All Saints
Rev
7:9-17
11/1/15
It is easy to look around us and conclude that we live in
difficult times. We continue to
experience a very weak economy and the unemployment situation is even worse
than the figures indicate because of the way we count the unemployed. Islam seems to be ascendant and threatens the
status of Europe during the twenty first century. Worldwide, the Church is experiencing the
worst persecution that she has at any time in her history. And here in our own country the new orthodoxy
about homosexuality, and now even transgenderism, seeks to exterminate the
biblical view of sexuality from the public square. This at the same time that
sex outside of marriage is considered normal and internet pornography ravages
our culture.
Now these are all serious problems, and I certainly don’t
want to minimize any of them. But
sometimes a reflection on history helps to put things into perspective. For you see, things could be worse – a lot worse. Things were worse in the
fourteenth century in Europe. First,
between 1315 and 1322 there was the Great Famine which was caused by the arrival
of climate changes that were part of the “Little Ice Age.” It is estimated that the famine killed 10-25%
of the population of Europe. Then,
between 1336 and 1353 the Black Death arrived in Europe. It is estimated that this plague killed 30-60%
of the population of Europe. As if that
wasn’t enough, beginning in 1336 and lasting until 1453, the Hundred Years War
was fought in western Europe between England and France, bringing with it widespread
death and devastation. And meanwhile in
eastern Europe Islam was a major problem as during the fourteenth century the
Turks began to conquer the Balkans and push into Europe.
The fourteenth century was a time of tremendous suffering
and death. And during this period the
Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse became a powerful image in the medieval
world. The four horseman are depicted in
Revelation chapter six, the chapter just before our text for the Feast of All
Saints. In that chapter six seals of a
scroll are opened by Christ the Lamb, and after each of the first four seals a
horse comes forth carrying a rider. The horses are white, red, black and
pale. They bring conquest, war, famine
and death upon the earth in events that are part of the end times leading up to
judgment day. The people of the
fourteenth century thought the four horsemen had arrived and that the Last Day
was near. It’s not hard to understand why.
The Book of Revelation is certainly unique. It is unlike
anything in the New Testament. Filled
with dramatic imagery and symbolism it has always been something people use to
promote bizarre beliefs – like the idea that Christians should only worship on
Saturday. We need to approach the Book
of Revelation with a healthy dose of humility – there are going to be places
where we can’t claim to be absolutely sure about an interpretation. But at the same time, we can never lose sight
of the fact that Revelation is meant to comfort believers. It sets forth the big picture of what God is
doing. It leaves no doubt that he is in
charge. It is absolutely clear about
where the life of faith will take us.
On this day in the church we remember and give thanks to
God for the saints he called to faith; preserved in the faith; and who now are
with Christ. We are reminded that we too
are saints because of Jesus. And we find in our text that all of God’s saints
will share in a future peace that will have no end.
The book of Revelation is actually a series of visions
that repeatedly tell the same basic facts with variation in emphasis. Our text is really the end of the first
vision. John has been shown that the
last days are a time of terrible hardships.
I say “are” because we are living in the last days. The last days began with the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. Because it was the last days, Christ poured forth the Holy Spirit
on Pentecost, just as the prophet Joel had said. We live in the last days, and so we should be
eagerly awaiting the Last Day.
The present is a time of suffering for Christ’s
Church. We especially see this in the
world today. John’s vision addresses this because he tells us that after the
fifth seal had been opened, “I saw under the altar the souls of those who had
been slain for the word of God and for the witness they had borne. They cried
out with a loud voice, ‘O Lord, holy and true, how long before you will judge
and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?’ Then they were each
given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their
fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as
they themselves had been.”
We look at the persecution of the Church and it seems
pointless to us. It seems to us like God
is nowhere and has abandoned his people.
That can cause us to doubt. Yet
our Lord said that taking up the cross and following him is the Christian life.
The word “martyr” means witness, and death of the saints is the ultimate
witness to the power of the Gospel. And
through Revelation God tells us that he is still in charge. Events are still moving according to his plan
and timing. And note what these saints
are told to do – they are to rest a
little longer. They have died in
Christ and now they are at rest as they await Gods’ final action.
Immediately before our text in chapter seven John sees an
angel carrying the seal of the living God and then he hears that the number of
the sealed is 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel. This is you. You are the Israel of God. You
are part of the fullness of the Church that God is creating through the
proclamation of the Gospel. You have
been sealed with the Spirit of God in your baptism as you were born again of
water and the Spirit. There you were
joined to the saving death of Jesus who redeemed you, and so in the baptismal
rite you were marked with the cross on your forehead and heart. In baptism your sins were washed away through
water and the word. For this reason you are saint – you are a holy ones. You were clothed with Christ’s righteousness
in your baptism, and so when God looks at you he does not see your sin, but
instead he sees you as one who is in Christ – one who is holy because of Jesus.
And what is true of you is also true of those who have
died in the Lord. They were made
disciples by baptism and teaching. They
were born again through the work of the Spirit as children of God. They were
made holy through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Holy
Spirit preserved them in this faith through his Means of Grace. And now they are with the Lord. They are at rest with him. They no longer struggle against the old Adam.
They no longer suffer the physical and emotional pains of this life.
That is good. But by his grace, God has something even
better in store for them and for us. We
hear about it in our text. John tells
us, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could
number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing
before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm
branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs
to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”
John gets a glimpse of the final victory God will bring to all his saints. He sees the saints clothed in white and
carrying palm branches – a symbol of victory – as they gather before Christ.
When asked about who they are, he doesn’t know.
Finally the heavenly elder says, “These are the ones coming out of the
great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the
blood of the Lamb.”
The elder describes the time when we live in as a great
tribulation. Jesus said, “In the world
you have tribulation. But take heart, I
have overcome the world.” When Jesus
returns in glory and raises our bodies to be like his, we will share in this
victory. The tribulation of living as
Christians in this fallen world discourages us. But Jesus says “Take heart”
because he has overcome the world. And
in our text he gives us a glimpse of what this will mean in order to encourage
us to continue on the way in faith.
We hear John told: “Therefore they are before the throne
of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the
throne will shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more, neither
thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the
Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them
to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
The future of all of God’s saints is one in which we will
dwell with God forever. It is one in
which we will no longer experience hunger or thirst or discomfort. It is one in which God will wipe away every
tear from our eyes and never again will be there a reason to cry.
This dwelling of God with his people has already
started. It started as the Word became
flesh and dwelt among us in the incarnation.
It has started because the risen Lord who is still true God and true man
continues to dwell in our midst in the Sacrament of the Altar. Here he gives us forgiveness and strengthens
us in faith as we press on and look for Jesus’ return in glory. Here he guarantees our resurrection, for
bodies that eat Christ’s flesh and drink his blood will be raised up to be like
the Lord on the Last Day. At this altar
we gather around the Lord with the angels, and archangels and all the company of heaven – all the saints.
And because it is the risen
Lord who does this in our midst we know that this is merely a foretaste of
the feast to come. We know that it will
find its consummation in the return of Jesus Christ and the resurrection of the
flesh. Our Lord raise us up and renew
his creation so that once again he can look at all that he has made and behold
that it is very good.
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