All Saint’s Day

Revelation 21:9 – 22:5

November 3, 2002

“A Place at the Table”

Introduction:  There are all kinds of dining tables.   There are square ones and rectangular ones.   There are round ones and oval ones.   Each type is useful and has a purpose.   Some tables are good for a couple of people.   Other tables are useful for lavish feasts and seat many guests.   The communion rail of churches is often referred to as a table.   It is the table where Christians gather together.   In Scandinavian Lutheran churches, tradition states that the communion rail or table is to be shaped in a shallow curve – the way our communion rail is shaped.  There is a reason for this, and the reason proclaims hope to you and to me.  When we mourn the death of loved ones, when we are sad and lonely, we can find great comfort as we come to this table.  At the Lords table we find consolation as we celebrate the wedding feast of the Lamb.  As the saints of God, we celebrate our own wedding.  It is an ongoing celebration whose glory is hidden.  It glory will be fully revealed when Jesus Christ, the bridegroom, returns for his beloved bride.

I.  The Bride

The bride of Christ is the Church, all the people of God who believe in Him.  The bride of Christ was created on the sixth day of creation, and was made up of a congregation of two - Saint Adam and Saint Eve.  They were placed in the Garden of Eden, paradise on earth.  It was a place where sin and death did not exist.  In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve walked and talked with God and beheld Him in all His glory.  They saw Him face to face.  So the bride was created. 

As you know, Paradise does not last very long.  Satan made his way into the garden and tempted the bride.  Saint Eve gives into temptation, and Saint Adam did nothing to stop her.  As the bride of Christ committed adultery with Satan, sin came into the world, and death through sin.  The bride was defiled as she lost her holiness.  Adam and Eve were unfaithful to God.  The sin in the Garden of Eden was to turn from the love of God and turn to another lover – another god.    Every sin that is committed in the world is this same sin - unfaithfulness to God.  It is spiritual adultery that rejects the proper and holy relationship that God has established.   In it’s place it embraces love for anything else but God.

            How does the Lord respond when Paradise is lost?  Does He abandon His unfaithful people?  No.  Instead, He tells them the facts of life and death.  Since sin has entered the world the world is cursed and they will die.  Then God gives them hope.  He promises that the Savior, the Bridegroom, will come.  Although there will be misery and death in the meantime, the wedding day was still on for the people of God. 

As the Lord announced this promise of Gospel that day, another curse is evident to Adam and Eve.  They could no longer see the Lord face to face because of their sin.  They could hear Him, but to look upon His glory would cause them to die.  From that time on, when the Lord was with His people, He would hide His face.  The Bridegroom, which was Christ, would watch over them and guide them through the perils of the fallen world as He too waited for the wedding day.

The Bridegroom, which is Christ, was with Moses on Mount Horeb in the burning bush, cloaked in fire.  In Exodus, we see the Bridegroom lead His people out of Egypt.  He was there, present though hidden, guiding His bride from a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex.  13:21).  He led His people to the Promised Land, as He faithfully promised to do.  When they built a temple in Jerusalem, the house of God, He inhabited it.  In the Holy of Holies God dwelled with His people.  He was hidden behind walls and curtain, but He was there to accompany His bride toward the wedding day.

One more time the Lord visited His people to guarantee the wedding day.  He visited His people during the reign of Caesar Augustus.  He cloaked His glory once again, though not in a burning bush or a cloud.  This time, He hid His glory in human flesh as He was born to the Virgin Mary.  In that Bethlehem manger laid the Bridegroom.  He had come to save His bride - To give Himself for her, to sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Eph.  5:25-27).

The Bridegroom came but the world had no use for Him.  Rather than giving Him the honor of the groom He was dishonored with scourging and beatings, and finally He was crucified.  The Son of God was killed.  Truly, His glory was never more hidden than when He hung upon the cross.  On the cross the Bridegroom redeemed His bride, and died for the sins of the world.  The Bridegroom Jesus Christ laid down His life for His bride.  He rose again three days later, victorious, but with His glory still hidden.  He ascended into heaven, while promising, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." 
II.  All Saints

The wedding day is still on, and part of the job of the people of God on earth is to wait faithfully for the Bridegroom.  As the Saints of God, as the bride of Christ you know that the waiting is not easy.  It is not easy because there is the daily temptation to sin.  Every sin is a declaration of our rejection of God and His relationship towards us.  Every sin is an act of infidelity toward the Bridegroom who has died for us.  The waiting is not easy, because we must witness the ravages of sins curse upon this world, the pain suffering and death.  The waiting is not easy, because we must suffer and die too.  There is sorrow; and especially the sorrow of grief at the death of our loved ones.  In such bleak times, it may be hard to believe the Bridegroom's promise that He is with us always.

This is why we celebrate the festival of All Saints.  Today we remember the saints who have gone before us – all those believers who have died in the Lord.  We remember them for three reasons.  First, we remember the saints so that we might give thanks to God for the mercies He showed to them, and for using them as His instruments for the good of others.  Second, we remember the saints so that we can be strengthened in faith: We see how God has forgiven and preserved them, and we are strengthened with the assurance that He forgives and preserves us.  Finally, seeing the good they did by the faith the Lord gave them, we seek to imitate their example by the faith God has given us.  This is why we celebrate the Festival of All Saints.

As we give thanks for the saints who have departed, we do so with a living hope. The Bridegroom has redeemed His bride, and the wedding day is still guaranteed.  We remember that God is still present with His people just as He has always been.  The Lord draws near to you though His glory is still hidden.   It is hidden in the forms of bread and wine and His voice comes to you in the weakness of His human servants that speak His holy Word.  He comes to you to keep your hopes alive.  He comes to keep His promise given in the words of our Old Testament lesson: Your dead shall live; Together with my dead body they shall arise.  Awake and sing, you who dwell in dust; for your dew is like the dew of herbs, And the earth shall cast out the dead.  (Is.  26:19)

This is the gift of the Bridegroom to His bride on that wedding day: To the people of God He cries out, "Your dead shall live!” just as I live, who once was dead.  All those who trust in Him will be raised to eternal life when the Lord returns in glory.  That dear friends, is your comfort on this day of All Saints.

While we mourn the loss of saints who have gone before us, who died holding fast to Jesus Christ, here is our hope.  While their sinful bodies are consigned to dust and ashes, even now they enjoy the presence of God.  Their grief and suffering is over.  Freed from sin, they look upon the face of God in all of His glory.  They are the bride triumphant, without spot or blemish or sorrow; and God has wiped away every tear from their eyes.  Some day we will join them.  Until that time we come into the presence of the Lord who comes to us in His Word and Sacraments and we celebrate the wedding feast of the Lamb.

This takes us back to that curved communion rail in Scandinavian Lutheran churches.

The rail is curved because it is part of a circle, a circle that extends beyond the walls of the church and into eternity, a ring that extends around the throne of God.  You see, the saints who have gone before us are the bride of Christ.  So are we.  They stand in the presence of God, and so do we.  They see Him in all of His glory, we trust Him hidden in His means of grace; but it is the same Christ, the same Lamb, and the same Bridegroom in both places.  And because He is present there in heaven and here on earth, we are together with them in Christ.  They simply worship on the other side of the altar – the side that is in Heaven.

We speak of this in our liturgy, though the profundity may escape us.  When we gather for the Lord's Supper, we sing the Sanctus "Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify Thy glorious name ever more praising Thee and singing."  We sing with the saint’s that have gone before us, because we are with them in Christ.

Rejoice, then, people of God! As we remember the saints who have gone before us, there is sadness, yes, but great joy as well.  The Bridegroom who has died has risen; for His sake, His people live, though they have died.  For His sake, you have been forgiven and have the hope of eternal life.  By His presence, you are together with that heavenly communion of saints.  He has prepared a place for you at His table.  For by His death and resurrection, you are His bride.  Amen!