A, Post-Pentecost 23 All Saints - Revelation 7:9-17 "The Eternal Goodness of Giving God His Glory"

This side of death, it’s hard to imagine what heaven is like.  We are beings in time, and being in time, we use it to focus on ourselves.  But as we go through these days as God’s people, the Holy Spirit works within to move the focus from ourselves to God.  But because we are human in our being, our desire to focus on ourselves never quite disappears regardless of how self-giving we might become.

John is taken from himself and given a revelation of heaven, recorded in the book of Revelation at the end of God’s Word.  He is given a look at the last things of human existence when Christ the King returns to fully reveal the resurrection of His saints, and to finally remove our self-centredness forever.

Notice in our reading today that John is asked by one of the elders, “Who are those clothed in white robes?”  Why is he asked the question?  He cannot answer it! He does not have the eternal knowledge to know!  So John replies and says, “Sir, you know!”

We do not know heaven! John is given insight into a privileged place before his death that is hidden from the sight of humanity.  John does not know.  These strange events need to be made known by God, and they give us a glimpse of what heaven is.  What is hidden from our eyes is only revealed and given by God and His Word.

John answers the elder rightly.  Imagine if, in his self-centredness, he answered the elder, “Well, I reckon that these in white robes are those who have found their way to God!”  But no!  John does not know and doesn’t guess.  The revelation of God was not about what he thought or reckoned; it was given to him. Heaven is a place of giving, and John is given God’s revelation of heaven, and in the revelation, those in white robes are giving glory to God, having been given the blood of the Lamb.

Because we are humans, we primarily concern ourselves with getting as we live in these times before eternal life is realised.  And there comes a time in our lives when we realise that we can never get enough to satisfy our human desires.  In fact, all our getting hopefully drains our desire to get.  As we grow in the Lord, God allows us to tire of getting goods.  We learn that our goods are not good enough for eternity, because acquiring these goods wearies us and kills us.

When John received God’s revelation of the everlasting hidden things, John presents himself as the faithful witness or seer.  John saw and reported what God allowed him to see and hear.  He tells us, “I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches…” (Revelation 1:9–11a ESV)

This book is the book of Revelation, and all that he sees and reports comes from when he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.  He was imprisoned in a place because of God’s Word, yet paradoxically, God allowed him to see the eternal expanse of heaven unhidden.

In this part of the revelation, John saw the saints dressed in white robes bearing palm branches, branches from trees of life, date palms that give life at oases in the Middle Eastern desert.  These are the same branches with which people welcomed Jesus into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday.  He sees Jesus Christ in all His resurrection glory, “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” (Revelation 1:5 ESV) But he sees not just Him, but also the whole throng of heaven with Him, worshipping Him eternally and arriving with Him, led by Him, into the eternal realm of the heavenly Jerusalem!

John sees the blessed, the saints of God, with Jesus who gives blessing, “…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.” (Revelation 7:15 ESV)

Just as John could not answer who those were wearing the white robes, having made them white in the blood of Jesus, we have a hard time comprehending giving glory to God forever.  We think, “That’s a mighty long time,” and wonder how this eternal giving won’t get the better of us!  Such is the struggle we have comprehending the eternal glory of God and His kingdom.  This is why John could not answer the elder and why we struggle with the reality of “forever.”  As beings in time, pondering “forever” just makes us even more tired than we already are.

Yet as our getting wearies us and our tribulations drain us of life unto death, you and I yearn for rest, a sabbath from works that make us weary and break our bodies back down into the dust from which we were created. 

It might be easy for us to wallow in this reality, and many do!  But the blessing of our being broken and the breaking down of our bodies is that the Holy Spirit seeks to turn us from the death within to life from without. 

This is what Jesus was doing when He sat down to teach the Beatitudes.  Our poverty, mourning, humility, hunger, mercy, purity, peace-making, persecution, and reception of tribulation are not there for us to justify our wallowing and woes to get pity!  Rather, these occur to lead us out of ourselves and to hope for rescue and rest in God, into a holy environment of giving – giving glory to God, having been given eternal life.

As beings in time, we struggle to understand eternity.  Like John, who needed the elder to tell him what he had witnessed, we need God’s Word to see what it means to be with Him eternally.  Every human being will continue to be. It’s just a matter of faith with whom that reality will continue: with God or without Him, glorifying Him in His eternal protection, or, without Him, eternally getting grief from never getting the good we want, eternally dying without God’s protective glory.

On the seventh day, God rested. Jesus, too, rested in the tomb on the seventh day—the Sabbath. But on the eighth day, He rose to reign and rest in eternal glory. Those whom we love have washed their robes in the blood of Jesus. May we, too, let the Holy Spirit bring us through tribulation into the rest of the resurrection, with Jesus Christ and the whole company of heaven. Having laid down our deeds in death, may we rest with them in the living waters of eternal life, with our Lamb and Shepherd, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Let us pray.

Lord Jesus Christ, our Lamb and Shepherd, thank You for the life You give through Your blood. When our getting leaves us weary, turn us towards Your mercy. Holy Spirit, sustain us through tribulation and teach us to receive God’s gifts with faith and thanksgiving. Bring us into resurrection rest with the whole company of heaven, where we may give You glory forever. Amen.

 Sermon Summary

Through John’s vision in Revelation, the sermon invites you to look beyond your limited understanding of heaven and trust what God reveals in His Word. John does not guess who the white-robed multitude are; he receives the answer. Likewise, eternal life is not something we acquire by finding our own way to God. It is His gift through the blood of the Lamb.

The sermon contrasts our restless desire to get more with heaven’s life of giving glory to God. Our possessions cannot satisfy us or secure eternity. Amid weariness and tribulation, the Holy Spirit turns our attention away from ourselves and towards God’s rescue and rest. The sermon connects the Beatitudes with this movement towards dependence on Him.

The conclusion brings together God’s rest on the seventh day, Jesus’ Sabbath rest in the tomb, and His resurrection on the eighth day. Our hope is to be brought through tribulation into resurrection rest with Jesus Christ and the whole company of heaven, sharing eternal life with our Lamb and Shepherd.

Reflection

We often approach life by asking, “What can I get?” This sermon invites a different question: “What has God already given me?” The white robes point us away from our achievements and towards the Lamb. Giving glory to God begins with receiving His mercy, rather than trying to make ourselves worthy of it.

Our weariness can expose the limits of self-reliance. Yet we need not pretend that suffering is easy or hide our mourning. In our weakness, we can ask the Holy Spirit to turn us towards the life and hope God gives. The promise of resurrection rest invites us to trust our Lamb and Shepherd when we cannot see the way ahead.

As we remember those we love who rest in Christ, the sermon draws our attention to the whole company of heaven. Its final hope is not endless striving, but life with Jesus: receiving His gifts and giving Him glory.

1. Where am I seeking lasting satisfaction from things that cannot give eternal life?
2. What changes when I see giving glory to God as a response to His gifts rather than another demand?
3. What weariness or grief can I bring to Jesus, trusting Him as my Lamb and Shepherd?
4. How might the hope of resurrection rest shape the way I live today?

A, The Resurrection of our Lord, Easter Sunday - Colossians 3:1–4 "Living in Transitory Times"

Colossians 3:1–4 (ESV) If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

The Early Church referred to Easter Sunday or the Day of Jesus’ Resurrection as the “Eighth Day”!  The resurrection of our Lord on the first day of the week, is a new eternal day, the eighth day for those who believe in him. Many were baptised on the Easter Resurrection anniversary, celebrating the rebirth of an eternal re-creation through Jesus Christ’s resurrection.  Therefore, many baptismal fonts and pools were eight-sided, as a reminder of the eternal eighth day.   Holy Baptism  into Jesus’ death and resurrection is the eternal dawn through which the old seven days of creation have been reborn.

The symbol is simple: turn the number eight on its side and you see the sign of eternity “∞”. Every Sunday is a weekly Easter, a weekly eighth day, a weekly reminder that through Christ’s holy and precious blood the Holy Spirit calls, gathers, and enlightens God’s children. In Christ’s sinless perfection, the angel of eternal death passes over us. Jesus’ victory over sin and death shields us, and the Spirit continues to sanctify us in that holiness.

But, like all those who’ve gone before us we also live in the old seven day week.  We live in transitory times between Eden and Paradise—we stand between what was broken and what will be restored.  Today, Easter Sunday, we celebrate the Resurrection, the freedom from death, the forgiveness of sin, the “Cross-road” and rebirth of creation through Christ, who was pushed through death so we might be reborn into his eternal creation.

Yet, creation still groans under the old seven day week.  Paul reminds us in his letter to the Romans that, “we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.” (Romans 8:22–23 ESV)

We who believe in Christ and not in ourselves look forward with eternal reassurance trusting in things above.  Yet, we wait for the full adoption and  redemption of our bodies. These are bodies burdened with being built in the old seven day week on earth. 

On this first day of what seems to be another  burdensome week, it’s hard to see that our life is hidden with Christ in God, as God goes with us into the next seven days of suspense and uncertainty.

What appears for us in Christ is a paradox, a seeming contradiction between the worldly reality of the old repetitive seven day week and the new eighth day that points us to Christ, his resurrection, and patiently waiting for our resurrection to finally occur!  But it’s not the only paradox, or contradiction that has occurred.  And the signs of this are all around us if we take into consideration what’s been going on over the last century!

A parishioner who lived nearly a century once reflected that each generation, shaped by the Depression and two world wars, tried to give the next “a better life”. But in seeking comfort, we often turned from the eighth‑day paradox of resurrection to the pleasure paradox of this world. In seeking something “better”, we set our minds on earthly things rather than on Christ above. In this paradox of pleasure humanity continues to seek its glory in the darkness and sin of the seven-day week.  The shift from Christ to comfort is not without consequence.

This shift has been growing for more than a century. When we abandon this Christ‑centred teaching, when any part of Christendom trades the eighth day for the seven‑day pursuit of pleasure, something vital is lost.

If we truly believe that the Lutheran confession of Law and Gospel is the clearest expression of God’s Word and his will, then it is not only a blessing for Lutherans — it’s a gift for Christendom and for the world.  If we believe this, this Christ-centred teaching must be necessary for the survival of a broken fragile worldly ecosystem.

So, we must ask ourselves:

What does the world lose when the church seeks earthly glory?

What happens to the world when the life raised with Christ is pushed aside by us individually or as a community?

What occurs when the Holy Spirit’s calling, gathering, and enlightening is resisted in favour of worldly pressures?

A third paradox has been steadily snowballing since we’ve turned from the eighth day paradox of the Resurrection back to the pleasure paradox of seeking something apparently “better” in this life.

History shows the pattern, so too does the bible! When humanity seeks freedom apart from God, a third paradox appears! God withdraws his presence from his people and without his protection the world grows darker. The twentieth century saw this paradox under Hitler and Stalin.

Today we see similar patterns in the messianic politics of Trump and Putin, and in the retaliatory disobedience of individuals and nations across the globe. These are not merely unconnected social or geopolitical problems. They are symptoms of a deeper spiritual disobedience — a world chasing the seven‑day cycle while rejecting the eighth‑day Christ.

Today we can stand, look, and learn from the past.  We can see and learn from our sins now forgiven in the past, to direct us in the future.  We can see the escalating fever, within us, in the world, and in the deep groaning of creation to learn that while we seek greater freedoms in and from this life, God withdraws! Rather than becoming better, everything gets worse!  Such is this third paradox!

So again, we ask ourselves:

How is our world suffering at the hands of Christianity’s disobedience? 

What about the Lutheran Church’s disobedience towards its Christ-centred teaching? 

What are the consequences for the Lutheran Church and the communities in which it lives when seeking the seven-day week for the self rather than seeking the kingdom of God and his eternal eighth day?

If we hold that our Lutheran teaching is true, what happens when the calling, gathering, and enlightening work of the Holy Spirit is rejected?

What does the word of God say when Jews or Gentiles resisted and rejected God’s word?

So, we cry out to the Lord, “Lord Jesus, save us from being eternally wounded!”

All are called to repentance through Christ’s suffering and death.  All individuals are called to put the old self to death and be raised!  No one is exempt from being called to repentance. No one can be raised up in Christ’s resurrection without the Holy Spirit working repentance within. 

Worldly struggles today are massive.  Neither diplomacy nor bombs will heal what we have broken. The free‑flowing oil through the Strait of Hormuz will not stabilise the world any more than the end of Covid lockdowns healed our anxieties. The only remedy is repentance — a return to the things above, where Christ is, our peace.

Jesus himself trusted the Father through his death and resurrection. The Holy Spirit now calls us to the same, and to submit once again to God’s word rather than our own words, opinions, and thoughts, or the thoughts, opinions, and words of someone we’ve allowed to become our messiah on social media! 

Thankfully there is no partiality with God!  All people are called to repentance. All are called to die and rise with Christ. All Christians are called daily to allow the Holy Spirit to put to death the sins of our seven-day cycle and trust in the resurrection on the eighth day.

The Church — Lutheran and otherwise — is called again to stand in the eighth‑day light of Christ, trusting that when he appears, we also will appear with him in glory.

Amen.

 

Sermon Summary: “Living in Transitory Times”

Colossians 3:1–4 proclaims that those who have been raised with Christ now belong to a new reality — the life “hidden with Christ in God.” The Early Church called Easter the Eighth Day, the dawn of God’s eternal new creation breaking into the old seven‑day world. Baptism joins believers to this eternal day, marking them as participants in Christ’s resurrection even as they still live within the burdens and groaning of the old creation.

Yet we inhabit a paradox. We celebrate the Resurrection while still walking through a world marked by decay, sin, and uncertainty. Creation groans, and we groan with it, longing for the redemption of our bodies. The tension between the old seven‑day world and the eternal eighth‑day life is not merely philosophical — it is visible in history, culture, and the spiritual condition of humanity.

Across the last century, generations seeking “a better life” often traded the eighth‑day hope for the seven‑day pursuit of comfort and pleasure. When the Church shifts its gaze from Christ above to earthly glory, something essential is lost. When Law and Gospel — the heart of Lutheran, Christ‑centred teaching — is neglected, the world is deprived of the very truth that sustains it.

History shows that when humanity seeks freedom apart from God, God withdraws His protection and the world darkens. The horrors of the twentieth century and the messianic politics of today are not merely geopolitical crises but symptoms of deeper spiritual disobedience — a world rejecting the eighth‑day Christ for the seven‑day self.

The remedy is not diplomacy, power, or prosperity. The only remedy is repentance — a return to the things above, where Christ is. All are called to die and rise with Christ daily, to let the Spirit put to death the old self, and to stand again in the eighth‑day light of the Resurrection. The Church is called to trust that when Christ appears, we also will appear with Him in glory.

 Reflection Questions for Personal or Group Study

1. The Eighth Day & Our Identity

•      Where in your life do you most feel the tension between the “old seven‑day world” and the “eighth‑day” life you have in Christ?

•      How does remembering your baptism help you live with confidence in this tension?

2. Setting Our Minds on Things Above

•      What are the “earthly things” that most easily distract you from Christ?

•      What practices help you re‑orient your mind toward “things above”?

3. The Paradox of Comfort

•      In what ways has the pursuit of comfort or “a better life” shaped your faith, for good or for ill?

•      How might the Church today be tempted to trade the eighth‑day hope for seven‑day pleasures?

4. The Church’s Calling in a Groaning World

•      What does the world lose when the Church seeks earthly glory instead of Christ’s glory?

•      How can your congregation bear clearer witness to Law and Gospel in a culture chasing self‑made freedom?

5. Repentance as the Only Remedy

•      Where is the Holy Spirit calling you to repentance — personally, communally, or culturally?

•      How does repentance restore your vision of Christ as your life, your peace, and your future?

6. Living Toward the Appearing of Christ

•      What does it mean for you that “your life is hidden with Christ in God”?

•      How does the promise that “you will appear with Him in glory” shape the way you face the coming week? 

C, Epiphany 2 - John 2:9-11 "Change"

John 2:9–11 (ESV)When the master of the feast tasted the water now become wine, and did not know where it came from (though the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and when people have drunk freely, then the poor wine. But you have kept the good wine until now.”  This, the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory. And his disciples believed in him.

We’re living in times of change.  Indeed, even days and hours of change!  Things seem to be evolving at such a rapid rate of change. 

Technology has much to do with this, but in recent times our health in the face of the pandemic has heightened such change in such a short time.  Who would have thought we would be into the third year of a global virus with all its restrictions and debilitations?!

In these uncertain times of radical change, one certainly feels bashed and beaten by the unexpected readjustments we are required to make in our day to day lives.  We wonder when or if things will ever return to what we expect as being normal.  Whatever “normal” is now!  We talk of coming to terms with living with Covid.  But what does that really mean for us?

This uncertainty and change affect us!   Are our expectations in life in need of change?  How we live our lives; even our purpose in life is being questioned.  Confidence is being lost in the stability of things we took for granted as being rock solid.

How has this time of accelerated change, affected your hope? 

If we look to the media, it testifies humanity is miserable, getting poorer, afflicted with disease, on the verge of blowing ourselves to smithereens, as well as facing a climate catastrophe.  Humanity’s hope has changed for the worse!  It all sounds dismal, but perhaps it is not as bad as the media is making it out to be.

The loss of hope and confidence in humanity’s progress seems quite alarming, but the reality is our hope and confidence has been a house of cards tottering on the edge of collapse for some time.  Our towers of trust are being torn down revealing we should never have put our trust in them, and our motives for building them in our hearts prove questionable.

At the centre of our loss of hope the Holy Spirit seeks to refocus your confidence and restore hope in Jesus Christ. 

As all the things you love are removed, the Holy Spirit moves you to trust in him who loves you.  The great thing to come out of the uncertainty and change of the last three years is the renewed brightness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. 

But there is a temptation to be distracted by the arguments of our human spirit and the world, over knowledge of, the good and evil of Covid immunisations, lockdown limitations versus the freedom of choice, health versus wealth, a growing Chinese threat, climate change, and gender rights.  

On the other hand, the change Jesus Christ puts in front of us, now shines ever so much brighter as all worldly temporary hopes in us become exhausted and die.   Ironically, they always were going to die.  But we have breathed so much life into these gods of microchips and memes, the modern-day idols of wood and stone!

Unfortunately, over the last decade, personal electronic devices have become so dominant in our lives, it has distracted and led us into chaotic waters.   And like a covid riddled cruise ship unable to dock, we’re so preoccupied and paralysed from our personal pursuits of pleasure.

In the same way, this mobile phone and app god is dying too, and many will soon need Jesus Christ to board their boat and change their lives as well, lest their paralysation renders them eternally lost.

A French writer of the 19^th century, Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr, is quoted as saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”.  And this is true of humanity as it seeks to make change for what it believes to be “the better”.  But as humanity idolises change for the sake of progress it continues in its hopeless plight contributing to evil.

However, Jesus Christ introduces change that’s contrary to all other human endeavours of change.  Jesus Christ is the only true agent of change.  He makes all things new, eternally new and eternally different! 

We get a picture of this change today as we hear what he does at the wedding at Cana, and who it revealed him to be. 

Jesus takes the water for old covenant purification and changes it into the best wine, eternal pleasing wine!   In the wedding at Cana, a glimpse of his glory is revealed, which would become fully uncovered at his death and resurrection.  He makes change at the wedding, turning water into wine, and it reminds us of the change we have undergone in our baptism into his death and resurrection.

You now carry the knowledge of Jesus Christ as a result of being baptised.  You are forgiven and fed with God’s word and sacraments, the Holy Spirit works Jesus Christ in you every time you hear his word and eat and drink his body and blood.

The wedding water, changed into the best wine, reminds us that there is now no longer need for purification through the Law.  Fulfilling the requirements of the Law are finished in Jesus’ death on the cross.  The ritual to be cleansed and washed, to be purified was put aside after Jesus, the true bridegroom, washed the feet of his disciples and made way for our entry into the wedding feast of the Lamb, through the purification and sacrifice of his death.

In the book of Revelation, we are reminded of the promise given to John when he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and commanded to write, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb… These are the true words of God.” (Revelation 19:9 ESV)

Weddings are joyful occasions.  How much greater is the joy of the eternal wedding between Jesus and his bride, the church, now that God promises our purification through the death and resurrection of his firstborn Son.  Our hopelessness, and helplessness, is covered with the life-changing robes of Jesus’ righteousness.

There are changes happening all around us. But God calls you away from those distractions to focus on Jesus Christ and the change he has made for us and in us. He sends the Holy Spirit to change us, and this work continues to happen throughout our lives.

In fact, we are engaged to God’s Son in this life.  God has placed his Holy Spirit in us as a very good deposit, sealing us for the day of hope, our resurrection from the dead and marriage with our faithful eternal Bridegroom, Jesus Christ.

Let us proclaim the true change Jesus is bring to us at the conclusion of this life here on earth.  As we look forward to Jesus’ return where he will make all things new, let us remind each other and tell others of the unlimited good wine of eternal abundance that awaits all who allow themselves to be changed into the wedding clothes of Jesus’ righteousness. Amen.

“Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory.”  (Revelation 19:6b-7a ESV) The marriage of the Lamb is coming!  Let his Bride be made ready!

Amen.