7
In the first year of King Belshazzar of
15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16 I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17 “As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever.”
Every time that I preach from the
book of Revelation, I feel the need to offer the disclaimer that the visions
that are contained within these pages have as many interpretations as there are
interpreters. Every generation has seen
their particular time with their particular world events in what John wrote.
I have never looked at Revelation in that way. Instead, I look at it as one apostle’s particular perspective of the glory, authority, and power of the Almighty. What we are about to hear speaks to how broad and diverse the followers of this God are, those saints that were just mentioned in our reading from Daniel. These saints are, as we are about to hear, so great a “multitude that no one could count.” They come from every nation, every tribe and people under heaven, speaking every language known to humankind. This vision speaks to what we consider the Priesthood of All Believers, those who have died, those who have gone on before us, and been made whole: washed clean in the blood of the one known as Lord, Jesus the Christ. This passage speaks to the life that is eternal and the promise of that life that is fulfilled through the sacrifice of Jesus. The scripture reads this way.
Revelation 7:9-17
9 After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out in a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
11 And all the angels stood 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 singing, “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, robed in white, and where have they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you are the one that knows.” Then he said to me, “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. 15 For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; 17 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.”
No one wants to talk about death. Very few of us even want to really deal with it. We don’t say that our loved one is dead, we say they ‘passed away’; caskets have developed in such a way that they appear to be the most comfortable bed that you have ever seen, so that when a viewing takes place (with all of the makeup appropriately affixed), it looks as if the person who has died is merely sleeping.
How many of us have heard the line at a viewing in regards to someone who has died, that “they look so good”? For so many of us we view death as an ending, as a definitive ending. The way that we have crafted those opening stages of the grieving process as they take place through the funeral, it feels like we are trying to prolong this stage of life.
That’s what
makes these passages so interesting because it approaches death from a position
of life. We hear that line in
Revelation, “Who are these (people), robed in white”, and in Daniel, “the holy
ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom
forever” and we don’t think about death.
We don’t think about those robed people who are worshipping and
celebrating God as having died. They are
alive! We hear that they have been
washed in the blood of the lamb, freed of all of their wounds, wanting for no
earthly thing. They are whole. They have been freed. They are able to receive the
But they have. Those individuals of every tongue and every race, who are spoken of in Revelation as being so numerous that it is impossible to count them all, each of them has faced what we call death. Each of them has died. And yet now, here they are, described to us as alive, taking their place among the saints.
It is because of these passages and others like it, that I feel absolutely compelled to preach about days like All Saints Day. Unfortunately, and maybe it’s always been this way, but it is certainly this way now, we tend to forget, misunderstand, lose sight of, (take your pick, because it depends on the individual) the fact that death is a part of life. Death is the moment when we transition from this existence (what Revelation refers to as ‘the great ordeal’), to the time beyond time when we are able to stand before the throne, being made whole, freed to begin the next stage of life.
Too many of us live lives that exhibit the ethic that this temporal world is all that there is. Even those of us in the family of faith, we have a hard time trusting in the promises that have been made through the actions of Jesus Christ.
But the promises do exist, and so does the life eternal. This world, this life, is not everything. There is more! The Saints of God, those who are spoken of in our passage this morning as wearing those white robes, they understand that there is more. Those saints include our friends, our neighbors, our aunts and uncles, grandmothers and grandfathers, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. These Saints of God, those who have gone through this life, including the facing of death, they stand together, alive, alive in a new way; alive in a way in which they are able to watch over us imploring us to trust, not only that they have been made well, but that the promises of God for a life after the transition of death are for us, our children, and our children’s children. In the midst of the loss that we feel during those seasons of death, it can be so difficult to remember that promise, but the promise is there and the life spoken of in that promise is for each of us. Life includes death, but death does not end life.
As most of you know, my family was not able to be here with you last week because we were down in Florida on Austin’s Make-a-Wish trip, able to enjoy all fun that goes along with Mickey and his world.
However, this morning I would like to talk a little bit about the place we stayed: it’s called the Give Kids the World Village and it was established as a place where wish recipients and their families can come and feel completely cared for. One of the ways that they do this is by how the village is crafted: it is like stepping into the game Candy Land. You have the Gingerbread House, the House of Hearts, a giant playland where the kids are able to control everything (from all the boats in the water to the trains on the track), and a carousel that looks like a giant mushroom. This in addition to a fully accessible pool equipped with its own pirate ship and water garden, all watched over by a giant sleeping tree and the mayor, who’s a rabbit. It’s magical. There’s even a castle.
When you walk into the castle you immediately meet the knight (who talks to you) and see the chairs where the mayor and his wife sit. But as you spend time in the space, you ultimately begin to lift your eyes to the ceiling because it is there that starts, thousands and thousands of stars glisten back reflected light. And it’s not just something that’s neat to look at, because each of those stars represents a wish child who has come through the doors of that kingdom and been given the gift of time: time to be a kid, time to be a family, time to have fun.
The reality is
that many of those children have died.
It’s extremely hard to think of that especially considering that
I hope that as you think of and remember those whom you have loved in your life who have died, that you are able to remember, know, and trust that through Jesus, they have been made well. As we hear in our passage, the number before the throne was so great that it was unable to be counted. Death is part of life: it does not end it. Believe in the saints who watch over us. Believe in the God who has made them well.
After
Sermon Prayer
Holy and Gracious God, through the
sacrifice of Your son, those who die have the opportunity to live, live in Your
presence, for eternity. We thank You for
this wonderful gift and ask that we might be granted the ability to not only
hear that promise, but the faith to trust in it forevermore. God, death is not an ending for in You, it is merely the transition point to life eternal. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.