On That Day; a sermon for the Feast of All Saints

Isaiah 25:6-9

⁶ On this mountain,

the LORD of heavenly forces will prepare for all peoples

a rich feast, a feast of choice wines,

of select foods rich in flavor,

of choice wines well refined.

⁷ He will swallow up on this mountain the veil that is veiling all peoples,

the shroud enshrouding all nations.

⁸ He will swallow up deathr forever.

The LORD God will wipe tears from every face;

he will remove his people’s disgrace from off the whole earth,

for the LORD has spoken.

⁹ They will say on that day,

“ Look! This is our God,

for whom we have waited—

and he has saved us!

This is the LORD , for whom we have waited;

let’s be glad and rejoice in his salvation! ”

Revelation 21:1-6

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ² I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “ Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. ⁴ He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. ” ⁵ Then the one seated on the throne said, “ Look! I’m making all things new. ” He also said, “ Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true. ” ⁶ Then he said to me, “ All is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will freely give water from the life-giving spring.

John 11:32-44

³² When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “ Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ”

³³ When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. ³⁴ He asked, “ Where have you laid him? ”

They replied, “ Lord, come and see. ”

³⁵ Jesus began to cry. ³⁶ The Jews said, “ See how much he loved him! ” ³⁷ But some of them said, “ He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying? ”

³⁸ Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance. ³⁹ Jesus said, “ Remove the stone. ”

Martha, the sister of the dead man, said, “ Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days. ”

⁴⁰ Jesus replied, “ Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you will see God’s glory? ” ⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Jesus looked up and said, “ Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴² I know you always hear me. I say this for the benefit of the crowd standing here so that they will believe that you sent me. ” ⁴³ Having said this, Jesus shouted with a loud voice, “ Lazarus, come out! ” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out, his feet bound and his hands tied, and his face covered with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “ Untie him and let him go. ”

Let the words of my mouth

and the meditations of my heart

be pleasing to you,

LORD , my rock and my redeemer.

The raising of Lazarus is perhaps the most awe-inspiring miracle that Jesus performs. It’s a moment of the Divine hand reaching into humanity and radically changing the order of life and death. It is a moment that is particularly holy, particularly righteous.

But it is a moment that is bathed in distinct humanity. And I mean, several different flavors of mundane, real humanity.

Do you hear the grief in Mary’s voice?

“ Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ”

Do you see the tears in Jesus’ eyes?

“ See how much he loved him! ”

Do you hear the skeptical voices?

“ He healed the eyes of the man born blind. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying? ”

Do you hear pragmatic Martha, reminding Jesus:

“ Lord, the smell will be awful! He’s been dead four days. ”

Do you see yourself in the family gathered there? Would your reaction be different?

What about the times you’ve been in the shoes of some member of Lazarus’ family? I know we’ve been through a lot in the past year, and we’ve screamed Mary’s complaint at God, and we’ve wondered if Jesus is really all he’s cracked up to be, and every so often we’ve seen the face of Christ crying with us.

That is the promise of Emmanuel, of course. God is with us. And that is the promise that we can tend to forget when we focus too much on texts like Isaiah and the Revelation.

We read those and think, Yeah, God is preparing a house, a banquet, a new everything!

And that’s a valid point.

Thanks be to God that on That Day,

He will swallow up death forever.

The LORD God will wipe tears from every face

Thanks be to God that

There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.

Thanks be to God for That Day.

But That Day doesn’t mean God is neglecting what we’re experiencing right now, in this moment, in this grief, in this trouble, in this joy and celebration, too.

In fact, That Day doesn’t mean that it’s not happening right now.

Christ has already defeated death. Christ has already destroyed the power of hell.

The promise to us is that we get to participate in the end of death and hell. We get to be agents of freedom and salvation. We get to be bringers of the kingdom today!

And on this Festival Day, we get to celebrate that fact, and celebrate all those who have made us able to feast today.

Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints. I want to invite us to the table this morning and offer us a chance to participate in salvation with those saints who have preceded us and with those who will come after. That is the joy of this table. It is a place and time when space and time converge, a means of grace, a moment when eternity narrows down into this place and time, and this moment joins with all other moments at the table, including that great feast that Jesus is preparing for us on That Day.

This day, we saints feast with all the saints, and this day we recognize and name them and celebrate them and each other.

So as you come to the table this morning, I invite you to take a candle from our basket and light it in memory of your own saints. You can name them aloud, or you can name them in your heart. And you won’t remember everyone. Nobody expects you to. You know, if you get back to your seat and you think of them, name them from there.

And as our lights collect and brighten this space, know that in their flame is the prayer for and our prayer with the saints, who still pray with us today, near to the heart of God where prayer never ceases.

Today, in the face of death and hell, let us celebrate the defeat of death and hell, and prepare a table in the midst of our greatest enemies.