Revelation 7:9-17

With angels, and archangels, and all the company of heaven…

All Saints’ Day (Observed)

November 5, 2017

Zion Lutheran Church + Nampa, ID

In light of the big anniversaries we have celebrated this year, have you ever wondered what it would have been like to worship with those of the past? What would it have been like to sit in Pastor Kahle’s Model T listening to him practice his sermon on a drive from New Plymouth to Nampa in the years leading up to our congregation being founded? What would it have been like to be at the dedication services for the original building, and then this one we are currently in?  What were some of your parents and grandparents like? What did their voices sound like when they sang? When they prayed?  When they confessed the Creed?

Going back further, what it would it have been like to sit in a church service and listen to Luther preach a sermon against indulgences and proclaiming God’s free favor for the sake of Christ? We have modern recordings of what some Lutheran services sounded like in Luther’s day and the majestic nature of it all is amazing. What would it have been like to be in a church and for the first time hear the words of the Small Catechism spoken, or to be one of the first people to ever sing “A Mighty Fortress?” What about worshipping with the early Church Fathers like St. Augustine, St. Chrysostom the Golden Tongued preacher, St. Nicholas?  What about with the apostles?

Or even further. I can’t even imagine what it would be like to worship in the Old Testament temple with King Solomon. Or singing the psalms with King David just after he wrote them. Or kneeling next to the ark of the covenant in prayer with Moses and Arron? Or worshipping at the altar with Abraham where God provided a sacrifice in the place of his son, Isaac? Or even all the way back to the beginning, in the garden of Eden walking and talking with Adam and Eve as they spoke to God.

What would it be like to worship with the saints? It would be just like this. In fact, that is exactly what we are doing this morning! We often forget the timeless nature of our worship, of the liturgy. These words we speak and sing and not man’s words, they are God’s Word. The pattern of worship we follow is not “Lutheran,” in fact, with some minor variations, the ebb and flow of the Divine Service stems from the Old Testament pattern of worship.

Today, we sing, we pray, we worship with all the saints.  Remember the words of the Proper Preface in the Service of the Sacrament, “It is truly good, right, and salutary that we at all times and all places give thanks to You, holy Lord, almighty Father, everlasting God, through Jesus Christ, our Lord… Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Your glorious name, evermore praising You and saying … Holy, holy, holy…”  The Sanctus, the song of the angels from Isaiah’s vision.

Our first reading from Revelation 7 shows us these saints, and countless more in heavenly worship. We see them before the throne of God and before the Lamb, just like we are gathered here today in the very presence of God.  These words give us no clue to the location of heaven.  But we don’t need it. There is something of far greater interest here: the state of the saints rather than the place. On earth, these saints saw the Savior with the eyes of faith. Now they are in His very presence where they wished and longed to be.

There they are standing before God, dressed in white robes, washed in the blood of the Lamb.  By virtue of your Baptism, you too are clothed in the same righteousness. The ancient baptismal practice was to actual dress the newly baptized in a white robe after the Baptism to symbolize that which was actually just happened.  We read that the saints have palm branches in their hands and sing, “Salvation belongs to our God.” That probably reminding us Palm Sunday, when the crowds greeting Jesus as He rode into town to them. Today, we greet our Lord as He comes to us in the Holy Sacrament and sing their Hosannas as they did so long ago including, “Truly blest is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

More than that though, palm branches were also part of the Old Testament practice during the Feast of Tabernacles, the most joyous festival of Israel that comes at the close of the year’s outdoor work and when the season of rest begins. It also commemorated God’s care during the wilderness and His continued care in the Promised Land. The troubles of the wilderness are ended, the harvest home of the Church has come. The days of labor are over, now comes rest.

“For all the saints whom from their labors rest…” we sang. These have come out of the great tribulation. They have left behind the sin, death, war, famine, trouble of this life and are now free from it.  They serve the Lord day and night within His temple. For details on what this looks like we will have to wait until we arrive. We who are still in the great tribulation can hardly conceive of a state when there shall be nothing to cause a single tear to flow. We only have the Word that speaks of their service of praise. They never get tired of singing, where singing is more natural than speaking. Eight verses for a hymn is nothing.

We come here today sorrowing over the loss of some sainted loved one. As we hear the word of the Lord from His revelation to St. John, it’s as if God is now wiping away every tear from our eyes. Our grief appears selfish. We are thinking only of our loss and not their gain. In spite of all our pain caused by separation, we would not wish them back. They have come out of the great tribulation. For us now, there only remains the wish to be with them.

That wish is met in part today in the Divine Service as we are gathered by God around the Lamb and His throne where He bespeaks us righteous and delivers Himself in the Holy Sacrament. For at the Lord’s Table as we commune with our Lord and with all the saints. Communion is not a “me and God” thing. It is communal, not individualistic.  If you want to feel close to your loved ones who died in the faith the place to do so is not the cemetery, it’s not out in their favorite place. The place to have communion with them is Holy Communion. This is the Sacrament that links us to the saints in heaven. By eating and drinking this Holy Sacrament in faith you declare that He gave His body and blood for you, that your sins are forgiven and washed away, that you approach the altar of the Lord where the Lord is truly present for you.

Do you miss your grandparents, your parents, your spouse, your child? Do you long for your friend who died much too young? Come to the Lord’s Table. This side of heaven, when you partake of the Sacrament of the Altar, you experience the closest communion of saints possible and the closest communion with Christ as you eat and drink His very body and blood.

Do you want to see those loved ones who you sorely miss? To meet those of whom we have only heard stories? And the best thing yet, to stand before God and the Lamb?  You should, this is the Christian hope and anticipation which rests solely on the crucified and resurrected Jesus. There is no other way to join the heavenly saints than through faith in Christ. Our joy is focused not on dying and going to heaven, but on the ultimate joy and triumph: we look for the resurrection of the dead and the life T of the world to come.  We will see those saints wholly restored in both body and soul; and we too will stand there, raised up in glorified bodies by the power than enables Christ to subject all things to Himself. We will experience the words of Job, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another. My heart faints within me! (Job 19:25-27).