Rev. Dean Nadasdy tells the story of Rebecca, age 7, who was sharing the good news of Jesus with a friend named Molly. Her mother listened through the window as her daughter said, “Molly, if you want to go to heaven, all you have to do is believe that Jesus came to die for you. Do you believe that?” Molly said, “yes.” “Then,” said Rebecca, “you’re going to heaven.” Now Molly looked worried. She quickly asked, “If my brother, Patrick, believes, will he go to heaven, too?” “Sure,” said the evangelist. “But what if I don’t want to have my brother in heaven?” “That’s easy,” said Rebecca, “just don’t tell him about Jesus.”

Although we may chuckle at that story, it’s a sad comment on our sinful human nature that, too often we fail to tell others about Jesus. We neglect the opportunities God gives us to witness. It’s almost as if we don’t want them to go to heaven. Fortunately for you and me, such was not the case with those who told us about the Savior. Someone, somewhere shared with us the Good News of the Gospel, probably many people, like parents and friends, pastors and teachers, neighbors or coworkers. And we thank God for them.

One of those people includes St. Mark, the writer of our Gospel lesson for today. Historically, the church has observed today, April 25^{th as the day to honor St. Mark the Evangelist. Even though Mark wasn’t one of the twelve apostles, he was a disciple of Jesus. We believe he was the young man in the Garden of Gethsemane who fled naked, when the soldiers came to arrest Jesus. He was the cousin of Barnabas, known as John Mark, who accompanied him and Paul on their first missionary journey. And then when they split up, he went with Barnabas to preach the word in Cyprus. According to tradition, Mark was an associate of St. Peter, and he brought the Gospel to Alexandria, Egypt where his opposition to the worship of the Egyptian god Serapis, led to his martyrdom. In short, he was one of those who faithfully preached the Gospel in his day, so that we in our day could hear and believe.}

In that sense, then, he is the fulfillment of what Isaiah prophesied about in our text, when he said: “HOW BEAUTIFUL ON THE MOUNTAINS ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS!” Beautiful feet - what a curious expression. And yet, in those days, when a battle was being fought and the army had won the war, the commanding officer would send a messenger, who would run as fast as his feet could carry him to bring to the people at home the good news of the victory over their enemies. No wonder that they were considered beautiful feet, because those feet brought the people the glad tidings of their deliverance.

In Isaiah’s case, he was talking specifically about deliverance from the Babylonian captivity. Over 150 years before the event took place, Isaiah saw the runners with their beautiful feet, bringing the good news of salvation. However, the real salvation he was talking about was not about the rescue from exile in Babylon, it was about the rescue from exile in sin. You see, our sin - the original sin we inherited from Adam and Eve - is like a terminal disease, for which we must be quarantined, cut off from God and His love. And it exhibits itself in the actual sins we commit - our petty bickering, our stubborn pride, our hateful words and our selfish deeds. According to Scripture, because of our sin we deserve to be exiled from God forever in hell, banished from His loving presence for all eternity.

Recently I read a Camping Tip that said: “Shine a flashlight into one ear. If the beam shines out the other ear, do not go into the woods alone.” That pretty much sums up our predicament with sin. Sin blinds us completely to the light of God’s love, so that we are lost in guilt and shame. And by ourselves we are clueless, helpless, powerless to save ourselves from our lost estate. Thankfully, though, God did not leave us lost and alone in the woods. Instead, as Isaiah prophesied in our text God has sent a Messenger to release us from our exile in sin. And this Messenger has beautiful feet - feet that ran all the way from heaven to earth to bring us the Good News of our Salvation. In fact, those feet were pierced on the cross of Calvary to accomplish our salvation. For you see this Heavenly Messenger is none other than Jesus Christ our Savior. As a matter of fact, the word ‘salvation’ that Isaiah used in our text is the Hebrew word Yeshua, which is the name of Jesus. He is the Messenger who came not only to bring us the Good News of our victory, but to win that victory for us over our enemies sin, death and hell.

Indeed, that’s what Isaiah was getting at in our text, when he said: “THE LORD WILL LAY BARE HIS HOLY ARM IN THE SIGHT OF ALL THE NATIONS, AND ALL THE ENDS OF THE EARTH WILL SEE THE SALVATION OF OUR GOD!” In the Old Testament God’s arm was often associated with redemption and salvation. It was a symbol of His almighty power to strike down the enemies of His people. Isaiah specifically says that God will lay bare His holy arm, as if He’s rolling up his sleeves and getting down to business, flexing His muscles and showing His saving power. And that’s precisely what He did on Easter, when Jesus rose from the grave. He struck down our enemies - sin, death, the devil and hell - and put them in their place once and for all. On that day God revealed His salvation in the sight of all nations, by raising His son from the dead, baring His holy arm, and vanquishing death and the grave. For Jesus’ resurrection is the absolute proof that because He lives we shall live also, and that neither death nor life, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from God’s love in Christ Jesus our Savior.

A number of years ago I saw a Christian play entitled, Joshua’s Shoe Store. The owner of the store, a man named Joshua, put out an advertisement offering a new pair of shoes, for anyone who brought in their old, worn-out tattered shoes. In exchange for the old smelly shoes, Joshua gave each customer a brand new pair of sparkling cleans shoes. Interestingly enough, each individual received a pair of shoes particularly fitted for them. For example, to the pastor wondering if he was doing a good job, the clerk provided a pair of construction boots to help and encourage him in building up the body of Christ. To the gentleman who was tired and worn out in his life of Christian service, the clerk brought a pair of running shoes, so that he could run the race with perseverance. And to the young woman, who was grieving the loss of her mother, the clerk supplied a pair of ballet slippers to turn her mourning into dancing. But the best part of alll was that the offer was absolutely free. Joshua provided the shoes to his customers at no cost to them whatsoever.

The point of the story is quite clear. Like those old smelly shoes, our lives are torn and tattered with sin, stinking with guilt and shame. Who would want them? Amazingly enough, our ‘Joshua’ - Jesus our Savior - takes them off our hands. He removes the tears and scars of our sin and wipes them out in His blood. In fact, at one point in the play, when the gentleman goes back to retrieve his old shoes, he finds that they have disappeared completely - vanished without a trace. And that’s just what Jesus Christ has done to our sins. Not only that, but in exchange He has given us brand new lives, filled with the Holy Spirit to help and comfort us in all our needs. As the pastor in the play put it: “For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ, have put on Christ - like a new pair of shoes.”

The only question that remains is what we are to do with those shoes. Ephesians 6 describes them as the ‘sandals of the Gospel.’ And as Isaiah indicated in our text, we should use those sandals to run out into the world with our beautiful feet and share the Good News of Jesus. That means talking to our friends about Jesus and what He’s done for us, or visiting with our coworkers about what the Bible says. It might mean getting involved with our Evangelism Committee this summer, when we do street evangelism, or attending one of our Apologetics Conferences, so we can learn how to better defend the Christian faith. It may even be something as simple as starting a conversation with someone about the movie, The Passion of the Christ, and using it as an opportunity to witness.

In our text Isaiah said that, “WHEN THE LORD RETURNS TO ZION, THEY WILL SEE IT WITH THEIR OWN EYES.” Or as the Hebrew text actually says: “They will see it eye to eye.” It’s the same phrase used for seeing God face to face. And dear friends, that’s how we need to approach people with the Gospel - on a personal level, face to face. We need to reach out to people, where they’re at, by lovingly meeting their needs and answering their questions. That’s one of the most effective ways to use our beautiful feet to bring them the Good News of Jesus. May God equip and empower us by His Spirit to do that each and every day. Amen.