He is Risen
Scripture References
Revelation 7:2-17
The 144,000 of Israel Sealed
2 Then I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3 saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4 And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 5 12,000 from the tribe of Judah were sealed, 12,000 from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000 from the tribe of Gad, 6 12,000 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000 from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000 from the tribe of Manasseh, 7 12,000 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000 from the tribe of Levi, 12,000 from the tribe of Issachar, 8 12,000 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000 from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000 from the tribe of Benjamin were sealed.
A Great Multitude from Every Nation
9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13 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 anymore; 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.”
1 John 3:1-3
1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Matthew 5:1-12
The Sermon on the Mount
1 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him.
The Beatitudes
2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[1] of God. 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Sermon Script
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, Oh Lord, my strength and redeemer. Amen.
All Saints Day
He is Risen! (He is risen indeed, halleluiah).
Oh yes… This joyous announcement rings through the rafters every Easter season. With palm branches in hand, we begin the celebration of Holy week as we follow the steps of Jesus’ great sacrifice for you, I, and all people. As the sun rose on that Easter morning, so did our Savior. Death could not hold him… and through His death, and resurrection, it brought us life.
Today is All Saints Day. This is the time of year on which the Church celebrates that hope… the biblical hope or confident expectation, that because Jesus died and rose again, all who die in faith will one day rise in the resurrection on the last day. An eternal hope that will not disappoint us… one that will sustain and strengthen us through faith….
As we cherish the memories of our loved ones, the saints who have gone before us, this same message of confident expectation was given at their memorial service.
Even though there might have been some present who are afraid of the end of life… We are not… because we have something to shout. He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Last week we celebrated Reformation. This we do every year on the last Sunday of October, with All Saints Day the following week… In Martin Luther’s day, many people came to church on All Saints Day November 1st, because it was a Holy day of obligation. He knew that if he posted his 95 theses on the church door at Wittenberg on the eve of this day… Hollowed Eve… or October 31st, many people would see it as they enter. His primary grievance was that in exchange for donations, the church would barter for the departed souls for a quicker entry into heaven. Since Luther was talking about indulgences for the souls of the dead, the Eve of All Saints’ Day… was an extremely appropriate time for his posting.
What happened next… the cry of Martin Luther, “I will not recant”, changed the world. Thanks be to God that through all this, we have a clear understanding and Biblical vision of our eternal path.
Not Yet
One of these visions is given by St. John where he describes heaven in the first lesson today in Revelation 7.
We read here in vs. 10-11 “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
Imagine for a moment… all the saints who have gone before us, are eternally rejoicing, from every place and from every age, a great multitude that no one could number… gathered around Jesus and singing a hymn of victory as we one day enter the marriage feast of the Lamb in His kingdom which has no end.
One day we will see… however… not yet!
But you know what? In our sinful state here on earth, we still rejoice. Rejoice because we are sinners washed clean by the blood of Christ. Rejoicing for those who have gone before us who were themselves washed clean. Whom we will one day join with palm branches in hand… shouting… “He is risen indeed.”
That is where our hope lies… for one day we will meet again, as we continue to live in the “now and not yet” of God’s salvation history. Looking forward with real hope to a time when Christ will come again…
Dwelling with that truth in a world full of complications… of joy and sadness… of hope and disappointment… a world where God is seen most clearly in the lives of everyone who love and serve him… even when serving Him brings persecution and trouble. Serving Him with love and gladness, until we can be like Him… John, in his epistle, says:
“Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when Christ is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”
What does this all mean for you and I in the “here and now?” If you think about it… we are God’s children now…
As we root our faith in the fact that “He is risen…” we know this truth. God sees us like the way I see my grandchildren, nothing they can do will change the way I feel about them… God sees us the same way. He already sees us as He sees His dear Son…Even though we are painfully aware that we are not like Him now…. Not yet anyway… one day when Christ is revealed, we will be.
Barriers
We are repeatedly told in scripture that we are chosen to be like God. To imitate His example through faith and be His hands and feet here on earth. In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul instructs the believers in chapter 5 verse 1, “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.” We are to model our lives after the one who created us.
I agree it is easier said than done especially in a world that is pulling the other direction. Everywhere you turn there is a barrier that gets in the way.
This reminds me about one of the many things covid introduced. Working through the fear of this pandemic, the progression of business closures, mandatory masks, social distancing, and finally…. When some of these restrictions were lifted, and you thought things were going to get back to normal… there were the barriers. The plexiglass shields in front of every cash register or point of communication.
Being hard of hearing anyway, I had trouble with these barriers. Especially if the person on the other side had a mask on. Even though it violated safety protocol, I would try to stand to one side of the shield or the other so I could communicate face to face.
We also face many barriers in our daily life that get in the way of imitating Christ.
The world says that our blessings come from money, power, comfort, pleasure, and self-glory… the things that make us happy. But are these really barriers instead?
Jesus is there to help us through these barriers and guide us in the direction we are to live as God’s blessed children. In the Gospel lesson today, Matthew shares Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount as He shows the blessing granted to those who choose to be His disciples.
Here Jesus teaches us that if we want to live as His disciples, we must seek what the world does not…. Poverty, meekness, mercy, humility, suffering, and persecution. Not that the things I mentioned… money, power, comfort and so forth are bad… we just must not make them our barriers, our idols so to speak.
Blessings
We tend to look at only the good things in life and count them as blessings.
For example, a father gets a big promotion and now his income is large enough to put a pool in the backyard and the mother can quit her job. They share with friends how “blessed” by God they are. Or a young woman gets accepted to Harvard and will now pursue her law degree. She tells her peers how “blessed” by God she is.
Don’t get me wrong, God does work material blessings in the lives of people. And for that, it is good to give Him thanks and praise.
But we must remember… when we limit our thanks and praise only to similar situations… God’s blessing becomes something that looks like the American dream… and not everyone experiences those kinds of blessings.
What about the young woman that had her heart set on Harvard and didn’t get in… settling for a career she is not happy with. Or what about the father who did not get a promotion and needs to downsize his home to make ends meet? Can these people be blessed? Is God still working in their lives?
In our world, the way we use the word “blessed” we might say NO. But in this Gospel lesson, Jesus sits in front of all of us on that mountain and says “Yes”. Jesus’ teachings change how we view God at work.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,” Jesus says. These are the people who have nothing to offer God. The tax collector who hides in the corner of the temple and will not dare raise his eyes to Heaven. The widow who walks out of the city taking part in the funeral procession of her son. The demon possessed man who lives among the tombs and knows he does not belong in the city.
Blessed are these people. The people who have nothing, who can do nothing, who are nothing… blessed are these people… Why? Because Jesus sees them, comes to them, and promises them that they have a God who makes something out of nothing.
“Blessed are those who mourn… who hunger and thirst for righteousness… who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.” …
With these words, Jesus looks upon all people… you and me… just as we are… amid the health problems, financial hardships, loss of a loved one, or whatever it might be, and He brings God’s blessing… These blessings should affect the way we live as God’s saints in this world today…
“Blessed,” says Jesus, are those who are aware of the poverty of their own spirit… who realize just how easily good motives turn to bad.
Blessed are those who mourn over their own weakness of sin.
Blessed are those who choose a path of meekness rather than power, money, and self-glory.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.
Blessed are all these because in doing so they will be changed, they will be renewed. The very characteristics that they long for, they will have.
Blessed they will be, as they are merciful to others, as the purity of their motives and their heart becomes clear. Blessed they will be as they become courageous peacemakers.
“Most blessed will they be,” says Jesus, “when they share something of my sufferings.” For through those sufferings, you and I and all believers will more and more reflect the image of Christ and truly be… as the Lord sees us… the salt of the earth… for He has blessed us in good times and in bad, to be lights in the darkness of a world which is longing for the acceptance and the love of God.
Jesus looks at us with no barriers… face to face… with His beatitudes. He is loud and clear as He opens the blessed life in the Kingdom of God to all people. Why? Because the favor of God comes to everyone…. No matter where they are at.
He Is Risen
We shout “He is risen” because He went to the cross to open the gate of Heaven for all people.
All sin is forgiven in Him… All suffering is overcome by Him… All the saints before us and the saints of the hear and now, are blessed with His overwhelming grace.
What a blessing it is on this All-Saints Day to remember what it means to be blessed. Jesus pulls down our barriers so we can see how God comes into the sinful and suffering messes of all our lives and works in and through us to become an imitator of Him.
In Christ, you are claimed by God… In Christ, you are made a saint of God… And in Christ, you are and ever will be eternally blessed.
With this eternal promise, we await the day when we will see Jesus face to face. Until then, we are blessed with His presence daily and we will rejoice even more with the saints as we come to the Lord’s table. For there we are joined with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven. For there with all the saints, we will cry with a loud voice….
He Is Risen (He is risen indeed, halleluiah)
And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.
Amen.