Second Sunday of Easter – April 11, 2010

Revelation 1(selected verses) - Grace and peace to you from… Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen…I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man, “dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. ¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

With what burdens do you come to church today? What in this life is making you weary? For some, the list might be so long you don’t know where to start. For others, perhaps there is just one or two that are extra heavy. Is it the searing pain in your back, or your legs, or your knees; or the general, overall pains of old age? Maybe it is the fragile life of a loved one, and the uneasiness that comes from never knowing if they’ll make it till morning. Is there a surgery, a doctor’s appointment, a biopsy that looms overhead? Is a disease, sickness or disorder wreaking havoc on your body? Maybe it is problems in a marriage or dealing with a rebellious child. How about the ever-increasing reality of your own mortality? Could it be the weight of a guilty conscience, and the realization that although no one else knows about that sin – God does? Is it the nagging attacks of Satan that have you questioning if you can really know you are saved? Could it be the frustration that comes from repeatedly failing to live the way we know we are supposed to live? Yes, we come worn out with many of these burdens, with many of these burdens…and more.

It is to people like you and me that Jesus came with the tremendously comforting words recorded in the gospel of Matthew: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28). Jesus knows that the problems of this world wear us out and weigh us down because he knows the source of all those problems – our sin. It is because of sin in general that we come to church today with so many burdens. It is because of sin that we are weary and worn out. So Jesus promises, “Come to me…and I will give you rest.” But isn’t that a mighty big promise? Isn’t that a bold assertion to make? How can he say that when on so many days it seems like nothing gets better and the problems never go away? How can we be so sure? The reason is very simple, Jesus assures our victory!

In the midst of this vivid picture language, there are two distinct features that remind us that sin is our greatest problem. The first is what happens to John as a result of seeing this vision, “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” He was afraid and fainted in the presence of God the Son. Couple that with this prophecy: “Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him…So shall it be! Amen” and we have reason to fear…don’t we? Someday Jesus will come again, and this time in all of his glory! We will have to stand before him: to give an account of our lives; to face a day of reckoning for the way we lived; to face the one who can see into the darkest corners of our hearts, yes, who can even see within the walls of our homes. We will have to answer to the one of whom we are told, “The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong” (Psalm 5:5), and to the one who has demanded, “Be perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

But go back to the burdens of your life - what is their cause? It is sin! Yes, sin in general, but also sin in specific. Now, please don’t misunderstand me. I am not saying that every suffering and every problem is traced back to a specific sin. I am saying, though, that we have problems, sicknesses, and burdens not just because we live in a sinful world, but because we specifically are sinners living in a sinful world. If that is the case, and it is proved to be true by the problems in our lives, who of us then can stand in the presence of God? Do we not also have to faint with fear at the thought of standing in front of the one whose sinlessness and purity is symbolized with white head and hair; whose ability to see all is pictured with eyes of blazing fire; whose authority and power is portrayed in feet of glowing metal; and whose word is like a thundering waterfall and a two-edged sword. It is our sin, which not only causes problems but separates us from God, which is our greatest burden. The greatest weariness, the greatest fear comes from knowing our sins deserve hell’s punishment.

But in the Bible’s great paradox what we deserve isn’t what we get. In the midst of all this vivid picture language listen carefully to what our risen and glorified Savior Jesus says. John writes, “Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Do you hear it!?! We have reason to be afraid, but Jesus tells us, “Do not be afraid.” Jesus says, “Come to me…and I will give you rest.” Yes, it is a mighty big promise! Yes, it is a bold assertion! Yes, we can be sure because “He is the First and the Last.” With these words, Jesus, the one who came to earth to be our substitute, identifies himself as God - the God of free and faithful grace who devised the plan of our salvation and carried it out himself by giving his life up on the cross as a sacrifice for our sin. We can be sure because “[He is] the Living One; [He] was dead, and behold [He is] alive.” He who shed his blood on the cross as a payment for our sins has risen again because God has declared us not guilty. “Because Jesus lives forever,” the author to the Hebrews writes, “he is able to save completely those who come to God through him” (Hebrews 7:24,25). We can be sure, for he says “I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Because of his death and resurrection, he claims for himself the keys to death and hell. He has the power to release men from death, just as he promised, “Because I live, you also shall live” (John 14:19). That is great comfort! That is true rest! That is assurance of victory!

Very simply put, my dear friends, you have won. I know, you haven’t done anything, but through Christ everything’s been done. What he accomplished, you accomplished! What he won, you won! When he fulfilled the law, you fulfilled the law! What is his, is yours! When you feel anxious about sin and hell, remind yourself that when you have Christ, you have all that is necessary. Neither sin, death, nor the devil can hurt you. You have conquered hell. The person who holds on to Jesus in faith will receive forgiveness of sins.

That is why Jesus can say, “Come to me…and I will give you rest.” He can back it up. He has backed it up. With his life, death and resurrection he has provided the answer to all of our problems. No, it doesn’t mean that we will have a life of luxury, free of burdens and weariness while we recline on our soft, white, fluffy pillows eating bon-bons all day. But it does mean that we know that this life isn’t the end all and be all. We know that there is something far greater waiting for us who believe in Jesus as our Savior. If the surgery doesn’t work, for the child of God there are the joys of heaven to focus on. When disease burdens the body, for the member of God’s family we wait for the day he removes us from it completely. When the pains of old age set in, the humble believer knows the love of Jesus is greater. When the conscience accuses and the frustrations mount, the brothers and sisters of Jesus know he “has freed us from our sins by his blood.” That’s right, the blessings of Good Friday and Easter Sunday haven’t ceased to be yours just because Lent and Easter are over. And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is the knowledge that our loving Savior will be with us always to the very end of the age. A truth also pictured in our lesson, “And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone “like a son of man.” The seven golden lampstands are the seven churches to whom John was to write. The one “like a son of man” is Jesus. And the fact that Jesus was standing among the seven lampstands is a way of setting forth the truth that the ascended Christ, who is now at the right hand of God, is at the same times still with his people here on earth. He will not leave you, but will help you in every need, and will continue to reassure you of his victory - which is your victory.

It is true that there is probably no more puzzling book in the Bible than the book of Revelation. The vivid images are hard to grasp. But there is no question that at the heart of this revelation is the same message all of Scripture proclaims: Jesus and his victory over sin, death, and devil. In this way it provides each and every single one of us, wearied and burdened by this world of sin and sorrow, a beautiful assurance of our victory. As someone once so poetically put it:

I have an insurance policy Written in the blood of the Lamb,

Sealed by the cross of Jesus, Redeemable wherever I am!

The company will never go bankrupt, It is bonded by God’s promise true;

It will keep every word of its contract, Exactly what it says it will do.

No collector will every come calling, It was paid on Calvary’s tree;

It insures me for living and dying And for all eternity.

Amen.