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All Saints Sunday In the Name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace be with you all. Amen! Today is ALL SAINTS SUNDAY, a very special day in which we remember all of God's saints of every time and every place. Saints of the long distant past like Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Saints of the not so distant past, especially those who were near and dear to us whose memory we especially honor today. Saints of the present day, which include you and me. Saints who are near us and who we know, and saints who are far away in distant lands whom we have never heard of, but who are very dear and precious to God. Saints who are yet unborn, but who are already known and loved by our Heavenly Father. On this ALL SAINTS SUNDAY, we remember that we are part of a great communion of saints – the communion of God's people of every time and every place! Every once in a while, we as Christians we need to lift up our sights beyond just the here and now. We need to be reminded of what an awesome, mind-boggling destiny we are a part of. We need to be reminded of where history is moving toward and what is awaiting us in the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom of God. That is what All Saints Sunday does, especially as is shown in our first reading. Our first reading from the book of Revelation is about a vision. And in this vision, John - the writer of this book - is in HEAVEN! And in heaven John is seeing the greatest worship service ever held. Before the throne on which Christ is seated is a great, fantastically great multitude that is far beyond counting! How many of you have ever participated in a HUGE worship service? Make no mistake, I love our church here and our services together - but there is something really special about participating in a festival worship service with hundreds and even THOUSANDS of people present! To me, a highlight of every Synod Assembly each year is the festival worship service as hundreds of people are gathered together. Also, seven years ago I went to a "Promise Keepers" event with almost ten thousand persons in attendance – and the worship was something that I will never ever forget! There was a feeling of "electricity", or excitement among us - a feeling of almost indescribable joy as we were all praising God together. It is something like we feel when this church is filled to overflowing on Christmas Eve or Easter, but it is even more than that. Indeed, it is an EXPERIENCE that can not adequately be described in words. A HUGE worship service in which all of the people present are filled to overflowing with joy and excitement is an absolutely AWESOME thing which sends shivers up and down the spine of everyone fortunate enough to be a part of it! Take that kind of a worship service – a Synod Assembly Service, a "Promise Keepers" or “Women of Faith” gathering, a Billy Graham crusade, or whatever, and multiply the attendance a hundred times, a thousand times, or even a MILLION times or more over! Try and picture the scene that John is describing in his vision! Isn't is absolutely incredible...and wouldn't you like to be a part of it?! The crowd of people gathered before Christ's throne in this vision is made up of all different kinds of people - old people, young people, middle-aged people. Over here are some who are black and over there are some who are white. There are some from India and some are from Africa. There are working people from the United States. There are some from the wealthy European societies. There are some who were Christians in the first century and who lost their lives at the cruel hands of the emperor Nero. There are some who were reformers of the Church in the 1500's. There are some who were Pilgrims in America in those early days. There are some from our own age. There may even be persons whom we have known or know right now. Whatever, they are all there in heaven! It is a gathering of people, which is so enormous in number that John says no one could count them. What a sight it is! For they are ALL dressed in white robes as a symbol of their triumph over death! And all those people in that huge gathering are waving palm branches – reminiscent of the day of Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. Then suddenly, with a great and roaring cry, they all shout out together, "Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!" And the angels in heaven and the apostles and God's four special "living creatures" who are also gathered around the throne are so moved by their shouts of triumph that they fall on their faces before the throne of God and they join that huge, vast throng in worshiping God. If your heart is open and you listen closely you can almost hear them singing, "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen!" What a sight and what a sound! And as John looks upon that sight he wonders, "Who are all these people and where have they come from?!" And the answer comes back from one of the elders; "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." People of God, there is real hope in that vision of heaven for us here today as we try to be faithful Christians...because all of those people whom John pictures and standing before the throne in heaven are people who are very much like you and me! They are not standing there before the throne because they were perfect people. They are not people who have been sheltered from the evil and corruption that is present in our world. They are there in heaven sharing in Christ's victory celebration because they "have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb". "Blood" in Biblical thinking does not so much refer to death as it does to LIFE. All of the people present in John's vision are there because they have received Christ's LIFE - which made them pure and worthy to attain eternal life. These SAINTS were no more perfect during their lives than any of us who are here. But through the blood - the LIFE of Christ - they have come through the "ordeals" each of them went through while alive in this world. And all of these saints in heaven also went through the ordeal of DEATH but are now alive again forever through the power of the risen Jesus Christ! Through Jesus, we can be victorious over all of the ordeals of life and death...and at the last be a part of that heavenly worship service! Fear not! Be not afraid! Do not be discouraged! For if we are faithful to Jesus, he will certainly remain faithful to us! Our lives and destiny are in his hands, and he will always take care of us as a shepherd takes care of his flock. If we can believe that - really believe that - what a difference that will make as we face our day to day living. ALL SAINTS SUNDAY invites us to look beyond just the here and now. As I have said, we look to the past and remember our loved ones and friends who have died in Christ. But most of all, today we look forward to the FUTURE - to that day when we shall all be resurrected to eternal life and be reunited with those we love - and be a part of that great heavenly worship as we praise God and our Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever without ceasing! What a glorious destiny that will be! For as the elder in the vision says; "The one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." Wow!! I can hardly wait to be there along with you and with our fellow Christians and loved ones of the past and present and future! May you all have the same hope and expectation as well! May God grant that all of us who have been made saints through our baptism into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, may remain his faithful disciples through all of the ordeals of life and death...and at the last be found among that great heavenly throng before the throne! Happy All Saints Sunday, everyone! Amen! -------------------- George R. Karres, Pella Lutheran Church 418 W. Main Street Sidney, MT 59270
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