Sermon

Print this Sermon

November 17, 2002
3rd Sunday of End Time - Saints Triumphant
isaiah 52:1-3
Pastor Ben Berger

Wake Up! Now is the Time of Your Mission!

What are you thinking about right now? Listen, I need everyone's attention. What are you thinking of right now? Is it Judgment Day? It should be. We are in the end times, and Judgment Day is fast approaching. Once that day comes, nothing else will matter. Have you ever noticed how life stops when there's a death in the family? Work and school can wait, vacation and time off isn't as important, you're not worried about the bills at that moment. Judgment Day will be the death of the world. When that day comes, nothing else will matter. Whatever is on your mind now, won't matter then. I hope that you're prepared for that day, that you think about it often and prioritize your life around it. I also hope one of your priorities is to prepare those around you.

Two weeks ago we had four men, four parish consultants, analyze our congregation. They came to help us find more and better ways to prepare ourselves and those around us for Judgment Day. The lead consultant, Pastor Paul Kelm, began his summary report by telling us that now is the time of our mission. Today Isaiah tells us the very same thing. Wake up! Now is the time of your mission! I) You have strength and glory. II) You have freedom and redemption.

Thousands of years ago the prophet Isaiah wrote to God's people, Israel, as they sat in bondage in a foreign country. He encouraged them to remain strong and faithful to their God who promised to deliver them. Today Isaiah writes to you. You are the people of Zion, the people of Jerusalem. Isaiah encourages you to remain strong and faithful as you live in bondage to sin in this foreign world. He encourages you with God's promise to deliver you from this world. As you wait, he encourages you to Wake up! and fulfill your mission so that many others might join you in the world to come.

First, Isaiah encourages you by reminding you that you have strength and glory. Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again.

You did not always have strength and glory. At one time you were weak and covered with sin. You might not remember it, but at that time you thought of nothing other than sin. Even now, even though you have the power to overcome sin, you fill yourselves with thoughts of things temporary. You wake up each morning worried about work - not just so you can buy what you need but so that you can satisfy the excesses of your need for more. You spend hours and hours with your friends doing the things that you like but you barely spend any time listening to your God speak through his Word and God forbid you worship for longer than an hour. You're not worried about Judgment Day because you think that you're strong in your faith. You're not worried about preparing others for Judgment Day because what do they matter to you. Anyway, Judgment Day is a long way off and there are a lot of things to do in this world first. That's the old you; that's the weak you.

Now you are different because God has given you strength. He has given you strength to stop sinning selfishly, to stop thinking of thinks temporary and to start thinking of things eternal. Through the waters of Baptism, through the constant washing of the Spirit from the Word, God has created a new, stronger life in you. He has given you the strength to drown your old, selfish life and live with a new, selfless life. He has given you strength to start serving selflessly, to fulfill your mission now!

How do I know this? I see it. I see strength in you as individuals and in you as a congregation. I see faithful dedicated Christians who do not think only of themselves but want to help others. I see four groups of women putting together an advent worship that will certainly strengthen all who come. I see parents dedicated to providing a Christ-based education for their children so that the next generation might know the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD. I see teens to tots faithfully showing concern for each other and love for God's word. God has given you strength.

Along with that strength he has also given you glory. Isaiah said that he has clothed you with garments of splendor. In spite of the strength that God has given us, we know that we still show weakness. Sin still lives with in us. Parts of us are still uncircumcised and unclean. Not to worry. God has cleaned us up inside and out. Through the death of his Son he has removed the sin within us. Through the perfect life of his Son he has washed us clean and clothed us with the garment of splendor, a robe of righteousness. Through Jesus Christ God has made us perfect, removed the bloody stain of sin and made us white with perfection. God has given you glory.

In other words you are God's Saints. Right now I see Saint …, and Saint …, and Saint … You're all saints, clothed with strength and glory. You're all saints, clothed to wake up and realize that now is the time of you're mission. How will you use all that strength and glory? Will it waste away in these pews as a nice thought? or will it turn into action? Now! Now is the time to act. Now is the time of your mission.

That's not all Isaiah has to say to you, people of Jerusalem. God has not held out on you. In addition to strength and glory, you also have freedom and redemption.

Listen! Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion. For this is what the LORD says: "You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed." Isaiah says, "Get up, quit wallowing in the dust, take the chains off of your neck and get to work! God has given you freedom and redemption."

Once again, you were not always free. O that you could remember the time when you were a slave to sin and to the devil himself. O that you would realize you worked for nothing. Every time we sin we are working for the devil. And do you know the worst part of that? We work for free. You were sold for nothing. The devil doesn't even have to try that hard to convince you to work for him. Most of the time you do it gladly. You believe him when he tells you your worthless. You believe him when he tells you that God is holding out on you and doesn't love you. So you look to the pleasures of this world instead. And for what? to find a few moments of happiness? Remember! Once Judgment Day comes, those things and those pleasures will be gone. Whoever lives for temporary pleasure will suffer an eternity of misery in hell. But that's not for you anymore.

God has redeemed you. He has bought you back from the devil. He has purchased your services so that now you work for him. But, you were not redeemed with money. God bought you with his own precious blood. He paid for you with blood spilled by his very own Son on the cross. You are his. You are his Saints. You are his Saints Triumphant. You have overcome the devil. You no longer work for him, no longer work for nothing, no longer work without purpose.

Rather, God has given you freedom. He has given you freedom from a life that's going nowhere. Look at yourselves. Look at the people around you. This congregation is full of people who have made it in this world. Even the teens said it to me when we talked about the strengths of this congregation. We have a lot of rich people. For the most part you are successful. You could spend a lot of time seeking the pleasures of this world, but for what? Instead, God has given you the opportunity to seek everlasting pleasure, to do work that makes others successful, to really give yourselves a purpose.

So, shake off the dust, get rid of the chains and live as Saints Triumphant. Live a life of service. Worship! Come to church on Sunday to hear again the wonderful things God has done for you: how he has given you strength and glory and freedom and redemption. Come with awe and reverence as you worship your new King who give you purposeful work to do and equips you to do it. Educate! Continue to support your children as they learn about their Savior. Learn with them. Increase your time and resource commitment to make them part of the mission. And, Reach out! Reach out to the lost who fill the houses and streets of Appleton. Volunteer to follow up on a few visitors, to become their contact person. Wake up! Now is the time of your mission!

Fellow members of Mount Olive, fellow members of God's people, the message we have before us today from Isaiah is not just a message given to God's people thousands of years ago. It's a message given to you today. It's a message to let you know that Judgment Day will be here anytime now. It's a message to remind you that you are Saints made triumphant by God. This message is God himself pleading with you to Wake up! and fulfill your mission. In the coming months we will receive the report from our parish consultants and you will see the great opportunities at hand. You will see more clearly the mission God has laid out for us. Seeing the mission isn't enough. To carry it out we will need each and every one of you. Will you sit in the dust, or will you Wake up! and fulfill the mission as Saints Triumphant?