A Paradise of Life and Light

Revelation 22:1-6 None of us likes the idea of dying.  This is the life we know.  Most of us are so blessed by God with countless earthly gifts that it is very hard to imagine a life better than the one we have right now.  Oh, we might change a few things here and there—but for the most part we are richly blessed by God and we love our earthly life and we are grieved to be parted from it.

            But for the child of God, death is not “goodbye” to life.  Death is not “farewell” to God’s blessings.  In fact, the Bible says that death is not loss-- but gain.  That Good News is not something that we could think our way into-- or reason out for ourselves.  It must be revealed to us—and so it is in the Garden of Paradise.  St. John writes that:

The angel showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb through the middle of the street of the city; also, on either side of the river, the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit each month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.

            When we stand beside a loved one who is dying, all we can see with our eyes is their departure from this life.  All we can experience is our loss.  All we can hear are our sad “goodbyes”.  But there is much, much more going on in that moment. 

Our loved one is leaving a place of death and entering a place of life.  Their eyes that are closed in this life are opened to the wonders of the mansion God has prepared for them and their ears that no longer hear our voices are filled with the glad “welcome home” of those who have gone before and the “well done good and faithful servant” from God. 

We cannot hear or see or experience that—it has to be revealed to us.  That is why God sent his angel to John the show him what awaits us all when we die.  That is why these words are written—to assure us that for the child of God, death is truly gain.

The picture of heaven that John reveals to us in his revelation is very similar to the Garden of Eden.  There is beauty and light and fellowship with God.  It is a place of life—of the rich, abundant overflowing life that Jesus came to give. 

Jesus said that “God so loved the world, that he sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life.”  Jesus said that it was the devil who came to rob and steal and destroy but that he had come to give us abundant life, a full measure, pressed down and overflowing.  Our passing from this earthly life is the gain of that eternal life. 

There in heaven is a river of life, a never ending source of living water that Jesus promised the Samaritan woman at the well.  Just as in the Garden of Eden here in the garden of Paradise there is a tree of life with twelve kinds of fruit, one for each month, with leaves for the healing of all our sorrrows—a tree of life that we can eat from and live eternally.

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, God kept them from the tree of life so that they would not live forever in sin and broken-ness and shame.  But on the tree of the cross, sin has been atoned for and the curse of death has ended and fellowship between God and man has been restored.  The Bible says that in the Garden of Paradise:

No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it,

            When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, the world and everything and everyone in it was cursed.  Nothing and no one escaped God’s judgment.  But in the Garden of Paradise there is no curse—there is only rich, abundant life. 

What accounts for that dramatic change from the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Paradise?  Our crucified and risen Lord!

            When Jesus died on the cross he called out “It is finished!”—and it was.  Everything necessary for our salvation had been accomplished.  The curse that God pronounced upon the world, he charged to his Son Jesus Christ who suffered and died so that it is blessing not curse that we receive from God when we die.

Death must now serve God’s will as the means to deliver us from this place of tears to Paradise where we will worship God and the Lamb who has taken away our sin.  The Bible says that his servants will worship him.

  When we think about heaven, we not only wonder what it will be like but we wonder what we will do.  Our lives here on earth are busy and the days are filled with things to do, and people to see, and places to go.  We have this kind of unspoken worry that we will get bored in eternity. 

We don’t know all the answer to that question about what we will do in heaven but we do know some it. 

A big part of our life in heaven will be worshiping the God who has saved us and made us his own by the blood of the Lamb.  We will worship with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven—the saints who have gone before and the four living creatures and all of those beings who are real and yet unseen.

It will be worship like we have never experienced on earth—filled with sights and sounds and smells that we have never experienced in our earthly worship. 

When we hear a beautiful solo or when we join our voice to hundreds of others in a large worship service or when we are particularly moved by what the beauty we see in a majestic cathedral we begin to get some sense of what worship will be like in heaven except infinitely more. 

Far, far from being bored in heaven or tired of worship we will rejoice eternally for the blessing of being counted part of God’s people—a kingdom of priests and kings.  The Bible says those in heaven:

Will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. 

            St. Augustine once said that God has made us for himself and our hearts are never at rest until we find our rest in him.  Whether we realize or not here on earth, these verses describe what we were made for-what we long for—what theologians call the “beatific vision” of God.

Over the course of our earthly lives we can have many successes and reach many of our goals.  We can become rich and famous.  We can marry the person of our dreams. 

But it will never really be enough to satisfy us completely because we were made for something more.  We were made by God- for God- and we will never be satisfied with anything else than God. 

When we enter paradise, that longing will be fulfilled as we gaze upon the unveiled glory of God.  What we have hoped for and prayed for and longed for during our lives (even if we could never really put a name on it) will be fulfilled as we look upon the Holy Trinity:  the One who has known us and loved us for eternity—the One who gave his life for us on the cross—the One who has called us and kept us in faith.

We are his.  We belong to him.  He has placed his name on us in the waters of Holy Baptism where he rescued us from the darkness of sin and death and shined his light and life into our hearts and minds. 

We have nothing to fear from the darkness of death and the grave because the moment we close our eyes in this life we open them to the glorious light of heaven.  We can count of that and build our lives upon that promise!  The Bible says that:

“These words are trustworthy and true. And the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, has sent his angel to show his servants what must soon take place.”

            It is normal to mourn the death of those we love.  The Bible says that even Christians grieve—but not as those who have no hope.  It is normal for us to dread our own death.  Jesus wrestled with that very thing in the Garden of Gethsemane. 

But in these verses from John’s Revelation, God pulls back the curtain that hides the Garden of Paradise from our eyes here on earth so that we can face death unafraid and so that we can rightly order our lives right now according to his Word.

You see, the promises of God are true.  He has spoken to us in the Bible and told us the truth about all that matters here on earth and in the world to come.  He has revealed his holy will for our lives and made known to us his salvation in Jesus.

We cannot see God or touch him or experience heaven right now but he is real and so is heaven and as we live our life here on earth, God wants those realities shape how we live.

God wants us to face the challenges and temptations and sorrows of this life with our eyes of faith full of the glories of heaven so that we do not lose heart and give up and give in to the ways of the world.

He wants us to know that the challenges and temptations and sorrows of this life will not last forever—that this life will end—but there will another, glorious, eternal life for us in heaven—and that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory to come.

            The promise of Eden was that God himself would restore, by the Seed of the Woman, all that sin and Satan destroyed.  In the Garden of Paradise we see that God has kept his promise.  Once again there is life for us with God that death cannot end.  Amen.

Lent 5a General Prayer

Lord God heavenly Father, incline Your ear to us and hear our voice as we cry to You in prayer:

When we suffer anguish and distress, rather than worry and be anxious, remind us that can call upon You in prayer and count on Your deliverance.  Give Your people a deep and abiding life of prayer.

Bless and empower the proclamation of the church with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that all those who hear the Good News of Jesus Christ would be brought from death to life. 

Continue to raise up a new generation of men who will faithfully proclaim Your Word.  Prosper the work of missionaries and protect those Christians around the world who are persecuted for their faith.

Just as You promised to give new life to the whole house of Israel, work new life in our fellow citizens, turning hearts way from sin and selfishness to Your Son Jesus and a sincere love for their fellow man.  Especially do we pray that You would rid us of our national sins, protect the lives of the weak and unborn, and care for those in need.

We thank You and praise You for sending Your Son Jesus Christ to take upon himself our flesh, fulfill the law in our place, and suffer for our sins so that now there is co condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 

By the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead, raise our bodies to eternal life on the last day.  Until that day, grant us the help of the Holy Spirit so that we would set our minds on things of the Spirit and walk according to Your holy will. 

Bless our homes and families and marriages to be like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus who sincerely believed in Jesus, trusted in his will, confessed him as Lord, and received his mighty help.  Especially do we remember with thanksgiving Leah and Hannah as they celebrate baptismal birthdays, that they would live in Christ all their days.

Whatever else You see that we need; whatever serves our neighbor; and whatever brings glory to You, grant to us dear Father in heaven for we ask it in Jesus’ name.  Amen.

There is No Condemnation for Those in Christ!

Romans 8:1-11 All of us can look back upon our lives with at least some regret.  There were opportunities to do good for others that we missed out on and will never get back.  There were harsh words we have spoken that will never be forgotten.  There were decisions we made that still have painful consequences today.  And there were wrongs that we have done that still haunt us.  All of us can look back upon our lives with regrets. 

The truth of the matter is that we don’t have to look back very far at all.  Within us is a daily struggle to do and say and think what is pleasing to our heavenly Father—a struggle in which we don’t always succeed. 

These regrets over the sins of the past --and this present struggle against the flesh—are nothing new and we are not alone in them. 

Before Paul became a Christian, he was persecutor of Christ and his people.  He had plenty of regrets about the past.  He also experienced the ongoing struggles of being a child of God trying to live a life of faithfulness each day while burdened with the flesh and tempted by the devil.

In the chapter preceding our text today he talks about that struggle:  not doing the good he wanted-- but doing the evil he didn’t want to do.  Every Christian can understand his struggle and can add their voice to his as he says:  What a wretched person I am.  Who will set me free?  When it comes to past regrets and present struggles, life seems so hopeless at times!  But it’s not! 

The Good News for us is that Christ has set us free from the condemnation of our sins—past and present.  He sets us free to live a new life empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit.  And he sets us free from the fear of death and the grave.  The Bible says:

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.  For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 

            It is an unchangeable law of God that death is the punishment for sin.  God told Adam and Eve that the day they ate of the forbidden tree they would die.  The Holy Spirit inspired Paul to write that the wages of sin is death.  Death always follows sin.

In our Old Testament lesson today, the LORD brings Ezekiel out into the midst of a great valley filled with human bones—representing the whole house of Israel—their lack of faith and their loss of hope and their spiritual death--and the LORD asks Ezekiel:  “Can these bones live”?  In other words, is there any hope for people when the sins of the past and the failures of the present have brought them spiritual death? 

When we look at our own lives—our past failures and our present struggles, we can’t help but ask the same thing.  Because of our sins and our doubts and our unceasing daily struggle against the world, our flesh, and the devil we too can say with Israel:  “Our bones are dried up—our hope is lost—we are clean cut off!  Can these bones live?”  In other words, is there any hope for us?  God says:  yes!

            The Good News for us today- just like it was all those years ago for the Israelites- is that what the Law (EXPL) cannot do in us (that is make us into new, living, people who are right in God’s sight) God has graciously done for us—lifting the condemnation that we justly deserve for the sins of the past and our failures of today. 

When the LORD asked Ezekiel about the possibility of dry bones coming to life, Ezekiel wisely referred the question back to the LORD because if there was any hope for life for them, it would have to come from God alone. 

And that is what we see as that great valley of death becomes a place of life by the power of the Holy Spirit—a dramatic, visible picture of God himself setting us free from sin and death and breathing new, spiritual life into us. 

God says:  I will cause breath to enter you—I will open your graves—I will put my Spirit in you.  Just as in the beginning (when God was the one who breathed life into the man he had formed from the earth) so in the same way God alone is responsible for breathing new, spiritual life into us.  The Bible says that:

 God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh…

In his real human flesh, Jesus fulfilled every righteous requirement of the law for us.  In his real human flesh nailed upon the cross, God condemned every sin of every person who has lived or ever will live.  In his real human flesh he was raised from the dead.

In his real human flesh—in his life and death and resurrection—Christ set us free from the condemnation of the law-- and from the burden of our past --and gave us new life.

Our past failures and our current struggles are a powerful condemnation of our sinful flesh, but God’s condemnation of sin in the perfectly holy flesh of his Son Jesus Christ crucified on the cross is more powerful still. 

And he gives this to us as a gift in Word and Sacrament by the power of the Holy Spirit who not only sets us free from condemnation of the past and the burden of the present--but he also sets us free and empowers us to live a new and different kind of life.  The Bible says that:

Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. 

            Those who believe in Jesus Christ—those who, as St. Paul says,  set their mind on the Spirit—are the only ones who can lay claim to the promises that there is no condemnation for them.  Believers are the only ones whose lives are filled with joy and peace because they know that they are forgiven and death is a conquered enemy. 

But those who walk according to the flesh—those whose minds are fixed upon satisfying the lusts of the flesh—those who continue to live unrepentant, sinful lives in open hostility to God, earn for themselves eternal death-- because it is impossible for a person who does not have faith in Jesus Christ to please God and live according to his will.  The Bible says that:

The mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God.   

Those without the Holy Spirit—those who do not believe in Jesus-- see God’s law as a terrible imposition upon them—they see it as nothing but condemnation—they see it as a terrible judge from which there is no escape.  And in all of this they are correct for it cannot be otherwise. 

For those who do not have the forgiveness of Christ and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit—a holy God and his will for their lives will always be a terror for them.

But we do not know God that way.  Through faith in Jesus we know God as our loving heavenly Father and we submit to his law not as some terrible burden or unwelcome imposition—but as a glorious opportunity to show that we are his children by living our lives like Jesus until that day we go to our heavenly home.  The Bible says that:

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal

            There is an inescapable connection between sin and death and all of us will die some day if the Lord does not come first.  It’s been that way since the time of our first parents.  It was that way in Bethany when Lazarus breathed his last. 

When Jesus arrived on the scene, Lazarus had already been dead for days and as devoutly as Mary and Martha believed in the Lord—to see their brother rise from the dead seemed beyond hope.  But when Jesus called out to him, “Lazarus, come out!”—he rose from the dead and came out of his grave. 

The fact that Lazarus had been dead for days was absolutely no impediment to the One who is in himself the resurrection and the life.  Neither is four decades or four centuries or four thousand years.  The grave could not hold Jesus and it will not hold those in whom Jesus lives by his Spirit.

Yes, our bodies are as good as dead because of sin—we have a daily reminder of  that in our struggle against our flesh.  But these same bodies, now broken by sin, will be raised from the grave on the Last Day, never to die again-- by the power of the same Spirit who raised Jesus’ body from the grave. 

Just as there is an inescapable connection between our sin and death-- so there is an even greater connection between Jesus’ resurrection and our eternal life. 

The Good News for us today, even as we look back at the past with regrets—even as we experience the struggles against the sinful flesh right now-- and even as we face our own death in the future-- is that there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.

There is no condemnation because Jesus: has set us free from our sins (past and present)—set us free to lead holy lives right now empowered and guided by the Holy Spirit—and has set us free forever from the power of death.  There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!  Amen.

The Burial of Jesus in the Garden of Peace

John 19:38-42 Each week we confess that it was for us and for our salvation that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried—that he rose again and ascended into heaven.  All of it for us and for our salvation.

We know why Jesus Christ was born of Mary—so that he could stand in our place as one of us, doing what God wants us to do and suffering the punishment we deserve.  We know why Jesus died—to forgive us our sins by his shed blood.  We know what he rose again—to give us an eternal life like his own.  And we know what he ascended—to pray for us as we travel to the heavenly home he has prepared for us.

These events from our Lord’s life, we confess and believe, were done for us and for our salvation.  But there is one event that most of us do not give much thought to and that is his burial.  This too was part of his saving work for us and we will consider it as we visit the garden where his tomb was found—what we will call the garden of peace.  The Bible says that:  Later, a man named Joseph from Arimathea asked Pilate for the body of Jesus.

That one word “later” contains all that had happened on Calvary.  The hammering of the nails and the placing of the sign above Jesus’ head.  The words of our Lord:  forgiving those who crucified him, proclaiming his victory, caring for his Mother and finally commending himself into his Father’s hands.  In that word “later” is his last breath and the spear cast into his side with the water and blood that flowed from a heart of love. 

Jesus died just as he said that he would die and he would rise again just as he promised-- but between those two events something else occurred, for us and for our salvation—his burial. 

It was customary for criminals who were crucified to be left on the cross as a warning to others.  The Roman poet Horace called this “feeding the crows of the cross.”  Even for those who were buried, they were usually just thrown into a pauper’s grave.  But for Jesus—for the one who had suffered and died for our sins—his burial would be different.  The bible says that:

(Joseph was a follower of Jesus, but he did not tell anyone, because he was afraid of the Jewish leaders.) Pilate said Joseph could take Jesus’ body, so he came and took it away.  Nicodemus went with Joseph. He was the man who had come to Jesus before and talked to him at night.

            Already in the early hours of Calvary you can begin to see the power of the cross of Jesus to change things and people. 

The Roman centurion went from being a pagan soldier doing his duty to a confessor of Jesus as the Son of God.  The thief on the cross went from being a criminal on the way to hell to a citizen of heaven.  And these two prominent Jewish rulers—Joseph and Nicodemus-- went from being men who secretly admired to Jesus—to disciples courageous enough to take a stand against their own kinsmen and the Roman authorities and honor Jesus in death.

            Just a few hours earlier all of these men (Joseph, Nicodemus, the thief and centurion) would have been afraid and embarrassed to be associated with the humble man of Galilee.  They would have worried what their friends and co-workers would have said about them if they admitted to being disciples.  But they were changed by the cross and the man who died there.

            So it must for all of us.  Our love for Jesus must be greater than our love for our kinsmen.  Our loyalty to God must be more than that we owe to our co-workers and friends.  Our willingness to be counted as a follower of Jews must be more important than any fear of embarrassment. So it was for these two prominent members of the Jewish council.

You can imagine what the words of Jesus spoken to Nicodemus (that the Son of Man must be lifted up) now meant to these Jews as they stood at the cross and saw Jesus lifted up beneath the sign that read:  Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.  The sign was meant to ridicule Jesus and the Jews but it spoke the truth about who he was and what these men did next added their “amen” to that unintended confession.  The bible says that:

Nicodemus brought about 100 pounds of spices—a mixture of myrrh and aloes. These two men took Jesus’ body and wrapped it in pieces of linen cloth with the spices. (This is how the Jews bury people.)

            I was not aware of it until I began researching this sermon but the amount of spices brought to prepare Jesus’ body for burial was what was expected for a king. 

Far from being left on the cross to rot or thrown in a pauper’s grave, Jesus received a burial fit for a king.  Nicodemus and John had been too afraid—too ashamed-- to show their loyalty while Jesus was alive—but now in the shadow of the cross—in the garden of peace, they treated Jesus as he truly was--their rightful king.

I find this a very comforting scene!  How often have we despaired of seeing someone we love come to faith in Jesus Christ?!  They have heard the Gospel.  They are surrounded by believers.  People are praying for them to receive salvation and yet it seems as if there is always something standing in the way and we begin to wonder and worry if they will ever confess Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Here in these two men is the reason we should never despair or give up.  It was late in the game for both of them—but not too late to put their faith in the Savior God had promised in the Garden of Eden to send.  The Bible says that:  In the place where Jesus was killed on the cross, there was a garden.           

In the beginning, there was garden.  In that garden was life, rich abundant life.  But sin entered that place and fellowship between God and man was broken and death entered the garden.  Adam would live the rest of his life exiled from the garden and would return to the earth from which he was created and so would every one of his descendants.  Every one!

But the Lord made a promise there, that he would send the seed of a woman to make things right again.  It was a covenant promise sealed with the blood of an innocent animal which suffered and died for Adam’s sin—to cover his shame.

Here now in this garden near the cross, that promise was fulfilled.  Yes, there was death here—but it was death leading to life.  Once again innocent blood was shed to cover the shame and sin of man.  But this time it was God’s own Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world who died.  He was the fulfillment of the promise that God made in Eden to send the seed of the woman to save us.

He had crushed Satan every step on the way and on the cross he proclaimed his victory.  But Satan had struck him just as God said he would and now the second Adam would return to the dust of the ground just like all his brothers—just like Adam in the beginning.

But from this garden, life would spring forth!  Before his death Jesus talked about this moment.  He said:  Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 

As John and Nicodemus and the faithful women prepared Jesus’ body for burial and laid him in the ground, whether they realized or not, they were planting the seed that bears the fruit of eternal life for all who trust in him—just as God promised in Eden.  The Bible says that:  In the garden there was a new tomb. No one had ever been buried there before.

Early on the first day of the week, the One who is life in himself and gives life to all who follow him was raised from the dead—the first-fruits of an eternal harvest—and despite the fact that he had promised this very thing, none of his disciples were there to greet him, they thought that he was a ghost, and had to be convinced that he actually did what he said he was going to do.  After his resurrection he told his disciples: 

These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 

            And they were.  Prophecy after prophecy fulfilled.  Conceived in a Virgin.  Born in Bethlehem.  Healer of men.  Announced by a forerunner.  Pierced for our transgressions.  Rejected by his people.  A humble king riding on a donkey.  Hundreds of prophecies fulfilled. Faithful to his word every step of the way, even when that way led to a grave, also prophesied.

700 hundreds of years Jesus’ burial in the garden, the prophet Isaiah promised that after being pierced for our transgressions and wounded for our iniquity the Messiah’s grave would be with the rich at his death.  And so it was that a very wealthy man, Joseph of Arimathea, asked for Jesus’ body and laid it in his tomb.

There is not one promise our Savior did not keep.  There is not one part of our life that he has not redeemed.  His rest in the grave sanctifies our graves so that they become just like his—simply resting places for a time until our bodies are raised from the dead, never to need a grave again in the endless Sabbath rest that God has promised to his children.  The bible says:

The men put Jesus in that tomb because it was near, and the Jews were preparing to start their Sabbath day.

            God established the Sabbath in the Garden of Eden as a sign and testimony that his work for mankind is complete and sufficient.  Here in the garden of peace, where Jesus was buried in the shadow of the cross, we see the fulfillment of all the Sabbaths that came before. 

Everything necessary for our salvation and forgiveness and life with God has been accomplished by Jesus Christ.  His work for us and for our salvation is complete and sufficient.  Once again we have peace with God.  And we can rest in the Good News that God gives this to us all as a free gift through faith in Jesus. Amen.