Revelation 21 9-27 22,1-5 (Scholia)

In Scandinavian Lutheran churches, tradition states that the communion rail is to be shaped in a shallow curve. There is a reason for this, and the reason proclaims hope to you and to me. If you mourn the death of loved ones, if you must endure affliction, you will find great comfort there. But before we tell you why, first we must meet the bride.

I. The Bride

The bride of Christ is the Church, or the people of God-all who believe in Him. The bride is created on the sixth day of creation, and begins with a congregation of two: Saint Adam and Saint Eve. They are placed in the Garden of Eden, paradise on earth. But there is a better part: There is no sin; and hence, no death. They are told by God to be fruitful and multiply, that more people might be added to the bride. But there is still a better part: Because there is no sin, they can look upon the face of God. They can walk with God in the cool of the day, for there is no sin that leaves them unworthy of His presence.

So the bride is created, and the betrothal-the engagement-is on. God promises that the wedding day is coming, and God always keeps His promises.

As you know, Paradise does not last very long. Satan worms his way into the garden and tempts the bride. Saint Eve gives into temptation, and Pastor Adam does nothing to stop her. On that day, sin comes into the world, and death through sin; the bride of Christ is defiled that day. Make no mistake: The sin in the Garden of Eden is to turn from God's rich promises and turn to another god. Adam and Eve are unfaithful to their Bridegroom, following their own desires instead.

And, make no mistake of this, either: Every sin that is committed in the world is this same sin: unfaithfulness to God, a spiritual adultery that chooses loyally to follow the desires of some god other than the Bridegroom.

How does the Lord respond when Paradise is lost? He does not abandon His unfaithful people. Instead, while He warns them that sin is now in the world, He promises that the Savior will come: The Bridegroom will be born of a woman and, suffering Himself, will crush the head of Satan (Gen. 3:16). Although there will be misery and death in the meantime, the wedding day is still on for the people of God.

As the Lord announces this promise of Gospel that day, another curse is evident to Adam and Eve: They can no longer see the Lord face to face because of their sin. They can hear Him, but to look upon His glory in their sin is to die. Therefore, the Bridegroom will always have to cloak Himself when He visits, hiding His glory so that they can abide His presence. But Bridegroom will still visit His people as He sustains them for the wedding day.

Take, for instance, His visit to St. Moses on Mount Horeb (Exodus 3). Moses sees a bush that burns but is not consumed, and he turns aside to see the miracle. It is a greater miracle than he imagines-it is not just a bush that defies the laws of physics, but the Lord is there, cloaked in that flame. The Lord knows of the suffering of His people in Egypt, and the Lord comes to redeem His bride from slavery. Therefore, he appears to Moses in that burning bush, calling Moses as His spokesman. Despite the unfaithfulness of His bride, the Lord is with her. The wedding day was still on, because the Bridegroom always keeps His promises.

Later on in Exodus, we see the Lord lead His people out of Egypt. He is 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 is leading His people to the Promised Land, as He faithfully promised to do. Along the way, His bride will not be so faithful: In just a short time, the people will plead with Aaron to create a golden calf for them to worship. A little later on, they will complain that the manna God provides freely each day just isn't good enough. Oh, the people of God will richly deserve abandonment. But the Lord is faithful, and the wedding day remains as planned.

One final example from the Old Testament: The temple, the house of God, is built in Jerusalem, and the Lord inhabits it. A cloud of glory descends into the Holy of Holies, and God dwells with His people. He is hidden behind walls and curtain, but He is there to accompany His bride toward the wedding day. However, you know the tragic story of Old Testament Israel: The people turn to false gods and worship them. The bride proves unfaithful to her Bridegroom again and again. Eventually, unwanted by the vast majority in Jerusalem, the Lord withdraws Himself from the temple (Ez. 11:23). The city is sacked, and its citizens who survive are led away to Babylon. There, a faithful remnant weeps at the spiritual adultery of Israel. All seems lost.

But the Bridegroom is faithful, and the wedding day is on.

In the fullness of time, the Bridegroom comes to secure the wedding day. He visits His people during the reign of Caesar Augustus. He cloaks His glory once again, though not in a burning bush or a cloud of glory. This time, He hides His glory in human flesh as He is born to the Virgin Mary. Yes-in that manger in Bethlehem lies the baby Bridegroom. He is Immanuel, "God with us," and He has 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 comes, and His people believe in Him; but the world has no use for such a Savior. Rather than honor Him, they do their best to make Him look as little like the Savior as possible: They scourge Him, beat Him, crucify Him. It is the ultimate rebellion and infidelity-in service to whatever other gods they follow, they kill the Son of God. Truly, His glory is never more hidden than when He hangs upon the cross. But truly, on the cross is when the Bridegroom redeems His bride, dying for the sins of the world.

The Bridegroom lays down His life for His bride. He rises again three days later-victorious but with His glory still hidden. He ascends into heaven, but not before promising, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

You see, despite the sinfulness of man, the Bridegroom still stealthily visits His people.

Despite the sin and unfaithful wanderings of the Church, the wedding is still on.

II. All Saints

The wedding day is still on, and part of the job of the people of God on earth is to wait-to wait wisely and faithfully for the Bridegroom, because the wedding day is guaranteed.

You know, dear members of the bride of Christ, that the waiting is not an easy thing. Daily, there is temptation to sin-and every sin is a declaration that we do not care to follow God's Word. Every sin is an act of infidelity toward the Bridegroom who has died for you. The waiting is not easy because the temptations are so many and great, and the sin so easy to commit.

The waiting is not easy either because you must witness the ravages of sin upon this world that is so hell-bent on destruction. Those ravages are sometimes evident in spectacular ways, like a terrorist attack or war; and sometimes they are insidious, like a pang in the side and a dark blot on a CAT scan. You endure afflictions of body and mind, or must endure the pain of loved ones who are so afflicted. All of these are the ravages of sin.

Too often, you do not just witness such ravages, but must experience them yourself. You face affliction, doubt, disease and injury; and should the Lord not return soon, you, too, face death. In the meantime, there is sorrow; and among the sharpest of griefs is the death of loved ones.

In such bleak times, it may be hard to believe the Bridegroom's promise that He is with us always. It may be very difficult to believe that wedding day is still on.

So, on this day, we celebrate the festival of All Saints, remembering the saints who have gone before us-be that Saints Abraham and Moses, or those believers with whom we spoke and ate and lived.

A bulletin insert last week noted that, while we don't pray to the saints, we do remember those who have gone before us; and the Apology to the Augsburg Confession gives three reasons for doing so. 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. It is therefore proper to celebrate this 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. God has so promised, and God always keeps His promises.

God's presence with His people is not some make-believe idea, nor is it something that happened just "way-back-then." Dear Christians, the Bridegroom continues to visit you, His bride, to keep you safe until the wedding day. For now, you cannot witness His glory and live, so He hides His glory behind external means so that He might be here for your good.

The Lord draws near you today. He does not conceal Himself within a burning bush or a cloud of vapor; rather, He cloaks Himself in water that He might be present and active at your Baptism. He does not hide His glory in human flesh today; instead, He veils His body and blood in, with and under bread and wine. And, as always, He speaks to you: Not through a thundering voice on a thunderous mountaintop, but through the mouth of a pastor or another fellow Christian.

The Bridegroom visits you, and with purpose! He is not some shady suitor who appears now and then to string you along and keep your hopes alive. No, He comes to keep this promise sure, 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!" All those who trust in Him will be raised to eternal life when the Lord returns in glory.

And finally, now, we arrive at the text for this day; for now we are prepared to hear it:

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light. (Rev. 21:9-11, 22-23)

Behold the bride! She is spotless. She is sinless, and she is prepared for the wedding day because the Lamb has been slain to cleanse her with His blood. Oh, when the bride is revealed in heaven, there is no spot or wrinkle, for all sin and sorrow are gone.

Behold the bridegroom! And he is there to be beheld! In heaven, there is no need for the Lord to cloak His glory-for there is no sin, and His people can look upon Him joyfully and live! He is far from hidden there: No, His glory illuminates the city, and His people live and walk by His light.

The unrepentant are not there. As they had no desire to be with God during their lives on earth, the Lord will not force them to spend eternity with Him. He allows them to a place where He is not [at least not graciously]; but if God is not in a place, upholding it with His mighty hand, there will be only chaos and destruction forever.

But such destruction is not for the people of God. No, the bride of Christ is assured that the wedding day is coming. The dead will rise. We will be delivered to eternal life in the presence of God.

And that, dear friends, is your comfort on this day of All Saints.

You mourn the loss of saints who have gone before you, beloved people of God who held fast to Christ even as they suffered death. But here is your hope: While their sinful bodies are consigned to dust and ashes, even now they enjoy the presence of God. The grief is not theirs; indeed, their suffering is over and they no longer know grief. Nor is anything hidden from their eyes: 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.

Does this take away the mourning and the sense of loss? No. While the grief is no longer theirs, it still remains with you as long as you remain in this world of sin and death. But someday you too will be freed from this world and delivered into that glorious presence of God as well. In the meantime, you are also the bride of Christ, for He has redeemed you. And while you do not see Him in all His glory for now, you are also in the presence of the risen Lord, your Bridegroom: He visits you even now, cloaking Himself in His Word and Sacraments, so that He might welcome you to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

Which 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, the same Bridegroom in both places. And because He is present there in heaven and here on earth, we are together in Christ with them. They simply worship on the other side of the altar.

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 "with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven." We sing with them, 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 the hope of eternal life. By His presence, you are together with that heavenly communion of saints in Him.

For by His death and resurrection, you are His bride. That rail is the ring, and declares the hope of glory and comfort in death. This hope is yours, for you are forgiven for all of your sins in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.