Saints Alive! Revelation 7:13–17
Dear friends in Christ.
Today we observe All Saints Day. What’s All Saint’s day anyways? And what do we Lutheran Christians do with All Saints’ Day? How should we celebrate it? In earlier days, the Church emphasized the bold witness of the martyrs, those who gave their lives because they were followers of Jesus Christ. Today, the Church emphasizes all saints—those who celebrate life eternal in God’s presence in heaven and the followers of Jesus Christ on earth.
So what do we do with All Saints’ Day? Surely, it’s a day to remember with gratitude the lives of those who have gone before us in the faith. Surely, it’s a day to share the loss of those whose loved ones have passed away and are now, in the words from the reading of Revelations chapter seven, “… they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat…”
And no, when people die, they don’t turn into angels. Many times, we hear somebody or read a comment about somebody’s passing that heaven has won a new angel now. No we wouldn’t turn into angels, the Bible tells us something else.
Jesus was incarnate as a man, not an angel. He died in His body and His soul as a man, not an angel. He rose on Easter and showed Thomas His human hands and side. Jesus did not save us to be glorified as angels; He saved us to give us glorified bodies like His own (Phil. 3:21; Rom. 6:5, 8). The same distinction between men and angels now will continue in Heaven.
But All Saints’ Day is more than that. It’s a day to acknowledge two things. First, we all share in the condemnation of the Law. Therefore, we die! Second, we all share in the Good News, that we are ransomed and redeemed by Christ through his cross. We are the precious possession of God by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, we live!
I. All Christians Are Living Saints.
And that’s how we celebrate All Saints day. In fact, there is a double reason to celebrate the goodness of God today. First, we rejoice in the truth of life eternal with Christ. So, today, with those who have lost loved ones to death, we rejoice in this: that parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and strangers, famous people and unknown—all who have died having faith in Jesus Christ—are indeed saints, living saints, in heaven. We remember them with joy and thanksgiving. They already have what Isaiah prophesied in the Old Testament, everlasting joy. He said: “…everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Is 35:10).
This is because they are now living forever in perfect freedom from sin, death, and every evil we see on earth. Forever eliminated is the possibility of falling away from God. And with that there is also the joy of being in eternal communion with fellow believers, who are also there.
And second, we rejoice also in this: that sainthood is not limited to believers in Christ who have died and gone to be with Christ. Strange as it sounds, you and I, as believers in Christ, are saints too, right here and now—living saints! In the New Testament, the word saint is one of the most frequent ways of referring to Christians still living on this earth. The apostle Paul addressed several New Testament Letters to the Christians back then and calls them Saints. For example, he wrote to the people in Ephesus saying: “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph 1:1). Then to the people in Philippi, he says: “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi” (Phil 1:1).
The truth friends is that living or dead, we are all living saints.
II. Christ has made us living saints.
How is that possible thought. For those who are in Heaven already, sure! Because there is no more sin for them, but for us? Let’s face it, we know we are sinners, don’t we? To be called a saint does not mean that we’re perfect, that we’re always loving and giving, that we never get mad or jealous. We know that it’s not true of ourselves, of anyone else here, or even of the best Christians we know. We’re all sinners, condemned under the wrath of God’s Law. That’s why we die! Paul knew this fact of our human condition to be true of everyone to whom he wrote, that they were sinners headed for the grave. He knew it about himself. He knew it about me. He knew it about you. We all stand as unholy sinners before a perfect, almighty God. And yet he calls them “saints.”
That’s because he knew something else about sainthood. He understood that the basis for sainthood is not the ability to pray all day or to be a super volunteer at church or in the community or to be a faithful worshiper all the years of our lives, is not about the ability of begin a very good person as per our human standards. The only basis for sainthood is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, on the cross of Calvary. It is his sacrifice that grants us forgiveness and makes us saved children of God.
We’re saints not because we’re sinless, but because our sin has been taken away by God’s grace in Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to “…have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
It means that we have received Jesus works for us on the cross of Calvary, that we have been washed with his blood shed on that cross. It means that in our Baptism, whether as a baby or an adult, until our death, we’re saints in the eyes of God.
And, when we die, that sainthood continues, only now it is there into the far and glorious surroundings, as John describes it the Book of Revelation, hear again what he says, beginning at verse 13 through 17. “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Did you hear the message? No more shaky finances. No more slanderous political campaigns. No more worry about our own health. No more anger. No more death. Those who depart in faith have all of this now! It’s the gift of Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven to earth, who was born of the Virgin Mary, who sacrificed himself on the cross of Calvary for our sins once for all time, and for all people.
That’s what makes those who are now in heaven to be saints forever, and that’s what we the saints on earth are expecting too. As you see, when a believer dies his or her soul, enter the joy of heaven taking possession of that everlasting life Christ came to give us.
And one day, on the last day, or the Day of Judgment, we shall be reunited with our bodies. And what Job said will come true: “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26). That is the resurrection of all, and those who died in Christ will be confirmed in that unending joy we hear about in our text of meditation.
III. We should regard each other as living saints.
So, today, on this All Saints Day, we thank God for the wonderful gift of sainthood he has made a reality for all believers in Jesus. What a wonderful gift, that God has called you a saint. Being a saint of God means you are precious to God, bought with a price, the apple of his eye. You are the ones who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
You have been cleansed by the Lamb, fleeing temptation, worshiping in God’s house, running from the darkness of sin, fleeing to the light of God’s Word. You are living saints, after all!
And if you are a living saint, then so is your fellow Christian. Another person who trusts in Christ is also a saint of God, cleansed by the lifeblood of the Son of God, “redeemed” and “ransomed” by his cross. Think of all those Christians around you made saints by God: your spouse, your children, your classmate, your colleague at work. All of these people, redeemed by God, brought to faith in Baptism, made into living saints! Praise God for the gift of his Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, reminding us each day that we are saints, the holy ones of God. Living saints! Alleluia.
And, alleluia for the Saints who are in heaven! Yes! We miss them! And that’s ok, because our Lord gives permission to mourn when someone dies. He said to His disciples on the night of His betrayal, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” (John 16:20). We can cry and mourn our departed loved ones. But we do not grieve like the world, which has no hope in the resurrection. We are sad and we cry because the one we loved is no longer with us.
Many Christians feel that if they are overwhelmingly sad at the loss of a loved one, their faith must be weak. Please don’t think like that. No! as you see, even Jesus himself cried at the loss of His dear friend Lazarus. Do not be ashamed. The Lord will wipe away all your tears in heaven, but that does not mean that He has wiped them away now. For now, we walk in a vale of tears. Death is hard. It should be. But thanks be to God, Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Him, though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25).
So dear friends, be comforted, be strengthened, for one day we too shall be in the company of the saints in heaven. That must be the focus of our faith goal, to remain in Christ for life eternal. Then one day it will be said of you:
“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. … 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
In his name, amen!
Dear friends in Christ.
Today we observe All Saints Day. What’s All Saint’s day anyways? And what do we Lutheran Christians do with All Saints’ Day? How should we celebrate it? In earlier days, the Church emphasized the bold witness of the martyrs, those who gave their lives because they were followers of Jesus Christ. Today, the Church emphasizes all saints—those who celebrate life eternal in God’s presence in heaven and the followers of Jesus Christ on earth.
So what do we do with All Saints’ Day? Surely, it’s a day to remember with gratitude the lives of those who have gone before us in the faith. Surely, it’s a day to share the loss of those whose loved ones have passed away and are now, in the words from the reading of Revelations chapter seven, “… they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat…”
And no, when people die, they don’t turn into angels. Many times, we hear somebody or read a comment about somebody’s passing that heaven has won a new angel now. No we wouldn’t turn into angels, the Bible tells us something else.
Jesus was incarnate as a man, not an angel. He died in His body and His soul as a man, not an angel. He rose on Easter and showed Thomas His human hands and side. Jesus did not save us to be glorified as angels; He saved us to give us glorified bodies like His own (Phil. 3:21; Rom. 6:5, 8). The same distinction between men and angels now will continue in Heaven.
But All Saints’ Day is more than that. It’s a day to acknowledge two things. First, we all share in the condemnation of the Law. Therefore, we die! Second, we all share in the Good News, that we are ransomed and redeemed by Christ through his cross. We are the precious possession of God by the blood of Jesus. Therefore, we live!
I. All Christians Are Living Saints.
And that’s how we celebrate All Saints day. In fact, there is a double reason to celebrate the goodness of God today. First, we rejoice in the truth of life eternal with Christ. So, today, with those who have lost loved ones to death, we rejoice in this: that parents and children, husbands and wives, friends and strangers, famous people and unknown—all who have died having faith in Jesus Christ—are indeed saints, living saints, in heaven. We remember them with joy and thanksgiving. They already have what Isaiah prophesied in the Old Testament, everlasting joy. He said: “…everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Is 35:10).
This is because they are now living forever in perfect freedom from sin, death, and every evil we see on earth. Forever eliminated is the possibility of falling away from God. And with that there is also the joy of being in eternal communion with fellow believers, who are also there.
And second, we rejoice also in this: that sainthood is not limited to believers in Christ who have died and gone to be with Christ. Strange as it sounds, you and I, as believers in Christ, are saints too, right here and now—living saints! In the New Testament, the word saint is one of the most frequent ways of referring to Christians still living on this earth. The apostle Paul addressed several New Testament Letters to the Christians back then and calls them Saints. For example, he wrote to the people in Ephesus saying: “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus” (Eph 1:1). Then to the people in Philippi, he says: “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi” (Phil 1:1).
The truth friends is that living or dead, we are all living saints.
II. Christ has made us living saints.
How is that possible thought. For those who are in Heaven already, sure! Because there is no more sin for them, but for us? Let’s face it, we know we are sinners, don’t we? To be called a saint does not mean that we’re perfect, that we’re always loving and giving, that we never get mad or jealous. We know that it’s not true of ourselves, of anyone else here, or even of the best Christians we know. We’re all sinners, condemned under the wrath of God’s Law. That’s why we die! Paul knew this fact of our human condition to be true of everyone to whom he wrote, that they were sinners headed for the grave. He knew it about himself. He knew it about me. He knew it about you. We all stand as unholy sinners before a perfect, almighty God. And yet he calls them “saints.”
That’s because he knew something else about sainthood. He understood that the basis for sainthood is not the ability to pray all day or to be a super volunteer at church or in the community or to be a faithful worshiper all the years of our lives, is not about the ability of begin a very good person as per our human standards. The only basis for sainthood is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, on the cross of Calvary. It is his sacrifice that grants us forgiveness and makes us saved children of God.
We’re saints not because we’re sinless, but because our sin has been taken away by God’s grace in Jesus Christ. That’s what it means to “…have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
It means that we have received Jesus works for us on the cross of Calvary, that we have been washed with his blood shed on that cross. It means that in our Baptism, whether as a baby or an adult, until our death, we’re saints in the eyes of God.
And, when we die, that sainthood continues, only now it is there into the far and glorious surroundings, as John describes it the Book of Revelation, hear again what he says, beginning at verse 13 through 17. “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Did you hear the message? No more shaky finances. No more slanderous political campaigns. No more worry about our own health. No more anger. No more death. Those who depart in faith have all of this now! It’s the gift of Jesus Christ, who came down from heaven to earth, who was born of the Virgin Mary, who sacrificed himself on the cross of Calvary for our sins once for all time, and for all people.
That’s what makes those who are now in heaven to be saints forever, and that’s what we the saints on earth are expecting too. As you see, when a believer dies his or her soul, enter the joy of heaven taking possession of that everlasting life Christ came to give us.
And one day, on the last day, or the Day of Judgment, we shall be reunited with our bodies. And what Job said will come true: “And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:26). That is the resurrection of all, and those who died in Christ will be confirmed in that unending joy we hear about in our text of meditation.
III. We should regard each other as living saints.
So, today, on this All Saints Day, we thank God for the wonderful gift of sainthood he has made a reality for all believers in Jesus. What a wonderful gift, that God has called you a saint. Being a saint of God means you are precious to God, bought with a price, the apple of his eye. You are the ones who “have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
You have been cleansed by the Lamb, fleeing temptation, worshiping in God’s house, running from the darkness of sin, fleeing to the light of God’s Word. You are living saints, after all!
And if you are a living saint, then so is your fellow Christian. Another person who trusts in Christ is also a saint of God, cleansed by the lifeblood of the Son of God, “redeemed” and “ransomed” by his cross. Think of all those Christians around you made saints by God: your spouse, your children, your classmate, your colleague at work. All of these people, redeemed by God, brought to faith in Baptism, made into living saints! Praise God for the gift of his Holy Spirit through Jesus Christ, reminding us each day that we are saints, the holy ones of God. Living saints! Alleluia.
And, alleluia for the Saints who are in heaven! Yes! We miss them! And that’s ok, because our Lord gives permission to mourn when someone dies. He said to His disciples on the night of His betrayal, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice. You will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will turn into joy.” (John 16:20). We can cry and mourn our departed loved ones. But we do not grieve like the world, which has no hope in the resurrection. We are sad and we cry because the one we loved is no longer with us.
Many Christians feel that if they are overwhelmingly sad at the loss of a loved one, their faith must be weak. Please don’t think like that. No! as you see, even Jesus himself cried at the loss of His dear friend Lazarus. Do not be ashamed. The Lord will wipe away all your tears in heaven, but that does not mean that He has wiped them away now. For now, we walk in a vale of tears. Death is hard. It should be. But thanks be to God, Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Him, though he die, yet shall he live (John 11:25).
So dear friends, be comforted, be strengthened, for one day we too shall be in the company of the saints in heaven. That must be the focus of our faith goal, to remain in Christ for life eternal. Then one day it will be said of you:
“These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. … 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
In his name, amen!