St. John’s Evangelical Lutheran Church Revelation 2:10
859 Fifth St., Hancock, MN 56244 Confirmation / Palm Sunday
Pastor Gregg Bitter (320) 392-5313 April 13, 2003
Remain Faithful to Your Savior
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. The Word of God through which the Holy Spirit touches our hearts are the words he breathed into the Apostle Paul to write, recorded in Revelation 2:
“Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10 NIV). --This is the the word of our Lord.
Dear friends who follow Jesus and especially you, Justin,
The American military does not want to leave any of their own behind. We were reminded of that once again at the beginning of this month. In a night time rescue from a hospital in Nasiriyah, Iraq, POW Private Jessica Lynch was brought back safely by American forces.
In a way, we could say that this is a promise the military makes to its troops: “We will do all we can to bring you back.” When the military is faithful to that promise, the troops are encouraged to fight all the harder.
God’s Word for today has an even greater promise for you. It’s not a promise of rescue from physical danger, but a promise of rescue for eternal life. And unlike the military which may not always be able to keep their promise, the one who makes this promise does not change and does not fail.
Because of this unfailing promise, we want to remain faithful and loyal to him, just as a solider remains faithful and loyal to his country. Today, Justin, you will be publicly promising to remain faithful to him, who makes and keeps such great promises. You will be promising to be faithful to your Savior. And as people who call themselves Christians that is really the promise of each one of us here.
May the Holy Spirit work through Jesus’ words of promise and strengthen all of us to remain faithful to our Savior. That’s the theme today: Remain Faithful to Your Savior. Remain faithful to him 1) by holding on to his unchanging promise. Remain faithful to him 2) as you boldly confess him in life and in death. Remain faithful to your Savior.
1) By holding on to his unchanging promise
The Bible verse that serves as the text comes from Revelation 2. Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are seven short letters that Jesus himself dictated for John to write. Each letter is addressed to a church in the towns that surrounded Ephesus in what would be western Turkey now a days. Jesus addresses the situation in each of the congregations. This verse is part of his words for those in Smyrna. To help us better understand this verse, listen to what else Jesus says to the Christians in Smyrna.
“To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again. I know your afflictions and your poverty – yet you are rich! . . . Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer. I tell you, the devil will put some of you in prison to test you, and you will suffer persecution . . . Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:8-10 NIV).
Apparently the Christians in Smyrna suffered for their faith. It wasn’t simply that others made of fun of them for believing in Jesus. The suffered economic hardship as well. Maybe their businesses were boycotted or the homes looted. Maybe the government confiscated what they had. But things were going to get worse. Some would be put into prison. Some might even die a martyr’s death.
Had the Savior’s promises failed them? How do we feel when life goes from bad to worse? And Justin, unfortunately you will have times in life when things go from bad to worse. The highs and lows of teenage life can often make us feel that way. And often times we don’t realize, how good life with our parents was until we see how things can go from bad to worse when we’re on are own. It so easy to begin to doubt the Savior’s promises as times like these. Has Jesus changed his promises? Has he failed to keep them?
Listen to what he assures them and you. Jesus says that he is “the First and the Last.” From before the creation of the world to beyond the end of eternity Jesus is the first and last. He is the eternal God, one with the Father and the Spirit. He doesn’t change. His promises remain the same. He is faithful.
What is his promise all about? Listen again to how Jesus describes himself. He says that he “died and came to life again.” Those words point us to the promise.
Jesus died and came back to life. What’s the promise in those word? The Apostle Paul in Romans 4:25 reminds us. “He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification” (NIV).
Jesus died. That’s the promise that he has paid the full price for all of your sins. You heard about it in the Second Lesson today – how Jesus humbled himself even to death on a cross. He paid the price of his holy, precious blood. He did that for us sinners. He did while we were still his godless enemies. This Good Friday as you here Jesus call out “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” remember that it is because of your sins that Jesus was forsaken. Then here him declare, “It is finished,” and believe that he has finished the work of paying for your sins. He has paid the price up in full.
That’s why Jesus came back to life. He had fully satisfied God’s justice and so God justified you. He gave the verdict for you “Not guilty for Jesus’ sake.” Just think of that. Even though we are guilty sinners – and that guilt is clearly evident when we compare our thoughts and word and action to what God requires in his commands – even though we are guilty sinners, the holy, just God justifies you freely by grace. His love declares you forgiven and right in his sight even though we deserve the death sentence of hell. Jesus’ resurrection promises you forgiveness.
And do you know what goes along with forgiveness? Eternal life. Life that you live in fellowship with God. Life that physical death can not end. Life that will continue forever in the heavenly paradise. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you a crown of life.
In ancient times victorious athletes were given a crown of branches, just as we give ribbons and medals today. Jesus has won the crown or the medal for you already. His blood has purchased it. His resurrection has guaranteed it to all who believe. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you a crown of life.
What a great promise Jesus makes! An unchanging promise that brings forgiveness and eternal life! But we so easily let our grip grow slack, don’t we? We don’t face imprisonment like the Christians in Smyrna did. But we often give in to other attacks against our faith. If it’s not the pressure from those who ridicule our faith, the pleasures of this life can easily take our focus off of God’s promises. There is so much to do in work and family life, in school and sports. There is so much to entertain us, from video games to the Internet, from TV and movies to sports and recreation. Jesus’ wonderful promise easily gets put to the side without us even noticing it. We find our days too busy to spend fifteen minutes in his Word. Our weeks are too ful to set aside every Sunday morning for him.
How can you strengthen your hold on his unchanging promises? By humbly confessing our sins to him and drinking in his promise of full and free forgiveness. How do we drink in that promise? By drinking in his Word with our eyes and our ears. Hearing that Word, reading it, studying it, learning it. In Catechism class reading God’s Word has been part of the daily assignment. Keep up reading that Word. Keep on coming to church and hearing it.
How do we drink in Jesus promise? Last week you confessed that in Baptism the Father adopted you as his child. The Son washed away your sins with his blood. The Holy Spirit created faith in your heart. Remember that each day.
How do we drink in Jesus’ promise. By receiving his body and blood often. What a blessed gift you are now able to receive, Justin, in the Lord’s Supper. Just think of it. Jesus wants to keep you faithful, so he brings you his promise in that most special way. He wants you to know that his sacrifice on the cross was for your sins. So he lets you eat his body and drink his blood that has been poured our for you for the forgiveness of sins. God’s Word, Baptism, the Lord’s Supper – these are the ways that Jesus has given you to strengthen your hold on his unchanging promise. Use them faithfully, regularly.
2)As you boldly confess him in life and in death.
Use them, for through them Jesus will strengthen you to boldly confess him in life and in death. Soldiers fight all the harder when they know the military will do all it can to bring them home. Just think of the struggle the Christians in Smyrna faced. They would face death for their confession, but they could face it boldly and gladly as long as they held on to Jesus promise: Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you a crown of life.
In a little while, Justin, you will promises to faithfully confess Jesus even to the point of death. May the Lord strengthen you to keep that promise. But let’s just consider what that means for our lives.
If we are willing to confess Jesus even in the face of death, doesn’t that mean that while we live we will want to make choices that honor and glorify Jesus? Of course it does. Yet those are often hard choice to make. Choices that are a harder struggle than any wrestling match or athletic contest. Choices that we don’t have the strength to make on our own. So we need to rely on our Savior’s promises.
Remembering Jesus promises gives you and me the strength to make choices that place his word and his worship first in our lives even though Satan tempts us not to. Remembering Jesus promises gives you the strength to generously support his work with your offerings even though our flesh wants us to keep more for ourselves. Remembering Jesus promises gives us the strength to make choices to do the right thing even if we think others might make fun of us or might reject us as friends. All this is really important to remember, Justin, in the coming years as you make more and more choices and decisions on your own. Remember Jesus promises and so make choices that confess Jesus in life and in death.
We are like soldiers. Don’t give up the fight. Confess Jesus in life and in death. For you have a much greater promise than and army can make. You have the promise of eternal life through Jesus. Hold on to his unchanging promises. Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you a crown of life.
