Fourth Sunday after Pentecost
Pentecost 4, July 6, 2025
Jerusalem Alive and Well Text: Isaiah 66:10–14
Other Lessons: Psalm 66:1–7; Galatians 6:1–10, 14–18; Luke 10:1–20
Sermon Theme: Jerusalem, the church of Jesus, is alive and well and bringing life to the world.
Sermon Goal: That the hearers recognize God’s presence and rejoice in the gifts that God gives them through the church. Based on a sermon in CPR by Rev. Carl W. Lehenbauer,
Sermon: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her” (v 10). Rejoice with Jerusalem! If you were to go to Jerusalem today, the temple is not there. Not one stone was left on another. There aren’t even ruins left to visit. And even though that temple was the center of Isaiah’s world, he knows its days are numbered. Already in chapter 64 Isaiah predicts a day when Jerusalem will be a desolation and the temple no more than ruins (64:10–11). He knows that those who love Jerusalem will one day mourn for what has been lost. The greatest sorrow for Jerusalem is not what happened to its temple but what happened to its people. The temple was the place of God’s presence, and if the presence of God has left his people, then what else is there to do but mourn? Don’t miss this. When Isaiah speaks of Jerusalem, he is not describing a city made of buildings and bound to a particular geographic location. Isaiah is describing the city where God dwells, the people in whom God dwells. With eyes of faith, Isaiah sees God pouring out his Spirit on all nations, sweeping the Gentiles up into the flooding stream of his grace, and bringing them into his own people. Isaiah glimpses a new Jerusalem, a Jerusalem whose inhabitants are spread all around the globe, and who do not have a temple; they are the temple of God’s Spirit. Isaiah sees the church. Isaiah sees God dwelling, once again, with and within his people, and it is a reason to rejoice. In just that first verse of our text, Isaiah uses three different words, a total of four times, for “joy.” Isaiah sees the church, and it is reason to rejoice. Is that what you see? What do you see when you see God’s church?
The church is not a building. It is not programs and ministries. The church is people. It is God’s people gathered around his Word and receiving his sacraments. And so we turn our eyes to the people. And if we look only with human eyes, the view is not much improved. The pews are populated with sinners, and that sin is not just a theological concept; it is a brutal fact of life. It is a tongue that does damage, a hand that reaches for a bottle, a temper that flares, eyes that wander, feet that pursue selfish gain, a neck outstretched in vain conceit. It leaves hurt and harm and doubt and despair in its wake. We turn our eyes from the pews to the pulpit and find the place is still occupied by a sinner, weak and heavy laden. The image of God is obscured. Human eyes see little more than the ruins of God’s temple. But Isaiah sees by faith: “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her” (v 10). “Rejoice!” says Isaiah, because Isaiah sees the presence of God. Much of Isaiah’s language strikes our ears as strange. He speaks of Jerusalem as a nursing mother, and then the prophet invites God’s people, invites us, to nurse and be satisfied, to drink deeply and delight, to find comfort like a baby cradled in her mother’s arms.
The language strikes our ears as strange, but it’s not. What Isaiah sees with eyes of faith is the presence of God, the presence of the God who satisfies, who comforts, who delights. And we need him. So, lest we miss the point, in verse 13 Isaiah describes us with the Hebrew word not for a child but for a man. “As one [as a “man”] whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.” This is a need that we do not outgrow.
We need God. And Isaiah knows exactly where we will find him. It won’t be in a temple made with stones, erected on a platform amid the ruins of Jerusalem. It won’t be under a steeple in a building that’s been converted to a coffee shop. Golfers won’t find him on the golf course, and hunters won’t find him in the woods. Jesus is here. “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them,” he promised (Mt 18:20). Jesus is here in the water and the Word that set you apart as God’s own beloved child at the font. Jesus is here, speaking to you in Scripture readings and sermons, teaching you through hymns and liturgy. Jesus is here, listening to your prayers. Jesus is here, surrounding you with a community of believers, people to whom he has given gifts of wisdom and experience and love and grace to share with you. Jesus is here, giving you gifts of wisdom and experience and love and grace to share with others. Jesus is here, his body, his blood, the forgiveness of your sins, the gift of life everlasting. Jesus is here. And where Jesus is, there is life. No wonder that when Isaiah sees the Jerusalem of the future, it is not lifeless stones and ancient ruins. He sees a mother sustaining life in her child. And it happens in this community day after day, week after week, year after year. The nursing child needs one food and one food only. And there is only one Savior, one Lord, to whom we can go who has the words of eternal life. He sustains God’s children, year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation, century after century. For two thousand years, the people of God have been sustained for eternal life by meeting Jesus here to find strength in his body and his blood and to find life in his Word.
The child in distress is comforted in the arms of his mother. It was not without reason that Jesus said, “Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it” (Lk 18:17). What we could not do for ourselves, he has done for us. In the time of deepest distress, in the face of death, the cross of Jesus proclaims the forgiveness of our sins, the empty tomb of Jesus proclaims God’s victory over death, and we are comforted. Isaiah invites us to drink deeply and delight. The greatest joys in life are found not at parties and parades but in the wonder of grace. The tears of joy at sin that has been forgiven. The heart that overflows when the prodigal comes home. The inexpressible joy when the Gospel is believed and someone we love crosses from death to life. Drink deeply of grace! Drink it deeply for yourself. Exult in God’s grace for others. “Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her, all you who love her; rejoice with her in joy, all you who mourn over her.” Jerusalem is no city of ruins. Jerusalem, the Church of Jesus, Is Alive and Well and Bringing Life to the World. God is there. God is here. Amen.