This morning we watched as the children of our church reminded us of some great stories from the Bible and great people who followed God in unique ways. We did this sort of as our own way of celebrating Halloween and giving the children an opportunity to dress up as their favorite Bible characters. But this wasn’t just an excuse for them to dress up. Tomorrow is Halloween, whose history is quite messed up and confusing. Halloween has pagan roots and sometimes is even referred to as the devil’s night. But the early church, when it came across the harvest celebrations and the odd pagan beliefs, decided that it was best to work towards sanctifying them, making them holy. We discover that the church did this with many holidays and we find that our Christian celebrations throughout the year often correspond with earlier pagan holidays that people were already celebrating.
Unfortunately, Christianity’s version of Halloween didn’t catch on quite as much as some of our other holidays. Christianity’s take on Halloween was to have a special day, November 1st, where we celebrated the lives of those who have gone before, those who ran the race and fought the fight and followed Christ. And so, this morning, with our kids’ help, we celebrated All Saints Day (a couple days early), and we briefly remembered some of those who have gone before, those who we can learn from, those whose own faith inspires and encourages our faith.
The Bible actually spends a fair amount of time talking about the saints. It has a very simple definition for saints, one which we have gotten back to in Protestant churches in the last few hundred years. A saint is someone who is living or has lived in right relationship with God. A saint is someone who has had their sins forgiven by God. And on All Saints Day we remember that we are not the first saints in this world. There were many before us, many who we remember, who affected our lives in tangible ways, and many who lived throughout history. So, today, we celebrate the saints who have gone before. Maybe we remember people from the Bible whose stories inspire us. Maybe we remember a parent or grandparent that taught us what it means to be a follower of Christ. Or maybe we just remember that we are not alone in our faith, but share it with so many around the world and throughout history.
I. Saints
Perhaps we like to think of saints as being heroic, but heroism isn’t what brings sainthood on someone, rather it is faithfulness. Revelation 7 tells us a bit about what it means to be a saint. John sees a great multitude standing around God’s throne. They are all wearing white robes, they all have palm branches and they are from every tribe and nation, every people group from around the world. And they are crying out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.”
John is asked by his host or guide who these people in white are and he wisely answers, “Sir, you know.” John is told that these are the people who are going to be before the throne of God. They are the ones who get to serve him day and night. They will never face hunger or thirst, they will never have to deal with getting sunburned (hey, it says the sun will no longer shine harshly down on them… no more sunburns) and all tears will be wiped away from their eyes.
Sounds pretty good. I think I want to be a part of that group. So, how do I join up? Well, there’s something about a great tribulation, more on that later, and then there is the fact that the Lamb is their shepherd, and then there is the fact that their robes have been washed in the blood of the lamb.
The book of Revelation, with its many visions and signs spends a lot of time talking about the end of time and heaven, but it also is talking about today, just like it was talking about the time that John lived in. These visions of John’s tell what God’s followers have to look forward to, these visions of John’s help us to live through the difficulties of today, because we know there is something great in store for us. We know that in the end, we will stand in God’s presence at the throne, surrounded by a great multitude, facing neither hunger nor thirst, having our tears erased. Does this mean we will no longer have to eat or drink? No, we are told that there will be feasting in heaven. We are told that we will be able to drink from springs of living water. We just won’t want for food or drink, it will be available for us. And what gives us and those around us the opportunity to enter into God’s presence? The blood of the lamb, which washes our robes white. It’s odd imagery. It doesn’t totally make sense, especially if you’ve ever tried to get blood out of any clothes you have. And yet, the saints are those that have been washed in the blood.
II. Washed in the Blood
When I hear someone say they’ve been washed in the blood, I automatically think of them in a certain light. I think of an old Baptist preacher, with his Bible in his hand, waving it over his head. There’s a power in the words, “Washed in the blood”. But I’m not sure if this is an image that speaks as strongly to people today. I think John explains this better in his other writings. Instead of using this great, visual, powerful image of being washed in the blood, he describes Christ’s followers in a different light. In 1 John 3 he refers to those who follow Christ as the children of God. Now this is a phrase I can wrap my heart and mind around. Bbeing God’s children doesn’t mean all is well. 1 John 3 makes the point that the world is not always going to recognize you. It might treat you the same way it treated Christ. The world didn’t treat Jesus very well. And that takes us back to that mention in Revelation 7 of some sort of tribulation that this great multitude went through.
Normally, when we hear the word tribulation, we think of some great disaster during the end times. Normally, when we think of the tribulation it is the sign that Jesus is about to return. I have heard people comment on the disasters that have been happening across this world and how we just might be at the point of tribulation right now. And you know what, it’s possible. But it is important to remember that disasters have happened from the beginning of time. Even in the time that John was writing, it was unsafe to be a Christian. They faced persecution for their faith. They daily faced death for what it was that they believed. The Christians alive in John’s time, when the book of Revelation was being written were more in the midst of tribulation than we are today. They had a much better candidate for Anti-Christ in the Roman Emperor Nero than we have had since. And throughout the history of the church, Christians have faced horrible disasters. In the Middle Ages there was the plague that wiped out a third of the people living in Europe. I cannot even imagine such destruction. There have been wars and rumors of wars faced in every generation who has lived on this planet. World War I was to be the war to end all wars… and it was only a beginning.
John was writing the book of Revelation to people suffering their own tribulation. The visions that John received were able to give hope to people as they faced suffering and even death for what they believed. When John talked about these children of God who are not known by the world; when he talked about this great multitude standing at the throne of God, he was telling these people, these saints, these ordinary followers of Christ that what they were going through was worth it.
III. Heroes
The heroes of the Bible, the people who we look up to who have gone before us, all were willing to face what they did because they knew it was worth it. David was willing to face Goliath because he knew God would be with him. Miriam was willing to hide by the shore and watch her baby brother because she knew God was going to save him. John the Baptist was willing to live in the desert and eat wild honey and dress in weird clothing because he knew God was sending a Savior into the world. These people weren’t heroic in and of themselves. They didn’t eat a special form of Wheaties that gave them super heroic abilities. They didn’t need spinach to get them through their trials. No, what allowed them to do what they did, what gave them the strength to step out and face impossible odds was a certainty that God was with them. Further than that, it was the promise that something great was in store for them.
We have this same promise that they had. We serve the same God that they served. And yet we allow ourselves to shuffle along in our ordinary lives doing ordinary things, without a thought to what we could be doing. We need to be filled with the great trust that filled these heroes that have gone before us. We can step out and step up in faith the same way they did, and we can trust that God will be there with us and for us as we do so. This means taking risks. This means being faithful even when it hurts. This sometimes even means facing a time of tribulation. This means allowing the Holy Spirit to work in your life. It means allowing the Spirit to work through you in ways you may not even understand. It means reaching out to the community around you with your faith and your love. It means loving God with your heart, soul, mind and strength and loving your neighbor as yourself.
Are we going to allow ourselves to be inspired by those who have gone before us? Are we going to allow ourselves to be motivated by the promise of greatness that God has given us? I hope and pray that we will allow ourselves to take the same kind of risks that so many have taken before us. I hope and pray that we will allow God to work mightily in our lives and on our behalf, so that we can truly become more like those who have gone before us and so that we can read Revelation 7 and realize that John is talking about us, washed in the blood of the Lamb and living as children of God. Amen.
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