Reminiscere

Jesse Jacobsen

Time-stamp: <Fri Feb 25 17:44:35 2005>
Printed

Isaiah 45:20--25

``Assemble yourselves and come;
Draw near together,
You who have escaped from the nations.
They have no knowledge,
Who carry the wood of their carved image,
And pray to a god that cannot save.
Tell and bring forth your case;
Yes, let them take counsel together.
Who has declared this from ancient time?
Who has told it from that time?
Have not I, the LORD?
And there is no other God besides Me,
A just God and a Savior;
There is none besides Me.

``Look to Me, and be saved,
All you ends of the earth!
For I am God, and there is no other.
I have sworn by Myself;
The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness,
And shall not return,
That to Me every knee shall bow,
Every tongue shall take an oath.
He shall say, `Surely in the LORD
I have righteousness and strength.
To Him men shall come,
And all shall be ashamed Who are incensed against Him.
In the LORD all the descendants of Israel
Shall be justified, and shall glory.',''

God Calls His People from the Nations to Give the Most Glorious Message

Church. It means different things to different people. In the language of the New Testament, it means those who are ``called out.'' Called by whom? By God. Called out of where? From the fallen world. Called to what? To faith in Jesus Christ, God's Son, and to a godly life on earth and ultimately, to heaven. The church is an assembly of those who have been called out by God.

God speaks to His Church. We answer to Him, and we look to Him for help. Fearing or trusting other gods is not only foolish, but deadly harmful. What really gets our attention, though, is that God demands absolute loyalty to His Word. It's not just a suggestion --- it's a requirement. If someone mixes in a pinch of idolatry in their worship, then the whole thing becomes tainted.

So God's Church is called together out of the world to believe what He says, and to worship Him alone in spirit and in truth. But He wants more than prayers and hymns and sermons, though these are good. God wants our worship every day, every minute. He wants our perfect devotion. This would be impossible, if not for God's mercy. But God is merciful. He does more than demand perfection; He provides perfection. He provides righteousness as a gift to His Church through faith in Jesus Christ, and this enables the Church to do what He has called us to do.

So in our text, God gives us His message of mercy, and He calls upon us to bring it to the world. That message is exactly the same thing that brought us together as His Church, and it's the main point of our text. God calls His people from the nations to give the Most Glorious Message. First: we are brought together by the Truth of His Word. Second: we are sent out with the power of His salvation.

We are brought together by the Truth of His Word

God wrote through His prophet, ``Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations.'' By these words, God creates His Church in every age.

``No,'' you say. ``I know where my church came from. I know the man who poured the foundation. I know the carpenters who built the frame. I know the electricians and masons and plumbers and painters and roofers who put it all together. I saw the church built, but I didn't see God building it.''

Maybe that's what you saw, but the fact remains that God the Holy Spirit is the true builder of His Church on earth, and that He does this by His almighty Word. In the Beginning He said, ``Let there be light.'' The light remains. His Word is no less powerful today. ``Assemble yourselves and come; Draw near together, You who have escaped from the nations.'' This is God's Word, and by it He has called us out from the world to believe the truth He reveals.

Just as God created the world by speaking, and just as He creates His Church through the same Word, His Word, in turn, does its work through instruments and agents. It comes to us today because God wants me to speak it. God's Word comes into our homes because God wants us to study it. So His Word comes to us and energizes us to accomplish God's will. It might be raising a child, or teaching others. It might be pouring concrete or doing carpentry. God's Word builds His Church. It works in our hearts and on our lips, and it's active in what we do.

Does this mean that we are really the builders of Christ's Church? No, because it is written, ``Unless the LORD builds the house, they labor in vain who build it.'' It remains His house, and we remain His unprofitable servants. So the first thing our text shows us is that this is not our Church at all: it's God's Church, because He has called us here by His Word.

God has called us to assemble together. Have you ever wondered why it's better for Christians to worship together instead of in our own homes? This is basically it: God has called us to worship Him together. I realize that we are all at church, and it's some of the folks at home right now that really need to hear this. But it still applies to us. What are you planning to do next Sunday? Or the Sunday after that? As far as I know, I intend to eat breakfast every morning, every month this year. So why do we have such trouble treating our weekly worship the same way?

Is it that we don't always like what we hear? Maybe. This morning, after calling us together, our text tells us about the nations from which God has called us, ``They have no knowledge, Who carry the wood of their carved image, And pray to a god that cannot save.'' Whoa! That is not PC! God is slamming idol worshippers, which includes all false religions. Maybe we don't always like what God wants to tell us. So we have a choice, like the people of Israel in the time of Elijah. We can follow Baal with the rest of the world, or we can follow the god of Israel.

What an easy choice! You know the right answer already, don't you? But I've been teaching four confirmation classes these last four months, and I've seen this aspect of human nature. Sometimes it seems like a good mark is more precious than learning anything. A father asks: what was was your grade, son? The child replies: I got an A! The father asks: What did you learn? The child replies: I got an A! So you see, you may have the right answer to the question, but that doesn't mean you know it, or trust it.

Will we follow God or Baal? If God, then we have to accept His harsh judgment of idolatry. We become politically incorrect. The gods of this world will not accept us. In fact, we become offensive to the world. In 2 Corinthians, Paul wrote, ``For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.''

This is a hard thing for our flesh to bear. We want to be accepted in the world. We want to play on their playground and be picked for their kickball teams. But that will not always be possible for those who have been chosen by the God of Israel. We will be tempted to compromise, to make it easier, or to make our message a little sweeter. Many already do compromise, which only makes it harder for us. But there is no compromise between God and idolatry. God makes this clear: ``There is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.''

This is the first thing that God brought us here to learn today: the truth of His Word.

We are sent out with the Power of His Salvation

He said, ``There is no other God besides Me, A just God and a Savior; There is none besides Me.'' If we find another god, it will not be a just god, and it will not be a Savior. This is the case for the Moslem god, the god of the unbelieving Jews, the nameless god of the atheists, and every other man-made god. They are not just, and they are not a Savior. This should give us a little courage. Ours is the God who spoke to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He carved the Ten Commandments in stone. In the fullness of time, He became a man and He did the amazing work of a Savior.

People these days don't like black and white. We are trained by society to value compromise and tolerance. It's part of democracy. But that's just not the kind of God we have. So you see why it's so important that we learn and grow in His Word. You see why it's so important that we confess the Truth before Him and before the world. We can't help but contradict everything false --- especially if it is found in the Christian Church. God's Word is just that important.

I know what it sounds like. I remember well what my life was like as a welder, as a student, as a computer programmer. It always seemed like pastors were a little out of touch with the world. They never had the temptation to sleep in on Sunday, because church was their job. They didn't work with people of unclean lips every day. I remember my impressions back then, and I know how easy it is to make little compromises in your life. You have to work with these people! They are your neighbors! It's natural to compartmentalize your faith away from some of the other parts of your life. Pastors can afford not to do that, I used to think.

But now, the shoe is on the other foot. The fact is, it's always hard to be a Christian. That's why church is such a big deal. It really is. We have been called by God out the nations by His Word. He has given us His Word. We don't belong to this world any more, simply because we know and trust the only God who is a just God and a Savior. Our faith defines who we are at all times.

In fact, God Himself gives us this command in our text: ``Tell and bring forth your case.'' He wants us to tell others the uncompromising truth. So if we want to worship God in truth, then the truth will also be on our lips. This may bring us embarrassment, or awkwardness, or even strife. But we ourselves are built up and strengthened by the same message.

The message we have is our most glorious possession. It's God's own promise of salvation, His gift. He says to us and to the world: ``Look to Me, and be saved, All you ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.'' He's calling us all to repent of our doubts and trust in Him.

There is an End, and it's coming. God is being patient now. He expects us to do our part, to bring forth our case. But He is a just God, and justice will be met. For all who trust in His Word, justice was met when Jesus Christ died for our sins. The merciful love of God toward us took away His wrath against us by meeting justice for justice. The result: we are completely forgiven. But the price that Jesus paid was so great that He became the Savior of all people. So now, it's our task to tell them before the End comes. This glorious message is the power of God's salvation.

Jesus told His Church: ``All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and disciple all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'' This is our mission in the world. It's what we have all been called from the nations to do.

But what does it mean? First, we hear God's Word --- every part of it. There are parts your or I will not like to hear. There are many things we haven't learned yet, and deeper understandings that we have not reached. So our first task is to keep learning our faith from the Word of God, and to keep it undefiled. As we learn God's Word, our faith in Jesus will grow. At the same time, God nourishes us spiritually with His Sacraments: Baptism and the Lord's Supper. These, together with His Word, are nothing but the Gospel itself, God's power to forgive and save.

So far, it may seem like we've done pretty well. The fact is, we can still do much better, individually and together as a church. But there is another side to our mission that we have together been mostly neglecting for a long, long time. We've been like a climber on a cliff face who is so frightened of falling that he wants to stay in the same place for the rest of his life. But he can't. He gets tired. His members, one by one, become exhausted with the effort. His muscles cramp up. But his fear keeps him from looking either up or down, and his imagination invents horrible consequences if he should try to move from his spot on the cliff face. It's only a matter of time.

A climber is meant to climb, and the God's Church has been gathered and sent to tell the Gospel. No one gets a pass. If you live in the world, then you know someone who needs to hear the truth. You know someone who needs your help to reach eternal life.

There is one God. He is just and merciful. He did everything to save you. He gives you His Word. He calls you out from the nations. He forgives you. In the name of the Father, and of the 63 Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

This document was translated from LATEX by HEVEA.