ultimate in child abuse—they neglect their children’s souls. They don’t care where their children will spend eternity. They spend money for their children’s bodies and for their education, but they neglect to tell the children the commands and laws of God, to talk about them on the way, to write them in their homes and on their hearts.

9.            But there is also the fact that as the day grows closer and closer, fathers and children will be talking to each other and turning to each other. There will be good families. God will see to it! In our day when we sometimes feel like despairing because there are no good families left, there are good families. Families do pray together and do stay together through life. This is the greatest turning together of hearts, fathers talking to their children about the Savior, children talking to their fathers. Their hearts are touched through the only thing that touches hearts, the Word of God.

10.        People understood that something was missing when the Old Testament ended with a word of curse. But they couldn’t do anything about God’s curse by simply moving words around here in the last chapter of Malachi, the last book of the Old Testament. And neither can we. But, thanks be to God that He did do something about this curse. God kept the promise he had made, from Genesis to Malachi, to deal with sin and the curse. “He does not choose to do it through his unveiled, brilliant, and glorious majesty, out of consideration for us poor, weak and timid mortals and for our comfort, for who could bear such majesty for an instant?” So God sent Christ. And right now, in our lives, he works through “tolerable, kind, and pleasant means . . . He has, for instance, sent to you a Pastor to speak to you the Gospel of our Lord Jesus, to preach, to lay his hands on you, forgive sin, baptize, give you bread and wine to eat and to drink. Who can be terrified by these pleasing methods?”

11.        With the Christ who came and is coming again, we are not in fear. Instead we are left hungry, in a good way. Like newborn babies, we are eager to keep drinking in the pure spiritual milk of God’s Word and by it to grow up to salvation. (See 1 Peter 2:2.)  Amen.

“God’s Love Will Help Your Marriage Last” 1 Corinthians 13.13 Deborah Parnell & Carl Lewis Wedding Sermon Nov. 16, 2013

1.       Please pray with me.  May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock, and our Redeemer.  Amen.  Deborah and Carl, today is a day of celebration. Today is a day of celebration of the love you have for each other. Today your families and friends are joining you in this celebration in a very direct way. Today, there already has been and will be hugging and kissing, crying and well-wishing. There will be traditional ceremonies, gifts, photos, eating and drinking, all in your honor. Later in life, all these people will still be celebrating your love with you in a less obvious and direct way. Or will they? Sure, they’ll still be interested in all the things that happen to you in your life together, but will they be celebrating your love?

2.      The answer is no. They won’t be celebrating your love. They will be celebrating God’s love, which he’s given you by his grace through faith in Jesus Christ as your only Savior. This is the love you two as Christians are celebrating today and will be celebrating the remainder of your lives together. With your life of love together as God’s redeemed and forgiven children, you are living God’s love, you are sharing God’s love. And, when you live and share with each other God’s gift of perfect, forgiving love, that love, His love, will help your marriage last, for our God is the God of love and the author of all love.

3.      Let’s read about that love of God from His Holy Word in 1 Cor. 13:13: “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”  Notice how this text talks of God’s love, not your love. That may seem like a strange thing to say at this happy and excited moment, but when this worship service is finished, your wedding is ended and your marriage starts. When your marriage starts, you’ll have to rely on God’s love, which brought you two together, more than ever before.

4.      Carl & Deborah, if you expect your love for each other to grow beyond the newborn state, you’ll have to rely entirely on God’s love for you in Jesus Christ, found in his Word and Sacraments. If you expect to love each other when the many problems of life regain your attention—after the joy of today, after your honeymoon, after the newness of your relationship has worn off—you’ll have to rely entirely on God’s love for you in Jesus Christ, found in his Word and Sacraments.

5.      If you expect to love each other as the two of you continue to grow older and your hair becomes grayer you’ll have to rely entirely on God’s love for you in Jesus Christ, found in his Word and Sacraments. If you expect to love each other even as the years bring out the less-than-perfect-realities that may not yet be obvious in the person you’re marrying, you’ll have to rely entirely on God’s love for you in Jesus Christ, found in his Word and Sacraments. If you expect to stay together in this world, where many things could easily pull you apart, you must remember that it’s God’s love that will keep you together.

6.      God’s love is the love that sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, true God and true man, to live a perfect life for us. Jesus died for us on the cross of Calvary to destroy the power of all our sin, death, and the devil. Jesus rose again three days later to proclaim his victory over death, which gives us forgiveness of all our sins and obtains for us eternal salvation in heaven. We have these blessings only through faith in Jesus as our Savior, which the Holy Spirit works in us through God’s Word and Sacraments. We have the sure hope of salvation because of the saving faith God gave us in his love in Baptism. Therefore, our faith and hope are results of God’s great love for us in Jesus Christ. That’s why God’s love is greater than faith and hope.

7.      Because Jesus lives in your hearts, Carl and Deborah you, by the power of his love, are able to forgive each other and love each other in Christian love that seeks to understand, adapt, accept, sacrifice, submit, communicate, share the good and the bad, trust, serve the other, place the other first, be faithful, work together, encourage each other, and build each other up emotionally, physically, and spiritually. Because Jesus lives in your hearts, Carl and Deborah, you will still have God’s perfect love if your emotional love wavers and erodes.

8.      You see, your Christian marriage today is actually between you two and God, not just you two alone. When the link between you two is weakened, it can and will be strengthened and repaired because of the links you two have with Jesus Christ through his love. Christ’s love will keep you together. This is the love so great that God, “gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16). This is the saving and caring love you live in each day until your last day. This is your love. This is God’s love.  Amen.

“A Joyful Reunion in the Lord’s House” 1 Thess. 4.13-18; Psalm 26.8, Funeral sermon for Russell Mahan, Nov. 16, ‘13

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Dear family and friends of Russell, our thoughts and prayers go out to you as you mourn his death.  But, Russell wouldn’t want you to grieve as one who doesn’t have any hope.  He would want you to know that he was a baptized child of God, who was brought into God’s Kingdom through the waters of Holy Baptism here in this church at St. John Baldwin on Oct. 31^st, 1943.  On the same day Russell was baptized he was also confirmed in the Christian faith.  The confirmation verse he received that day was from Psalm 26:8 which says,“⁸O Lord, I love the habitation of your house and the place where your glory dwells.”  Why do we love the house of the Lord as God’s people?  Because it’s the place where we receive the gifts of salvation to free us from sin, death, and the power of the devil that Jesus freely offers us through His Word and Sacraments of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.  The message from God’s Word today is taken from Psalm 26:8 and 1 Thess. 4:13-18, it’s entitled, “A Joyful Reunion in the Lord’s House,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ. 

 I will miss Russell.  In my visits with Russell, he always liked to joke around with me and he would remind me to make sure that I would keep things short when I shared God’s Word with him.  For this reason I’m going to have a short funeral sermon this morning in his honor.  Russell lived a long and blessed life.  He and his wife Elvera often spoke to me about their experiences on the family farm, but they also would tell me about the travels they had taken across the world to Africa, Australia, and other parts of the United States.  Russell was a committed family man as well, I could tell from all the pictures of their children and grandchildren that they had in their home.  He loved his wife Elvera, who fell asleep in Jesus a year ago, and he deeply missed her.  As Christians we grieve with hope because we don’t have to fear death, instead we look forward to eternal life that we will share with our Lord Jesus and with the saints of God who have gone before us in the Christian faith.  This is what Russell looked forward to:  seeing his wife Elvera, his daughter Diane, but most importantly his Savior Jesus in the glories of heaven.  He looked forward to that joyful reunion with Jesus and his loved ones who died in the Christian faith in the Lord’s house.

3.      We who believe in Jesus Christ don’t grieve without hope and don’t fear death, because our faith in Christ assures us of the gift of eternal life.   Jesus Himself said this in the best-known Bible verse of all when He declared, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16).  But, there are those who don’t know of this hope of eternal life we have through our Savior Jesus.  A husband and wife were leaving church after a funeral service. Squeezing her husband’s arm, the wife whispered, “Honey, how can anyone who doesn’t believe in Jesus cope with the death of a loved one?” How true! To be separated by death from a loved one is a frightening experience. 

4.      That’s why in a world that’s filled with all sorts of doubts about death and what happens to the body after death, it’s understandable that hopelessness and insecurity will mark people’s attitudes toward the deaths of those dear to them.  And we as God’s people will not be unaffected by these attitudes of a world lost in sin.  But, if “we believe that Jesus died and rose again,” then there’s no reason to grieve over our deceased loved ones as those without hope.  That’s why the Apostle Paul encouraged the Thessalonians that they might conquer their grief born out of the hopeless views of an unbelieving world.  It’s the same faith in our Savior Jesus that needs to be firmly established in us to help us bear our grief in the face of death.

5.      St. Paul reminds us in 1 Thessalonians 4 that the death for the child of God is the beginning of an even better life, and we look forward to a joyful reunion in heaven.  He speaks of that day of celebration when he writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17: “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (vv. 16–17).   Paul tells us that to experience hope in the midst of grief, we need to believe in the living Jesus.  But, how can we believe?  Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of Christ.”  Continuing to hear the Good News of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus will give us that saving faith we need to have hope in the midst of death.  When Jesus’ good friend Lazarus died and his sisters were grief-stricken, Jesus turned their attention to Himself, “Your brother will rise again…  I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” (Luke 11).

6.      On this day we mourn the death of Russell remember the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  That is something the Thessalonians didn’t do, and it’s something even Jesus’ disciples didn’t do.  One would think the disciples would’ve been waiting at the grave of Jesus on Easter Sunday for him to come out.  Instead they went into hiding when they heard the grave was empty.  Though Jesus had told them he would spend no more than three days in the grave and though they had visible proof in the resurrection miracles that Jesus had performed in raising the widow of Nain’s son, Lazarus, and Jairus’ daughter from death, the disciples were sad and without hope in the moment of Jesus’ death, because they didn’t anticipate the blessed hope of the resurrection.

7.      As the reality of sin and death is before us this morning let us not forget our blessed hope in Jesus.  We have confidence that those who die in Jesus, like our dear brother in the Christian faith Russell, God will raise from the dead.  Our Lord Jesus will bring their souls together with their risen bodies to enjoy the happiness of heaven forever in a joyful reunion in the Lord’s house that will have no end.  May our sorrowing hearts be uplifted in this blessed hope!  Prayer; Lord Jesus, our resurrected Savior, teach us to anticipate with the hope of faith the glorious resurrection of all those who live and die in you and to look forward to a joyful reunion that will have no end.  Amen. 

“Jesus: The Light, Salvation, & Stronghold of Our Lives” (Psalm 27:1), LaVerna Luthy’s Funeral Sermon preached at St. John Lutheran Church Baldwin, IL

By Pastor John M. Taggatz 11/12/13

1.            May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be pleasing in Your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer.  Amen.  Dear family and friends of LaVerna, today we grieve with you over her death.  LaVerna will be deeply missed, but we know that this day isn’t the end for her, but just the beginning of a new life that she shares with her Savior Jesus in heaven!  For this reason we’ll be looking at LaVerna’s confirmation verse she received on March 25^th, 1943 at St. Peter Lutheran Church of Campbell Hill, which is from Psalm 27:1.  The message is entitled, “Jesus:  The Light, Salvation, & Stronghold of Our Lives,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.            I will miss LaVerna.  Though she had lost her memory later in life, that didn’t stop her from being very active at Three Springs Nursing Home in Chester, where she resided for the last few years.  LaVerna was a very active lady.  Being the wife of a farmer, she kept her home in order, caring for her husband, Clifford, and her children, Dale, Allen, and Janet.  Not only did LaVerna look after her home, but she also worked outside of the home to help provide for her family. LaVerna was very family oriented, being a devoted wife, mother, aunt, sister, and grandmother.  She was talented too.  LaVerna was known for her skill of sewing.  She sewed many of the clothes for her husband and children from coats, to shirts, to blue jeans.  She even made special Barbie doll clothes as well.  She was a real talented “get up and go” person.  And even though LaVerna had grown older over the years and lost her memory to do these things, God her Heavenly Father didn’t forget her. Just as the LORD remembered Noah before He sent the worldwide flood, He remembered LaVerna and her baptism, in calling her to be His child through water and His holy Word.

3.            LaVerna knew that she was a sinner in need of a Savior, and that’s why she confessed her faith in Jesus.  Whenever I made my visits to see LaVerna,  whether at her home, the hospital, or at the nursing home she would always have a smile on her face.  She knew that she would receive the preaching of God’s Word and the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper from me her pastor for the forgiveness of her sins and that these gifts of God promised her the wonderful gift of eternal life.  In my visits with LaVerna I could tell that she knew what it meant that Jesus had died on the cross for her sins, but she also knew of the hope that we have in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  Because Jesus has risen from the dead, we too shall rise to live with God for all eternity in heaven with both our body and our soul when the Lord returns at the final judgment.  This was the faith that LaVerna remained in all 92 years of her life.  She believed that Jesus was her light, salvation, and the stronghold of her life.

4.            Laverna’s confirmation verse from Psalm 27:1 says, “¹The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”  As sinners who live in a fallen world, we know what the author of Psalm 27 knows: troubles and trials abound.  The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23 that, “the wages of sin is death.” That things go badly is well established in this sinful world we live in. From early morning to late evening, from the early years to the late evening of life, anxiety persists. A child worries about an upcoming move to a new school. A father fears the pending diagnosis of his adult son’s illness. Pangs of anxiety seize an elderly woman in the wake of her husband’s death. The trouble we face today is compounded by the uncertainty of tomorrow.  Anxious questions choke statements of faith. Will my cancer return? What if I lose my job, my health insurance?  And yet in the midst of all of our worries we can look to our Lord Jesus who is our light, salvation, and the stronghold of our lives.  Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30, “ ²⁸Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ²⁹Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. ³⁰For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

5.            The first three verses of Psalm 27 express the soul’s confidence in God on the basis of the psalmist’s previous experience of him. King David says that God has been three things to him: his light, his salvation, and his stronghold.  When any of us think of God, maybe we try to visualize him, the best we can do is to think of light, remembering Paul’s teaching that God “lives in unapproachable light” (1 Tim. 6:16). For this reason, it’s a bit of a surprise to learn that, although God is often associated with light in the Bible, this verse is the only direct application of the name light to God in the Old Testament. Job speaks of heaven as the “abode of light” (Job 38:19). Psalm 104 says that God “wraps himself in light as with a garment” (v. 2). Several verses affirm that “the Lord turns my darkness into light” (2 Sam. 22:29; cf. Ps. 18:28). Psalm 36:9 declares, “In your light we see light.” But, Psalm 27:1 is the only Old Testament text in which God is actually called light.

6.            We have to go to the New Testament to find a good parallel, and when we do, we find that light is a name for Jesus Christ: “The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it. … The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world” (John 1:5, 9). John, who makes this identification, also says, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).  What is this image supposed to mean? In the gospel of John it has to do with understanding, which is why it is applied to Jesus. Through our Lord Jesus we need not fear sin, death, or the power of the devil, because He is the light that can dispel such fearful darkness.

7.            The Hebrew word for salvation means “deliverance,” so in Psalm 27 this probably has to do with deliverance from the king’s enemies. The very next psalm expresses the same idea when it says, “The Lord is the strength of his people, a fortress of salvation for his anointed one” (Ps. 28:8).  So too, our Lord Jesus has come to be our strong deliverer. If we believe in Him as our Savior through His Word, then we have the promise that He will deliver us even from eternal death and damnation in hell, just as He has done for His dear servant, Laverna.

8.            The final image that we have in Psalm 27:1 is that our Lord Jesus is the refuge and stronghold of our lives. David clearly needed a refuge from his foes. He had had it in the past. Therefore, he won’t fear any future dangers. Even if his foes should attack, an army should besiege him, or war should break out against the nation, David won’t fear as long as God is his stronghold.

9.            As we read Psalm 27 we can see that light can speak of spiritual understanding. Salvation points to the greatest of all deliverances, namely, deliverance from sin by the death of Jesus Christ. Stronghold refers to that spiritual refuge from the pains and troubles of life which God himself is for his people.  The theologian John Stott puts our understanding well when he says, “The Lord is my light, to guide me; my salvation, to deliver me; and the stronghold of my life, in whom I take refuge.”

10.        There is no fear where there is love because love casts out fear (Romans 8:15).  In the midst of death, we might fear the unknown, but thanks to Jesus’ crucifixion we know where death leads.  Death is now a refuge for us, providing for us a rest from our suffering.  The pain and suffering in life can’t hurt us anymore.  Even in the midst of death we’re not afraid, because God first loved us in His Son Jesus (1 John 4:9).  The love of God is perfected in the death of His saints because our own death is the portal to the immortality of Jesus Christ’s resurrection.  Jesus is waiting for you to welcome you home to your Heavenly Father.  He is your light and your salvation.  In Him there is no fear.

11.        But, the reality is that our dear loved one, LaVerna, has died.  The whole truth doesn’t end there though.  For we know that Jesus died LaVerna’s death on the cross, just as He has died the death that you deserve because of your sin.  LaVerna did all the dying that needs to be done in her baptism, when she received Jesus’ death as her own and His resurrection as well (Romans 6:4).  From that moment, Jesus took LaVerna’s hand to lead her through all trials and travails of life.  And, Jesus didn’t let go of LaVerna, even as she traveled into death, for her death was swallowed up in the victory of Christ’s cross (Isaiah 25:6-9).  Death is a stop, not a destination, on the way to the room Jesus has prepared for LaVerna in His Heavenly house (John 14:3).

12.        If we believe in Jesus as our light, salvation, and stronghold, then we too are a part of the land of the living.  Jesus is the door to eternal life in the Heavenly Promised Land.  In His kingdom there is no death, pain, or suffering, for Jesus will wipe away all tears and calm all fears so that you may gaze upon the beauty of our God (Rev. 21:4), just as LaVerna is doing now in the gates of paradise.  We look forward to that day when we will be reunited with LaVerna and all the saints of God who have gone before us in the Christian faith, when we too will see our Lord Jesus who is our light, salvation, and stronghold face to face.  Amen.

“Is There Life After Death?” Luke 20.27-40, Nov. ’13 series C

1.     Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The message from God’s Word today comes from the Gospel of Luke 20:27-40.  In our Gospel lesson today we are given Jesus’ response to the Sadducees about the resurrection and eternal life.  This makes us wonder, “Is There Life After Death?”  We understand from the Sadducees in our text that man’s reason denies it (vv. 27–33), but our Lord Jesus describes it (vv. 34–36), and the Holy Scripture teach it, dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.     “God is not a God of the dead.” This doesn’t mean that God is indifferent toward human beings who are already dead. God hasn’t forgotten them. In fact, death is an enemy to God, and overcoming death is for God as important as defeating sin.

3.     “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55) With these words, Paul rejoices with thanksgiving for the victory of God in Jesus Christ over the powers of death. But, Paul’s statement isn’t meant to support the idea that death doesn’t really exist. Instead, we have to take seriously what our living Lord Jesus says in Revelation 1:18: “[I am] the living one. I was dead, and see, I am alive forever and ever; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.” These keys are only in the Lord’s hands and never in our hands. If we are Jesus’ followers, then we follow the one who has these keys in his hands.

4.     It’s this living Lord who is encountered in today’s text by some Sadducees, a group of modern intellectuals of that time. The Sadducees refused the idea of a continuation of life after death. According to them, everything comes to an end with death; therefore, life is to be lived as fully as possible within the boundaries of earthly time. Because their belief is in great contrast with what Jesus teaches about survival after death, the Sadducees set a trap for him, hoping his answer will show that his teaching about the resurrection of the dead is absurd.

5.     The Sadducees say, let us imagine the case of seven brothers who marry their brother’s widow as prescribed by the law of the time. If there is eternal life, upon the death of all the brothers and the woman, to whom will the woman be married? This imaginary scenario is meant to make fun of Jesus. But, Jesus takes them seriously, and he makes this one basic point: After their death they will no longer marry or be given in marriage, for they are now like angels, children of God, and will remain so forever (vv. 34–36).

6.     What Jesus points out to the Sadducees is that eternal life isn’t simply the continuation of mortal life beyond death. Whatever eternal life is like is on the other side of earthly life, we should not think of it as a continuation of our current earthly life that affords us an opportunity to complete still imperfect works. We humans have to do now what we can do for the good, such as help the needy and work for the improvement of mankind, resist tyrannical threats to fellow human beings and other creatures. “But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today’ ” (Heb. 3:13a).

7.     The point that Jesus makes to the Sadducees is this: Death is the end of many things, but it is not the end of everything. Our death is not the end of God. In a German hymn Paul Gerhardt writes, “Everything passes away / but God stands / without faltering; / his thoughts, / his word and his will have eternal ground.” We are living in a certain time, but God “alone is immortal” (1 Tim. 6:16 NIV).

8.     When this is quite clear for us, then we are allowed to make a further step. This God is not a mere god. This God does not release his creatures. In his compassion God puts them in his heart, and they will not ever be excluded from it.  God’s mercy is unending toward those to whom he is merciful, towards those who repent of their sins and turn to Him for eternal life. As they were, so they are now in God. Because they are in God, this means that they are now healed from their illnesses and cleansed from their evils.

9.     In the hours of the last evening of his life, the theologian Karl Barth was working on a lecture. In that last lecture, he wrote of God as the God of the living in these words: “All live to him, from the Apostles to the forebears of yesterday and the day before yesterday. They do not have only the right, [but also relevance in the present] to be heard also today.” These sentences call our attention back to the text, to the sentence about the God of Abraham, of Isaac, of Jacob (v. 37b) and the assertion that to God all of these ancestors are alive (v. 38).

10.  What does it mean to say, “to him all … are alive”? This means that all the saints of God who believed in the promises of God in Jesus Christ who lived before us and who are now not among us are living “to God.” Because of that connection with Jesus, they are also not dead to us. They have not only spoken in their former times; they still speak today. We do not live without them.  Through our Lord Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life, we are connected to our loved ones who have gone before us and died in the Christian faith. The members of the first elected people of Israel, the members of the Christian church who believed in Jesus as their Savior—none of them has passed away. We are today, together with them, the complete people of God.

11.  Man is created with body and soul. Though the soul continues to exist when the body dies, man is meant to be body and soul. Body and soul are reunited in the resurrection. If Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob would remain in the grave, then Yahweh would be a God of dead men. This is impossible. He is a God “of the living.”  Jesus reminds us that when God spoke to Moses, he spoke as the God of the covenant. Our Lord Jesus is the “Keeper of promises,” the “I AM” of the Bible. He faithfully brought us our salvation through His cross and empty tomb. And our Lord Jesus will faithfully bring us into his glory. He is our God in this life and into eternity.  Amen.

“God’s Saints Sing a New Song” Psalm 149.1-9, All Saints’ Day sermon Nov. ‘13

1.                      In the name of Jesus.  Amen.  The message from God’s Word that we’ll be looking at today comes from Psalm 149, which is the Psalm that’s read on the festival of All Saints’ Day.  The message is entitled, “God’s Saints Sing a New Song,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.                     There are different songs for different occasions. When we’re lonely, we sing the blues. When we want to have fun, we “rock out.” When we’re sentimental, we want to hear old favorites. When we’re patriotic, we want marching bands with colors flying. Sometimes an event calls for new music. It’s been customary to compose a new symphony for each coronation of a British monarch. In this psalm there’s a call for the saints of God to sing such a new song. As God does a new work, we as God’s saints in Christ Jesus will sing about it in a new way.  One of the reformers of the 16^th century reminds us that, “There is no greater or better work of man than to have true knowledge of God, to pray to Him, and to proclaim Him” (LTh 1:49).  Our Lutheran Confessions teach, “Our churches teach that one holy Church is to remain forever. The Church is the congregation of saints” (AC VII I).  Everything that we as God’s saints do in serving and glorifying the Lord must flow out of worship, for without our Lord Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5). The most important activity of the Christian Church is the worship of God, for this is the activity we’ll continue in heaven for all eternity.

3.                     All Saints’ Day can feel like the morning after. With Halloween behind us, our culture has again indulged in its sugary shudder of nervous laughter at death, whistling past the graveyard, and trying much too hard to domesticate deep mysteries; making light of what we don’t understand and treating as child’s play what we can’t control.  But, for us as Christians All Saints’ Day gives us the opportunity to give thanks to God for all the faithful who have gone before us. On this day we talk about the “great cloud of witnesses” who now, “changed from glory into glory,” dwell upon “another shore and in a greater light.”  All Saints’ Day can be a somber and solemn occasion that’s also filled with the joy that we have in the salvation that comes through our Lord Jesus, offering us a very different view of life and death. 

4.                     Psalm 149:1 begins saying, “¹Praise the Lord!  Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise in the assembly of the godly!”  Verse 1 begins with the call to, “Praise the Lord!” This praise includes singing to Him a “new song.” Our worship as Christians is to be corporate and public.  We are to praise Him in “the congregation of saints,” so that we as God’s saints continue to sing a new song.

5.                     Psalm 149:2–4 says, “²Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! ³Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! ⁴For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.”  How are we to worship? God’s people are to “rejoice in their Maker.”  We’re to come before Him with praise worthy of God’s majesty. Worship as the saints of God in Christ Jesus is then something that we must learn to do, and we will be learning all our lives. In times of corporate worship, we as God’s saints minister and serve one another (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), but our primary focus is on the Lord, glorifying His name. Yes, we may worship the Lord in private, and we should (v. 5), but we must not forsake the assembly of the saints (Heb. 10:25), coming together for corporate worship within the church. As members of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12–13, 27), we belong to one other, affect each other, and need one other. The church family has young and old, new believers, and seasoned saints (1 Tim. 5:1–2; Titus 2:1–8; 1 John 2:12–14), and nobody should be ignored.

6.                     Psalm 149:5–9 says, “⁵Let the godly exult in glory; let them sing for joy on their beds. ⁶Let the high praises of God be in their throats and two-edged swords in their hands, ⁷to execute vengeance on the nations and punishments on the peoples, ⁸to bind their kings with chains and their nobles with fetters of iron, ⁹to execute on them the judgment written! This is honor for all his godly ones. Praise the Lord!”  The call to worship for us as God’s saints to sing a new song continues. The saints of God in Christ Jesus are to be “joyful in glory” and “sing aloud on their beds” (v. 5). This could mean that we as God’s saints are to worship privately in our own devotional life as well as publicly in corporate worship.

7.                     But, notice how the psalmist tells us that Christian worship isn’t an escape. Christian worship is a preparation for battle. Our worship to Christ Jesus, the Lamb who was slain on Calvary’s cross for the forgiveness of our sins, becomes a weapon for the warfare God calls us to in this world. As a pastor I have often seen the Lord come and minister to people as we worship. When the presence of God is evident, demons flee and salvation comes.

8.                     That’s why worship and warfare go together, as the book of Revelation makes very clear. Satan has always wanted to be worshiped (Isa. 14:12–15), and he’s willing to pay for it (Matt. 4:8–11). Satan is constantly at work enticing the world to worship him (Rev. 13), for he doesn’t mind if people are “religious” so long as they leave out Jesus and His cross and empty tomb. Whether we like it or not, the church is an army, this world is a battlefield, and there’s a struggle going on for the souls of lost sinners (Matt. 16:17–18; Eph. 6:10ff; 2 Tim. 2:3–4; 2 Cor. 10:3–5). Jesus Christ, our Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6), is also the Conquering Warrior (45:3–7; Rev. 19:11–21), and like the workers in Nehemiah’s day, we must have both tools for building and swords for battling (Neh. 4:17–18). As God’s saints, our weapons are prayer, the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Eph. 6:17; Heb. 4:12), and hymns of praise to the Lord. Worship is warfare, for we are singing soldiers! Did not our Lord Jesus sing before He went out to the cross to do battle against the devil? (See Matt. 26:30; John 12:31–32; and Col. 2:13–15.)  It’s because of what our Lord Jesus has done for us by dying on the cross for our sins that we as God’s saints sing a new song.

9.                     God has declared in writing that “the day of the Lord” will come when He will send judgment to a world that has rejected Jesus as the Savior of mankind and chosen to worship Satan instead (Rev. 6–19). We as God’s saints will appear to be the losers, but in the end, we will conquer the enemy and rule with Christ (Rev. 19:11ff). Today, the sword belongs to human governments (Rom. 13), and God’s servants don’t employ it (John 18:10–11, 36–37). But the day of the Lord will come “as a thief in the night” (1 Thess. 5:2ff), and then Christ will “gird His sword … and ride prosperously (45:3–5).” Until then, we as God’s saints must realize that worship is a part of our spiritual warfare. To ignore worship, trivialize it, turn it into entertainment, or make it a routine activity is to play right into the hands of Satan. It’s an honor to serve in the Lord’s army of worshiping warriors!

10.                 Psalm 149 reminds us that as Judgment Day draws near, we as God’s saints will sing a new song on account of our Lord Jesus and the salvation we have in Him.  The Scriptures tell us that even we as God’s saints will join God in the acts of judgment day. The double-edged sword with which we will strike God’s enemies is the sword of the Word of God (Revelation 1:16; 19:15; Hebrews 4:12). The Law of God, which we as God’s saints have preached, will condemn the world, which ignored it. The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the world rejected, will increase the world’s guilt before God.  The specific way that we as believers will work with Christ on Judgment Day isn’t clearly spelled out in Scripture, but it is indicated by such passages as 1 Corinthians 6:2, 3, which includes even the evil angels among those whom we shall judge. To be given the glorious privilege of joining Christ in the work of judgment is cause to praise the Lord and to sing a new song to Him as God’s saints.  Please pray with me:  “O Christ, our King, we praise You in the Church! As Your saints, when we worship and when we are alone, we adore You. Give us courage to engage in spiritual warfare—against the world, our flesh, and the devil—with the two-edged sword of Your Word, and grant us the victory through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  O Lord, we thank You that You have made us, and that we belong to You as Your precious saints, and that we are the sheep of Your pasture (Psalm 100:3).  O God, you have called us out of the darkness of sin, death, and the devil into Your marvelous light, we give You thanks for all whom You have chosen to be made holy—both past and present.  What a joy it is that we too are Your Holy saints for the sake of Your Son Jesus Christ.” Amen.

“Our Lord’s Steadfast Love” (Isaiah 54:10) Verna Bingham’s funeral sermon 11/1/13

1.        Grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  At a time of grieving like this, those who are present, and I, on behalf of this congregation, offer your family and all who were closest to Verna my deepest sympathy.  May our Lord who knows your needs, comfort and give you strength to uphold one another.  Today we’re going to look at Verna’s confirmation verse that she received here at St. John Lutheran Church in Baldwin on April 10^th, 1938 which is from Isaiah 54:10.  Isaiah 54:10 says, “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”  The message is entitled, “Our Lord’s Steadfast Love,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.        Verna’s parents, Otto & Martha, wanted Verna to receive the steadfast love of the Lord and so before Verna was even a week old they rushed her into the arms of her Savior. They knew that Verna had been born into the sadness of sin, and they wished for her to have the forgiveness of sins and the eternal joys of heaven. The Savior reached out and received that little baby, took her into his arms, marked her with the holy cross, and branded Verna from that moment as one of his own. A sheep of his own fold. A sinner of his own redeeming. And so before even a week old by the power of Holy Baptism, Verna was brought into the family of God.

3.        In my many wonderful chances to meet with Verna at her home, in the hospital, and in the nursing home I came to know that she had a wonderful relationship with Jesus as her Lord and Savior.  She knew that she was a sinner in need of God’s grace and mercy that could only be given to her through Jesus.  That’s why she looked forward to hearing God’s Word proclaimed to her and receiving our Lord’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper given and shed for her for the forgiveness of her sins, as she did this past Sunday in the hospital, the day before our Heavenly Father called her home to heaven.

4.        Verna was a gentle soul who I will deeply miss.  She was a very kind hearted individual.  I remember Verna telling me in one of the first times that she and I met in my homebound visits with her that she had babysat a lot of kids in her day.  And many of those children that Verna babysat and invested her time with deeply loved her and respected her.  So much so, that they often didn’t want to leave Verna’s house after she had been watching them.  As many of you know Verna had a lot of ups and downs over the last few years, with her hip being replaced, and with problems with her heart.  But, through it all Verna showed us great courage and what it means for a Christian to grow in the faith of our Lord Jesus, to continue to persevere, keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him enduring the cross scorning the shame and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.  (Hebrews 12)  Verna truly missed her son-in-law Denny and her husband Albert.  But, now she is with them in heaven and enjoying that reunion with them that will have no end.  And, we who are still here on earth look forward to that day we will be with Verna again too in heaven through faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 

5.        This leads us to Verna’s confirmation verse from Isaiah 54:10.  Let me read it in context to you from Isaiah 54:6-10, “⁶For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. ⁷For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. ⁸In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. ⁹“This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. ¹⁰For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.”

6.        Here in Isaiah 54 the Lord retraced the history of the Old Testament people, using the metaphor of the unfaithful wife and the faithful husband.  It’s a metaphor that God uses through both the Old and New Testaments, such as in the book of Hosea or in Ephesians 5.  How interesting that God summed up all the Old Testament history with this short passage.  Here we learn that the LORD had married his people centuries earlier.  We could consider the promises to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the engagement.  When the people had grown in strength and number, God married himself to them.  He brought them out of Egypt and made them His own.  He gave them and their children and a land flowing with milk and honey.  Israel was the love of God’s life, as any young, beautiful wife would be the love of a husband’s life.  But over the centuries, Israel had proven to be an unfaithful wife. 

7.        They had committed spiritual adultery by worshiping other gods.  God warned his adulterous wife of the consequences of her unfaithfulness.  Finally, as a faithful husband, God left his unfaithful wife.  That’s why Isaiah says, “For a brief moment I abandoned you.”  Here Isaiah’s prophecy foretold what would happen to Israel because of their idolatry.  God allowed the other nations of the earth to conquer them and take them away from their homeland, holding them captive.  God’s action was just.  He had faithfully loved Israel as his wife and cared for her, but she turned away from him and spurned his love.  Because of this he sent her away into exile. 

8.        All of this appeared as the past in the prophet’s eye, even though some of it was still to come when Isaiah wrote these words.  As perfect and just God’s action against His people were, an even stronger emotion motivated him.  God acted with compassion.  His love is deeper than any of us have a right to hope.  What greater love can there be than God sending His one and only Son Jesus Christ to this earth to redeem all of us, including unfaithful Israel, from sin, death and the devil.  He did this not when his people were faithful to him, but when they were rebellious and unfaithful.  Note how here in Isaiah 54 that the affliction of God’s people is brief.  But, the love of God is eternal.  This is what the Apostle Paul means when he says in Romans 5:8-10, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!”  

9.        God reminded his people that his love is not only deep, wide, high and long.  It’s also permanent.  In order to emphasize his point, God recalled the oath he took after the flood.  When Noah and his family came out of the ark, God said that he would never again destroy the earth as he had done in Genesis chapters 8-9.  This ancient promise echoes in the one that God makes here in Isaiah 54:9 where he says, “as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you.”  The oath of God makes it so.  Nothing can change such a promise of God.  Because of the work of His Son Jesus, God has promised to watch over his people.  He has done so for Verna as well.  All things will work out for those who love God.

10.    But, the Lord isn’t finished describing his love and compassion toward his people here in Isaiah 54.  The most permanent things we know on earth are mountains. They remain from generation to generation.  Mt. Everest may have had a different name today than it did in the days of Isaiah, but it has remained the same mountain down to our own age.  Even if such a mountain, or any mountain, could be shake and removed.  God’s love can’t be shaken.  It’s a permanent love.  A love that He has towards all of us.  A love that He had toward Verna now that He has given her a mansion in heaven through His Son Jesus Christ.  From God’s love flows our comfort, peace and confidence, no matter what the future of may hold for us.

11.    When God made a covenant with Noah after the flood, he placed the rainbow in the clouds as a sign of the covenant of peace he promised to Noah and all his descendants.  Isaiah prophesied a covenant of a far greater peace than that of a rainbow.  The sign of that covenant is the work of the Servant described in Isaiah 53.  In New Testament terms, the sign of that covenant is the suffering and death of Jesus Christ.  Because of the Lord Jesus, we have peace with God.  The peace Jesus has established between God and the sinner remains sure and certain.  God won’t change His mind.  Those who trust in God, as Verna did, and what He has done to redeem humanity are covered in the covenant of peace.  Nothing in all eternity will change that covenant, because nothing can change the deep compassion God has for his people.  Thanks be to God all believers of all time are included in this promise through God’s Son Jesus who died on the cross for our sins.  You, Verna, and I are included in this promise of eternal life and the forgiveness of sins.  Thanks be to God that we have all of this and that He has given us the victory over death itself through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.