“Baptized Saints’ Heavenly Home Is Their Happy Haven of Glory”
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
Lord [Amen.]
“I’m but a stranger here, Heav’n is my home;
Earth is a desert drear, Heav’n is my home.
Danger and sorrow stand Round me on ev’ry hand;
Heav’n is my fatherland, Heav’n is my home.”
(Lutheran Service Book, © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO.
748:1)
Gospel
Reading................................................................ St.
Matthew 5:1-12 (esp. 11-12)
11“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all
kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for
your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were
before you.”
Prologue: Words individually and collectively have meaning.
However, it’s easy to speak an isolated word or group of words and either
not know the meaning or simply ignore it. For instance, in the Apostles’
Creed you declare that you believe in “the holy Christian Church, the
communion of saints.” But do you actually know or even care what you’re
saying with those words? Or are they just a part of a prescribed creed that’s
part of the routine liturgy that’s part of the regimented Divine Service
that you’ve rehearsed for many years and now the words just mechanically
tumble out of your mouth with little or no thought about them? Well, simply
stated, “the communion of saints” is “the total number of those who believe
in Christ.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Copyright © 1986,
1991 Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, MO. Page 157.)
Then there’s that intriguing and comforting ending to the Proper
Preface in the Sacrament of the Altar liturgy that says: “Therefore with
angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify
Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying” immediately followed
by the singing of the “Sanctus” … the “Holy, Holy, Holy” in which you
declare that “Heaven and earth are full of Your [the Lord God’s] glory.”
(Lutheran Service Book. Copyright © 2006 Concordia Publishing House, St.
Louis, MO. Page 161.)
And that brings us face-to-face with today’s sermon text from the
Gospel Reading, namely the Beatitudes, which “enshrine profound truth in
brief form” (Donald Guthrie in Jesus the Messiah: An Illustrated Life of
Christ. Copyright © 1972 by The Zondervan Corporation, Grand Rapids, MI.
Page 83.) and in which Jesus revealed to His disciples then and you today
that …
“Baptized Saints’ Heavenly Home Is Their Happy Haven of Glory.”
The Reverend Doctor David P. Scaer noted that “In the Beatitudes,
catechumens are not faced with moral demands but are promised great things
from God. Hence the Beatitudes first are Christological descriptions of
Jesus, then descriptions of his followers.” In fact, “The Beatitudes depict
what believers already are in Jesus.” (David P. Scaer in Discourses in
Matthew: Jesus Teaches the Church. Copyright © 2004 David P. Scaer. Pages
216f.) And through Spirit-given faith in Jesus you are already saints!
That means that you possess the superabundant riches of Christ! And among
those superabundant riches is the fact that …
I. Saints Possess Spirit-given Spiritual Qualities. (1-6)
1Seeing the crowds, [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when he sat down,
his disciples came to him. 2And he opened his mouth and taught them,
saying: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those
who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
It’s extremely important that you immediately understand that “The
word ‘saint’ was one of the many terms Luther had to clarify in the light of
Scripture, as he does in his exposition of John 14:25-26.” For regarding
“The Scriptural Breadth of the Title ‘Saints’” he wrote: “Just as we should
not deny that we are baptized and Christians, so we should not deny or doubt
that we are holy. It would be well to impress this deeply on people and to
accustom them not to be shocked at it or hesitate to accept it. Thus I and
others were so steeped in our monasticism and unbelief that we were
frightened if a man considered himself, or was called, a saint on earth.
For our thoughts about saints were directed toward the deceased saints or
the blessed in heaven, even though Scripture constantly uses this term with
reference to the living on earth. Thus St. Paul, in nearly all his
writings, bids men greet all the saints. Again, he says: ‘All the saints
salute you’ (2 Cor. 13:12). And 1 Tim. 5:10 he speaks of widows who washed
the feet of the saints. Here he plainly calls all Christians by their name:
saints. So, when Christendom began, the custom of calling one another
saints continued for a long time. This should still be the practice. For
when Christians call themselves holy after Christ, this is not arrogance; it
is honoring and praising God. For thereby we do not praise the [scented]
holiness of our own works but His Baptism, Word, grace, and Spirit, which we
do not have of ourselves; He gave them to us.” (What Luther Says: An
Anthology. Compiled by Ewald M. Pless. Volume III, Prayers-Zeal,
Appendices and Indexes. Copyright © 1959 Concordia Publishing House, St.
Louis, MO. Page 1246.)
Both the Old and New Testament writers used words that refer to
Christians and that are translated with our English word “saint”. In the
Old Testament times they were people who trusted God’s promises to send the
Messiah, who would atone for their sins. In the New Testament times in
which we’re living they were and are people like you who trust in the
historical Christ, who was the fulfillment of God’s promises to send a
Savior to redeem you from sin, Satan, and death itself. Living in the
afterglow of Jesus’ earthly life, death, and resurrection, your Baptism
identity is that you are saints, people whom God has declared forgiven,
justified, and holy for the sake of Jesus Christ. That is, you are
“believers who have been cleansed by the blood of Christ and who serve God
with holy living.” (Luther’s Small Catechism with Explanation. Page 159.)
You are among the many past, present, and future saints throughout
the world who, like Jesus Himself who bore your sins and took your place
before the almighty righteous Judge, are “poor in spirit,” “who mourn,” who
are numbered with “the meek,” and “who hunger and thirst for righteousness.”
As such you truly realize that you are sinful and unclean and that you
deserve only God’s temporal wrath and eternal punishment in the excruciating
fires of hell forever separated from Him who created and sustains life. As
such, you grieve and lament your miserable condition of sin-wretchedness.
As such you humbly admit that you don’t possess any inherent worthiness of
your own personal merit. As such you desperately desire what only our
merciful and gracious God can and does give, namely, forgiveness of your
sins, healing of your soul, and eternal life with your Savior in heaven.
The bottom line is that you along with countless other sin-infected
Christians have the desperate longing that …
II. Saints Desire and Seek To Be Like Jesus. (7-10)
7“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8Blessed are the
pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for
they shall be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted
for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Turning again to Martin Luther’s Spirit-given insight, he
emphasized that “Believers in Christ Are Saints.” He did so when he wrote:
“The false humility of our work-righteous folk says: Why, God preserve me!
How could anyone be so arrogant as to let himself be called holy? After
all, we are nothing but poor sinners. Answer: All this stems from the old
notion that when we hear of saintliness, we must look for only great,
splendid works and gaze at the saints in heaven, as if they had earned and
merited it. But we say that the real saints of Christ must be good, stout
sinners and remain saints who are not ashamed to pray the Lord’s Prayer….
They are not called saints because they are without sin or have become
saintly through works. On the contrary, they themselves, with all their
works, are nothing but condemned sinners. But they become holy through a
foreign holiness, namely, through that of the Lord Christ, which is given
them by faith and thus becomes their own. This faith is so strong and
powerful that it covers and wipes away all sins and shortcomings that remain
in flesh and blood. I have often said that the kingdom of Christ is nothing
but pure forgiveness, a kingdom that deals with sins and always wipes them
away, covers them, and cleanses us of them as long as we live here below.”
(What Luther Says: An Anthology. Pages 1246f.)
Because it’s all about Jesus and depends on Him alone, it’s only
good, right, and salutary that you desire and seek to be like Jesus. That
is, you strive to be “merciful,” “pure in heart,” and “peacemakers.” You do
so realizing the inevitable reality that such Christ-likeness will lead to
being “persecuted for righteousness’ sake” even as Jesus was. That means
that you will strive by the Holy Spirit’s power to extend loving-kindness
and heartfelt compassion to all, that you will seek after divine purity in
your own heart, and that you will promote peace, unity, and harmony with all
people. It means that you will accept whatever evil others throw at you
because of your Christ-likeness recalling what Jesus taught His apostolic
disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up
his cross and follow me.” (Matt 16:24 ESV) As you do so, drink deeply from
the well of life that God provides for you by reading and hearing His Holy
Word, daily remembering that you are Baptized, receiving His gracious gift
of Absolution, and properly partaking of Christ’s body and blood in Holy
Communion.
In conclusion, therefore, have you ever wondered what heaven will
be like? Two stanzas of today’s Introit Hymn described it this way:
“Hark! The glad celestial hymn
Angel choirs above are raising;
Cherubim and seraphim,
In unceasing chorus praising.
Fill the heav’ns with sweet accord:
Holy, holy, holy Lord!
“Lo, the apostles’ holy train
Join Thy sacred name to hallow;
Prophets swell the glad refrain,
And the white-robed martyrs follow,
And from morn to set of sun
Through the Church the song goes on.”
(Lutheran Service Book. Hymn 940:2-3)
At the same time, today’s First Reading offered a description of
heaven from a different perspective: “Then one of the elders addressed me,
saying, ‘Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they
come?’ I said to him, ‘Sir, you know.’ And he said to me, ‘These are the
ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and
made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the
throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on
the throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more,
neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching
heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and
he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every
tear from their eyes.’” (Rev 7:13-17 ESV)
Taking those two descriptions together it’s absolutely accurate to
say that …
“Baptized Saints’ Heavenly Home Is Their Happy Haven of Glory.”
As you think about those descriptions you’ll certainly be
motivated to pray what you heard in today’s Collect: “Grant us so to follow
Your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with
them, we may come to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who
love You … .” Of course, the foundation and motivation for you to follow
the examples of virtuous and godly living given by previous saints is the
pure good-news message that was stated in today’s Gospel Reading: “See what
kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children
of God; and so we are. Beloved, we are God’s children now … .” (1 John
3:1a, 2a ESV)
After all, …
I. Saints Possess Spirit-given Spiritual Qualities. (1-6)
and
II. Saints Desire and Seek To Be Like Jesus. (7-10)
So, ever rejoice and give thanks to God that, as today’s Gradual
declared: “Blessèd are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are
the highways to Zion.” (Ps 84:5 ESV)
God grant it all for the sake of Jesus Christ, His humble Son, our
holy Savior. [Amen.]
In the name of the Father and of the X Son and of the Holy Spirit.
[Amen.]
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