Grace Lutheran Church Sermons

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+ In Nomine Jesu +

The Rev. Evan Gaertner

Sixth Sunday of Easter                                                                                                     “Safe in the Savior”

May 13, 2007                                                                                                                                            Rev. 21

The book of Revelation could appear to be an unlikely passage to use on Mother’s Day to build a sermon around. While I know that the book of Revelation with its images and symbols can seem frightening or strange, I hope today you find comfort and confidence in the Word of God. The passage from Revelation 21 that was our second lesson is a message of comfort, safety, and security.

We live in a time when children are growing up with their home, school, and communities under threat. We are in the middle of a storm. We could pretend that everything is fine and nothing has changed. When it is raining outside I could pretend it is sunny and gorgeous outside. I could pretend, but I still would get wet. We are in the middle of a storm.

Out in Colorado, on the front range, cow country, this last winter there were terrible snows that covered the grasses. The potential for thousands of cattle to starve was very real. Recently I heard someone talk about the church going through a storm and we have the chance to struggle and starve like Cow Christians or stay strong and safe like Buffalo Christians. Let me explain: apparently during storms cattle will often go on their own and get themselves further away from help and the warmth of one another. On the other hand buffaloes gather together tighter to use the heat of the herd to keep them safe. By staying together during the storm the buffalo makes it to the other side of the storm.

We are in the middle of a storm in our lives. There are many factors that threaten us as we try to go forward. We could be Cow Christians and try to go it alone and run away from where we have found food in the past. But being in Western New York I think we can all appreciate the strength of being a Buffalo Christian. Staying together and being strengthened by the warmth of one another and not running away from where we have found food in the past.

Now this is not an invitation to hunker down and hide from the struggles that we face.

The danger of trying to go it alone for a cow in the middle of storm is very great. The danger of us trying to go it alone in this world is deadly. Consider in times past cities had great walls. People would farm and work outside the walls but at night they would come back inside the walls. The gates would be closed and everyone inside could be assured of safety. But if you were outside the gates, outside of the city, at night you were in danger.

As I look out into this world I know that young people are desperate for someone to care about them, feeling alone. One high school junior said, “You come into the world alone, you go out into the world alone, in life you have no friends.” (Hurt, p. 55) I know that older adults are frightful of the diseases of age, struggling with the thought of being in a nursing home or going back into the hospital for the umpteenth time. I see adult children anxious about caring for their aging parents.

So many people feel like they are caught outside of the city gates at night with the gates closed. Without hope, comfort, or confidence they are facing the storm alone.

In our reading from Revelation 21 we find a description of the New Jerusalem. The city of God has walls and gates. The street is paved with gold. In the city there is no need for a temple to house the glory of God because the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb is there. The city needs no sun or moon to shine on it because the glory of God gives it light.

In the city of God the gates are never shut by day—and there will be no night there.

The City of God is the offering of God to those that have lived in a world where they have felt shut out, on the outside of the city walls. It is a city that was built with the hands of our savior upon the cross. Jesus died our death of sin and punishment. Jesus is risen. He is alive.

We are invited to trust that our Savior Jesus will keep us safe forever. Where God is, the gates do not need to be shut. Instead of keeping people out of the city, the gates are open because our savior desires that all people be saved.

Mothers worry about their children. Children worry about their mothers. In all our worries we can be confident we have a home with God. It is a welcoming, redeeming, forgiving home.

I hope that you find at Grace Lutheran Church a foretaste of the city of God. A people of welcome and grace. The world we live in is dangerous. The storms are always brewing. But I encourage you not to be Cow Christians getting lost and lonely in the storm. Be a Buffalo Christian, gathering together, finding the warmth of your savior and feasting upon his love. IN the city of God the gates are open for you.

Soli Deo Gloria