Sermons 2024

Video

Text: Isaiah 25:6-9
Theme: A Defeat of death itself

1.    A feast greater than we can imagine we are invited to
2.    Why? JC conquered death
3.    Feast still join in today.

Alleluia Christ is Risen!
He is Risen indeed Alleluia!

My dear beloved flock, the text for our meditation today is the Old Testament lesson of Isaiah twenty-five verses six through nine.

Boys and girls, I pray that you are doing well this joyous Easter. What is the best food that you can think of? Candy, chocolate, cake, veggies? Well maybe not them…many times, when we gather together to celebrate an event, food is involved. When you get married, there is a fancy cake and other food at the reception. When there is a funeral, there is usually a light luncheon. Today the Lord says that He is preparing a feast that everyone in the world is invited to. Why is the Lord doing this? How do we join in that feast today? Ponder those questions as you hear the rest of the sermon. You may go back to your seats and those who love you. 

1.    A feast greater than we can imagine we are invited to

What is the best feast that you could ever imagine? The most expensive banquet in history was in 1821 at the coronation of King George IV. He was famous for his extravagant lifestyle and racking up eyewatering debts, his coronation costing the equivalent of more than £20,000,000 in today's money. In Westminster Hall, now the oldest remaining part of the original Houses of Parliament, the king and 300 of the most important guests dined under the gaze of thousands of spectators sitting on specially constructed platforms. Dining elsewhere in the palace were 1,300 other guests. French-style cuisine was served from temporary kitchens constructed to cope with the quantity of food, and the king's table alone had more than 70 dishes over three courses. In total, the guests ate 7.3 tons of beef, veal and lamb, more than 1,600 chickens and 8,400 eggs. You want to talk about a grand feast. I do not think that any of us would leave the table hungry if we had attended that one

Yet as grand as that feast was, Isaiah declares that i the Lord will “prepare a feast,” “destroy the shroud,” “swallow up death,” “wipe away the tears,” and “remove the disgrace.  The Lord is making a feast greater than anything King George IV could have dreamed up. The Lord prepares a great feast. It is a feast not just for anyone but for all nations, everyone in the entirety of the world.  

A great feast for anyone who suffers from the horrors of death. For anyone who has ever mourned over loved ones no longer with them. For anyone who is missing the touch, kiss, caress of a spouse now no longer here. All of us have faced the specter of death. We have seen loved ones slowly dying as they get older and older. We have mourned those taken too soon, taken from of in the youth and vitality of life. Even we ourselves are not immune. We face the reality of death ourselves every day. When we wake up with more grey hairs, more aches, and pains then yesterday, we are reminded that we too will eventually die and be buried. 

2.    Why? JC conquered death

Yet, there is hope and joy even in the face of death itself. How can we be joyful? Because of the work of the Lord.  The Lord prepares this feast purely because of His great love and mercy towards everyone across all of time and space. He prepares a feast to give us hope, to give us comfort as we mourn, to wipe away every tear from our eyes. How does He do all this? Look at why He is throwing this great feast. Because Jesus has swallowed up death forever. Jesus risen from the dead. Because He has destroyed the power of death forever. He has won the victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil! See, where He was laid. The Tomb is empty! He is no longer there! By dying, Jesus has destroyed the power of death. He has taken away our sins from us, paid the price for all of them, and buried them with Him in the tomb. By rising again, He gives to us new life with Him forever, leaving our sins dead and buried. Jesus has taken away the veil of death from us forever. Because of His great love towards us, we get to join in this feast with Jesus forever. He wipes away our tears, even as we mourn, by reminding us that there will come a day when death itself will be ended and crushed beneath His nail scarred feet because He is alive forever more. 

3.    Feast still join in today.

This is a future reality that we celebrate today. Jesus gives us a foretaste of the feast to come. That we today, even while we wait, even while we mourn, get to join in the feast for the comfort and salvation of our souls! We join with angels, archangels, and all the company of heaven in the great marriage feast of the Lamb in His Kingdom forever. A feast for all nations, purified by the blood of Jesus Christ, because of His sacrifice upon the cross, and alive forevermore. We join in a foretaste of this feast every time we gather at this altar. We feast on Jesus’ body and blood, in, with, and under, the bread and the wine, given and shed for us. We join with all of the redeemed, all of the host of heaven, as we look forward to the day when we will get see our Crucified, Risen, and Ascended Lord face to face, and join Him, and everyone, physically forever and ever.
Be of good cheer my beloved flock, the Lord has taken away your veil. He has swallowed up death forever because of His great love for you.

Alleluia Christ is Risen!
He is Risen indeed Alleluia!

The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard and keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.