Glorious things of thee are spoken, Zion, city of our God;
He whose word cannot be broken Formed thee for His own abode.
On the Rock of Ages founded, What can shake thy sure repose?
With salvation's walls surrounded, Thou mayest smile at all thy foes.

          The hymn we just sang is about the glorious city of God, the new Jerusalem, the future Holy Christian Church of the End Times.  The aged Apostle John in his vision sees the new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, ready to reign with Him over the new heaven and the new earth for all eternity.  It's almost like the way all good fairy tales end:  The good guys win over the bad guys, the Prince and Princess inherit the kingdom and live happily ever after.  Only these things about which John writes are no fairy tale; they are true, for they have the promise of God behind them.

          Fairy tales usually have much in common.  There's almost always a villain in the story.  There's a girl who, though she's a princess, lives under oppression and poverty, is waiting for someone to come and rescue her.  That someone is usually a prince from a far away kingdom, who comes to deliver the princess by defeating the villain and taking her away to live with him in his kingdom.  In most fairy tales, the fears and hopes of the people who told them were revealed.  They feared evil, the devil, and death.  Often times the fairy tales would reveal that people had a sense that it was their fault that they were oppressed, which was revealed in that the princess in the stories always did something foolish to get herself in trouble.  She would open something she wasn't supposed to or touch something she wasn't supposed to or eat something she wasn't supposed to.  And this always resulted in her death, or a deep sleep, or the release of evil into the world.  And yet these fairy tales always expressed hope that someone would come and make things all better.

          We people of the Church have heard the true stories of the Bible.  We are not ignorant of Adam and Eve, for we know how they fell to temptation and so sin and death entered the world.  We know there is mourning, crying, and pain in the world, not just because of Adam and Eve, but because of our own sins.  Instead of the glorious garments of Christ's righteousness, we are often covered with the ash and soot of sin, unfit to attend a wedding banquet, let alone be the bride or groom.

          It was last Monday morning and I felt awful - I'd finally gotten some form of the crud every one else had.  Despite that, a phone call had brought me to a local motel room where three young people "lived" with two small children, one about 3 and the other barely a year old.  The mother was 25, trying to get more work after the holidays, and I didn't bother asking about their father.  The young man was about 22, just out of 60 days in jail and looking for work.  The 17 year old girl was probably a runaway and had no ID.  I asked about their plans and gave them some tips on a temp work agency.  Then I paid three nights rent and took the 17 year-old to get some clothes at our church's Orphan Grain Train site.  Through it all, I kept trying to hold down a nasty cough, but also a nasty feeling about their future.  These three young folks weren't related, had little in common except a will to survive, to get through the day.  All they'd asked for was one day's rent because I'm not sure they looked beyond each day.  The Mom said she hoped to get work while the 17 year-old cared for her kids.  I have no idea what the future holds for them, but they're not the only ones in that situation.  Many other such people try to get by from day to day, making hard choices, doing what they can.  And I could not foresee any Prince Charming coming along to rescue them.

          The sin and rebellion of humanity have created a sea of confusion, conflict, and evil in our world.  The "sea" in Holy Scripture symbolizes the chaos, earthquakes, war and death around us.  The sea is home to the Beast and the evil Serpent.  The sea brings terror with its storms and murky depths.  Biblically, the sea is the evil that results from sin which separates us from God and from each other.  And it's true, we do bear some of the blame that this sea exists at all.

          But in the new Jerusalem, there will be no more sea.  The Prince of Peace has come from heaven to save us, to wash us clean in the waters of Baptism, to clothe us in His righteousness, and to take us to an eternity where there is no want.  As God delivered Jonah from the sea, so Christ delivers us from the sea of death.  Jesus took our place in the sea, letting it drown Him, but only for awhile.  Christ is Lord of all.  He calms the sea and walks on its troubled waters.  He came forth from the depths, alive on the third day, and has become for us the Bridge over troubled waters.

          In Matthew's Gospel for tonight, a merchant went looking for fine pearls, and when he found one of great value, he sold everything he had so he could buy it.  Jesus is the merchant, and He has found us who are of great value to Him.  He has given His life to redeem us, to buy us back with His holy precious blood and His innocent suffering and death.  We are His pearl of great price, rescued from sin and death.  This story could also be interpreted to mean that we are the merchant who finds Jesus, the Precious Pearl from God, and we give away everything, including our very selves, in order to have it.  For only when we are willing to give it all away, said Jesus, are we able to keep it. (Matthew 10:39)

          The old Jerusalem was where the temple of God was, where God dwelt among His people.  God used to live there, but today He no longer does.  The Apostle Paul in Galatians contrasts the earthly city with the heavenly city (Galatians 4).  The inhabitants of the earthly Jerusalem are slaves to sin, to death and to hell.  Its citizens are under punishment of the Law, oppressed by the dual villains of Satan and our sinful nature.  But in the heavenly Jerusalem, the spiritual city, its citizens are free.  They're not slaves to the Law, but freed to serve God and mankind.  This city isn't built by human hands, but by God, and God Himself is its Light and its Security.

          John calls the Church a bride, beautifully adorned for her husband.  The Greek word for "adorned" is the term from which we get the word "cosmetics."  Cosmetics serve to beautify as well as hide blemishes.  But no amount of man-made cosmetics can make us presentable to God.  No human means of covering up our sins will work.  And so David says to God, "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." (Psalm 51:7)   Hyssop branches still grow today in the existing walls of the old temple, a reminder of God's power to remove sin when we trust Him and His Son our Savior.

          You and I stand at the crest of a New Year tonight.  We're looking over the edge, wondering what's beyond us.  I will make no predictions tonight, for to do so, I think, is a prideful waste of time.  We know there will be change and surprises in 2004.  Some good things will happen next year, and so will some bad.  Recently I've found my vision is changing.  I can see short distances better without my glasses and long distances more poorly.  I can either get new glasses or I can learn to use my eyes better.  I think it's time I use the gifts God has given me rather than replace them with human ideas and gifts that always seem to wear out or become obsolete.  I think that will be my resolution for this year - to use the gifts God has given me rather than augment my weaknesses with things that become obsolete.  Soon even you and I will become obsolete, for God will replace us with better models.  Meanwhile, we let God use us in His service as He sees fit.

          At this time of year, mankind looks for a place were there will be no more death or crying or pain, and Revelation promises that one day it will come.  In some ways the Church is like Cinderella.  She's living under the oppression of three sisters of sin, death, and the devil, but she is still the bride of Christ.  Her glory will be revealed when the Prince of Life returns for her.  It's not that her Lord has abandoned her.  But she must for a while walk by faith, not by sight.  For awhile she must live in a foreign land until He comes to take her home.  For a while she must live under the cross, not under glory.  But through His Word and Sacraments, her Lord is with her, and sustains her, and keeps her from despair.  He promises that no one can snatch her away from Him, and that He will not leave her an orphan in this world.

          Jesus Christ has died for us.  He rose again bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and one day He will come back for His bride and rescue us from all evil so we can be with Him in heaven forever.  There we will enjoy His presence fully, not partially like we do now.  There we will see Him as He truly is, and we will dwell with Him in peace and joy.  When that day comes, He will wipe away every tear from our eyes, and there will no death nor mourning nor tears nor pain nor unemployment nor overdue rent nor hunger nor loneliness.  The old order will be done away with, and God will make all things new.  Happy New Year, my friends, amen

Copyright © 2003 by Pastor Bob Tasler.  All rights reserved.