LCMS Convention Proceedings St. Louis, Missouri — 1981, Page 105

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vacancy. When he had completed Part II, with the
‘Hallelujah Chorus,’ his servant found him at the table,
tears streaming from his eyes. ‘I did think I did see all
heaven before me, and the great God Himself!’ he
exclaimed.”

While it is permitted only a few of God’s many
citizens of heaven to attain the heights Handel did in
capturing in song the beauty of the heavenly vision,
each one of us is permitted by faith to say with Handel:
“J did think I did see all heaven before me, and the great
God Himself!” Such a glimpse is given usin these words
from Revelation 7. God gives us glimpses into heaven
like this to keep His pilgrims homesick.

Gathered around the throne of the Lambis a number-
less multitude “of all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues,” who have three things in common:

1, They are saints who once were sinners.

2. They are sinners who by God’s grace alone are
saints.

3. They are crown-wearers who once were Cross-
bearers.

The chorus which sings its anthem of praise to the
Lamb is international in character. Our membership in
this choir does not depend on our nationality, our racial
background, the language we speak, the color of our
eyes or hair or skin. To qualify for this chorus you must
have been a sinner. You and J meet this qualification,
since “all have sinned and come short of the glory of
God.” And because all of us “came short” of His glory,
God “manifested forth His glory” and sent His Son to be
the Lamb “which taketh away the sin of the world.”

Only those who trust this Lamb may sing in the
heavenly choir, for the second qualification for member-
ship in the group is this: Each member must be properly
robed to cover his sinfulness. The white robe of righteous-
ness, spun in a manger and dyed red on a hill, is the only
garment that is in style.

And not unlike earthbound choirs, this heavenly
chorus must have passed through a rigorous training
program. A third qualification for membership in this
heavenly choir is this: Each member must have expe-
rienced the discipline of the cross, for He who is both
Lamb and Shepherd has said: “If any man will come
after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,
and follow Me.”

No wonder Luther said: “I would not give one
moment of heaven for all the joys and riches of the
world, even if it lasted for thousands and thousands of
years.” How homesick are we for heaven?

IV

Perhaps we lose our perspective of eternity in our
stewardship because we lose our sense of direction in
our lives. Abraham is a good example of a child of God
who maintained a clear sense of direction on his
pilgrimage. The writer to the Hebrews describes how
this clear sense of direction enables us to maintain the
proper perspective of eternity in our daily walk with
Christ and our stewardship for Him: “By faith

ESSAYS ON STEWARDSHIP 105

Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place
which he should receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and
he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he
sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange
country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob,
the heirs with him of the same promise; for he looked for
a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker is God” (Heb. 11:8-10). “Abraham believed God
and it was counted to him for righteousness,” is the way
the holy writer describes this patriarch who walked by
faith and who walks now by sight. He adds: “These all
died in faith, not having received the promises, but
having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them,
and embraced them, and confessed that they were
strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb. 11:13).

Abraham looked for the City, and so he was content
to dwell in a movable tent. He belonged to the company
of those whom Peter describes as believers in Christ
“whom having not seen, we love; in whom, though now
we see Him not, yet believing, we rejoice.” This ancient
patriarch, who wandered up and down his world with
his little band of children and attendants, looked for the
city whose architect and builder is God, the city de-
scribed in Scripture as “that great city, the holy Jeru-
salem, having the glory of God.”

Abraham, his son, and his grandson showed the
depth, the solidity, and the practical power of our
heavenly citizenship. Because they looked for the City,
they persisted remarkably in their refusal to be absorbed
into the settled population of the land. These wanderers
from the East lived in their tents while all about them
was a relatively highly organized and developed civil-
ization in Canaan. They were as noticeably unique
and as much out of place by such a way of life in Canaan
as they would be today on Main Street, U.S.A. The
reason they would not go into Hebron, or any other
of the populous cities which closely studded the land,
was that “they looked for the City.” They were con-
vinced that it was better for them to dwell in tents than
in houses.

Abraham sets us an example which is beautifully
comprehensive. He held cordial relations with the people
among whom he dwelt. He was honored by them as a
prince; he was recognized by them as a servant of God.
They knew his bravery. He did not hesitate to draw his
sword and fight in their defense, not only in defense of
his kinsmen but for his heathen neighbors in Sodom.
And yet nothing would induce him to come down from
his tent. Everybody knew that his name was Abraham
the Hebrew, “the man from the other side.” He carried
out that name in life.

We citizens of heaven need to ask ourselves: “Would
anyone call me ‘the man from the other side,’ the man
who belongs to another order, the one whois looking for
the City?” There is much ground common between the
citizens of heaven and the bewildered men and women
of this world. But if we have a vision of the City clear
before us, no one will need to tell us not to make our
home in Sodom.

Abraham was “called” by God to receive “an inher-
itance.” He obeyed. “He went out, not knowing whither