September 18, 2011
Dear friends in Christ.
Samuel Medley was born in England on June 23, 1738. Though he was apprenticed to an oilman in London, he so thoroughly disliked the oil business that at the age of 17 he entered the service of the King as a sailor in the Royal Navy. Though he had been brought up in a good home with a good education, it is clear that Samuel was anything but a Christian. By all reports he led a very over indulgent and excessive life while serving in the Royal Navy. However his Naval career was cut short, when at the age of 21 he endured a sever leg wound in the Battle of Cape Lagos; a leg wound that necessitated an honorable discharge from service. Though Samuel had been anything but a Christian, it was during his convalescence that he heard a sermon by Isaac Watts that began the spark of faith in Samuel’s heart. As his faith grew he felt called to the service of the Lord and became a Baptism minister. Though history speaks of him as an excellent preacher and teacher of salvation, the thing for which Samuel Medley is best remember are the 230 hymns he wrote during his lifetime. Though we have only one of his 230 hymns in our hymnal, in my opinion it is by far, the best! For the hymn that we have is the beautiful hymn that we sang at the beginning of our service today, I Know that My Redeemer Lives!
What better message could there be for us today than the message that Jesus is alive! For this message that Jesus, our Savior has been raised from the dead and is now alive, is the central message of salvation recorded in the Bible. In fact, it was this message that inspired Samuel Medley to write his beautiful eight stanza hymn that we began singing at the beginning of our service and which we will conclude shortly after our sermon today. This is the message that Job confidently proclaimed something like two thousand years before Jesus was born. So, I invite you now, if you haven’t already, to open your Bibles to our lesson in Job 19:23-25. Now, as you are opening to Job 19:23, let me remind you of some of the things that had happened to Job. He was the one who lost all his children and all his possessions in a single day. He is the one who endured painful sores, which covered his body. He is the one who endured seven days of silence when his friends came to comfort him, because when his friends came they didn’t know what to say to him. Job was the one who was in such a pitiable condition that they couldn’t even say, “Cheer up, old friend. At least you still have your health.” For it was obvious to them that Job didn’t even have that anymore. Yet even in the midst of his sorrow. Even in the midst of his suffering, the Lord strengthened Job and he was able to utter the beautiful words of our lesson today: 23 “Oh, that my words were recorded, that they were written on a scroll, 24 that they were inscribed with an iron tool on lead, or engraved in rock forever! 25 I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!(Job 19:23–27, NIV84)
What an amazing confession of faith from a man who was suffering so terribly! What an amazing confession of the facts that took place something like two-thousand years later! What an amazing echo of what the women told the disciples when they returned from the tomb on that Easter morning! What an amazing thing for the disciples to hear that Jesus, their Savior, the one whom they had seen crucified; the one who they saw give up his life and die; the one whom the saw laid in a tomb that was sealed by the religious leaders and the Romans; He was now alive! Yet, as you know, the disciples did not believe it right away. Partly because they had not fully comprehended what Jesus had taught them, and, I’m sure, partly because of the emotional roller coaster that they had ridden for the past week. It had only been seven days earlier when Jesus had ridden into Jerusalem in triumph to the shouts of “Hosanna! Hosanna to the Son of David! Hosanna in the highest!” But then, a mere five days later, Jesus was on trial for crimes he had never committed. Though his followers had shouted as loudly as they could, their cries of, “Jesus!” could not compete with the cries of “Barabbas!” when Pilate asked, “Whom shall I release to you?” Though Jesus’ followers had cried out, “Release him!” they still could not drown out the echoing cries of “Crucify him! Crucify him!” when Pilate asked, “What shall I do with him?”
Now it was early Sunday morning, just after sunrise, and the women were on their way to the tomb. They were going to anoint Jesus body with spices and give him the proper burial, which they had not had time to give him because it was so close to the Sabbath. As they walked along they remembered the stone in front of the tomb and wondered who would roll it away for them. But when they got to the tomb the stone had already been rolled away. When they went into the tomb they found that Jesus was no longer there. There was only the angel who told them that Jesus was not there because he had risen from the dead. Jesus, their Savior, was alive once again! Though at first the women were somewhat bewildered by this announcement and didn’t fully comprehend what the angel was telling them, we understand and take comfort in the fact that Christ Jesus, our Savior, has risen from the dead and is alive, just as Job confessed so many years ago, “25 I know that my Redeemer lives,” (Job 19:25a, NIV84)
Could there be any greater comfort for us than the comfort that comes from knowing that Jesus, our Savior, is alive? For the comfort we receive comes from knowing that when Christ went to the cross he drank all the hellish dregs of the cup of God’s wrath so that there would not be even one drop of suffering left for us to drink. When Christ went to the cross he went there to give his life in sacrifice so that by his death he would completely pay the price that God demanded for the satisfaction and forgiveness of our sins. But now, because we know that Jesus has risen from the dead, we know that he has completed our salvation. Because Jesus is alive, we know that all of our sins have been forgiven. Because Jesus is alive we know that sin and death have been defeated. Because Jesus is alive, we know that he is our salvation. He is in heaven even now interceding before God the Father on our behalf. He is in heaven even now preparing a place for us, just as he has promised to do. But the best part about knowing that Jesus is alive, is knowing that he will return for us one day to take us home to be with him forever.
Amazingly, even this is something that Job confessed and prophesied a couple thousand years before Jesus was even born! For when Job spoke his beautiful confession he didn’t just stop by saying, “I know that my Redeemer lives.” Rather, he continued on as he said in verse 25: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me! (Job 19:25–27, NIV84)
Though Job did not know Jesus as we know him, he knew that the Lord would one day send the Redeemer who would not only save him from his sins, but would also return for him one day. Well, this hope to which Job was clinging is the same hope that the disciples cherished and taught to the people in every city and country where they traveled. For the disciples knew, as Job did, that this same Jesus who had been taken from them into heaven would come back in the same way they had seen him go. (Acts 1:11)
My friends, we have that same confidence in Jesus, our Savior, today. Because we know that Jesus our Savior has risen for the dead and is alive, living and ruling in heaven, we also know that one day he will return for us. Perhaps that day will be today. Perhaps it will be tomorrow. Perhaps it won’t be for many, many years. But no matter when that day comes we have Job’s prophecy that one day our Redeemer will stand upon the earth, and we have Jesus’ own promise when he tells us, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. 2 In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.(John 14:1–3, NIV84)
What a wondrous day that will be when Jesus returns to take us home to be with him! For on that day as Job said, “He will stand upon the earth. 26 And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; 27 I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!(Job 19:25–27, NIV84)
Because Jesus came to earth, suffered under the terrible weight of sin, and died on the cross, he has removed our sins forever. Because Jesus rose again from the dead we have no doubts that Jesus is our Salvation. We know that through him our God sees us as holy and righteous people. We know that by his resurrection he has defeated Satan and the power of death forever. We know that because Jesus has crushed Satan and his power, Satan can no longer harm us. We know that because of Jesus death and resurrection, our death will be nothing more than a nap our bodies will take while we wait for our Savior’s return. Because of all of this we can sing for joy with Job, with the Apostles, with Samuel Medley, and with all Christians, “I know that my Redeemer lives; What comfort this sweet sentence gives! He lives, he lives, who once was dead; He lives, my ever-living Head! He lives and grants me daily breath; He lives, and I shall conquer death. He lives my mansion to prepare; He lives to bring my safely there. He lives, all glory to his name! He lives, my Jesus, still the same. Oh, the sweet joy this sentence gives: "I know that my Redeemer lives!"
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church--Le Sueur, MN
