This is a lovely time of year.  Autumn has nearly run its course and winter peeks at us from under its snow covers now and then.  On a clear, crisp fall day the smell of drying leaves reminds us of smoke and apples and leather and horses, smells of the changing seasons.  Thank the Lord I'm finally done raking leaves.  Last Monday they took away the last 18 giant bags - 47 in all this year!  And Wednesday Lutheran High students gathered up 18 more here at Epiphany House.  It's a good thing I consider raking leaves a form of aerobic exercise or I'd have to move to another house, this time one without trees.

          "How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!"  This oft-quoted text refers to messengers in old days who ran from the scene of a battle to bring news of its outcome to the king and His subjects.  This verse speaks of the good news in Israel's history about 2600 years ago.  God's Chosen People, the Jews, could now return home from exile in Babylon.

          Isaiah 52 is the good news of Israel's deliverance from exile, and it foreshadows our deliverance from sin through Jesus.  Both the Jews' return from exile and our deliverance from sin prove that our God reigns.  Everything in the universe is under His control.  Nothing happens by chance - it all has a place in a plan, God's plan, for His present-day Chosen People, the Christian Church.

          David was Israel's greatest king who kept the nation on a straight path.  But as soon as his son Solomon's reign was over the empire started falling apart.  Israeli kings fought each other for wealth and power, and soon the Kingdom broke apart.  No longer were the kings faithful to God, only to their greed for wealth and power.  Seeing the nation broken into northern and southern kingdoms, pagan armies to the north and east began chipping away, capturing a city here, winning a battle there.  Israel's kings kept turning their backs on God, so God finally gave them over to their enemies.  Battle by battle, the once-mighty nation of Israel was cut into little pieces for their enemies to feed on.

          You see, whenever we turn our backs on God, He gives us over to our sins.  God is not in the business of putting up with unfaithful people.  If we treat Him like an option or a disposable toy, we will pay the price.  He is God and He wants us to worship Him.  He didn't create robots, but people with the ability to make choices.  And because we can choose, He wants us to choose Him.  He gives us the Bible and the Holy Spirit to show us the Way, but He never forces us to choose Him.  He'd just like it if we did.

          Isaiah had the ability to foretell the future, and what he saw was not so good.  Time and again Isaiah warned the people to turn from their evil ways or face the consequences.  But time and again they listened to foreign gods, so eventually foreign kings defeated them, and hauled them off into slavery.  In 589 BC, Jerusalem was levelled and Solomon's temple completely destroyed.  The Ark of the Covenant, that precious symbol of God's eternal presence, disappeared forever without a trace.

          But despite their infidelity, Isaiah prophesied God would one day bring them back home.  That's the good news those beautiful feet are bringing in our text.

          Fifty years after the temple was destroyed, King Cyrus of Persia let the exiles go home.  The messengers could finally bring good tidings and proclaim peace.  They could finally and joyfully say, "Your God reigns!"  And you and I can say it today with the same joy and confidence.  We, too, can be at home with the Lord because our God reigns.

          In this year of our Lord, 2002, we live in a time of where peace and prosperity are elusive.  Just a few years ago everything looked peaceful and rosy, but today our finances are shaky and our list of enemies is growing.  CNN still tells the bad news, technology hasn't solved our problems, and our cell phones haven't brought us together.  Metal detectors don't make us feel secure, Washington hasn't improved our lives and the world grows more jealous of us every day.  Yet despite Osama and Al Qaeda and jealousy and heresy, our God still reigns.  He reigns despite the terrorists abroad and the cynics at home.  And He loves us despite our self-centeredness and our sins.

          Yet today things are neither as bad nor good as they seem.  Despite this strange war on terrorism, there are other wars more real going on right now, silent wars, quiet wars, but wars nonetheless.  We don't hear the battle guns or see soldiers assaulting beaches, but the correspondents do keep us posted on the battles in our daily news.

          I'm talking about the war on the family, or the war for the souls of our youth.  It's a war against truth and morality, and a war against children, both born and unborn.  It's a war against Christians and common sense, where battles are often fought between churches and in our government.  And these silent wars are quietly unraveling the fabric of our society.  Most people know of these wars.  What they don't know is where they are taking us, who will win, and whether there an end in sight.

          This is all part of the Great War Satan is waging against God and His people.  It's not a civil battle about oil or land or economics, but a spiritual war over hearts and consciences.  Whenever Jesus is praised, Satan must raise cain.  Whenever good happens, Satan must bring evil.  He doesn't want us in agreement, so he separates us.  When God and His people are united, Satan has no power, so he stirs the pot, incites the riot, and makes intelligent people do stupid things.  Satan wants us confused, he's very good at confusion!

          But today I want to assure you that, without a doubt, our God still reigns!  He is active and alive, and He is not going to let us be defeated.  The world is under His control.  Nothing happens without it being part of His plans.  If you remember only one thing from this message, may it be this - our God reigns!  He reigns today and He will reign tomorrow.  He will win the battles because through His son He has already won the Great War.  The sound of battles may reach our ears, but the messenger is bringing Good News.  Our God reigns, and He will not be defeated!

          Some of you might remember when I told of the stranger who moved into our house when I was young.  Dad was fascinated with his charm, and invited him to live with us.  The stranger was quickly accepted and soon he welcomed all the guests who visited our home.

          He was our storyteller.  He could weave the most fascinating tales, keeping us spellbound for hours.  He took us to our first major league baseball game and our first NFL game.  He encouraged us to see movies and introduced us to the morals of Hollywood.  This stranger was an incessant talker.  Dad didn't seem to mind, but Mom sometimes had to leave the room - he talked that much.

          Profanity was rarely allowed in our house, but our longtime visitor soon began using four-letter words that burned our ears.  Dad rarely drank, but this stranger offered us beer and made cigarettes look manly.  He talked much too freely about sex and showed us pictures that made us blush.  Some of my early concepts of the man-woman relationship were influenced by that stranger who came to live with us.

          Eventually he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked and never asked to leave.  More than forty years have passed since the stranger moved in.  And you know what, he's still there.  When I left home, I took him along.  And if you were to walk into my home today, you would still see him sitting over in a corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him show his latest suggestive pictures.  His name?  We still call him "TV."

          It's a genuine all-out battle not to buy into the religion of the secular world when we have the world's greatest pitch man in our family rooms.  Some families have gotten rid of him, but he usually comes back.  TV is no longer considered a luxury but a necessity.  But never forget it can always be a tool of the enemy!  We must control this stranger in out house or he will surely control us.

          Christ is our defender.  He is our champion who rescues us.  Martin Luther once wrote, "But for us fights the valiant one, whom God Himself elected."  He who once died on the cross in defense of His people, is alive and well.  Trust in Him and he will give you new life.  If you feel like you're drowning, call out to the Lord in faith and He will toss you a rescue line.  If you feel lost, He will find you.  If you feel like you're losing the battle, He will fight for you, and He will win.  He has won the victory for each and every one of us here this morning.

          We may know our God reigns, but we must still live like it.  If He loves people of the world, so should we.  If He shares good news, so should we.  God is in charge -- nothing happens without it being part of His plan.  Neither accident, nor disease, nor terrorist, nor random violence can separate us from His love.  No evil man or evil act can take away our God.  As St. Paul almost shouted with confidence, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)

          Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords.  On this Sunday near the end of the Church Year, we can sing with joy and confidence, "our God reigns!"  We can rally around the cross and take our power from His Word.  We can gather as fellow saints and rejoice in our common faith.  We can smile rather than frown and accept rather than mistrust.  Our God reigns!  Therefore let us encourage one another with these words.  Amen

Copyright © 2002 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.