So, what is your claim to fame? I guess some people would say, what is your testimony? Or what is your testimonial? Personally, my testimony is that I was conceived and born in sin. Every inclination of my heart is evil all the time. I am constantly breaking God’s commandments. I break them in thought, in word and in deed. Thanks be to God that He has paid for and offers forgiveness to me. So, my testimony is that I am a child of God. God put His name on me at my baptism. He put faith in my heart. He gave me forgiveness of sins. He wrote my name in the book of life. He claimed me as His child. I guess I am just a regular person.
Before we get to our text for this morning, I want to take a quick look at the other lessons. In the Epistle lesson, Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul writes about the mystery of God. Paul reminds us of God’s great love for us, including the fact that God created all things out of nothing, Adam and Eve spoiled what God created, God promised and sent a Savior, and really we have nothing to offer our Lord except what He has first given to us. How unsearchable, how un-understandable is God’s great love for us, His sinful creatures.
In the Gospel lesson we have the account of Jesus discussing with His disciples who people thought He was. Peter, not of Himself, but being lead by the Father, tells us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, that is Jesus is both God and man who came to fulfill the promises and prophecies of God.
In our text, Isaiah speaks the word of the Lord to the faithless and unbelieving Israel. He gives them the example of Abraham. We pick up at verse two, “2Look to Abraham your father and to Sarah who bore you; for he was but one when I called him, that I might bless him and multiply him (v. 2). Israel is pointed to childless Abraham who only had a promise. Here we are reminded that Old Testament salvation was based on the same thing that New Testament salvation is based, that is faith, faith in the coming Messiah. Abraham did not have any children, but he believed God’s promise that he would have a child.
To Abraham and Sarah God gave the gift of a son. Isaac was indeed a miracle given by God. Remember, both Abraham and Sarah were up in the years, both really beyond child bearing years, yet, that did not stop God from fulfilling His promise and giving them a child.
The fact that God keeps His promises gives us a look at God’s righteousness. As we look at that history of the children of Israel we see that it was a history of ups and downs. God chose Israel. God promised to make them a great nation. God did everything for them and yet, time and again they rebelled against Him. They rejected Him. They rejected His covenant. When they rebelled the Lord allowed for them to be disciplined until they returned to faith and the cycle of falling away, being disciplined, coming back to faith, and again falling away continued. Yet we see God’s mercy in His continual call to them to repent.
Picking up at verse three we hear God’s Word of comfort. “3For the Lord comforts Zion; he comforts all her waste places and makes her wilderness like Eden, her desert like the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness will be found in her, thanksgiving and the voice of song” (v. 3). God’s promises brought hope and encouragement especially during down times. These words of Isaiah are especially important to us today as we have these same words to encourage us during our own down times, even if our down times are caused by our own actions and are times the Lord may be disciplining us as well.
Finally, in our text we have God’s word of salvation. We pick up at verse four, “4Give attention to me, my people, and give ear to me, my nation; for a law will go out from me, and I will set my justice for a light to the peoples. 5My righteousness draws near, my salvation has gone out, and my arms will judge the peoples; the coastlands hope for me, and for my arm they wait” (v. 4, 5). Again, we see God’s continual favor on His people. Continually God promised restoration to His people. This happened time and again as we just said.
The ultimate restoration for Israel was not simply restoration for Israel, but was the restoration first promised in the Garden of Eden, the restoration first promised before there was a Jew and Gentile, when there was only Adam and Eve and that first promise of restoration was a promise for sins to be forgiven by the price for sin being paid for by the Messiah.
So, let us get to the what does this mean? I believe we need the constant reminder that God’s promise of salvation was first given in the Garden of Eden, and it was given to all people. It is only as we keep this in mind and fully understand this first promise and especially when and to whom it is given that the rest of God’s Word will fall into place. Understanding the when, the where and the to whom helps us to keep from falling into other false teachings that are prevalent in our world today especially concerning dispensationalism, millenialism and many other isms which would have us believe that God has more than one covenant with His people, or that unbelievers will get a second chance and so forth. God made one covenant and it was a covenant of grace based on what He would do for all people.
As history unfolded, the line of fulfillment of God’s promise of salvation was narrowed through Abraham. Out of all people, God chose Abraham. This had nothing to do with Abraham or his goodness or faithfulness or anything. As a matter of fact we are told of Abraham’s idolatry in that he had to put his idols away to do the Lord’s bidding. This calling by God simply had to do with the fact that God chose him. Again as history unfolded we see this promise being passed down from generation to generation.
Finally, at just the right time we see God’s promise being fulfilled. God’s promise was fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Jesus was born, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, conceived by the Holy Spirit and true man, born of the human woman. Thus, Jesus was born perfect and holy. He lived perfectly. He was tempted beyond what we might think or imagine and yet He never sinned. Instead, He took our sins, all our sins, upon Himself and suffered, paying the price for our sins, shedding His holy precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death He paid the price, the cost which was eternal spiritual death. He did this because of His great love for us.
God’s ultimate fulfillment is when Christ returns to judge. And so we wait. We wait with eager anticipation. We wait living lives of faith so that others see the hope that we have so that they ask and we are ready to give an answer for the hope that we have. Christ will return, or we will go to Him, either way, we will ultimately stand before Jesus as our judge.
This morning we also ask, how is this done? As Christians, we live lives and our lives are lives of ups and downs, sins and sins forgiven. Sometimes we sin without thinking about it, that simply is our nature. Sometimes we sin while thinking about it, that is deliberate sin. Too often we fail to recognize that we are actually enemies of God and tools of Satan as we sin. Sometimes we may suffer some physical punishment for our sin, but not always. Yet our Lord continues to call us to repentance. And so our lives are lives of ups and downs.
Especially during our down times we have God’s Word and His Sacraments which bring us hope. God’s Word does what it says. As we read God’s Word, as we make use of the sacraments, remembering our baptism, partaking of the Lord’s body and blood in His Holy Meal, as we confess our sins and hear His most beautiful and precious word, “Your sins are forgiven,” that Word and those sacraments give exactly what they say, forgiveness of sins. And forgiveness is so important. Remember, without forgiveness we remain in our sins and our only hope would be despair. But with forgiveness there is life and salvation.
And so we look forward in hope, which for us as Christians is not an uncertain wish washy hope, but a certainty, a definite. Hope is not for something we see, for who hopes for what he already has. Hope is what is not seen, in particular, our hope is for eternal life with Jesus in heaven. This is our hope and our confidence. Remember, by faith in Jesus we have forgiveness of sins and with forgiveness is life and salvation. And this is a present reality. Heaven is ours now. We will have to wait until the Lord returns or until we pass on to get into heaven which is what is our hope, but it is ours now.
What great love our Lord has for us, beyond our imagination and understanding. As we are reminded in all our lessons for this morning, our salvation is not dependent on ourselves. I would suggest that our culture makes it so difficult for us to understand and accept this truth. So often we are told by our culture and we actually focus on ourselves and what we think we must and can do. We get our focus confused and in the wrong direction. We have a cross at the front of our church so that as we come into divine service we can get our focus and direction oriented in the right way. We always focus on Jesus. Just Jesus. As Isaiah encourages us in the last verse of our text, “6Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth beneath; for the heavens vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and they who dwell in it will die in like manner; but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness will never be dismayed” (v. 6).
I do not believe this world will continue on forever. I do believe we are living in the last days, as it were, just as Jesus’ birth ushered in the last days. I do believe that even if the Lord does not come during my life time, I will go to Him, either way, I will stand before Him. I also believe that there are many people who do not know the Lord, and there are many who know Him, but every Sunday refuse and reject Him, of course I do not mean on this particular Sunday when many simply cannot make it because of weather conditions, but on any given Sunday there are many who are able to be here yet refuse and reject Him. We can sit and navel gaze and bemoan this fact, or we can, with the Lord’s help of course, live lives of faith, encouraging and uplifting others, inviting them to come and hear God’s Word so they too may be a part of His kingdom. My prayer is that we will harken to Paul’s Words and take comfort in Isaiah’s word this morning. I pray we may use the gifts that God has given to each one of us and take comfort in the fact that it is not ours to do otherwise, but it is the Lord who works and gives faith when and where He pleases. And then we thank the Lord for His gift of faith to us and we pray that He would continue to work through us in this place so that we might be the people He would have us to be, encouraging each other, building each other up, inviting the foreigners and outsider to be a part of His kingdom, that is that we might be about the business of strengthening the faith of our own members, extending God’s kingdom in this place and above all, giving praise and glory to His Holy Name. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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