Our Beliefs : Sermons : Sermon Archive - 2003 : September 28, 2003

Shout for Joy in the Gospel

Pentecost 16

Dear fellow recipients of God's grace in Christ,

Have you ever wanted something so badly that nothing was going to stand in your way of you getting it? A recent movie called The Shawshank Redemption; illustrated such an incident. A man was sentenced to life in prison for something he didn't even do. Strangely enough, he took it rather well. We find out why, 20 long years later, when he broke out of prison. You see, each and every day when he was in prison he longed for, he craved, his freedom, and each and every day, with that day of finally being free in mind, he would take a small piece of metal and carve a tiny section of concrete off the wall of his cell. Then he hid the area that he was excavating with a poster to hide the tunnel he was digging. It took him twenty long years and many times close to being discovered, but he finally made it to his freedom. When he finally had his freedom, he enjoyed it more than you or I ever could because he knew what it was like not to have it, so he craved it. For such a person, even a walk to the mailbox, which you and I take for granted every day, would be a blessing and luxury, something to be craved. In fact, even getting a terrible disease or losing a limb in an accident wouldn't be so bad for such a person because he could still live the rest of his life with that disability, but enjoying freedom at the same time.

This morning Isaiah urges you to Shout for Joy in the Gospel of Christ, not only when your life seems empty, but also when your life is full of blessing.

Isaiah wrote the words before us when the people of Judah seemed to have empty lives. The reason? They didn't know what was going to happen to them as the great and terrible army of the Assyrian empire was close to destroying them. Their brothers in the northern kingdom of Israel had already been overrun by Assyria. The people had been dispersed throughout the Assyrian empire, and the Northern kingdom basically ceased to exist. Now the Assyrian army was coming closer to Judah and Jerusalem. There was fear and uncertainty abounding. The words of the prophets weren't much comfort, either, because they said that God would save them from the Assyrians, but because of their wickedness, the Babylonians would take them into exile. Many people in Judah had empty lives and hearts because their sadness and fear consumed them.

Having an empty heart because of sadness and fear -- that reminds me of another movie -- Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan. The whole movie revolves around a daring mission to save one soldier behind enemy lives after D-Day in World War 2. They went through all the trouble to save him because his three other brothers had already been killed on D-Day. Can you imagine being the mother of those soldiers, seeing the government car drive up the long driveway, knowing that one of your sons had been killed, but then finding out that three of your sons were dead? Imagine the empty heart of that mother. More and more mothers are experiencing that feeling the more sons and daughters are killed in Iraq and Afghanistan -- an empty heart.

Does your heart and life seem empty at times? Maybe you have fears and uncertainty about what the future holds for you. "My teenage kids seem to be drifting away not only from me but also from God himself. I don't know if they will remain faithful to the end the way they are living their lives now." "My marriage is one big fight." "My parents don't understand and they don't care." "I've hit my 'golden years', but they are anything but golden. With all my medical problems, I wonder how long I have left on this earth, and what can I show God that I've done with my life?" Those are all empty feelings that can lead us into despair and fear and doubt and uncertainty.

But when your heart is fearful, look to what Isaiah says: "Say to those with fearful hearts, 'Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.' " Those words may have seemed very distant to Judah at the time, and they may seem very distant to you now while you are standing in the eye of a storm of troubles, but notice the time frame. Isaiah was saying that God will come, and when he comes, he will come to save you. Isaiah was pointing ahead to the time when God would fulfill his greatest promise ever made -- sending a Savior from sin. And here we see that our Savior would be God himself. Two things will happen as a result of that Savior's coming: those on the side of God will be saved, but those against God and his believers will see God's terrible vengeance and divine retribution. That's exactly what happened when God sent his Son, finally to be fulfilled on Judgment Day. He would save us by destroying our enemies. This is the same promise God made to Satan with the first gospel promise -- Christ would crush his head. Now we look back on what Christ did and we rejoice that he did exactly what God wanted him to do -- live perfectly, die innocently, rise triumphantly -- all for us. Our hearts are no longer fearful because we have freedom from sin, death and the power of the devil. So we shout for joy in that gospel, the results of which are described in the next section, showing that our lives are no longer empty, but full of God's grace and blessing.

Just look at the effects that the gospel of Christ has on our lives: "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy." When John the Baptist languished in prison and had doubts as to whether Jesus was the Christ as he claimed to be, Jesus said to John's followers: "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor." (Matthew 11:4,5) Jesus used this very passage from Isaiah to show that he was the Christ. In our Gospel reading Jesus fulfilled two of these prophecies -- healing the deaf and mute.

And do you recall the reaction of that man that was healed physically and of those who saw it? They couldn't help but tell others about it, even when Jesus told them not to because his time had not yet come. Notice the language Isaiah used. Those who couldn't walk, once they were healed, wouldn't just walk, but they would leap! When's the last time you leaped for joy? Maybe when you paid off a mortgage? Christ did more -- he paid off the debt you owed to God for all your sins. He paid for your spending an eternity in hell by suffering it for you. But when is the last time you've jumped for joy because of Jesus' payment? Isaiah said the mute wouldn't just talk; they would shout for joy! When's the last time you shouted for joy? At a football game when your team pulled out a nailbiter in an overtime victory? Yet Christ defeated Satan, made a public spectacle by triumphing over him by the cross, and how many times do we shout for joy because of it?

Why do we sometimes fail to appreciate the greatest thing that has ever happened to us -- the gospel of Christ? Because even though the victory is ours through faith and our enemies are defeated, our enemies are not yet destroyed -- that will come on Judgment Day -- and they are using everything in their power to take our faith away from us. Satan is defeated. He can't harm us unless we let him. And he is still a terrible foe. How terrible? Look at Revelation 12:12: "Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short." The devil is after you every day, still seeking to devour you.

How does Satan war against God's saints? Maybe not the way we would expect. Imagine the devil and his hosts of demons holding a strategy session to try to get Christians back on his side and going to hell. "What should we do?" Satan asks. A daring demon stands and shouts, "I have it! I know what we can do! We can tell people that the Bible contains errors, so it isn't trustworthy." Satan's face falls as he answers, "It will never work. We'll only get a few that way. It has to be more sneaky." Another demon speaks up, "Here's the solution! Let's say there is no God or if there ever was, he is dead -- because even if he started the universe, he has left it now." Satan replies in dismay, "That won't work either; all of them know there is a God, even though a few don't want to admit it." Other ideas are presented, but none brings hope to Satan. Finally, as they are about to call it a night, one demon leaps in glee, "I have it! A sure solution!" The other demons crowd around to hear the plan. "Tell them that God is real and the Bible is God's Word." A gasp comes from the audience who can't believe their ears. The demon continues, "And tell them that Jesus is God's Son and frees men from sin with no cost to them." By this time, the other demons are horror-stricken, thinking that their associate has lost his marbles, until, with a smile, he adds, "Then tell it to them so many times that they take it for granted and it becomes boring to them!" Satan says, "Boys, I think we've got our game plan."

Pretty good plan, huh? "What new thing will I learn in church or Sunday School or Bible class today? Jesus lived, died and rose for me? Yeah, I know, boring stuff, same old, same old." That's one battle Satan just won for your soul. Satan won't come to you looking like a dragon as Revelation symbolically calls him; he will look like a little lamb, harmless, cute. Satan doesn't have to get you to murder anybody, he just wants you to dislike them and talk about them and be envious of them -- you know, little sins. Then he gets you to think that the gospel which sweeps away all those sins is boring and hearing the gospel of Christ in church or reading it at home is for sissies and won't help you much anyway. Then, little by little, without you even knowing it, he gets you to doubt God and his promises, forget to thank him in good times and look elsewhere for help when times are tough. And if all goes according to plan, he gets you to think that maybe all this Jesus stuff is for somebody else, that getting into God's Word -- there's plenty of time for that when I'm 85. But remember -- you are in a battle for your very souls every day of your lives! What will you do? Take your chances by yourself? Or flee to the God of your salvation who has revealed his wonderful gospel to you? Having the Gospel of Christ isn't like watching the taping of some football game that we've seen a thousand times before and know its outcome. Having that gospel as our possession means the difference between life and death, heaven and hell, salvation or damnation.

The gospel of Christ won't be very important to us if we don't think we need it. If someone is drinking a delicious glass of lemonade, he won't take a glass of water if you offered it to him because he doesn't need it. But give a drink of water to a man who's been in the desert for a week with no water, with the hot sun blazing on his back and face, the desert wind blowing scorching sand in his parched face and moistureless eyes, his lips cracked and bleeding. Then one glass would mean the world to him; in fact, more than all the money in the world could buy, if it couldn't buy him that water. The gospel isn't going to make you leap or shout for joy if you aren't alarmed by your sins. But for someone who sees the reality of the situation -- that we deserve eternal damnation for our insolent rebellion against the almighty God. And it is only by God's grace in Christ that we have been given a drink from the Water of Life, then the rest of Isaiah's prophecy makes us rejoice: "Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs." When you see how empty you were because of sin, and how full of God's grace you now are through faith in Jesus, you will crave that gospel more and more, each and every day of your life. The Apostle Peter said, "Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good." (1 Peter 2:2,3) So let us always shout for joy in the gospel of Jesus Amen.