July 2, 2016

Enjoy Life in the Glorious Church of Christ!

7th Sunday after Pentecost, 7/3/16
Isaiah 66:10-14


Enjoy Life in the Glorious Church of Christ!
I. Drinking spiritual milk
II. Receiving spiritual comfort
III. Rejoicing over spiritual blessings


“What’s in it for me?”

That question can sound very selfish and self-serving. We don’t find it attractive at all if that’s the only thing that a person thinks about. What about doing something simply to help others, especially those who are less fortunate?

But in a less obtrusive form, it’s a question we often consider. After all, if we’re going to commit to something and it’s going to require a substantial amount of our time and effort, we want to know what benefits we can expect to experience, whether those be large or small. That consideration will be a part of our decision.

That holds true even as people determine what level, if any, their participation will be in a Christian church. The following considerations might sound brash, but they are real and accurate. “If I join this church, what will it cost me? How much of my time? How much of my money? What will the members expect of me? And what will I get in return?”

We wish people wouldn’t depend so much on the answers to those questions when they consider joining a church, but the reality is that some people have gotten burned by church membership or burned out as they participated in church activities. Sadly, it happens. As your pastor, I hope and pray that you never have that unfortunate experience here. One of my goals is to convince you that you always receive more from the Lord than you can give to him or others. But we’re sinners operating in a sinful world, as members of a sinful congregation. And, in spite of our best efforts, some Christians come to the conclusion that their participation isn’t worth their time or effort.

But that never occurs in Christ’s glorious Church. In the Holy Christian Church you never contribute anything. In the Holy Christian Church your loving Lord Jesus always and only lavishes his rich blessings on you. In spite of what’s happening in the Church on earth and in the sinful world around you, the glorious Church of Christ is filled with blessings for you. God’s word to us this morning from the final chapter of Isaiah describes what life is like in Christ’s glorious Church. It’s a life that we simply enjoy, right now and forever. Let’s take a look at it.

Part I.

Here’s a truth you won’t often hear from this pulpit: Nursing your infant is best for your child. It’s been proven time and time again. And new mothers recognize that. So, while it takes a tremendous commitment, and it’s one of the tasks of raising a child that the child’s father can’t perform, most mothers are only too happy to do it. They only want what’s best for their child and so they won’t have it any other way.

More than once in the Bible God uses that very illustration to make his divine encouragement for his people to receive from him pure spiritual milk. Just as feeding an infant anything that is impure will harm the child, so any false teaching will only bring harm to the Christian. False teachings always deflate the greatness of our God and his grace and always wrongly inflate the merits and goodness of sinful people. False teachings never brought about a stronger faith in our God; they always weaken saving faith and can potentially destroy it. No Christian was ever properly guided by some false teaching. Satan always used it to confuse and bewilder him.

So, take St. Peter’s encouragement to heart, “Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good” (1 Pe. 2:2). Our God’s pure spiritual milk consists in his law which reveals the depravity of our sinful nature and exposes even our hidden sins. But that milk also consists in the sweetness of the good news of Jesus as our only Savior from sin.

That’s what Christ’s Church is all about. Enjoy life in Christ’s glorious Church, drinking spiritual milk.

Contrary to what you might hear or read, the Christian life is not always joyful. And just because you think you’re following what God says in his word doesn’t mean you’ll be successful at what you’re attempting. Don’t expect your Christianity to knock over every obstacle in your path. Those are attempts to find glory in the here and now. Real glory—spiritual glory—is in the Church, Christ’s glorious invisible Church. Each and every day of your life in that Church the focus is on our sins and God’s grace, on our darkness and God’s light, on our death and God’s life, on our hunger and God’s Bread of Life, on our thirst and God’s living water. Those polar opposites meet at the cross of Jesus, whose death brings us forgiveness and life. That’s spiritual milk and your loving God’s will is for you to drink that spiritual milk deeply and daily. Enjoy life in Christ’s glorious Church!

Part II.

Mothers are known for many things—such as love, support, nurturing and caring. Another notable maternal characteristic is the ability to comfort. I’ve seen it myself. There an inconsolable toddler sobbing on and on, until his mother picks him up, holds him tightly, kisses his forehead lightly and gently urges him, “Shish, shish, shish.”

But even the best of mothers has her limitations in her ability to comfort. There are situations beyond her control. Try as she might, she can’t do what it will take to comfort her loved one.

But that’s never the case with your loving God as he comforts you in a way that only he can. Listen carefully again to these words of our text. In fact, open your bulletin and follow along because the translation we’re using could be better and I’ll make some substitutions. “I will extend peace to her like a river, and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream; you will nurse and be carried on his arm and dandled on his knees. As a mother comforts her grown son, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted by Jerusalem.” Our translation maintains the picture of a mother and her child throughout this section, but the Hebrew actually brings our God into the picture. His arm and his knees bring us comfort, the comfort of knowing that we have peace like a river. That’s the peace of forgiveness. That’s the peace of knowing all is right between us and the holy God. That’s the peace of knowing he’s watching out for our eternal good.

It’s also the comfort of knowing that, when our last battle with sin and the devil has been waged, when death’s cold fist is rapping at our door, when we’re so weary and disgusted that we don’t think we can soldier on for another day, eternal bliss awaits us. The fulfillment of God’s plan for our lives is at hand. The purpose for which Jesus lived and died for us is being realized. Heaven is now our home. That’s not some fleeting wish. That’s a divine guarantee. That’s life in the Church.

Enjoy life in the glorious Church of Christ, receiving spiritual comfort.

What comfort is there when your doctor uses the “C” word in your diagnosis? Where do you find your solace when your position has been eliminated? What calms your fears as tragedy strikes your child? What can possibly lift your spirits when your hopes and dreams have crashed and burned? Too often money can’t fix things and neither can another human being. Those are the times when only your God’s arm and knees provide you with the peace that’s passes all understanding—that your God loves you so much he sacrificed his Son for you. He did that not to make this life’s bumps and bruises feel better, but to rescue you from hell’s clutches and destine you for glory with him. That’s the comfort you’ll find only in the glorious Church of Christ.

Part III.

Let me ask you something. In the last 7 days have you had more reasons to cry than to rejoice? Most of us have. Suicide bombers strike again. Will another strike occur tomorrow as we celebrate our country’s great freedoms? Our angst is on the rise as the national political conventions are now just around the corner. What fallout will we face over the Brexit? Will Ohio’s laws limiting access to abortions be overturned? OK. I’ll stop. You didn’t come to worship to become depressed.

So where’s our joy? In the Church’s spiritual blessings. Listen to our God, “Rejoice with Jerusalem and be glad for her, all you who love her. When you see this, your heart will rejoice and you will flourish like grass; the hand of the LORD will be made known to his servants, but his fury will be shown to his foes.” Isaiah had conveyed the message to the people living in Jerusalem that destruction was coming at the hands of the Babylonians. But God would restore Jerusalem. That never happened completely with the physical city and its inhabitants, but it has occurred completely with the inhabitants of the New Jerusalem, the glorious Christ of Christ. The Holy Spirit has done his complete make-over on you. Your God has fulfilled his eternal plans for you. Rejoice!

What’s more, rejoice that our God will use his almighty hand for you. He uses it to guard and protect you as you live your life of faith. But he’ll also use it to eliminate the enemies of his Church. As bleak as things may seem at times, the victory is yours forever. That’s your life in the Church. Enjoy your life in the glorious Church of Christ, rejoicing over spiritual blessings.

One of my professors was known for saying, “This ain’t no Sunday School picnic.” He’s correct. Life is serious. And if we don’t take it seriously we’re bound to bring more trouble on ourselves, and we have enough of that already. So where’s the joy in living? It’s with your Savior, Jesus Christ. It’s in the spiritual blessings of forgiveness and eternal life he won for you. It’s in the guarantee that you have life with him forever. It’s in the truth that he’s guarding and keeping you for eternity. It’s in knowing that even if we lose every earthly thing in our lives, we’re still OK. We win. That’s life in the glorious Church of Christ. Enjoy it! It really can’t get any better than that! Amen.