† In the Name of Jesus †
Mercy and Peace, are yours, incredible gifts given to you, from God the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Birdie’s letter
The communion of saints
All Saints
Hebrews -
“Aunt Berdie was a member of Shepherd of the Valley before she and her husband Walther moved to Hemet in 1994. Uncle Walter passed away in 1999 and Aunt Berdie on August 1st, 2006. God graciously granted Aunt Berdie’s desire to die in her sleep, in her own bed. Her last days here were filled with a longing for Heaven. Her heartfelt desire was that all her family and friends join her There at their appointed time. May each of you know Jeus as your personal Savior as Aunt Berdie did.
“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.”
Those words accompany a letter I received just Friday; a letter from Berdie’s niece. Evidence of her love and care for us, her former congregation. Even more evidence of her faith in a Lord, who was faithful to her.
Quite appropriate for this week, as we celebrate All Saints Day. As we celebrate what our creed calls the communion of Saints. To put another way, the fellowship, the gathering together of all those accounted righteous, and holy because Jesus was faithful.
So often, in Lutheran sermons, we talk of what we are saved from. You here it from this pulpit, nearly every week. We are saved, delivered from the bondage of sin, from Satan’s tricks, and from the fear of death. Do we, should we, not also talk of what we are saved to? Of that place that Birdie longed for, that place that is our eternal home?
Do we talk about the great fellowship of the saints, the communion, the gathering together of God’s people, in the full presence of God? Of what our gospel reading today, will describe as our “great reward” in heaven?
Today we shall… my friends today we shall.
The Reward Described
The Beatitudes
Reward? Wages?
But are we?
Listen to these words, from our gospel reading this day,
The Kingdom of Heaven, to be comforted by God, an inheritance for those who are co-heirs with Christ, satisfied in our thirst for righteousness, the receipt of mercy, to see God. (pause) To be called the sons of God. Great truly, is our reward in heaven. (pause)
My friends, Jesus, when sharing these words, had in mind those people we call the communion of saints. He had people like Peter and Paul, Moses and Elijah, Luther and Francis of Assisi; as well as our own, people like Berdie Smith, and John Bosheff, (pause) and you, and I.
And today, we celebrate the fact that we are in such company, the people gathered by God, from every age, to be His people. To receive the promises I just read, hear them again,
The Kingdom of Heaven, to be comforted by God, an inheritance for those who are co-heirs with Christ, satisfied in our thirst for righteousness, the receipt of mercy, to see God. (pause) To be called the sons of God. Great truly, is our reward in heaven. (pause).
Just curious, how many people in this room consider themselves humble, or poor in Spirit? How many of us mourn, not just for our losses, but for the state of the world? Anyone here truly meek? How about anyone who truly hungers and thirsts for living truly righteously? Anyone want to claim that they are truly merciful? Or perfectly pure in heart? Anyone here persecuted and lied about, and mocked, because of their faith in Christ?
Anybody want to claim that they fit all of the above? That they are the walking embodiment of the Beatitudes?
How then, can we claim the rewards? Or, knowing that the word is translated wages in some places, how can we save we deserve them? Knowing that these words, so rarely describe how we see ourselves, when we look into the mirror, how do we dare claim them?
By faith.
By faith!
By trusting in the Jesus who is the embodiment of those beatitudes, who deserves all the rewards. Who graciously brings us, into His kingdom, and makes us His blessed people.
The Reward Realized
The Cross, and the Table
In Hebrews 11, there is a chapter usually referred to as the Hall of Faith, a catalog of heroes of those who died in the Old Testament, who trusted in God, and in God’s faithfulness. They like us, struggled with sin, and self doubt. That struggled with fears, and with family challenges.
What makes them different? Faith. Not faith in themselves, but faith in a God who walked with them. Faith in a God whose completed promises they would not see in their lives, as one counts a life time. Indeed, the chapter ends, with,
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect. Hebrews 11:39-40 (ESV)
They too, were not perfect, less we think that perfection is something we have to obtain on our own. But it is obtainable, through Christ, the very work of the gospel. For Colossians tells us,
28 Christ we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus. Colossians 1:28 (NKJV)
It is in the word of God, the gospel, that we find the power of God, which delivers us. We find out there, that Christ died that we could be counted among those made holy by God. We find that we can trust in His work on the cross, that pays for our sin. We can trust in His word, that as we are baptized, we are reborn, regenerated, renewed. For it is in that baptism that we are linked, we partake, share in His death, that we might share, partake, in His resurrection.
It is there, because of His word, that we can claim the rewards mentioned in the beatitudes. For they are His rewards, and we are forever linked with Him.
And with those in fellowship, in communion with Him. The communion of saints..
The Reward Completed
The Revelation Scene
Hebrews 11 again – we receive it as the church.
At the end of the letter we received from Birdie’s niece, there is a desire she had for each of us. I will read it again. “Her heartfelt desire was that all her family and friends join her There, at their appointed time.”
There, heaven, the ultimate gathering of the communion of the saints. Described in our Epistle readings so well.
22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
It goes on…
3 No longer will there be anything accursed, but the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
What a glorious gathering of the communion of saints. The final and eternal gathering of the saints of God. Those who trust in God. Those who trusted in Christ’s work, on their behalf. Who knew that God would deliver His people, and that in Christ, they would be perfect.
Those who have bowed and knelt at altars, just like we do, stunned by the fact that this bread and wine is the Body and Blood of Jesus the Christ, given for them. In faith, they, like us, have taken and eaten, taken and drinken the precious Body and Blood given to strengthen them until life everlasting, that is strengthening us unto the same.
And so we celebrate the communion of saints. All saints, those who trusted in the faithfulness of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ. For it is our God, who calls us all into that communion, into that fellowship.
May the peace fo God, the peace which is beyond all comprehension, guard our hearts and minds in Christ, even as it guarded those who have gone before, and as it will guard those who go after.
AMEN!
