Jesu Juva
“Hope that Does Not Disappoint”
Text: Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12; 1 John 3:1-3
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.
What the world cannot achieve, Jesus has. We heard today of John’s great vision of heaven, of a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands. Our world seeks such unity and peace, but these noble goals continue to elude us. Wars continue, favoritism continues, hatred, prejudice, and bias continue. There are the haves and the have nots, the ins and the outs, the smart people who agree with me and the stupid people who don’t, and so those the world wants and those the world thinks we’d be better off without. Even when we get a taste of unity and peace, like after a national tragedy, it doesn’t last long. So this great multitude is found nowhere on earth. There is instead division. And not only in the world, but in our country, in our communities, even sometimes in our families.
We long for this unity and peace. But even our best efforts fail. We fail. We sin. We add to the division. Our sinful nature gets the better of us and we lash out. Or maybe it was a comment we made - live and in person, or on social media - and we didn’t realize the hurt it would cause, but it did. Sometimes for us to get ahead we have to put down others, we think - and so we do. Or maybe it was what that person did to me - unforgivable! Meaning: a divide that is permanent; irreparable. Because this world is filled with sinners - sinners like you and me - this vision of heaven will never be reality on earth.
Unless . . . unless there was some other way we could be united and at peace. If there was someone who could heal the hurts. Politicians always promise to do that. They are this election cycle, too. But they never do. For they can’t, really. But what if there was someone who could . . . Someone who could forgive the unforgivable. Someone who could love the unlovable. Someone who could bring us together despite our differences. Someone who knows us at our very worst, and could make us our very best. Someone who didn’t care where we were from, what funny accent we had, what color our skin. Someone who could bring together what sin has divided, and help us see others as He does - not as opposition, but people who are scared, lost, confused, overwhelmed, hurting, lonely, who just need someone. Someone to love them. But not the kind of love that loves you as long as you’re useful and then kicks you to the curb, but the kind of love that loves you when you’re lying in the gutter, beat up and thrown out, and lifts you up and provides for you. Someone who would do that . . . well, He would have a great multitude around Him, don’t you think?
Oh, He would have His detractors, too, to be sure. Those who don’t approve of that kind of love, that kind of care, who want unity and peace only on their terms. They might even try to get rid of someone who would go against their wishes and the way they think things should be done. Crucify Him, even!
But what if even that couldn’t stop Him? If He came back from the dead and continued His work, but now on an even larger scale than before? Uniting not only people on earth, but heaven and earth, the living and the dead! And not only in one place, but in and from every pulpit, altar, and font around the world. His message, His peace, His hand, His forgiveness, His life, extended to every time and place. Wouldn’t that be something? Something glorious! And someone worthy of praise for doing this! For His blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power.
But isn’t that what we just sang! This is the feast of victory for our God. . . . Power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and blessing and glory are His. And isn’t this what we just saw, the hand of God, the water of God, and the Word of God taking a sinner and making her a saint? Taking an enemy and making little Abigail His child. Isn’t this what we heard earlier when we confessed that we lived this week again at our worst, and He lifted us up and we heard Him say: I forgive you all your sins, all your worst, all your shame. And isn’t this what we’re anticipating, coming to this altar in a moment to open our mouths and be fed by the one who has united us here like this. And who not only unites us together here, but wants us united with Him forever.
So isn’t this here what we long for? Here is the unity and peace we need. Here is the forgiveness and love we need. Here is heaven on earth. Here is that great multitude on earth, together with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, known and seen with the ears and eyes of faith. Because here is Jesus. The someone we need, the someone to do what we cannot and could never do, the someone who unites us to each other because He has united us all in Himself. Here is Jesus for that. Here is Jesus for you. What the world cannot achieve, Jesus has.
So blessed are we. We heard that over and over in the Gospel today - blessed are we. Not because we have everything we want - because, quite frankly, some of those things listed there for those who are blessed I’d rather not have or be! I’d rather be rich in spirit than poor in spirit. I’d rather not mourn or be meek. I’d rather not have to hunger and thirst for righteousness, have to put myself out and be merciful, have to play the peacemaker, and I’d really rather not be persecuted, reviled, or spoken evil of! But in this world of sin and death; of division, not unity; of strife, not peace - this is our reality. The reality little Abigail was just born into.
But there is another reality that little Abigail was just REborn into as well today. The reality of a Saviour named Jesus. Who does bless us living in this world of sin and death. Who blesses us with exactly what we need. With the unity and peace, love and forgiveness we need. Which is found only in one place: in Him. For this is the blessing: He blesses us with Himself. And when you receive Jesus, you also get all that’s His. In Baptism, we receive Jesus. In the Absolution, we receive Jesus. In the Gospel, we receive Jesus. In the Supper, we receive Jesus. And with Him, His forgiveness, His life, His salvation are given to us. His kingdom and His sonship are given to us. And His family is given to us. So today, we gained a new sister named Abby, and she gained a whole lotta brothers and sisters in Christ! A great multitude, in fact, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages. And times.
But Abby got more than that this morning. She also made a powerful enemy in satan who is going to hound her relentlessly, as he does you. Who is going to persecute her for Christ’s righteousness given to her. Who is going to revile her and persecute her and utter all kinds of evil against her for belonging to Christ, as he does you. Who is going to try to lure her and tempt her and convince her that life is better and easier with him. And, well, easier? Maybe. The world loves its own and those who agree with it. But better? Not a chance. For while there may be trial, tribulation, trouble, and sorrow now, for a while, in Christ, there is an eternity of blessing. Of no more hunger or thirst. Of no scorching heat. Of living water and no more tears. An eternity of what we so long for: unity and peace. For what the world cannot achieve - even though satan may lyingly promise it - Jesus has.
And we celebrate that today, this All Saints Day. For all the saints are saints because of Him. What the world cannot achieve, Jesus has. And what we cannot achieve, Jesus has. We could never be saints on our own. We can never make ourselves holy. Holiness is of God and is His gift to us in Jesus. So only in Jesus are we holy. Only in Jesus are we saints. But we are all saints in Him. Saints who are part of that great multitude - now by faith, but one day by sight.
And today, Abby too. For today she has washed her robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Yes this little one, only 35 days old. She cannot stand, and yet is standing around the throne of God with us. She cannot speak, and yet is crying out in the worship and praise of God with us. Her parents comfort her, but so does her Father and Saviour. Her parents feed her, but she is also satisfied with the bread of life from heaven. And she is blessed, not just with loving and caring earthly parents, but with an even more loving and caring and eternal Father. Who will do everything for her for eternity.
And what is true for her is true for you. Blessed is she. And blessed you are. Blessed in this world so messed up, so lost. Blessed to be in this little outpost of unity and peace in a world disunited and not at peace, this little outpost called the church. Where All Saints gather together every week. Around Jesus, in Jesus, to receive Jesus. To receive what we could never achieve or do for ourselves. What if there was someone . . . to give us such a life, and such hope?
Hope that we will see our loved ones who died in the faith again. Hope for the newborns brought into this world of sin and death. Hope for the ones the world has no use for. Hope for not only when we’ve been kicked to the gutter, but when we’ve put ourselves there. Hope for unity and peace.
That’s exactly what we’ve been singing about today, paraphrases of what we heard in the Scriptures today! Despised and scorned they sojourned here; But now how glorious they appear. On earth they wept through bitter years; Now God has wiped away their tears (LSB #676). We feebly struggle . . . And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long . . . But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day; The saints - triumphant! - rise in bright array (LSB #677). Rise, because of Jesus and His resurrection that conquers all. Our hope that is greater than any heartache, trouble, persecution, or deep, dark grave. Hope that will not disappoint. Hope that is sure and certain - as sure and certain as the empty tomb. Hope that can sustain us against this world at its worst, and even when that worst has crept into, snuck into, us. Our someone, the someone we need, is coming for All His Saints, as He does now with His forgiveness, so He will then, and we will from our labors rest. You and me, little Abigail, and those we don’t even know who they are, but who will join us in that great multitude that no one can number. No one but Jesus, that is.
For He knows. He knows each and every one. By name. And there will be unity, and there will be peace, and there will be joy. And there will be singing and there will be feasting. But most of all there will be Him. Our someone. Who did this for us. And we - with all the saints - will be with Him. And that’s all that will matter.
In the Name of the Father, and of the (+) Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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