Awake, O Zion! You Will Be Redeemed!
A sermon based on Isaiah 52:1-6
Sunday, November 16, 2014 – Saints Triumphant A
"Wake up! Wake up! It's time to go!"
"Arrrgggh! I don't want to get up yet! Just 5 more minutes!"
"Wake up! School starts in less than an hour and you still need to get dressed and eat breakfast!"
"But I don't want to go to school today. The kids are mean to me. The teachers don't like me. Just call the school and tell them I'm sick."
"No! Wake up! You have to go to school today!"
"I don't want to! Why do I have to?!"
"Because, you're the principal! And besides it's your turn to get our kids ready and let me sleep in. Now wake up!"
"Wake up!" isn't always fun to hear is it, when you're tired and groggy and would rather just sleep for a few more hours before you had to face the day. But let's change the scenario a bit…
"Wake up! We're ready to leave for that all-expense paid cruise in the Bahamas. We don't want to miss our flight."
"Wake up! I brought you breakfast in bed and then I want you to open the presents I got you!"
"Wake up! You just got a phone call. Some lawyer says you just inherited millions from some distant relative you've never met!"
"Wake up!" might be a good theme for the book of Isaiah. The first half of his book is full of warnings of God's law. "Wake up! Repent of your sin! God is sending an enemy nation to punish us!" "Wake up! Turn to God and return to him or you will be destroyed!"
But the second half of his book is full of comfort to God's people! "Wake up! And see what God is doing on your behalf! Wake up and see how God will save you! Wake up! Get ready! God's salvation is coming soon!
This morning, as we celebrate the Saints Triumphant—rejoicing in those believers who have kept their faith until death and have won the final victory—we hear Isaiah encourage us to wake up and get ready for that day when we join them, because we know that we will be redeemed!
Our lesson from Isaiah 52:1-6…
Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. 2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.
3 For this is what the Lord says: "You were sold for nothing, and without money you will be redeemed."
4 For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "At first my people went down to Egypt to live; lately, Assyria has oppressed them.
5 "And now what do I have here?" declares the Lord. "For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock," declares the Lord. "And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I."
I. The Lord Saves From Sin
Zion is another name for God's people. Zion is literally the hill on which the temple stood. But when someone says, "Washington is raising our taxes again," you know they don't mean the city, but the people in the city, particularly the politicians who live and work there. Likewise, the term "Zion" came to mean those believers who worshiped the true God at the temple on Mount Zion.
And it is to these believers that Isaiah cried, "Wake up!" "Awake, awake, O Zion!" What were they to wake up for? Well, previously Isaiah had told them to wake up and get ready for the judgment that God would bring.
But now he says, "Awake, awake, O Zion," in a different sense. Here he reveals the next chapter in Israel's history. After the consequences of their sin, God had something better in store. They would wake up to a brand new day!
Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength. Put on your garments of splendor, O Jerusalem, the holy city. The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again. 2 Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem. Free yourself from the chains on your neck, O captive Daughter of Zion.
Though they once sat captive, they would be freed! Though they once were weak, they would be clothed with strength. Though they once were naked, they would be clothed with "garments of splendor!" Though they once were knocked down, they would rise up and be seated on a throne!
And you know that this is more than just the Exodus from Egypt, the rescue from the Assyrians, or the return from the Babylonian captivity that Isaiah describes in these verses. You know what he really means when he writes, "without money you will be redeemed."
Sure, God's people were set free from their physical captors without a ransom price, but by God's might and strength alone. Sure they were free from their physical oppressors without having to pay anything to God, but by his grace and mercy alone. We can't help but think of the Exodus, how God sent an angel to slaughter 185,000 Assyrians in one night, how Cyrus would send God's people home from captivity in Babylon.
But you also know how God dealt with those believers in Zion who put their trust in the coming Messiah for deliverance from their spiritual enemies: from the sin that landed them in captivity in the first place, from satan who held them in real slavery, from eternal death—forever separated from God. You know that it was without money, but with God's might and strength—accomplished by his Messiah—that he set them free. You know that they paid nothing for that salvation, but it was entirely by God's grace.
Like a dad walking into a room where his child is getting bullied, God said, "Now what do I have here?" and acted to save them from the bullying of sin, death, and satan.
"And now what do I have here?" declares the Lord. "For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock," declares the Lord. "And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed. 6 Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I."
So even as they faced their daily struggles God's people didn't lose heart, but could shake off their gloom and despair, like shaking off their sleep and waking up. They knew the Messiah was coming soon. They knew the redemption that he would bring "in that day." And so they could wake up to a brand new day every day, with this confession on their lips: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning…" (Lamentations 3:22-23a)
And dear friends, so can we!
Now even though you and I don't worship at the temple and even though you may have never been to Mount Zion, you and I do worship the same God that was worshiped there. So really, the title Zion, refers to you and me too! It refers to all who believe in the true God who was worshiped on Mount Zion.
And let's face it. We too need to "Wake up!" sometimes. Too often we get drowsy as we wait for God to fulfill his promises. We run out of energy in serving him and want to just fall back into the comfortable sleep of apathy and self-indulgence of laziness and mind-numbing entertainment. "Wake up!" isn't always fun to hear when you're tired and comfortable in your warm bed. "Wake up!" isn't always fun to hear when you're comfortable in your sin. But we need to wake up!
Or sometimes, when we've had someone wake us up to see our sins and have had our failures laid out in front of us. We get drowsy in despair. We get tired, thinking that this time we've gone too far. This time we've slept in too long. We think, "God's grace can't be for me!" But we need to wake up and see what God has done!
God has fulfilled his promises for you and me: "Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I." And the Holy Spirit working through the Word and through the Word connected to the water of Baptism, he has revealed his name to you—that is, he has revealed his reputation, he has revealed what he's foretold, and for you and I, he has revealed how he has fulfilled what he foretold. In this day, we know that it is God—who foretold it—and God who fulfilled it. We know that, "without money [we have been] redeemed."
It's in the very next chapter that Isaiah wrote, "Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all."
We know who Christ is and we know what he has done! We know of his perfect, sinless life. We know of his innocent death in our place "in that day"—in Good Friday! We know how "He has redeemed [us], …lost and condemned creature[s], purchased and won [us] from all sins, from death and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death."
And we know what this means for us today! It means that we wake up to a brand new day every day, with this confession on our lips: "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning…" (Lamentations 3:22-23a)
Because, dear Zion, even though you once were covered in the filth of your sin, you have now been clothed with garments of splendor—with Christ's robe of righteousness. Even though you were once enslaved to sin and to satan, you have been set free! Even though you were once weak and helpless, you've been clothed with strength. And even though we once sat in the dust of despair, we know that we will rise up and sit on a heavenly throne. We know that one day soon we will wake up in a totally different way…
II. The Lord Saves For Glory
God through Isaiah prophesied that, "The uncircumcised and defiled will not enter you again." And yet, you know that the temple has been destroyed. In 70 AD the Romans leveled it. And today, the Dome of the Rock sits atop Mount Zion. The uncircumcised and defiled have entered Jerusalem.
But God meant something more than just the physical land. And I believe he meant something more than just the deliverance from sin and satan that he would bring about on Good Friday. "That day" in verse 6 may be a reference to Judgment Day—that day when we are proved right in putting our trust in him, that day when all who have mocked us and all who have blasphemed him will be forced to bend the knee and confess Jesus is Lord. (cf. Philippians 2:10-11)
You know that we don't just have salvation from our slavery to sin and satan, but we also have salvation for eternity. We will be with him in glory "in that day!"
There are many saints who have gone before us and died in the faith. But after death, they woke up! They woke up to a glorious place! They woke up to heaven! They woke up to be with Jesus face-to-face! And while we rejoice for their victory, we also get excited to join them there and wake up in glory!
Buck Crouse must have been in his mid-eighties when I knew him. And he was a predictable guy. Every Sunday he'd be in worship. Every Wednesday night he'd be in Bible Class. And every Friday he'd come in to fold the bulletins. And every time I'd ask him, "How are you today, Buck?" the answer was the same:
"Well, every day I wake up this side of the ground is good day! But then again, that day that I wake up on the other side… Oh, that day will be soooo much better!" Buck lived with that eager excitement to wake up with Jesus. And so do we!
But what about now? What about the time we have left here while we wait for that glorious day of our full redemption? Well, we wake up! "Awake, awake, O Zion!"
"Free yourself from the chains on your neck!"
If you had a big ball and chain attached to each ankle and someone came with the key to set you free, would you pick up the ball and chain and keep carrying them around? Not likely! You'd be glad if you never saw those burdens that once weighed you down ever again! In the same way, toss off the guilt and the shame of your sin! It's been forgiven! You've been set free! Don't carry around the burden that you've already given to Jesus!
"Shake off your dust; rise up, sit enthroned, O Jerusalem."
Remember who you are, dear saints! You are Zion! You are Jerusalem! You are God's people! You are royalty—sons and daughters of the King! That title comes with power! It comes with opportunities to serve on your Father's throne!
"Awake, awake, O Zion, clothe yourself with strength."
"Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power!" (Ephesians 6:10) "[Serve]," God and one another in thanks to him, "with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 4:11)
Wake up, dear saints! Wake up to serve God with the strength he gives, just like Buck Crouse did, until "that day" when he calls you, O Zion, the still struggling saints, to be the Saints Triumphant! Stay alert and awake as you serve him each day until you wake up with him in glory! In his name, dear friends, amen.
And, "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word." (2 Thessalonians 2:17) Amen.
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