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1st Sunday in ADVENT

December 2, 2007

Good Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church

Sioux Falls, SD

Rev. Norman F. Seeger

 

Isaiah 2:1-5

This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem: 

2 In the last days the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains;

         it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,

         “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob.

          He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.”

The law will go out from Zion, the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.

         They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.

         Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore. 

5 Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. 

 

Isaiah 2:1-5

"GOING UP…”

1.  Christ Climbs Our Cross

2.  All Are Invited to Go Up to Golgatha

 

Dear Disciples of Christ,

We start walking from Sylvan Lake in the Black Hills, every step uphill but not too steep.  Nor must we walk too far before reaching the top of this hill where we suddenly see Harney Peak -- our ultimate destination – way, way off in the distance, rising high above all the smaller hills we have to hike before we enjoy a breathtaking view from the highest point between Colorado’s Rockies & Europe’s Alps.  Cimbing to the top of Chicago’s tallest tower is easier by far than hiking Harney Peak.  Walk into the lobby of the John Hancock building, press a button, step into an elevator & be quickly lifted a thousand feet into the air for a spectacular view of this major city along Lake Michigan.

Like Harney Peak…like the Hancock tower…the highest height is where the Lord lifts our eyes as Isaiah sees “the mountain of the Lord’s temple” rise “in the last days” – rising in our New Testament times -- to tower over every little religious hill where today’s worldly souls falsely worship the same way souls in Israel worship idols at their high places in Isaiah’s day.  Worshipping idols in high places might excite some souls.  False gods may flatter me.  False prophets’ twisted promises miay make me feel good for a moment or two.  But as God fulfills a promise of salvation he first speaks after Adam & Eve sin in Eden, the Lord’s temple will rise.  God’s saving truth will be seen not as just another religious option.  Jesus will not be one of many peaks in a major mountain range.  Jesus will rise to become the highest mountain, the tallest skyscraper – Jesus will become the only Savior able to lift us all the way up into heaven.

Living in these “last days” – living at a time when “the mountain of the Lord’s temple has already been established as chief among the nountains” – being able to look back at Christ’s cross instead of looking ahead to Jesus’ life, death, resurrection & ascension -- will we worship anyone other than the Lord Jesus?  Not when I hear God telling us through his prophet we saints will soon be “Going Up…” – not ‘going up’ as if I am hiking Harney Peak but as if I am riding an elevator up into heaven – for when Jesus climbs our cross, our loving Savior invites all souls:  ‘Let’s go up to Golgatha.’

As Isaiah mentions “the mountain of the Lord,”  what do we see?  Do I see Mount Sinai, the “mountain of the Lord” where God gives Moses his ten commandments etched on two stone tablets?  Do I see laws God uses to expose my sins, display my disobedience; stress my need for a Savior?  Will “the mountain of the Lord” fill me with fear when lightning flashes around Sinai’s lofty peak while God’s thundering voice declares my pride, anger, my lustful eyes, money-loving heart, my lying lips all deserve eternal death?

Or does “the mountain of the Lord” turn my mind to Mount Moriah, where father Abraham essentially sacrifices his son Isaac?  Do I see Abraham & Isaac preview God the Father’s sacrifice of his one & only Son in this same vicinity two thousand years later?  Will our Lord’s mercy fill my mind as I remember Isaac not really dying because the Lord stops Abraham’s raised hand before he plunges a deadly knife into his son?  Showing Abraham a ram whose horns are caught in thick bushes, the Lord provides a sacrifice Abraham offers in place of Isaac, picturing the way Jesus will be put to death in our place when God punishes our every sin without putting us sinners to death.

Does mentioning “the mountain of the Lord” lift our eyes to that temple in Jerusalem whose awesome walls rise high above the Kidron valley, that magnificent temple built by Solomon, a temple where our sin & our Lord’s mercy is on display every day as one lamb after another has his life’s blood sprinkled on the altar by a priest, repeatedly picturing the way a substitute will suffer death our sins deserve while we go on living in God’s forgiving grace?

Sinai, Moriah, Jerusalem -- all these “mountains of the Lord” merge in my mind as Isaiah sees “the mountain of the Lord’s temple being established in the last days as chief among the mountains & being raised above the hills” where “all nations will stream to it,” for sins exposed at Sinai, mercy evident at Moriah, temple sacrifices displaying both law & gospel all focus our eyes on Jesus climbing our cross outside Jerusalem.  After enduring hell & innocently dying the death our sins deserved, Jesus declares, “It is finished.”  Rising from his grave the third day, Jesus guarantees God’s forgiveness for our anger, our greed, for our lust, our lies.  Guaranteeing forgiveness for our every evil act or attitude, Jesus rises as the one & only Savior for every soul.

Like Harney Peak rising above the rest of the hills, like a John Hancock skyscraper towering above other buildings, Jesus establishes a salvation no one else can equal.  No religion really lifts my soul all the way up into heaven other than God the Father promising forgiveness & everlasting life in our Lord Jesus Christ.  No other so-called god our world worships will actually produce peace Isaiah pictures by people “beating their swords into plowshares & spears into pruning hooks” – not peace among people on earth, where our Lord tells us there will be “wars & rumors of war” until our earth’s end, but peace between God & men -- the peace of forgiveness only a crucified but risen Jesus Christ can announce as he assures his disciples, “Peace be with you… If you forgive anyone his sins, they are forgiven.”[JN 20]

Only one Savior really removes my sins to save my soul.  All the other so-called saviors our world worships today are impotent impostors.  Only Jesus accepts responsibility for our guilt & climbs our cross to be sacrificed as our Substitute so instead of declaring us sinful & sentencing us to endlessly die in hell, God can declare us righteous in Christ & order us into heaven to enjoy his eternal life.  As one Savior, only one Savior climbs our cross to effectively remove sin’s guilt & death, Isaiah notices “all nations streaming to Christ.”

Not just Jews, but also Gentiles are part of the picture – Romans as well as Greeks are included.  “Many peoples will come & say, ‘Let us go up to the mountain of the Lord’…He will teach us his ways so we may walk in his paths.”  When “the Lord’s law goes out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem,” God’s good news is that not only am I invited to come to Christ’s cross confessing my sins & rejoicing in Jesus’ forgiveness, but I can also invite you to go with me to Golgotha where we see Savior Jesus suffer our sin’s death so he can promise repenting sinners we will live with him in Paradise.

While we prepare during Advent to celebrate Christmas as the birth of our Savior, we know we will hear angels announce Jesus’ arrival in Bethlehem as “good news of great joy for all the people.”[LK 2]  God’s good news is the greatest news we sinners could ever hear:  God sent his Son to save us!  Please note a most important point:  While there will only be one Savior – there will only be one way for any soul to ever enter into heaven – God sends Jesus into our world to save every individual.

There can be no question… My sin’s death penalty was paid in full on Jesus’ cross.  My sins were freely declared forgiven by Jesus’ empty Easter tomb.  Our crucified but risen & ascended Savior has prepared a home in heaven for me.  Producing “good news of great joy for all the people,” there is also no question… Jesus redeemed your sins as he sacrificed his innocent life for the sins of the whole world.  Jesus is inviting you to repent & rejoice in his forgiveness as he calls, “Come to me, all you who are weary & burdened,” promising, “I will give you rest…rest for your souls.”[MT 11]

Celebrating the birth of our Savior, I pray we will not only see Jesus rise from Bethlehem to Golgotha to heaven as the one & only Savior who produces forgiveness & establishes eternal life for every soul, I pray we also see people flowing from every nation, tribe, people & language to faithfully confess Jesus as the Lamb of God whose sacrifice takes away the sins of the world.  Seeing diverse souls from the ends of the earth faithfully following Jesus as the Lord of our eternal life, I pray we will all invite another individual to come with us to Bethlehem to celebrate Jesus’ birth this month – I pray we will ask one other soul to come with us, to come up to Golgotha to see our sins redeemed as Jesus our Savior lifts us up into heaven’s highest heights.  Not asking us to exert a lot of effort working our way into God’s glory as if we were working up a sweat hiking Harney Peak, Jesus -- as if he were ushering us into an elevator -- just calls us to believe he is our Savior, to rely upon his life for our righteousness; to trust the fact Jesus’ death redeems our sins, removes our guilt.

Climbing our cross – as Isaiah sees “the mountain of our Lord’s temple rising in the last days” – sees our New Testament Savior obtaining eternal life for us faithful souls – Jesus simply says, “Follow me” …we are “going up” … all the way up into heaven.

Amen.