PASTOR'S MESSAGE

   

“The Eternal Gospel”

Revelation 7:2-17

 (Preacher: Reverend Gary L. Buss)

Discovering that he’d overslept, Bob abandoned his usual morning routine and rushed out.  In the van though, he realized that he had time to stop at the coffee shop for a take-out coffee.  Bob got his coffee and returned to the van, only to find that he had not only left it running, but had locked it too!  The day was going from bad to worse.  Bob returned to the shop, sheepishly explained his situation to the clerk and asked to borrow a broom.  He managed to open a side window and pop the lock on the back door using the broom handle.  When Bob returned the broom, the clerk said, “I know you're having a bad day, but...”   “I know, I know,” Bob interrupted.  “You want to know how I can unlock my van with a broom.”  ‘No,” she said.  “I wanted to tell you that your shirt is on inside out.”

Obviously, Bob didn’t need to hear more bad news.  He needed to hear some good news.  His bad day was definitely going from worse to terrible, and he needed something to cheer him up.  In many respects that’s not unlike the situation in our text for today from the Revelation of St. John.  If you’ve ever read the Book of Revelation, you know that John’s description of the end times is often very frightening, like a bad day going from worse to terrible, like your worst nightmare.  It’s clearly a situation that requires good news.  And thankfully that’s exactly what God provides in our text, where St. John says:  “THEN I SAW ANOTHER ANGEL FLYING DIRECTLY OVERHEAD, WITH AN ETERNAL GOSPEL TO PROCLAIM TO THOSE WHO DWELL ON EARTH, TO EVERY NATION AND TRIBE AND LANGUAGE AND PEOPLE.” 

The eternal Gospel – that is our theme for this Reformation Sunday, because the Gospel is the heart and soul of the Reformation.  It’s the ultimate Good News, the Gospel of God’s redeeming grace in Jesus Christ our Savior.  And in his vision, St. John sees an angel flying in the midst of heaven, proclaiming this saving Gospel to all the world.  Now, the ESV describes this angel as flying directly overhead.  The Greek word is ‘mid-heaven’ and it actually refers to the point where the sun has reached its zenith, it’s highest point typically at noon, indicating that the angel can be seen and heard by all, so that the message cannot be ignored.  Not only that, but our text says that the angel cried out in a loud voice, which is the Greek word ‘megaphone.’  In other words, the angel was fairly well shouting the Gospel message, so that no one could miss it. 

But who exactly is this angel?  Well, many of the early Lutheran writers identified the angel as Martin Luther, because God used him to restore the Gospel to the church, which is why this text is one of the traditional lessons for Reformation.  But since the word ‘angel’ means ‘messenger,’ it can refer to all those messengers God send, including pastors and teachers, parents and witnesses, who proclaim the Good News of the Gospel until Jesus returns.

And why is that proclamation of the Gospel so important?  Because without it, you and I and all mankind are eternally lost.  In the verses immediately following our text, the angel gives this warning:  “If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured full strength into the cup of his wrath. He will be tormented with burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and of the Lamb.  And the smoke of their torment rises for ever and ever. There is no rest day or night for those who worship the beast and his image, or for anyone who receives the mark of his name.”

St. John is talking here about the punishment God threatens to pour out on all those who worship the beast or receive his mark.  In the language of Revelation, that is the designation for unbelievers – all those who reject Jesus Christ.  And that is the ultimate form of idolatry, because when you turn away from the Gospel, you are really worshipping Satan instead of God.  And yet, Holy Scripture tells us that we are all born into this world with that sinful mark.  By nature we are all idolatrous sinners, who give into selfishness and worship the creature and created things, instead of the Creator.  As a matter of fact, in Ephesians chapter two, St. Paul tells us that we are born as children of Satan, children of wrath, because of the original sin we inherited from Adam and Eve.  The Lutheran Reformers referred to this as ‘concupiscence’ – the inborn, hereditary sickness of sin, which taints our nature and destroys our soul.  This soul-sickness of original sin not only leads to our actual sins of thought word and deed, like gossiping about our neighbor, lusting after the sinful passions of this world, hurting those around us.  But it also estranges us from God, and damns us to hell.  In the words of Revelation, it leads to fury of God’s wrath and the torment of burning sulfur for all eternity. 

My friends, that’s why you and I so desperately need the eternal Gospel – the Good News that Jesus came to rescue and release us from all of that.  Martin Luther, in his Introduction to the New Testament, described the Gospel this way:  “‘Evangel’ is the Greek word for Gospel and in German means a good message, good tidings, a good report, which one sings and tells with rejoicing.  So when David overcame the huge Goliath, the good report and the comforting news came among the Jewish people that their terrible enemy had been slain, that they had been delivered, and that joy and peace had been given to them; and they sang and danced and were happy because of this.  So the evangel, the Gospel of God and of the New Testament is also a good message and report.  The Gospel has resounded in all the world, proclaimed by the apostles.  It tells of a true David who fought with sin, death, and the devil, overcame them, and thereby delivered, without any merit of their own, all those who were held captive in sin, were plagued by death, and were overpowered by the devil.  He made them righteous, gave them life, and saved them.  Thus their needs were satisfied, and they were brought back to God.  Because of this they sing, thank God, praise Him, and are happy forever, if only they believe and remain steadfast in this faith.”

That’s what happened, when Jesus died on the cross to erase all our sins, and rose from the grave to give us the victory of eternal life.  He wiped out the taint of our sin, so that it cannot harm us any more, and took the burning torment of hell for us, so that He could take it out of the picture once and for all!  In Revelation 14, St. John describes the Gospel of salvation this way:  “They were purchased from among men and offered as firstfruits to God and the Lamb.  No lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.”  In other words, Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God, who shed His blood on the cross as the final payment to cancel out the debt of our iniquity,  In so doing, He purchased us as His precious, forgiven children.  We are now blameless in His sight – without any sinful spot or guilty blemish, because He has cleansed us in His blood.

We could think of it this way:  The Adoration of the Lamb is the title of the great altar piece by John & Hubert Van Eyck.  The background is a Flemish city intended to represent Jerusalem.  The middle ground in occupied by trees, meadows, and green slopes.  In the very center of the picture is an altar covered with a white cloth.  Here stands a lamb, from whose breast a stream of blood issues into a crystal glass.  Angels kneel round the altar with all of the faithful, adoring the lamb.  In that painting, the lamb clearly represents Jesus Christ our Savior, who shed His blood to cleanse us of our sins.  And once again today He pours out that same blood along with His body, in the chalice and paten of Holy Communion for the removal of all our guilty stains.  He feeds us with Himself, for the sustenance of our faith.  And pours into us His righteousness to cover up and blot out our sinful shame.

But that precious gift was initially poured out to us in our Baptism, when He planted the seed of faith in our heart.  In fact, earlier in Revelation chapter 14, St. John describes Holy Baptism as the seal of God’s ownership and protection written upon our forehead.  For when the water was poured over us in the name of the Triune God, and the sign of the cross was made upon our forehead, God placed His Holy Spirit in our heart to give us the gift of saving faith in Christ.  In so doing, He not only eradicated Satan’s mark, but He branded His own mark upon us, claiming us as His precious, blood-bought children and sealing us for salvation. 

In other words, He lavishes His gifts of forgiveness, life and salvation upon us freely in the Word and Sacraments, the Means of Grace.  And He does so, without any merit or worthiness on our part, as a gift of His grace.  Which is why in our text, St. John describes this as the eternal Gospel.  It’s eternal, because the plan of salvation existed from eternity –  God chose us to be His own before the foundation of the world.  And then He made us His own in our Baptism.  But the Gospel is also eternal in that it is eternally valid.  Even in a world that is falling to pieces, God’s Good News of love and salvation in Jesus is unchanging.  His pardon and forgiveness to us is firm and steadfast, and nothing can take it away.  That is the eternal Gospel that is ours by God’s grace, through the gift of saving faith in Jesus Christ!

The story is told of a pretty girl, who walked into a fabric store one day and said, “I want to buy this material for a new dress.  How much does it cost?”  “Only one kiss per yard,” replied the male clerk with a sly smile.  “That’s fine,” replied the girl.  “I’ll take ten yards.”  With joyous anticipation written all over his face, the clerk quickly measured out and wrapped the cloth, then teasingly held it out.  The girl snapped up the package and pointed to a little old man standing next to her.  “Grandpa will pay the bill,” she replied.

Somehow, I don’t think that’s what the young man had in mind.  The girl got the goods, but someone else paid the price.  For her it was free of charge.  In a cute way, that reminds us of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Thanks to Jesus our Savior, you and I got the goods.  We have received forgiveness, life and salvation free of charge, because Jesus paid the ultimate price for us.  He laid down His life on the cross to purchase for us pardon for our sins, redemption from hell, and everlasting life in His heavenly kingdom.  And He freely bestows it upon us as a gift in His Word and Sacraments.  May that Good News strengthen our faith in Jesus, fill us with the joy of our salvation, and empower us to be like Luther and the Reformers – to be megaphones, proclaiming the eternal Gospel of Christ loudly and clearly for all the world to hear, until He comes again to take us Home to Glory.  Amen.   

 

  

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