Our opening hymn on this Saints Triumphant Sunday was a hymn called “For All the Saints.” It is a long hymn. We didn’t sing all the verses, but I would like to read for you now one of the verses that we missed:
And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again and arms are strong.
Alleluia! Alleluia! (CW 551:5)
Have you ever seen a business that had a name ending with “& Son”? I grew up in Watertown and I can remember the paint store called David & Sons. It’s a common thing to do. It’s a business name that calls attention to the fact that this is a business where a father and son are in business together. The son likely learned the trade from watching the dad.
This Psalm sets before our eyes two contrasting images. The one image is a world in utter turmoil, a world with nations that rise and fall, a world with mountains that shake and tumble and disappear, swallowed up by the turbulent sea. But then the other image is a tranquil image, a peaceful image, the image of a single safe haven that rests undisturbed by the trouble and the terror all around. In the midst of a turbulent world, one solitary fortress stands firm.
“That’s impossible!” How many times couldn’t we say that as we look at the ministry of Jesus. Jesus looks out over a crowd of over 5,000 hungry people and over here stands a boy with five loaves of bread and two small fish. We hear one of the disciples ask rhetorically, “What is that among so many?” We chime in, “What he said!” Jesus says, “Bring them to me.” And thousands of people go away filled with good bread and fish.
What is the motivation that encourages you to keep going when adversity comes and you are under pressure to give up? The football player thinks about the upcoming game when he needs to summon the strength to lift the bar off his chest three more times. The medical student thinks about the patients she will one day help when she chooses a late night of studying over a night out with her friends. A soldier pulls out a picture of his family far away when he needs to remember why he fights and why he puts himself in harm’s way.
The date was day 6 of creation; it was a Friday. The venue was a beautiful garden in Eden. The reception buffet included the fruit of every tree in the garden except for one. The officiant was the triune God. The groom was Adam, and the bride would be called Eve. Perhaps you can recall the details of the day when you were joined in marriage.
Most of you will be familiar with the names Cain and Abel, those two sons of Adam and Eve. You may recall the sad story of these two brothers from Genesis 4. Cain developed a deep hatred for his brother, and he nursed that hatred in his heart. The Lord God came to Cain and warned him, “Sin is crouching at your door.” (Genesis 4:7) That’s an interesting way to think about sin.
53 years ago, a revolution began. It was an athletic revolution in the track and field world. You could say that 53 years ago the event of high jump was turned on its head. It was the 1968 summer Olympics in Mexico City, and a young high jumper from Oregon named Dick Fosbury did something that the world had never seen.
To begin this morning, I want to read for you a passage from Scripture. It is Matthew 23:26: They placed the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. Do you remember this scene? It is morning on Good Friday. They are leading Jesus out to Calvary to crucify him. Jesus began the death-march carrying his own cross. But weakened as he was from beatings and blood loss, he is unable to carry it the whole way. So the Roman soldiers grab an onlooker from the crowd.
The Kingdom of God is advancing. It is advancing everywhere Jesus goes. And as the Kingdom of God advances with Jesus, the tyranny of Satan crumbles. As the Kingdom of God advances with Jesus, the symptoms of sin begin to dissipate. Neither demons nor disease nor death can stand against the forward march of the Christ and his Kingdom.
