Sermon: What is Love?

November 5, 2000

What We Celebrate

A sermon by Rev. Dr. John K. Luoma

Ever wonder what heaven is going to be like? Wonder no more. The prophet Isaiah tells us, and the writer of Revelation elaborates. It's going to be like a big party. Our time in heaven is going to be kicked off by an incredible celebration of the beginning of God's rule. It will be the biggest most wonderful party that you could ever imagine. For those who are connoisseurs of wine, there is going to be "well-aged wine strained clear." (Isaiah 25:6) I am sure your favorite vintage will be served.

For those of us who love good food-I guess that's all of us-there will be all sorts of delicacies. Isaiah says that there are going to be rich foods. (Isaiah 25:6) Actually, the word he uses is a form of the Hebrew word for fat. Of course, we refrain from eating such foods now on a regular basis. But apparently in that great party in heaven we can indulge and not have to worry about it.

Well, that's our fare at the great banquet in heaven-good wine and fatty foods. What about God? What will God be doing? What will he be eating? His diet is going to be different than ours. Isaiah says that God is going to "swallow up death forever." (Isaiah 25:7) And the writer of Revelation says that God is going to devour all the things associated with death, i.e. mourning and crying and pain. (Rev. 21:4) Like a giant Pac-Man God is going to chase all these things down, swallow them up, and they will be gone...

forever.

So, heaven is a grand celebration. We celebrate God's victory over death. We celebrate the end of grieving, crying, and pain. And there are some other things we celebrate as well. We celebrate the fact that all things will be made new. (Rev. 21:5) God is going to come to us. Heaven is going to come to us, and when heaven and earth touch everything is going to be transformed. This world is going to be everything that God intended it to be from the beginning. That's interesting to think about.

We don't go to heaven. Heaven comes to us.

And we celebrate one final thing: We celebrate all those who know the truth that God is a God of grace and that God will do what he promises, that he will overcome death and all that is associated with it, that he will make all things new.

Well, that's quite a list of things to celebrate isn't it? We celebrate all these truths, and we celebrate all those who bear witness to them. We call this All Saints Day. You have probably heard the story before, but it is worth telling again because it summarize the meaning of a saint so well.

A little girl visited a great cathedral with a friend. Of all the things she saw, she was most impressed by the beautiful stained-glass windows. She asked her friend who the people in the windows were. Her friend replied, "Oh, those are the saints." Later, at home, she reported to her parents, "Today I learned who the saints are. They are the people who let the light shine through."

That's about as good a definition of a saint as one could give. They are the people who let the light of God's truth shine through. They know the truth we've talked about: the truth that God in Christ has swallowed up death and all that accompanies it, and that through Christ all things will be made new.

All of this, of course, raises a critical question: Are we people who are letting the light of God's truth shine through us? Lots of time we say: "I don't know what God wants me to do with my life. What is my purpose?" And sometimes in specific situations it is not easy to discern the will of God. But the truth is that we do have a very specific job description: let the light of God's truth shine through wherever we are. We are to bear witness to the truth that God in Christ has swallowed up death and all that accompanies it.

The truth is that death will not be the final word. God has the final word. God will make all things new.

How do we bear witness to that? We bear witness to that by the fact that we got up this morning and came to this place to worship. We bear witness when we take our role as citizens seriously and care about creating a more just society and when we get out to vote. We bear witness when we see our workplace as a field of ministry and as a place where we do all that we can to make the light of God's truth shine through. We bear witness as we create homes where children learn how to pray and are taught the truth. We bear witness as we take advantage of every opportunity wherever we are to share the love of Jesus and invite others to make a commitment to him.

How important is it to do this? I think of the young Russian sailor aboard that submarine that was damaged and sank to the floor of the ocean with everyone perishing. In the last moments of his life he wrote a love note to his wife. As the water poured in and the oxygen ran out, he shared with her how helpless and hopeless he felt. How many people feel that way about their lives? How many feel that life is hopeless? How important is it that they hear that there is hope and new life in Jesus?

I like the way Martin Luther's dear friend, Philip Melanchthon, talks about the importance of the saints in the life of the church. And for those of you who are interested in such things you can find his words in article 21 of the Apology to the Augsburg Confession. He says, first of all, that the saints are a source of inspiration. We see the great things that God can accomplish when we trust in him. I can't think of a greater source of inspiration than to spend some time studying the lives of the saints. It can be a wonderful part of personal devotions. I would encourage anyone to look at the saints listed in our Lutheran Book of Worship on pages 10-12 and spend a little time learning about the lives of each of them. God has shone through them in amazing ways. God can do incredible things when we trust him. And that's what we see as we read about the lives of these people-the amazing things God can do when we trust him.

Of course, we don't need to go to the past to be inspired. We can just look around us in our own congregation. All I need do is think about the person who donated the money for our new sound system. I don't know who that person is. The giver chooses to remain anonymous. During the course of the year we received a gift of nearly $6,000. There was no stipulation except that the pastor decide where we might need it the most. Since our old sound system was failing, I couldn't think of a better place to spend it than providing a new one. What is more important than that the word of God be heard?

And I think of a woman named Mary Francis Forbes, who wasn't even a member of our congregation, who gave us a gift of similar size with no stipulation except that we use it to expand our youth ministry in the community. By their generosity these two people let the light of God's truth shine through, and they are an inspiration to us all.

Melanchthon also talks about the saints this way. He says that when we study their lives they strengthen our faith. Here are his words: "When we see Peter after his denial, we are encouraged to believe that grace does indeed abound more than sin." What is he saying? He is saying that when we look at the great saints of the church such as the apostle Peter, we see that they are flawed and sinful as we are. And we see that even in their greatest moments of sin God did not abandon them. What it says to us is this: if God is so loving that he can forgive someone who denies Jesus in such a terrible way, then there is hope for me, too. With a God who is that incredibly loving I can turn my life around too.

So, on All Saints Day, as we gather around the banquet table we call Holy Communion. We celebrate these truths: that God has swallowed up death in Jesus and all the things that accompany it-grieving, pain and tears. Such things will not have the final victory. In Jesus God has begun the process of making all things new, and one day he will complete it. And we celebrate the lives of those who have let these truths shine through.

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