Brothers and sisters in Christ, we sang in our psalm a short while ago: For the Lord takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation. Today as we celebrate a 75th anniversary we know that the Father takes pleasure in us as His Church, his own people who have been made pure by the blood of Christ. Today we celebrate the life giving work of faith that Jesus has brought throughout the history of Christ Lutheran, a work that was planned from the foundation of the world.
Our Epistle reading can be heard as a commentary on the Father’s loving work in our very own congregation. See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appearswe shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
it is good to hear God’s Word over and over again. In The repetition of hearing God’s Word we receive words of life. Sometimes there are things on our mind and distractions, and although our ears hear the words, the meaning does not sink in. To truly hear God’s Word we must consider our place in life as one of God’s own creation, a sinner in need of restoration, If you remember that you are a creature that depends on the Lord for all of our bodily needs then you can understand what God’s Word means for you in a clearer light.
We as Christ Lutheran church are called children of God. To those who do not know the Lord in this community, we are even after 75 years virtually unknown and entirely irrelevant. But that is ok, because the purpose of the church is not to earn fame in this world. Instead, it is to know Jesus and be prepared to receive Him when He returns. “We know that when he appears we shall see Him as he is.”
On the Last day Jesus will appear to all, but only believers, only the church will have the living faith required to rightly see him as our Lord and God. In John chapter 6 Jesus says: For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” The world already has it’s rewards in settling for worshipping created things. Our biggest celebration awaits us. By the power of the Holy Spirit we will one day see Jesus face to face, and know the joy of standing in the presence of God and living.
With our own eyes we will see the unmatched vision of glory of the risen ascended and glorified Lord. Jesus’ saving work in our life will come together in that time and transform our bodies of sin to bodies of perfect holiness- fully restored to the glory with which God first created Adam and Eve. We will be like him in holiness. And we will be able to see his full glory that our sinful human nature was not capable of.
Why do we go to church? Sometimes the answer is family tradition, what I have always done, it makes me feel better, it grounds me and sets my priorities in right order. Or I need to be around other believers to encourage me. These all may be good reasons to attend worship, but they miss the bigger picture that it is in worship that the salvation begun in our baptism is completed.
Attending worship is a process that leads us to be more like Jesus. As we receive the Lord’s gifts we are being transformed. Although our bodies grow physically weaker in time, God is making our bodies pure and holy.
Beginning in Holy Baptism we received the new life in Christ that prepares our bodies for eternity with the Lord. And as we hear his Word and as we receive his body and Blood our spiritual body is made pure and holy.
By the work of the Holy Spirit we are children of God, and as we look to Jesus day in and day out we put on the robe of Christ’s righteousness and we are made pure and holy as a result. Jesus teaches: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
75 years for a congregation spans multiple generations. But as much as we like numbers, the story is the same whether it is 50 years, 75, 150, or 200. The meaning of a church’s existence is the same, we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. That is the reason the church exists as a constant in our life, to make us more like Jesus, to prepare us for the time when we will be with the Lord forever.
It is fitting that we celebrate this anniversary on this first Sunday of November during the church’s observance of All Saints Sunday. The 75th anniversary of Christ Lutheran is not just about who is here today, but also about those saints who have gone before us and now reside in the happy home of the heavenly Jerusalem, those who have sat in these very pews to hear God’s Word, those who have received the gift of new life in Holy Baptism at this very font, who have kneeled at this very altar rail to receive the body and blood of Jesus. They join with us today.
The church is here to prepare us as well in body and in soul for the courts of heaven.
The Hymn Jerusalem my happy home reminds us that the Lord Jesus has prepared an eternal home for us: “O Christ, do Thou my soul prepare For that bright home of love, That I may see Thee and adore With all Thy saints above.”
Sometimes at funerals we talk about a loved one now doing the things they were known for in a greater capacity in heaven, Jim is now golfing in the most beautiful courses, Lucile is cooking for a legion of people, we have heard things like this before.
But this is not what the scripture tells us, thinking of doing all of your favorite activities in heaven is just an earthly speculation to make people feel better in times of loss. But this is a self centered view of our future life in heaven that misses the point that we will all be together worshipping the Lord in glory beyond what we can imagine in that brilliantly bright home of love that Jesus has prepared for us.
From the scriptures we know that we will be with the Lord in our redeemed and perfected bodies. We know that we will join with all of the Saints in heaven in worship and celebration of the marriage feast and the Lamb. And already now we join in the great heavenly celebration through our worship here. Those saints who have gone before us are joining with us in the great heavenly banquet, when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we are joining with them in this hour the great feast of victory for our God.
Jesus taught Blessed are the poor in Spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. To be poor in Spirit is to see that you have nothing to offer God for your salvation- only what Jesus gives you. This means the to be passive recipients of salvation. It means being part of a transformation to be made fit for the kingdom of heaven. In the same way as we are transformed on the inside, in our spirit, it also leads to the transformations we can see in how we manage ourselves in the world in our bodies.
Through the Lord’s gifts to us we develop an attitude to be poor in Spirit in the sense of foregoing the comforts of this world for the sake of identification with Christ. Because of what the Lord has done for us we relate to the world not in manner of boastfulness or pride, but humility, as we see that all the gifts we have in life come from the Lord and are of little importance compared with the glories of God’s kingdom that awaits us.
We are poor in Spirit because we see that “We have no lasting city here, our citizenship is in heaven.” We celebrate this 75th anniversary as those who are poor in spirit- those who love above all else the kingdom of God.
On this celebration of the anniversary of CLC, we look back to the past in thankfulness, but we also look forward “And what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him.”