Today, we observe All Saints Day. In doing so, we want to remember those who have gone before us; those who have paved the way and helped make straight the road. We do so not just to remember, but to be reminded…reminded that the road is still there for each of us to travel and to make straight for those who come after us. Our Scripture for today comes from the book of Revelation, which means “unveiling.” Revelation is an example of apocalyptic literature, which most often emerges in times of great oppression. Typically, the writer of apocalypses envisions the earthly events as part of a great struggle between God and/or his angels and Satan and his angels. This literary genre is used to remind us that God will prevail. Revelation was probably written between 92 and 96 AD at the end of the Emperor Domitian’s reign, a period of great religious persecution of Christians. Only some twenty years before, the temple had been destroyed under Nero’s reign, and Domitian was even worse.
Chapter 7 opens with four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds. In this vision, they have the power to harm the earth. An angel comes from the east and instructs them to hold back until 144,000 servants of God are sealed with the Lord’s protection on their foreheads. There are a number of interpretations of the identity of these servants and their number, from the remnant of Israel
We have all benefitted from Christian example. We all have our heroes and heroines, from family to friends to the great Biblical examples. Today, as we pause to remember, let us start with the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. By faith, says the writer of Hebrews, Abel offered a better sacrifice, Enoch did not experience death, Noah in holy fear built an ark, Abraham obeyed and went, knowing not where he was going. The list goes on, and includes Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets. The writer ends by saying he is out of time, but reminds us that none of these Biblical heroes and heroines received what they had been promised in their time here on earth. They were made perfect only by the coming of the Son of God.
The history of the church is a history of men and women proclaiming their faith boldly. It includes such celebrated names as Peter, John, Paul, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Luther, Calvin, Knox, the Wesley brothers, and the list goes on and on. It includes lay men and women who started this church so many years ago, and the saints whose bodies now rest in the very graveyard that adjoins this sanctuary. Throughout history, the saints have persevered and endured in the name of Jesus. The writer of Hebrews reminds us that they were chained, imprisoned, stoned, sawed in two, put to death by the sword, forced to hide and live in caves, that they were destitute, persecuted and mistreated—that “the world was not worthy of them.” He says that “we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses” [Heb. 12: 1]. Today we focus on that example as we remember all the saints who have gone before us.
Revelation 7 reminds us why all these saints, whether past, present or future, would persevere in the face of such horrible persecution. In this vision, John stands within view of the throne of God. He describes a great multitude, too numerous to count, from every nation, tribe, people and language. Dressed in white robes, they are holding palm branches. John says they are standing in front of the Lamb. They are crying out in a loud voice: "Salvation belongs to our God.”
Time out. Time for a contemporary word picture. I remember the fall of my freshman year in college. I was a football manager. The job didn’t pay anything, but I got free training table meals. I got to make one road trip with the team, and it was to a Big Ten university. As I stood in the tunnel with the team, I could see the stadium. It held 100,000 people and it was full. As I came out the tunnel, I thought all the people in the world must have been in that stadium. The roar was enough to make us all want to go back down the tunnel.
Well, that was just another Saturday of college football. Imagine the sight to which John introduces us. We are looking at the throne of God. The crowd is so large it is uncountable and they are crying out in a loud voice. The voice is as one, but made up of every language on earth. Try to imagine that sound!
Now add to the scene all of God’s angels (the elders mentioned here are probably more angels). Throw in the four living creatures described back in chapter 4, which are a lion, an ox, a creature with a face like a man and an eagle, all with six wings and covered with eyes, even on their wings. They all fall on their faces to worship God! They are not tired. They are engaged in worship! Theologian William Barclay says that this is the beginning of the vision of the future blessedness of the saints.
Think about how you can claim this vision for yourself. There is encouragement here for those who are facing earthly hardship. The number of saints is beyond all counting. This is like God’s promise to number Abraham’s people beyond the sand on the shore. There is the statement that God’s people will come from everywhere: every race, every tribe, every people, every tongue. No matter who, no matter where, all are the flock of this shepherd.
The signs of victory are clear. Everyone is wearing white and holding palm branches. Both are clearly recognized signs of victory and triumph. They now share in God’s glory. God has brought them to this point. His deliverance is not an escape, but rather a conquest. Barclay says that we are not saved from trouble but rather brought triumphantly through it. This is the essence of Christian hope. Paul calls it endurance. James calls it perseverance. Being in Christ gives us the endurance and the perseverance to stay the course. John’s vision here helps us understand that the glory of God more than outshines any price that must be paid along the way. The worship in the vision ascribes praise, glory, wisdom, thanks, honor, power and strength to God for all who are gathered at the throne.
The Bible has much to say about white robes, as well as the soiling of them. There are many references which associate white with cleanliness, purity and the lack of stain. All of the people in the vision appear before God and the Lamb in white. The stain of life and the sin that went with it have been cleansed by God’s grace. To be forgiven is also to be cleansed. The blood of Christ himself has made this possible. To the Hebrews, blood is life. Jesus has given us his life-giving blood in order that we may be cleansed. This is the great work of Christ, that through his life and death, he restores the relationship lost between God and man.
In the vision, the angel mentions something to us in verse 14 that we cannot overlook. He says that those engaged in worship “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” We do play a part in our own salvation. Jesus redeems us, but we have to appropriate that redemption. We have to ask for forgiveness. We have to have faith. We have to wash our own robes. We, with God’s help, must turn from that which separated us from God and walk the path to righteousness. If we can do that much, the grace of God is there to guide and save us.
The thing about being a saint is that it inevitably involves being a disciple. Put another way, if you really want to be a good shepherd, then you are probably going to spend a lot of time being a sheep. Learning how to follow is very helpful to becoming a leader. We have so many examples from the Master himself acting out servant roles all through his ministry, from feeding the five thousand before partaking of food himself to washing the feet of the disciples on Maundy Thursday. As we imagine in our mind’s eye what that white robed scene in heaven will look like, we can begin to understand that all those saints started out just like us. Along the path of life, those sheep became more saintly as they walked with their Savior.
The last two verses in this passage are among the most beautiful in the Bible. Verse 16 promises no more hunger, no more thirst, no more scorching heat. The words are almost verbatim from Isaiah 49: 10. They echo the dream of old being fulfilled in Jesus Christ. While most of us will have trouble relating to the depth of meaning contained within this simple promise, much of the world we live in today would claim this promise like manna from heaven. Let us not become so insulated from the rest of our world that we fail to grasp the significance of this amazing promise.
Finally, we reach the end of today’s message, and we find Jesus the Lamb as the Divine Shepherd, leading us to springs of living water, while God wipes away every tear from every eye. No more hunger, no more pain, no more sorrow. This is the title that Jesus took for himself in John 10, where he asserted: “I am the good shepherd.” He leads us to springs of living water, without which we would perish. He wipes the tears from our eyes. While he nourishes our bodies, he nourishes and comforts our hearts as well. Our Divine Shepherd can and will guide us through whatever we may confront.
Near the beginning of this message, I asked us to consider why all these Christians, great and small, famous and unknown except to their loved ones, would persevere through all the hardship and persecution. The Apostles’ Creed states that we believe in the communion of the saints. This passage helps remind us of the significance of that statement. We believe in the promise of the Divine Shepherd. He will nourish us here to get us there. In the glory that can only be known to those who persevere, we too will find the Good Shepherd waiting to embrace us, to wipe the last tear from our eyes, to hear us join in that heavenly chorus:
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!
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