Today is the last Sunday in this present church year. As we end this church year and are on the verge of beginning a new church year, we are reminded of how fast this year went by and how fast we speed through this life. I am sure you are aware of the fact that the older you get the faster time seems to go by. Here we are reaching the end of another church year and it seems as if we just started it not long ago. I would hypothesize that one of the reasons time seems to go by so fast is because we fill our time with so much, and so many things to do, that it just seems as if the time is hurrying by. We know that time is relative. Think about when you were a child waiting for something, driving to grandma’s house or waiting for Christmas. Unless you had something to occupy your time, it seemed like it took forever and back then we did not have as much to occupy our time as children do today. As we get older we tend to have too many things occupying our time which makes the time seem to rush by even faster. As we reach the end of this church year we need to take some of our already precious time and make sure that the things on which we spend our time are things that are worthy of our time. Remember, the devil does not tell you to stay away from church, from Bible Class, from reading God’s Word, from family devotions and the like, rather he fills your time with all sorts of other “important” or “more important” things so that you do not have time for what is most important, your relationship with the Lord. We can see that this failure to recognize that our relationship with our Lord is what should be the most important part of our lives as we look at what is happening in churches around the world, around our country, and even in our own congregation as we can see that too many of our members, 55-60%, have more important things to do on Sunday morning than to attend divine service. We can also see that it happens with our Sunday School and Bible Class attendance. Unfortunately, it is too often that we do not realize that absenting ourselves from God’s Word amounts to refusing His gifts until it is too late.
Our text for today is one that reminds us that our time really is not our time, but is God’s time. Our text also reminds us that in God’s time He promised and fulfilled His promise as He sent a Savior for us. We begin 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” (v. 4). In God’s time He promised to send a Savior. Way back in the Garden of Eden, immediately after Adam and Eve fell into sin, God first promised to send a Savior. Before there was a Jew and a Gentile God promised to send a Savior. When there was only Adam and Eve God made His promise. However, His promise was not just to Adam and Eve, but it was to all people, of all places, of all times. Likewise, as God reiterated His promise, in His time, throughout history, especially to the children of Israel, His chosen people, the promise was again, not just for the children of Israel, but was for all people. Yes, He would fulfill His promise through the children of Israel, but His promise always was a promise of a Savior for all people.
Our text describes God’s promise as the sending of the law to be a light to the nations. This law was Jesus. Jesus came to fulfill the law perfectly, for us, in our stead, because we are unable to do so. Jesus came as the true Israel. He did what the whole nation of the children of Israel was unable to do. He fulfilled God’s laws perfectly and then He gave His life on the cross. He suffered the eternal punishment which should have been ours, for us, in our place. In this way He became a light to the nations. By faith in Jesus all people have access to eternity.
Our text is one which is spoken to the children of Israel before the Savior was born. We pick up at verse five, “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. 5). The children of Israel had been waiting and continued to wait for the promised Messiah, the Savior. In our text God says that the Savior will come speedily. I do not know about you, but even more than a day of waiting is not speedily to me, let alone hundreds and even a thousand years. Yet, when God says He sends His salvation and it comes speedily, He fulfills His promise in His time and according to His perfect plan. The Lord’s salvation is Christ Jesus. Not only is Jesus the law of the Lord, He is also God’s righteousness. In His perfection He gave His life that we might have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. And the islands to which our text refers are the children of Israel who were in exile throughout the world, but they are also all Christians of all places and all times. Again, Jesus did not come just to save only a certain group of people. He came to give His life for all people, for you and me as well.
The last verse of our text is one that should make us stop and think. In verse six we read, “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). This verse is one that should help us put our priorities in the right order, or at least it should make us think about the ordering of our priorities.
As we reach the end of the church year our Bible readings are meant to remind us that the Lord is coming, sooner than we know, sooner than we expect. Because the Lord is coming, we will want to be ready. Verse six reminds us that the heavens and earth will vanish. This earth will be here no longer. But there is more. We are also reminded of the temporariness of all our earthly possessions, all our earthly “stuff.” We might ask ourselves, how much of our lives are we investing in our temporariness and how much are we investing in our eternity?
Because, about eternity, our text tells us that God’s salvation will endure forever. God’s salvation is that salvation earned for us by Jesus’ death on the cross. How much of our lives are we investing in our salvation? God gave His all. What do we give? Do we give according to what we think God, or the church deserves? Or do we give according to what God has given to us? Do we give one hour a week? Do we give two hours a week? God gave us His all. He gives us 168 hours in each week. How are we investing our time? In the business world it is said that time is money, so, how are we investing our money? How are we investing the gifts, talents and abilities our Lord has given to us? Are we investing it in the things of God, or are we so busy with the business of this world that we have little or no time for God? And you do not need to speak an answer, for your actions already speak for you. Lack of regular divine service and Bible class attendance, lack of giving of time in service to the Lord, lack of giving of talents and treasures to the Lord shows refusal of God’s gifts.
Let me ask you a question. If you knew that the world would end next Sunday, would you live your life any different this week? Would you do anything different? Now, be careful how you answer that question, because if you answer “yes,” then my next question is, then why aren’t you? Because we do not know when the world will end, that is when the Lord will return or perhaps even sooner, when we will pass on and go to Him. As we have been saying over the last several Sundays, it is imperative that we are always ready to meet the Lord.
Our text for today is one that once again points us to the cross of Christ. Jesus came to give us His all. He came to live for us in our place. That Jesus came to live for us is the fulness of the Gospel message. Yes, Jesus came to die for us, but He also came to live for us, perfectly, in our place, as our substitute, because we cannot live perfectly as God demands. Jesus gave His all because He knows that we, in and of ourselves have nothing to give. Jesus lived for us so that, by faith in Him, faith He gives to us, when God looks at us He does not see us as sinful human beings, but He sees us in Christ’s perfection.
For the children of Israel, they had to look forward in faith to the coming of the Savior. We get to look back in faith to God’s promises fulfilled. We have God’s Word, the Bible through which God gives us all His good gifts and blessings. God gives us His all and He gives us a whole lot more.
There are many in our world today who do not know God and His good gifts and blessings. And remember, God’s salvation is for all people of all times of all places. His salvation is for us, but it is not for us to keep to ourselves. His salvation is for us to make know to others. As we reach the end of this church year and as we know that the end of the world cannot be far away, we will want to work with expediency to share God’s word of salvation with others.
Are you ready? Are you ready to meet the Lord? That really is what this day and what our lessons for today are asking. Are we ready? If we are not ready then we need to get ready. We get ready by making use of the means that God uses to get us ready, His Word and His Sacraments. We get ready by changing our habits, by reading God’s Word, by remembering our Baptism, by making use of confession and absolution, by partaking of the Lord’s Supper, by making church attendance a priority and a regular habit, by attending Bible class, and by having personal and family devotions, by not refusing God’s gifts which we do by responding with our giving, ourselves first and then all other parts of our lives. If we are ready, praise the Lord. If we are ready, we show our readiness by the expediency with which we live our lives. My pray is that the Lord will stir in Your heart, so that if you are not ready, He will make you ready and if you are ready, He will work through your readiness so that others might come to know Him as well. And above all, to God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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