The Church Triumphant

Scripture Lessons

Revelation 7:2-17               The great multitude in white robes

Psalm 149:1-9                          “The Lord takes pleasure in His people.”

1 John 3:1-3                         How great is the love the Father has lavished on us!

Matthew 5:1-12                  The Beatitudes

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Our church is somewhat of an anomaly in 21^st century America. We have an average age of 33. 28% of our regular attendees are in the category “young adult” which is ages 18-34. Lifeway research says young adults make up 23% of the population and that the average church is only 14% young adults. Apparently, our efforts to retain the historic liturgy, subscribe to the Lutheran confessions (quia subscription), and teach the full counsel of God’s word without bypassing those portions which are socially unpopular has the interesting effect of attracting young people. Who would have thought that young people would be interested in reverent worship? Or things of eternal significance? Or be naïve enough to simply take God at His word? [sarcasm]

I make mention of this only because it is natural for this day, when we observe All Saints’ Day, to be a day of increasing significance for older Christians. The older you get, the more saints you are likely to have known and the more funerals you are likely to have attended. On this day, we celebrate the Church in its’ entirety, the Church Militant (you and me and all others presently living) and the Church Triumphant (those who died in the faith). We remember those beloved saints that we worshipped alongside, that we communed with, that are now departed. We remember the martyrs who shed their blood in defense of the faith.

Our lessons today all have the common theme of revealing both present and future realities and understanding what it means to be in the kingdom of heaven. Your presence in the kingdom of heaven has implications here and now as well as into the future. The Beatitudes provide a mixture of present and future tense that hint at this concept. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Present tense. You who lack a righteousness of your own (i.e. you poor in spirit) are blessed because you have righteousness in Christ Jesus. The Beatitudes continue with this rhythm, “Blessed are…for they shall…” You have present blessing on account of future realities.

The text we’ll focus on today is Revelation 7. In this passage, the apostle John records the vision that God gave him of the Church. 12,000 from each tribe are listed, but there are some peculiar details. The tribe of Dan is omitted. Joseph is listed along with one of the half-tribes of Joseph, Manasseh. The other half-tribe, Ephraim, is not listed. Judah is listed first, which makes sense considering that Jesus came through the tribe of Judah. The fact that Dan is missing could be explained by Judges 18 which records the lamentable idolatry of the tribe of Dan. They worshiped a carved image rather than the living God. In other words, the tribe of Dan is omitted because, despite their hereditary claim to Israel, they were not part of true Israel. True Israel isn’t about heredity. It’s about faith in the promises of God.

The text confirms this in verse 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!” From every nation, from all peoples, all languages. The breadth of God’s salvation is vast just as His forgiveness is as far as East is from West. From the four corners of the earth, the Lord gathers His Church by the Gospel and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Hold this thought as I will come back to this in a moment.

Revelation continues, “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” This points to the vicarious satisfaction of the cross and the covering of salvation which God puts upon us. Just as God once covered Adam and Eve with the skins of animals that were sacrificed so that their shame may be covered, God covers you with the righteousness of Christ, a robe washed and made white in the blood of Christ. Each of you, along with every person that belongs to the Church, has this one thing in common, that your sins are put away for the sake of Christ’s sacrificial death.

As believers, we look forward to the blessings which Jesus spoke in the Beatitudes, which coming fulfilment is recorded in Revelation. “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd….he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

As Christians, we eagerly anticipate the future kingdom. In the meantime, living in this fallen world means that you will experience pain, suffering, and death. So, what do we do? Fall into despair? Lament our present sufferings? No. Perhaps, we should strive to eliminate present sufferings. For example, if you can avoid loving someone else, you can avoid the pain of losing them or being disappointed when they fail you. Perhaps if you focus on happy thoughts, then you can be happy? That’s not always possible. Some things that happen are outside of your control. But is happiness the measure of a good life? Some parents seem to think so: “we just want our kids to be happy.” They have bought a worldly conception of what is “good” and now must suffer the tyranny of “happiness.” On the contrary, Christians have true contentment which is not fleeting like happiness. True contentment comes from the ever-present certainty of your eternal salvation in Christ Jesus. Paul expresses this in Philippians 4:11, “I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

In Christ Jesus, God has revealed to you His magnificent love for you. As John said, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” You are loved by God! You are His child! In the crucifixion of Christ Jesus, God has revealed to you that suffering has a place in His redemptive plan and purposes. Since God’s own Son has suffered, you see that 1) God works good even through awful, terrible circumstances and 2) God allows suffering for those He loves and it is for His purposes which surpass our understanding. So, in humility, we accept suffering. In Revelation 7, God has revealed heaven so that you may know what is to come for the faithful. Those who have gone before us we shall meet again. Now we receive at this altar a foretaste of the feast to come. Then we will worship the Lamb again together in the eternal banquet.

Now this brings me back to the point about the Church. Some people bemoan what seems to be a shrinking of the Church. Yes, it seems that the church is becoming less and less popular, less influential, and less important to society. But the Church is never shrinking. God continues to build the Church with more and more people who are brought to faith. “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9. As time goes by, God continues to gather in His Church. Those who have departed this mortal life in the faith have joined the ever-expanding Church Triumphant.

Meanwhile, the Church on earth has outlasted every attempt to stifle, suppress, and eliminate it. This is no surprise since this is Jesus’ very promise, that the gates of hell shall not prevail against the Church, that is those who have received the Gospel and abide in His word. You and your fellow brothers in Christ around the world are blessed to have been baptized, to hear the word of God, to receive the body and blood of Christ, and to know that God is at work. Whether we have a marble floor or a dirt floor, whether we have a cathedral or a pole barn, whether we have 10 or 10,000 congregants, your Church is too large to count, only God knows the full count, and your Church worships the Lamb in Spirit and in Truth, which is more glorious than any ornate walls or floors or ceilings. For you are part of Christ’s bride, the Church! And your Church is blessed now and for all eternity through the shed blood of Christ.

The peace of God, which passes all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.