WEBVTT

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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Ed is my kind of guy.

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He is a pastor's kid

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and so that puts him in awfully good company because seven of my

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favorite people in this world happened to be pastors kids.  But then

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his experience as a pastor's kid was a little bit different than my

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own children because his dad served nearly a century before I did.

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But one thing was true back then is still true today.

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The pastor's wisest counsel comes from his wife.

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Now Ed's dad was serving in a time when there

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was still a bit of segregation within the congregation. Men, set on

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one side, women and children on the other.

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And when it came time for the supper, it was the men who came forth

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first and then the women received the supper later. As a result, Ed's

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mom, gave him some awfully gave Ed's dad some awfully wise counsel.

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She told him that he really needed to address the hygiene of the men

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in the congregation because some of them would come forth to the

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supper with tobacco in their beard.

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So that by the time that the women were receiving the supper, there

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were plenty of tobacco floaters within the Chalice.

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So, when the liturgical novelty came along of individual cups, that

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was awfully attractive, because the women had this very thing in mind.

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So liturgical partake. Before you come up to the supper

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make sure you brush your beard free of tobacco and other foreign

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substances.

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Now, while Ed spoke of the hygienic shortcoming of these men.

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He also spoke awfully, warmly about their piety.

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He recalled the Great Depression, when economic reality, meant that

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you wore the same suit over and over for roughly a decade.

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And Ed said that it got to the point that with some of these men, you

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could see through the seat of their pants.

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But their piety would lead them to wear only their Sunday best, even

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if it was falling apart.

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Now, that seems so foreign.

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Because none of my suits are falling apart in that fashion.

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In fact, there's only one thing in my wardrobe, that is truly coming

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apart at the seams.

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It's a t-shirt that I got during my first year here at Concordia

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Seminary

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as part of our celebration of Oktoberfest.

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And therefore it is green with gold and emblazoned upon it.

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The gold is actually our Luther statue, the head and shoulders of

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Luther with a party hat

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upon his head and then it's emblazoned, Here

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I Party.

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Now

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I've had that t-shirt for over 25 years.

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And as a result, you really can't see Luther at all on it anymore.

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It has holes all over the place.

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It is literally falling apart.

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And so, why do I still wear it?

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Because it is the most comfortable garment of clothing I have ever

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owned.

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Yahweh tells us through his prophet Isaiah that this creation, the

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heavens above the Earth beneath and everyone who dwells in it, that

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all of it is coming apart at the seams. And yet how easy it is for us

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to ignore that creation is coming undone because we are just so

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comfortable with where we are.

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Now that comfort has good reason.

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After all this creation is God's good gift to us. In this creation

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he daily and richly provides us with all that we need for this body

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and life.

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In this creation

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He gives us our daily bread.

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So when the end of the church year rolls around with its clarion call

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to long for all of this to just finished coming undone so that it can

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be 

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redone.

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So that Christ can recreate it to be what it is supposed to be.

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We find it ever so easy to say.

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Well not quite yet.

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Oh, come Lord Jesus, but if you could tarry a little bit longer so

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that I can enjoy these rags a little bit longer.

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Then that would be just fine with me.

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How comfortable are you with the threadbare rags of this creation?

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So worn,

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so far from what it was created to be. So much less than what it will

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be at the return of our Savior Jesus Christ.

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Now, I'll let you answer that question for yourself. But I'll answer

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it for myself and I will, at least be honest enough to say that my

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comfort in this crumbling creation is far greater than it should be.

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There ought to be within me within you, a fervent desire for these

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rags to just be done and fall apart so that they can be remade.

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And as long as I'm being honest, how about I honestly assess what my

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comfort in this fraying creation says, about the source and

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substance of my hope, my confidence, my comfort.

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When my hope is bound up in this creation, that will disperse like

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smoke that then I should expect that my hope will also then disperse

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like smoke.

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When my confidence is bound up in this creation that is wearing out

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like a garment.

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Then I should expect that

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my confidence will also wear out like a garment.

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When my confidence is bound up in, when my comfort is bound up in this

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life, that will end like a gnat.

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Then I should expect my comfort to be short-lived.

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Yahweh speaks to his people through his prophet Isaiah that they

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might have comfort hope and confidence that transcends this creation,

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as it falls apart.

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By the time we reach chapter 51, Isaiah has already stripped 8th

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Century, BC, Judah, and Jerusalem of the illusion that lasting hope

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could be found in this age. Because they trusted in things that

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dispersed like smoke and wear out like a garment, their idolatry will

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yield judgment through exile.

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Now Yahweh strips you of the illusion as well.

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He reveals that the idols to which you cling for comfort and

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confidence are only part of this creation that's falling apart at the

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seams.

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Where do you look for comfort and confidence?

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The presence or absence of certain political leaders.

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The right trend in pandemic numbers, and pandemic response.

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Certain balance in your checking account. The right direction in

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overall societal values.

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Now wherever you look for comfort and confidence outside of Christ.

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Yahweh says, look to the heavens above and look closely to the Earth

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beneath for the heavens like smoke disperse and the Earth, like a

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garment will wear

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Out and all its inhabitants like an gnat will die.

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Now there's a reality check. The inhabitants of this creation

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that's us will die like a gnat.

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Now you heard the ESV translation earlier that says that we will end

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up dying in like manner. See me

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after Chapel

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if you want to hear why the Hebrew is better translated as we will die

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like a gnat.

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Now, the day would arrive when Judah and Jerusalem could not deny

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these words from Isaiah, the temple was gone and they're carried off

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into Exile in Babylon.

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The idols in which they had trusted had all fallen apart.

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And the day comes when you cannot deny these words from Isaiah either.

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Now if you have eyes to see it today, is that day.

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Your idols fail you even when you cannot or will not see that

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it's all falling apart.

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But when you do see that everything is coming undone around you just

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as Yahweh said to Judah.

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So he says to you, but my salvation will be forever and my

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righteousness will not be broken.

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Now this creation wears out like a garment.

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So Yahweh saves you by destroying the garment that plagues you.

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He called Isaiah to proclaim it all the way back in Isaiah, chapter

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25. On this mountain

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He will swallow up the covering that covers all people.

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The shroud that enshrouds all nations.

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He will swallow up death forever.

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The Creation wears out like a garment.

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So the Lord swallows the garment the shroud that envelops us.

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He did it on the mountain of his choosing, when he took the garment of

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death into himself.

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He consumed it, he destroyed it.

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And so he rose to life with a body that cannot die and never wears

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out.

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The first fruits of a new creation.

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And he promises you that the day is coming when he will give you the

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same.

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Isaiah tells you about this new creation that will never wear out.

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Isaiah 61 verse 10.

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I will greatly rejoice in the Lord.

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My soul shall exalt in my God for, he has clothed me with the garments

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of Salvation.

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He has covered me with the robe of righteousness.

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You see the answer to this fraying creation is not to escape it, but

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for Christ to re-create it, that is your comfort.

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When you see it all just falling apart.

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Listen to Christ, who through his Apostle says, well in the body we

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groan because we are burdened, not that we desire to be unclothed, but

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to be further clothed.

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In order that what is subject to death should be swallowed up by life.

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Listen to Yahweh who speaks to you through his prophet, Isaiah, as

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everything is fraying at the seams.

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He says, but my salvation will be forever, and my righteousness shall

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not be broken.

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In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.