The Last Sunday of the Church Year Service

I would like to welcome you to the

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church. Today is the last Sunday of the church year.

Next week will be Advent 1, and we'll be going back to Divine Service setting 2 when we hit

Advent next week. Midweek Advent services, by the way, begin this Wednesday.

Because of the way Advent falls, we have to start them now, otherwise we won't get the whole series done that I'll be preaching on.

The service today is Divine Service setting 3. For the intro, we'll be using psalm tone

A as an alpha -beta, and the opening hymn is 905.

If you are physically present here at Kongsvinger, please rise for the opening hymn. Divine Service setting 3.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Beloved in the Lord, let us draw near with a true heart and confess our sins unto

God our Father, beseeching him in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to grant us forgiveness.

Our help is in the name of the Lord. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the

Lord. O Almighty God, merciful

Father, I, a poor, miserable sinner, confess unto you all my sins and iniquities with which

I have ever offended you and justly deserve your temporal and eternal punishment.

But I am heartily sorry for them and sincerely repent of them, and I pray you of your boundless mercy and for the sake of the holy, innocent, bitter sufferings and death of your beloved

Son, Jesus Christ, to be gracious and merciful to me, a poor, sinful being.

Upon this, your confession I, by virtue of my office, as a called and ordained servant of the Word, I announce the grace of God unto all of you, and in the stead and by the command of my

Lord Jesus Christ, I forgive you all of your sins. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the

Holy Spirit, amen. Again, psalm tone

A as in alpha beta. In keeping with this promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth.

O Lord, make me know my end, and what is the measure of my days.

Behold, you have made my days a few handbreadths, and now,

O Lord, for what do I wait? Deliver me from all my transgressions.

Hear my prayer, O Lord, and give ear to my cry. Hold not your peace at my tears.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the

Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning.

It is now, and will be forever, amen.

In keeping with this promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth.

Glory be to God on high, and the

Lord be with you. Eternal God, merciful

Father, you have appointed your Son as judge of the living and the dead. Enable us to wait for the day of his return with our eyes fixed on the kingdom prepared for you, for your own, from the foundation of the world.

Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

You may be seated.

The Old Testament reading for this, the last Sunday of the church year, is taken from the prophet

Ezekiel chapter 34. For thus says the Lord God, behold I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out, as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered.

So I will seek out my sheep, and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

And I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and I will bring them into their own land, and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel by the ravines and in all the inhabited places of the country.

I will feed them with good pasture, and on the mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land.

There they shall lie down in good grazing land, and on rich pasture they shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God. I will seek the lost,

I will bring back the strayed, I will bind up the injured, I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy,

I will feed them in justice. Therefore, thus says the Lord God to them, Behold, I myself would judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep, because you push with side and shoulder and thrust it all the week with your horns till you have scattered them abroad.

I will rescue my flock, they shall no longer be a prey, and I will judge between sheep and sheep, and I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant

David, and he shall feed them, and he shall feed them and be their shepherd, and I, the

Lord, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them. I am the Lord, I have spoken.

This is the word of the Lord. Speak the gradual together by half verse.

These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. Blessed are those whose strength is in you.

The epistle is from 1 Corinthians chapter 15. But in fact,

Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. But each in his own order,

Christ the first fruits, and then at his coming those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the

Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all of his enemies under his feet.

The last enemy to be destroyed is death, for God has put all things in subjection under his feet.

But when it says all things are put in subjection, it is plain he is accepted who put all things in subjection under him.

When all things are subjected to him, then the son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him that God may be all in all.

This is the word of the Lord. The Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew, the 25th chapter.

Jesus said, when the son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

Before him will be gathered all the nations and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

And he will place the sheep on his right, the goats on the left. And then the king will say to those on his right, come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

For I was hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty, you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me.

I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.

And then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you drink?

And when do we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?

And then the king will answer them. Truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.

And then he will say to those on his left, depart from me you cursed into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

For I was hungry and you gave me no food. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink. I was a stranger and you did not welcome me.

Naked and you did not clothe me. Sick and in prison and you did not visit me. And then they also will answer saying,

Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?

And then he will answer them saying, truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. This is the gospel of the

Lord. We will confess our faith together in the words of the

Apostles' Creed. I believe in God, the

Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, and in Jesus Christ, his only

Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried.

He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the

Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the

Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

Amen. You may be seated. In the name of Jesus.

Amen. The end of the world, it's an anxiety -causing thought, if you were to put it in those terms.

You'll note that this kind of sits in our psyche. Even in our pop culture, we have really bad movies, and I mean bad movies, that kind of cover the end of the world.

They're all terrible, if you think about it. And if you think about it in kind of a broader scope,

I mean, some of the movies that we have that kind of address the end of the world are like ones that involve alien invasions, right?

Always and again, you know, when humanity is on the precipice, in come the aliens and they nearly destroy the planet.

And we always come up with a way of right at the end of licking those aliens and turning the tide back.

But you'll note that when Christ returns in glory to judge the living and the dead, despite all the Gnostic fantasies to the contrary, they will not conquer

Christ. They will not turn back the day of judgment. And as a result of it, the world is about to change, and change dramatically.

But change in a way for us that we look forward to, and in a way for the world that they loathe, despise, and actually fear.

And the reason why they fear it is the same reason why you and I have that tendency to fear the end of the world. And that is that because at the end of the day, when we look at God's law and we compare our lives to the mirror of God's law, the image that comes back, all right, it's worse than the one

I see in the mirror in the morning, right? Look in the mirror of God's law and you see somebody, well, who's a rank sinner.

And as a result of it, we all know deep down inside, it's like on the

ROM chip, you know what I mean? Let me use a technology thing. It's down in the innards of our psyche that we all know that we deserve

God's eternal wrath. But you'll note over the past few weeks as we've studied the end of the world,

I have not been preaching don't be left behind. I have not been preaching that you gotta make sure that you're ready, right?

You know, and I was thinking about how the Simpsons covered the rapture. Have you ever seen the way the

Simpsons covered the rapture? It's quite ridiculous. And what's really funny is that everybody in the pop culture talks about how the

Simpsons have predicted so many things that they look now at how the Simpsons cover the rapture as if somehow it has prophetic significance.

And I'm thinking, oh, good grief. Even the Simpsons got this one wrong. But what's really funny is, is that when the

Simpsons version of it, the people who got raptured were the pious, the goody two -shoes and the people like that.

But I'm just sitting there going, they don't really understand that there's nobody like that on planet

Earth. We are all sinners. And as a result of it, we have earned God's wrath.

And so the ones who are raptured, although they may be pious, piety is not the issue.

They have faith in Jesus Christ. They have confessed their sins. They have heard the merciful, loving response from Christ that their sins have been pardoned and forgiven.

And you'll note then that as we look at our text today from Matthew 25, I think we should rejoice.

I think we should look at the positive aspects of it and thank God that he has brought us from death to life.

In fact, Ezekiel sets it up wonderfully because in the prophet Ezekiel in our reading today, listen to the kind words that begin this reading.

For thus says the Lord Yahweh, behold, I myself will search for my sheep.

I will seek them out as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered.

That's you and I. And here you have this beautiful picture of Christ on the last day seeking us out so that he can gather us together as a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered.

So I will seek out my sheep and I will rescue them from all places where they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness.

And I'm thankful for this because I've been scattered to Minnesota, you know, to North Dakota, Minnesota.

I've been scattered to American Siberia. Hopefully he won't overlook this place, you know. But what's with the snow this morning?

Where did that come from, right? I didn't see that in the forecast at all. But you'll note that he says, I will bring them out from the peoples.

These are from the nations. I will gather them from the countries. I will bring them into their own land.

I will feed them on the mountains of Israel by the ravines and in all the inhabited places. I will feed them with good pasture and on mountain heights of Israel shall be their grazing land.

There they shall lie down in good grazing land on rich pasture. They shall feed on the mountains of Israel.

I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep. I myself will make them lie down, declares the

Lord Yahweh. I will seek the lost. I will bring back the strayed. I will bind up the injured.

I will strengthen the weak. Beautiful pictures, by the way. Because you'll note, this is where we all sit.

We are the weak, the strayed, those who are injured. And we need Christ to strengthen us.

As to the fat and the strong, those are the people who just want to exploit others spiritually, financially, and other ways, and basically have their best life now.

He says, I will destroy them. I will feed them injustice. But that is not our fate, brothers and sisters.

So we need not despair. Instead, consider then Christ's final parable in the

Olivet Discourse when he says, when the Son of Man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne.

If you want to get an idea of what that looks like, go back to the beginning of our Ezekiel study.

It is quite the glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations. He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

And I have to point this out over and again because there are many who use this text for the purpose of saying, we are not saved by grace.

We are not saved by our faith. We are saved by our works. Remember what

I brought up last week in the sermon when I pointed out that in Ephesians chapter two, verses eight, nine, and 10, we read those wonderful words that we are saved by grace through faith.

This is not our own doing. It is the gift of God. It is not by works so that no one may boast for we are

God's workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works.

So the reason why sheep do good works is because they are sheep. And remember, without faith, it is impossible to please

God. So we cannot turn this text into a salvation by works text. So you have to pay careful attention to the nuance and understand what's going on here.

So when Christ shows up, he separates you by what you is.

Is you a sheep? You're over here on his right. Is you a goat?

You're over here on his left. How are we to understand the difference between the two? The sheep are those who believe.

As sinful as they are, they cry out to Christ to forgive them. He has bled and died for them because Jesus is the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

And they trust in his promises. And they are awaiting his coming. The goats, on the other hand, they've been busy dealing with all the things of the earth, only the things of the earth.

They have no heavenly mind at all or worse. They're believing in false gods and things of that nature and have never trusted in Christ.

In fact, they even hate him. And so they are on the other side. Once this takes place, the judgment has already happened.

It's already taken place. Before there is any discussion of works, first you are judged by what you are and your fate is determined at this point.

Only now that your fate has been determined can we discuss works. And you'll note for the sheep, it's a very interesting thing.

They're kind of unaware of how they've done all these great things because sheep are not the brightest bulbs in the animal kingdom.

But you'll note this. So he will place the sheep on his right, the goats on his left. Then the king will say to those on his right, these are the sheep, come you who are blessed by my father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

You'll note that they are already blessed. Whom are they blessed by? They are blessed by the father who sent the son who bled and died for your sins and mine and Christ who sent the apostles to preach the good news of the forgiveness of our sins in Jesus Christ and who died martyr's death for their confession that they saw the risen

Jesus who was crucified for the sins of the world. And so note they are blessed already by God and inherit the kingdom prepared for you.

He doesn't say now here are your wages. Here's what you get for what you did, all the good things you do.

Instead here eternal life is described and you'll note many other passages is described in this way as well as an inheritance.

In order to receive an inheritance, you have to do nothing except for be breathing when the person who wrote the will dies.

It's just that simple. Inheritances are gifts. They are not wages given for a fee.

And so who is the one who has died so that we can receive this amazing inheritance? It is

Christ himself. He is the one who laid down his life and in his last will and testament, he gifted you and willed for you the inheritance of eternal life and a new earth in a world without end with him as king.

All of this is gift. And then he mentions the good works. And here's the thing. These are not works in general done as works of mercy.

Instead, these are very specific good works done particularly to a group of people.

You'll see this in the context. He says, for I was hungry and you gave me food.

Note the language. I was thirsty and you gave me drink.

I was a stranger and you welcomed me. I was naked and you clothed me.

I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. Now, this kind of invokes some interesting texts.

One of them is in the earlier part of the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus has his mother and brothers want to talk to him.

They think Jesus has lost his mind. He's kind of off his marbles a little bit and they want to collect him up.

And so somebody says, hey, your mom and your brothers are outside. They want to talk to you.

And Jesus just completely changes the subject. He says, who are my mother? Who are my brothers? Right?

And he says, those who do the will of my father, they are my mother. They are my brothers.

Keep that in mind. So the one who does the will of his father. What is the will of the father? Well, we got clear passages to make it clear that the will of the father is that you believe in the son, that you trust in him.

And so Jesus has a very specific thing when he talks about brothers. But there's another text that we have to think about here.

Remember the Apostle Paul? Before he was the Apostle Paul, he was Saul of Tarsus. And Saul of Tarsus was a, well, he wasn't really known for being a kind person to Christians.

In fact, quite the opposite. He murdered them. He persecuted them. He had them flogged in synagogues.

Every time I think about that, I'm thinking, we haven't had a good flogging here at Kongsbinger in a while. But, you know, alas, we'll just have to let that pass.

But you get the idea that this is a guy who was on a tear. He legitimately hated

Christ and anyone who confessed him. And so he was on his way to Damascus. And we learn from several accounts in the book of Acts where Paul recales us with the story of his conversion that Christ himself showed up.

And we like to say he was knocked off his horse, but you'll note that in no passage in Acts does it actually say that Paul was riding a horse.

So we don't know if he was knocked off his horse. He might've been just knocked to the ground. Either way, Christ shows up in his glory and says to him,

Saul, Saul. By the way, when Jesus uses your name twice, that's kind of similar to like when your mother uses your middle name when you're in trouble, right?

I always knew, my mother would say my full name, Christopher Michael Roseborough.

Oof, I knew I was in deep trouble. All right, so when Christ says to you your name twice,

Saul, Saul, next word's out of the mouth of Christ. Why are you persecuting me?

And Paul responds, Saul responds, who are you, Lord? I am

Jesus whom you are persecuting. So you'll note there's this thing that happens when Jesus' disciples are mistreated, when they are persecuted, when they are made to suffer, when they are murdered and killed and other things like this.

Jesus takes it personally. You mess with my disciples, you messing with me.

That's the way Jesus talks. But you're gonna note that that runs both positive and negative. Where you mess with Christ's disciple, you're gonna be messing with Jesus.

Whereas if you treat kindly Christ's disciples, those who believe in him, who bring the good news of the gospel to us, that Christ returns that kindness because he takes that personally, because the one who hears the apostles hears him.

So this litany of all these things that the sheep did, that he was hungry and they fed him, he was thirsty, they gave him a drink, he was a stranger and they welcomed him, he was naked and they clothed him, he was sick and you visited him, then the righteous, don't let that little sentence get by you, then the righteous, how are they righteous?

By grace, through faith, because they're clothed with the righteousness of God that depends on faith and is for those who believe.

Then the righteous will answer him saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty or give you a drink?

And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you or naked and clothe you? And when do we see you sick or in prison and visit you?

Again, sheep are not that bright. But you're gonna note, just put the things together.

So the king will answer them saying, truly I say to you, and listen to the words, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me.

So how is it? How's that going for us, by the way? You're gonna note here that when

I came to Congs of Inger Lutheran Church, I did not come, by the way, for the big benefits package.

Just did not, that was not a thing. But you're gonna note here, you guys have done a fantastic job because I have come to bring to you the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I am your brother in Jesus Christ and Christ sent me to you for the purpose of preaching the gospel, forgiving your sins, administering the sacraments, caring for your spiritual needs and being an under shepherd of Jesus Christ, our good shepherd.

And you know what you have done? You have fed me and my wife and my kids. You've clothed me.

The very clothes that I have on right now, these have all been supplied by your kind way of paying me for the work that I do.

And when I was a stranger, you all welcomed me here. Some of you didn't, by the way, but that's a whole other story.

The antelope thing is a big deal. But you welcomed me and you've clothed me and when

I have been sick, you have been there praying for me and been helping me all along.

So note, and here's the thing, we've all done this for each other too, have we not? Who among us has gotten sick and we have not gone to visit them in the hospital?

Who among us has fallen into need and we have not risen to the occasion to meet those needs?

We have. But why are we doing these things? Because this is just what we do, okay?

You'll note that we don't sit there and go, boy, Cogswinger, look at all the good works we're doing. We can't wait to get to heaven and Christ will say, well done.

Wow, look at the, here's your wages. No, we just do this because this is what we do.

We're being sheep, right? And we're with this with each other. And so I must point this out to you, not for you to boast, but for you to be comforted.

You were created in Christ Jesus for good works and your good works are noticeable among each of us and then even in the community.

So as you did to the least of these, my brothers, you've done it to me. But what about the unbelievers?

Do they have the time of day to listen to the gospel? Do they really care about that crucified guy?

In fact, I showed this to one of the Bible studies yesterday. It was a men's study.

If you're familiar with the actor Stephen Fry, back about eight to 10 years ago, as the

British would say, there was a row. Okay, it's actually spelled R -O -W. And one time

I said, row? What's a row? And so somebody emailed me from the UK. So it's not a row, it's a row. Okay, all right.

There was a row, a kerfuffle in the media because he was interviewed by somebody.

And Stephen Fry is an avowed denier of the existence of God, at least the

God of the Bible. And somebody asked him, what would happen if you were to die and you were to stand before the

God that you don't believe in? And what would you say to him? And he immediately, without even skipping a beat, said,

I would say to him, really, God? You give five -year -old children bone cancer?

What is this world of misery that you've put us into, right? And so he then just railed on God.

You can look this up on YouTube. It's still there. It's horrible. And you'll note that he exemplifies that attitude.

And somebody said, well, don't you want to be saved? He says, not on that God's terms. Not on God's terms,

I don't want to be saved. I'd rather go to hell. That's what he said. It's quite the thing.

And you're going to note here, what he exemplifies is exactly the mindset of everybody who is still dead in trespasses and sins.

If it were not for the grace of God and him fulfilling his promises to you in the preached word in the waters of baptism, you and I would be no better, in fact, quite the same as Stephen Fry.

So does Stephen Fry invite the local Lutheran pastor over to his house to share the gospel with him?

Not at all. Do any pagans do that? No. They're quite annoyed by the things that we

Christians have to say. So then he will say to those on his left, depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

And here's the first mention that hell is eternal. You'll note that there are some people who believe that, well,

God, in order for God to be just, he's only going to punish those who are damned up to the point where they basically have paid their debt to God.

And so after that, they will cease to exist. Baloney. The fires of hell are eternal because those who are in hell are there for that long, eternally.

Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. I was hungry and you gave me no food.

And this isn't talking about feeding homeless people at the local soup kitchen. I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.

I was a stranger, you didn't welcome me. Naked and you didn't clothe me. Sick and in prison and you did not visit me.

And then they will answer saying, Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not minister to you?

And then he will answer them saying, truly I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, and the least of these, he's pointing to the sheep.

As you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. And then one of the most poignant and terrifying and comforting verses in all of scripture.

In one sentence, it says, and these, these, the goats, will go away into eternal punishment.

But the righteous into eternal life. How long is the punishment? It's eternal.

How long is eternal life? It's eternal. The two are bound together and you can't unbind them.

They're bound together as one is eternal, so the other is eternal. If you say that hell isn't eternal, then eternal life isn't eternal.

You know, if you were to think of it kind of in that term, well, well, if God only punishes somebody for as long as they were, you know, as much as their sin needs to be paid for and after that they cease to exist, then conversely, you must come to the conclusion that anybody who ends up in the new heavens and the new earth along with Christ can only stay there as long as their good works last, you know, as much as their good works have earned.

And after that, poof, they cease to exist. And by the way, I'm pretty sure that based upon my proven track record of sinning every single day of my life, week after week, month after month, and ad infinitum, that what

I've earned from God as far as time in heaven is probably less than a nanosecond, if at all any.

You get the point. But here's where we will come back to this and focus on this point.

The righteous, that is you and I, we have heard that our sins were forgiven today.

We, again, today will feast on the body and blood of Christ, given and shed for the forgiveness of our sins.

Christ has taken your sin and my sin. He became a sinner so that you and I can be clothed in his righteousness as a gift by grace through faith.

And we have been promised eternal life. I've used this metaphor before, and I recently taught on this in San Diego at a conference put on by the 1517 folks.

And I did a lecture on Narnian eschatology. Seems like a kind of a weird topic.

But if you know the Chronicles of Narnia, C .S. Lewis, they were written as Christian allegory.

And the final book in the series is called The Last Battle. And in The Last Battle, in the last page of The Last Battle, there is something just so brilliant.

And this is where I think we need to take, we need to transition and consider what it is that is ahead of us.

In The Last Battle, once everybody gets into the new Narnia, and that's going to include

Lucy and Peter and Edmund. It doesn't include Susan, if you know your lion and witch in the wardrobe, because she had become too big for her britches, too focused on things of the earth to no longer believe in Narnia or in Aslan.

But once everybody's in, and here's the funny bit, Lucy and Peter and Edmund had no clue that they were even dead.

Kind of let that sink in for a second. That's some good theology right there, by the way. That's some good theology.

Because remember in the Gospel of John chapter 11, this is the passage where Christ raises

Lazarus from the dead. Jesus says, he says, I am the resurrection and the life.

Anyone who believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live. And then he takes it and goes even farther.

Anyone who believes in me will never die. And to then punctuate the point, he asks the question, do you believe this?

Do you believe that you will never die? Well, I've never known Jesus to be a liar, so yep, we ain't gonna die.

So here's some good eschatological stuff, borrowed from C .S. Lewis. So Aslan, he sees the

Pevensie kids, they're adults at this point, and they're not quite happy yet.

They're kind of worried and have a little bit of anxiety that they're gonna be sent back to planet Earth, because every time they've been to Narnia, they all got sent back, and they don't wanna go back.

They wanna be there forever. So Aslan says to him, you don't yet look so happy as I mean you to be.

So Lucy speaks up and she said, well, we're so afraid of being sent away, Aslan. And you've sent us back into our own world so often.

So Aslan interrupts her and says, well, there's no fear of that, have you not guessed? So their hearts leaped and a wild hope rose within them.

There was a real railway accident, said Aslan softly.

Your father and your mother and all of you are, as you used to call it in the

Shadowlands, and what a great way to describe this Earth, the Shadowlands. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.

And this is this world. You are, as he used to say in the Shadowlands, you are dead.

And then Aslan's next words are beautiful. The term is over, the holidays have begun, the dream is ended, this is the morning.

In one sentence, he just encapsulates that great, great anticipation, that joy, that ooh,

I can't wait for that to come. You guys remember when I was growing up, kids didn't go to school all year round.

I don't think they do that here, but in California now, they have year round schools. But when

I was a kid, you would have to do the drudgery of school from early September all the way to the first or second week of June, and it was terrible,

I hated it, right? And so what would happen is that when you got closer and closer to the last day of school, your ability to do homework flew away like a bird.

And you can only think about things that were coming up in the summer, warm weather, days at the beach, body surfing, playing kick the can with your friends, playing wiffle ball until the streetlights go out, and just all the joys that come with eating ice cream, swimming in the public swimming pool, and all the things that you do as a kid.

And this is the only thing that's filling your mind as we get closer and closer to the end of the school term.

That's what Lewis is invoking for us. Consider the joys that are before us, the drudgery of this world being under the curse of sin and under the toil under the curse because Adam and Eve brought on us a sinful nature by transgressing

God's law. This world that just seems like a dream, which oftentimes turns into a complete and abject nightmare, this will finally be gone.

And off in the horizon, we can see the sun beginning to come up.

It is about to end, and this is what we have to look forward to. Lewis then concludes.

He says, as he spoke, Aslan no longer looked to them like a lion, but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.

And for us, this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after.

But for them, it was only the beginning of the story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page.

And now at last, they were beginning chapter one of the great story, which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever, in which every chapter is better than the one before.

Eternal life. The prophet Isaiah describes it in these terms. Behold, Yahweh says,

I create a new heavens and a new earth. The former things shall not be remembered or come into mind, but be glad and rejoice forever in that which

I create. For behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy and her people to be a gladness.

I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people. No more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress.

No more shall there be an infant who lives but a few days or an old man who does not fill out his days.

For the young man shall die a hundred years old. The sinner, a hundred years old, shall be considered accursed. They shall build houses and inhabit them.

They shall plant vineyards and eat their fruit. They shall not build and another inhabit. They shall not plant and another eat.

For like the days of a tree shall be the days of my people. My chosen shall long enjoy the work of their hands.

They shall not labor in vain or bear children for calamity. For they shall be the offspring of the blessed of Yahweh and their descendants with them.

Before they call, I will answer. While they are yet speaking, I will hear.

The wolf and the lamb shall graze together. The lion shall eat straw like the ox. The dust shall be the serpent's food.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all of my holy mountains, says Yahweh. This is what we have to look.

The current world that we are in is passing away. It's terminally ill.

The sickness has hit stage four at this point. There's no turning back.

This world that we live in will die. Christ will bring it to an end only to create a new heavens and a new earth.

Genesis all over again. And now rather than two human beings, an entire kingdom full of those who've been forgiven by Christ, gifted the forgiveness of their sins, and granted by God an inheritance in the world to come.

That is you and I. So brothers, take heart. The day is far spent.

The night is far spent. The day is at hand. Christ is at the door.

He will be here soon. In the name of Jesus, amen. We rise for the offertory.

We continue with the prayers of the church.

Lord God, you gather your people from all nations and bring them into your one holy Christian and apostolic flock.

Strengthen them by your grace that they may gladly feast upon your riches in your means of grace and declare your praises to all who will hear.

Lord, in your mercy. Almighty God, you judge between your sheep and your shepherd, your people with your holy word.

Encourage your pastors through their faithful service, continue to seek the lost, bring back the strayed, bind up the injured, and strengthen the weak.

Lord, in your mercy. Heavenly Father, you have subjected all things unto your son who gladly subjects himself to you.

Bless the homes of your people that parents may train and catechize their children with wisdom and love, and that children may gladly submit and honor their father and mother.

Lord, in your mercy. O Lord of lords, you sustain every rule, authority, and power as you see fit until this world's power should pass away.

Bless all in civil authority that they would not provoke your wrath, but maintain order and justice for the peace of your people.

Lord, in your mercy. Father in heaven, we look forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness.

While now we contend with multitude of afflictions under the curse of sin, remember those in need of help and healing.

Today we lift before you the COVID patients at Good Sam's in East Grand Forks.

Debbie, Paul, Carrie, Becky, Jim, Steve, Christopher, Sheila, Ron, Melba, Joanne, Bill, Michael, Cameron, Troy, Jim, Chloe, Ellen, Brooks, Gary, Natalie, Deb, Taryn, Candy, Todd, Bonnie, Brent, Roger, Kevin, Mark, Jeff, Joan, Sarah, Jessica, Ryan, Josh, Tim, Lori, Mike, Shirley, and Carol.

We also pray for Annie and Ethan, David, Judy, Linda Jean, Tom, Dawson, Bruno, Jim, Ellen, Pam, Chuck, Charmaine, Robin, Colin, Bill, Colleen, Heather, and Rich, as well as Martha, Susan, Una, Dick, Wolfgang, Rosanna, the

Lang family, Danielle, Aubrey, Luke, Justin, Caroline, Jack, Stephen, Robert, Hermano, Rich, Luis, Tim, Cam, Cindy, Barbara, Gloria, Karen, Tara, Robert, Linda, Charita, Robin, Luis, Patty, Jeff, Marco, Selina, Rachel, Mason, Aaron, Ashley, Elizabeth, Sane, Lou, Robin, Lauren, and Carrie.

And we also pray for those who mourn, especially do we remember today and lift before you the family of Jose Estromera.

We ask that you would preserve all for whom we've prayed, deliver them from their transgressions and hold not your peace at their tears.

Lord, in your mercy. Lord, in your mercy. God of grace, as death came by a man, so by your son has come the resurrection of the dead.

Endow your people with penance and hearts at your table, that they would receive in your risen son's body and blood a foretaste of the eternal feast to come.

Lord, in your mercy. Lord, in your mercy. God of life, Christ has been raised from the dead the firstfruits of those that have fallen asleep.

We give thanks to you for those you have gathered into your kingdom and who are asleep in him. Strengthen our conviction that death is defeated as we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.

Lord, in your mercy. Almighty God, you have prepared your kingdom for us from the foundation of the world.

Preserve us in faith and love throughout our days that we may care for your servants and our neighbors with compassion and joy, looking toward the day when the son of man comes in his glory through the same

Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever.

Amen. Y 'all may be seated. And if I could have

Hannah and Nate coming up, please. Beloved in the

Lord, Hannah and Nate have come forward before the Lord to commemorate their solemn vows of holy matrimony, which they first spoke to each other, how many years ago?

12 years ago. Thankful for the mercy and kindness that our Heavenly Father has showered upon them, they seek his continued gracious care.

We also offer praise and thanksgiving to our Lord for holy matrimony and join with Nate and Hannah in imploring his love and goodness.

Hear the word of the Lord from the book of Genesis chapter 2. The Lord God said, it is not good that man should be alone.

I will make him a helper fit for him so that out of the ground, the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them.

And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field.

But for Adam, there was not found a helper fit for him. So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man.

And while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the

Lord God had taken from the man, he made into a woman and brought her to the man. And then the man said, this at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.

She shall be called woman because she was taken out of man. Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife.

And the two shall become one flesh. So you two can kneel here for a blessing.

Nate and Hannah, our merciful God and father has sustained and blessed you throughout your wedded life.

May he who is ever faithful in love and compassion continue to grant you his grace so that with true fidelity and steadfast love, you may ever honor and keep your promises, grow in love toward him and for each other and come at last to the eternal joys that he has promised in the name of the father and the son and the

Holy Spirit. Amen. The almighty gracious God continue to bless you that you may please him in both body and soul and live together in holy love until your life's end.