Rev 7:9-17; 2 Cor 5:1-7
Today is All Saints Sunday. All Saints Day is the day after Halloween, and it is a day on which Christ's people remember those who have gone before them in the faith and who now have found happiness in the eternal kingdom promised to us by God.
All Saints Day is a day on which we remember special people, people who now dwell with God in the “house not made with hands, people whom the scriptures and the church call saints.
Today is bittersweet. Today we honor those in our church family who are now celebrating the kind of worship John tried so hard to describe in the reading from Revelation chapter 7.
In this glimpse of heaven there is a multitude that no one can count, a multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language on earth, and this multitude stands before the throne of God and before the lamb, and loudly proclaims God's praise, saying: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb” (vs. 10). And we also see clustered around the throne of God the elders and the angels and the four creatures of God, and they, like the multitude, praise God saying: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen" (vs. 12)
We see as well in this glimpse into heaven that the eternal life is not only a life of exuberant praise. We see that there, next to God, there is neither hunger,
or thirst, or scorching heat, or pain any more - and that God personally wipes the tears from the saint's eyes, the tears that they shed here in this life, and that while God soothes them, the Lamb - our Lord Jesus, leads them to the springs of living water, the springs of joy and goodness evermore. In heaven there is no suffering, nor death, nor grief; all that has passed away, a new reality has come, a new life has come, a glorious life...It is a life in which there is peace, and joy and praise; a life in which there is ecstasy and excitement, love and tenderness, serenity and exhilaration. It is a life lived in a setting that is often described as golden, as full of light and beauty, a setting which defies earthly imagination, and so is described in terms of wealth and abundance, in terms of jewels and fruit, and greenery, in terms of all the things that a person here on earth could ever want.
We also learn from John that this life to which our faith points is for those who have tried to be faithful to God, those who have given of themselves in love, those who have named the name that is above every name....
My friends, no one, not even John, can really tell us just how wonderful heaven is, and certainly no one can tell us just where it is, and exactly what it feels like and looks like, but also my friends, no one can tell me, and no one should ever tell you, that it does not exist. The saints are there, the saints we remember this day.
Today, as we remember those saints who have just entered Glory in the past year, it is hard. It is especially hard for those closest to these dear members of our church family. Those are the people I thought of as I prayed about what to share today. All Saints Day is a high holy day on the Christian calendar. It is good to acknowledge and honor these saints, but saying goodbye to loved ones is hard. Even for us. Even for Christians. Sometimes when we grieve well-meaning people say some really goofy things. Forgive them. They love you, that’s why they say those things. Things like “it’s ok,” and “don’t cry, he’s in a better place,” “ “God needed another flower for His garden…” or “everything happens for a reason…” Those things may be true, but does it really help to hear them when we are in the midst of the initial shock and grief of losing someone? Usually not. Everyone grieves. Believers & non-believers alike—believers are different because there is hope in the midst of grief and pain and loss. Hope is house not made with hands. The psalmist says, Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Psalm 30:5). But how do we get through this “dark night of the soul?” As Christians we have resources the world does not. We have hope and hope is one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Jesus Christ is the source of hope. Listen to what Paul said in his letter to the Thessalonians: But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about those who have died, so that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have died. For this we declare to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will by no means precede those who have died. For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel's call and with the sound of God's trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds together with them to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words (4:13-18). What a glorious hope. Our Lord, our Savior the same one who gave us the Holy Spirit as another comforter and teacher while we wait for the consummation of history, when we will feast at the heavenly banquet—the bridal feast of the King of Kings with His Bride the Church. Every time we worship we get a glimpse of heavenly worship. Every time we pray, we join the elders seated around the Throne of God offering up incense. Every time we celebrate the Lord’s Supper we get an opportunity to increase our appetite for the things of God. True and lasting hope comes from having our burdens lifted, from knowing that no matter how dark things get Jesus the Light of the World is with us. Do you have this knowledge? Do you have this hope? It comes from Jesus who said, You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father (John 15:14-15). Friend…the Son of God, the 2nd person of the Trinity wants to be your friend! The hymn writer, Joseph M. Scriven, wrote about what kind of friend we have in Jesus…
1. What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer! O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
2. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged; take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
3. Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior, still our refuge; take it to the Lord in prayer. Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer! In his arms he'll take and shield thee; thou wilt find a solace there.
When we are grieving, it seems devastating. It seems like the whole world is upside-down. The hymn writer reminds us to carry everything to our friend Jesus in prayer. But how do we pray when life suddenly changes? How can we pray when life doesn’t make sense? Dr. Steven Harper of Asbury Theological Seminary wrote a book about it called Talking in the Dark. In it Dr. Harper shared some lessons he learned from a woman in his congregation named Joy who was dying of cancer. He met Joy early in his ministry as a United Methodist Pastor. She was a cancer survivor when he met her as the new pastor at her church, but before his first year was finished the cancer returned with a vengeance. Through journeying with Joy he learned: 1) “we pray in response to stored up resources,” 2) if we are receptive to God’s presence in the midst of trials we will be able to “welcome fresh waves of grace into this new reality” of our lives, 3) spending time with God gives us an “understanding of God’s comfort” that will enable us “to find blessings, and 4) prayer can take us “to the place where we are healed of the need to be healed.”
I want to expound on those 4 ideas quickly…First, “we pray in response to stored up resources” means that “we do not get grace so much as we live in grace over the long haul.” God’s well of grace is deep. Dr. Harper says, “Don’t wait for change to occur. If you haven’t done so, begin now to dig the well that leads to God’s living water, so that when your change happens, your can draw from resources that are already present.” “O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear, all because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.”
Second, being receptive to God’s presence in the midst of trials we will be able to “welcome fresh waves of grace.” Julian of Norwich said: [God] did not say, ‘You will not be tempted, you will not be distressed.’ But [God] said: ‘You will not be overcome.’” Access to God’s presence does not require a lot of effort—we don’t need to be pushy, just receptive. With practice we learn to stop asking “why” in the midst of trials and start asking “how.” Asking, “How is God going to carry me through this,” quietly emphasizes our trust in God even when life doesn’t make sense.
Third, spending time with God gives us an “understanding of God’s comfort” that will enable us “to find blessings.” I think this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said, “We know that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28). God is not purposing our suffering, but if we will be receptive to God’s transforming presence in the midst of our suffering, God will redeem and transform the situation. C.S. Lewis said: “God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks to us in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: It is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” Sometimes we don’t take time to listen to God’s still small voice until we suffer something heartbreaking. Joy’s cancer was not her friend, but the disease brought her many visits and numerous cards, flowers, and phone calls that she cherished.
Something happens when life changes suddenly. Life looks different than it used to. Values change; conversations change; perspectives shift. We use our time differently. People become more precious to us than possessions. Ordinary moments become charged with significance and with the energy of eternity. Prayer weaves its way into this tapestry, creating moments of reflection and gratitude. Prayer becomes a spiritual Velcro to which other things stick. What seems to be loss on one level gets transformed into gain on another level. Prayer enables us to see every moment as a gift and as an occasion to cherish (pg. 84).
Finally, prayer can take us “to the place where we are healed of the need to be healed.” We do not have to have health restored in order to have hope. We do not have to cling desperately to life in this world when we see life in this world in relationship to the House not made with hands. This life is not all there is. More awaits us, and prayer makes it possible for us to catch a glimpse of eternal life. Prayer becomes a means of grace that enables us to loosen our hold on time so that we can put our hands on eternity.
One of the most powerful forces in the universe is hope and hope is a house not made with hands. Today we honor our loved ones who have gone on to glory. My prayer is that as we worship together and celebrate the Lord’s supper we will be receptive to the grace and presence of God. My prayer is that this will be more than routine, more than ritual. My heart cries out to God for us to be aware of the worship going on in heaven and that we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and with hope that we carry with us to a world that does not know how to find the hope we have. What a friend we have in Jesus. He built us a house called hope. Amen.
“When you say a situation or a person is hopeless, you are slamming the door in the face of God.” Charles L. Allen
BENEDICTION:Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. (Romans 12:12)
