All Saints Day (Observed)
November 2, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline
Revelation
7:2-17 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from the epistle lesson just read, especially these
words, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.” Thus far our text.
Dear friends in
Christ. Today we speak the names of our
dead, those of our family and those of this parish who have died since last All
Saints’ Day. We name them here together
before the Lord. For some us there will
be the names of people we knew but a little.
Or perhaps we will read the name of a person who was greatly loved and
cared for by us. There are names of
people we remember in fondness, and others with dislike. There are names that leave large holes in our
hearts, even to this day. Yes. Today we remember the blessed dead, who have
come out of the great tribulation of this sinful world.
And as we read
their name and remember them, we don’t do so in glowing and cleverly worded
obituaries, or in eulogies that praise the virtue of the deceased. We have no need to inflate the memories of
our dead. We won’t lie today saying, “So
and so was always such a good person,” or “They were always so sweet.” For the truth is, they weren’t always
wonderful or perfect people. They were
in fact, poor miserable sinners, just like you and me. And it is because of that sin that they are
dead and gone from our world. And be not
fooled, dear friends, you have sinned as well, and it is because of your sin
that you will one day join them as well.
And as we read
their names today, we don’t do so thinking that they are angels looking down on
us now, for nowhere in scripture is that ridiculous idea found. Our blessed dead members are still human in
nature, even in death. And we don’t read
their names to ask them for special blessings, or to look down upon us, or to
speak to God on our behalf. They won’t
hear our requests, or suffer to be bothered with them. Truth be told this world is no longer their
concern.
The souls of the
dead don’t hang around in our cemeteries, or in our homes haunting us. They don’t need our garden lights or our
offerings upon their graves. And they
won’t live on forever in our hearts either.
For if that were true, where would they live when our day of death
comes?
And our day is
coming – every sinful moment of every sinful day brings our hearts ever closer
to stopping, and our lungs closer to being stilled. Yes, soon, much sooner than we care to imagine,
we will die as well. Our possessions
will be passed on to our heirs, whether they will use them well or not. Our stuff will become someone else’s to be
used or thrown away until they too pass away.
Our bodies will decay, and memory of us will fade in this world.
And yet today, we
do read the names of dead. And the
reason we read these names is because they are just what scripture says, the
blessed dead. They have come out of the
great tribulation, they have had their robes washed and made white in the blood
of the lamb. They are now before the
throne of God, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and
blessedness. And they await with Christ
the last day, when they shall be bodily resurrected to live with Christ
forever.
This promise was
made to the people whose names we read today in the waters of holy
baptism. There they were baptized into
the death of Christ, so that their death was no longer their own but instead
was Christ’s. That meant their suffering
was Christ’s suffering, their dying was Christ’s dying. For they were connected directly the
suffering and dying of Jesus, bloodied and naked upon the cross outside of
Jerusalem. And so now that they’ve died
with Jesus, they will rise with Jesus.
Yes, as Christ rose, so too will every person whose name we read here
today. They are triumphant in the
glorious resurrection of Jesus.
And the promise is
for you as well. You wait to die – but
when you die, you too will die with Jesus.
Yes, you may suffer for days, or weeks or years before that day comes,
but as you wait and suffer, you do so with Jesus. And when you die, you will die with
Jesus. And because you do so with Jesus
in baptism, you will also rise with Jesus on the last day of this world. And after you die, and leave this world
behind, you will be in the heavenly Jerusalem awaiting that day of
resurrection. There will be no more
hunger, or thirst, no more crying or pain, only the comfort that comes from
being with God and in his love forever.
This promise is
for you, just as it is for those people whose names we read today. Today we read the names of those who have
already passed into life with Christ.
One day our name will be read.
Even so, we know on that one day we will all be in the church triumphant
– alive forever because of the death and blood of Jesus. Just as those are, whose name we read
today.
In the name
Jesus.
