Here is not like there

Isaiah 65:17-25 ¹⁷Watch this! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered. They will not come to mind. ¹⁸Instead, rejoice and celebrate forever, because of what I am creating. Watch this! I am about to create Jerusalem to be a source of gladness, and her people will be a source of joy. ¹⁹I also will be glad because of Jerusalem, and I will rejoice over my people. The sound of weeping will not be heard in her again, nor will the sound of crying.

²⁰There will never again be an infant there who lives for only a few days, or an elderly man who does not fill out all his days, for one who dies at a hundred will be considered a young man, and one who fails to attain the age of one hundred will be regarded as cursed. ²¹Then they will build houses and live in them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²²They will not build a house and have another person live in it. They will not plant and have another person eat the crop, for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen ones will enjoy all the work of their hands. ²³They will not labor only to receive nothing, and they will not give birth to children doomed to disaster, for they will be offspring who are blessed by the Lord, and their descendants will be with them. ²⁴Then even before they call, I will answer. While they are still speaking, I will hear.

²⁵The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and lions will eat straw like cattle, but the serpent will eat dust as its food. They will not harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, says the Lord.

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of one of his saints (Psalm 116:15).

Last Sunday I announced that Pastor Kraus is dying of bladder cancer. Pastor Kraus served so many of you faithfully over the years with Word and Sacrament ministry, with baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals and much more. When I told the congregation why we would be praying for Pastor Kraus, there was an audible gasp from the people. After the service, many asked me for his address so they could send hi cars. A few people were in tears.

Perhaps you have felt the same sorrow over a friend, sibling, child, parent or grandparent. Dying and death can make you profoundly sad. It breaks your heart to see your loved one struggling to breath or too weak to move.

Jesus was also deeply troubled at the death of his dear friend Lazarus. St. Paul reminds Christians that we are going to grieve, but we should not grieve like the unbelievers who have no hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We are unlike the Sadducees of old who did not believe in the resurrection of the dead (Luke 10:27).

All of us who grieve at the death of our Christian loved ones have hope. We have the promise and calm confidence that here is not like there!

The prophet Isaiah lays out a stark contrast of what life is like here in paradise lost versus what life is like there in God’s heavenly paradise.

Here we feel the devastating effects of sin on ourselves, our family and our environment. Babies are not always healthy. They are born with birth defects; they get sick and even die at a very tender age. Teenagers can tear their ACL or die in a car crash. Many of us need our coffee and medication to get moving and keep moving throughout the day. As we grow older, we become more feeble and more likely to fall. Canes, walkers and wheelchairs become our modes of transportation. It is difficult when we see this happen to our parents. My mom has always been very articulate, and my dad is still able to throw hay bales at 72. It is hard to see my mom struggling to speak after her stroke and my dad unable to get out of the hospital bed after his blood disease. I’m sure you’ve experienced the same thing.

Jobs are sometimes horrible and hostile or hard to find. Homes fall into foreclosure. Farmers plant crops but can’t harvest them because of too much rain or too early of snow. Our WLS upper grade students complain when they have to wear winter clothing in November for outside recess. Our younger students can’t burn off enough energy when they are stuck inside for indoor recess. When I was in Phoenix a few weeks ago on vacation, I coveted their warmth. I coveted having a fall! Yet I was warned that it gets extremely hot there. Fall might be nice there, but summer is unbearable. Some might argue that it’s a “dry heat.” … But so is fire.

Isaiah gives us the promise that here is not like there! Whether we are believers or unbelievers, here our days are burdened by pain. For those saved by faith, we will have no physical suffering in the hereafter. Because we are redeemed body and soul by Christ, we will have a faultless resurrection body (1 Corinthians 15:42-44). In our Father’s New Jerusalem, there will be no sickness or accident. In the home Jesus has prepared for us, there will be no old age, no bent spine, no dimmed eyesight, no offkey praises, no failing senses – nothing but God-given perfection.

“There will never again be an infant there who lives for only a few days, or an elderly man who does not fill out all his days, for one who dies at a hundred will be considered a young man, and one who fails to attain the age of one hundred will be regarded as cursed. ²¹Then they will build houses and live in them. They will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. ²²They will not build a house and have another person live in it. They will not plant and have another person eat the crop, for the days of my people will be like the days of a tree, and my chosen ones will enjoy all the work of their hands. ²³They will not labor only to receive nothing, and they will not give birth to children doomed to disaster, for they will be offspring who are blessed by the Lord, and their descendants will be with them.”

On this side of the grave, there is sorrow of mind, grief in the soul and regret in the heart. But on the other side with the Savior, there will be no sorrow, grief or regret. Instead, there will only be the complete peace of paradise!

Now our days are marked by woe and trouble, race pitted against race, skin color against skin color, class warring against class, creed against creed. But there in God’s presence, there will be no master races or slave races; no more rich or poor; no more Catholics or Baptists or Lutherans. We will all be united to gather as servants of the Master of the house. We will all bear the mark of Christ on our foreheads. We will be united around the throne of the sacrificial and victorious Lamb. We will no longer be part of the Church Militant – the Church at war. We will be gathered with our fellow saints and martyrs, the apostles and prophets as part of the Church Triumphant.

Jesus promises in his Revelation to St. John: “There will no longer be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city. His servants will worship him. ⁴They will see his face. His name will be on their foreheads. ⁵There will no longer be any night or any need for lamplight or sunlight, because the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever” (Revelation 22:3-5).

All of this will become a reality for you because Jesus has defeated death. Jesus went to the cross and bore the terrible weight of all your sins. He took on himself all the sickness and suffering; the frustrations in the workplace and depressions with school; all the pains caused by the fallen worldly nature and the pains caused by our fallen human nature. Jesus paid the price for your sinful death to the Father. He paid the foreclosure from your bankrupt soul.

Jesus paid for your sins and suffering with his death on the cross. He rose from the dead to prove that death had died. Your sins were removed. Hell’s gate was slammed shut and heaven’s door flung wide open for you. Your weeping is over, and rejoicing can now begin.

This is not a mercy you earn. This is not a grace you deserve. This is not a paradise you win. This is yours because you believe in the crucified and resurrected Savior. You believe in the One who proved he was true God and true man by dying for the sins of humanity and then taking his life back up again.

All the hurts. All the pains. All the frustrations, depressions, evil, tears and mourning will be ended. Everything that burdens your day and keeps you awake at night. It will all be ended. When you get to heaven, you won’t even remember them anymore.

That doesn’t mean the things you are going through right now are easy or trivial. They may be quite challenging! But that leads you to anticipate heaven all the more! If the most troubling things we experience here won’t even be thought of there, how GREAT must heaven be?!

On our last vacation to Sedona, Arizona, I didn’t bring my laptop with me. That’s a big deal for me. But I needed to leave everything behind and not think about work. The same is true for you when you go on vacation. Leave everything behind and enjoy yourself. In heaven, you will be on a never-ending, eternal vacation. You won’t even think of anything that had gone on here on earth.

“Watch this! I am about to create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered. They will not come to mind. ¹⁸Instead, rejoice and celebrate forever, because of what I am creating. Watch this! I am about to create Jerusalem to be a source of gladness, and her people will be a source of joy. ¹⁹I also will be glad because of Jerusalem, and I will rejoice over my people. The sound of weeping will not be heard in her again, nor will the sound of crying.”

Do you remember in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” when Dorothy, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man are walking through the dark, spooky forest? They are fearfully chanting, “Lions and tigers and bears! Oh my!” Of course, as is often the case with movies, their fear turns to laughter as they encounter a lion – a cowardly lion more afraid of them then they are of him.

The closing verses of Isaiah 65 offer a similar thought about lions and wolves and snakes. Isaiah doesn’t picture them as a danger to God’s triumphant saints. No, the lions are eating straw; lambs are dinner guests with the wolves; and the serpent’s belly is filled with dust.

“The wolf and the lamb will graze together, and lions will eat straw like cattle, but the serpent will eat dust as its food. They will not harm or destroy anywhere on my holy mountain, says the Lord.”

An “Oh my!” of delight might escape your lips at this remarkable sight.

All of this becomes a reality because Jesus’ death has already conquered death. His resurrection promises your resurrection. Jesus has destroyed death’s power. It no longer has control of God’s people.

Now you don’t need to fear death. Now you don’t need to grieve like those who have no hope.

Rather, when your pastor dies, when your Christian child or friend dies, when your believing parent or grandparent dies, you are comforted. You know you will see your fellow saints again. They have been transferred from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant. They are no longer suffering or hurting or crying. They are enjoying the perfect paradise of heaven.

They are receiving the eternal blessing that here is not like there! Amen.

The saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom, and they will possess the kingdom forever—yes, forever and ever. (Daniel 7:18)