November 3, 2024 Text: Revelation 21:4

Dear Friends in Christ,
Today is All Saints Day. Not a day to remember the big saints in Christian history, they already have special days. Rather, it is a day to remember instead all those who have passed on with the sign of faith whose lives and deaths were mostly ordinary, but who are nonetheless important to us. One congregation I know calls it “Kleenex Day.” They expect to cry. And why not, when we sing “For All The Saints” or remember those who died, it can be emotional. I got a little teary eyed preparing the message, who says I won’t drop a tear or two while delivering this message.
Our text is from the Book of Revelation, and it gives us a spiritual lift. As we celebrate together as the Lord’s Church All Saints Day . . .
“DO WE NEED TO PASS THE TISSUES?”
For the first time ever, I learned that what we observe today is a Totenfest. A Totenfest is a German Church tradition of remembering those who died in the faith. It means, “celebration of the dead.” We read the names of those who died in the past year, we ring the bell, we read Scripture, and sing the hymn. These are all powerful and appropriate. So also weeping is appropriate. Please, pass the tissues. The Church Triumphant is filled with quiet saints, loved and missed by us. There are persons in that crowd that we remember and our eager to see again. They also matter to God. We rejoice why we weep.
Everything the Lord does today is personal. You noted that, didn’t you? The first part of our text, “He will wipe every tear from their eyes.” (v. 4a). That is personal. Life is tough. Disappointments, hurts, pains, conflicts . . . lots of tears. But do you get the point? God is directing all of that. Pointing us, ultimately, to home – HEAVEN. And there – praise God – there He will wipe away all the tears. Indeed, it is the personal touch.
Look at what all of this is saying to us – to you and me – people who spend so much time holding on to this world. He is telling us, this world is passing away. Listen to the last part of verse 4: “Death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (v. 4b). Isn’t that something? The former things have passed away.
Do you see? Death . . . mourning, as we do over the death of loved ones and friends . . . crying about life and our failures and traumas, crying about the death of our loved ones and friends . . . and pain; aching bodies, broken hearts, broken bones, fearful news from the medical profession, pain.
And look at us. We hang on to this. We love it. We prefer to mourn, cry, suffer. We prefer all of that until we remember why our Jesus came here: to earn for each of us the forgiveness of sin and the hope of eternal life.
For us as Christians every day is Easter. This is what our faith is all about. From the Emmaus disciples: “It is true! The Lord has risen…” (Luke 24:33)
That’s right. Jesus is alive. Jesus lives. Because He lives, we will live forever. We really should be finished with this world. The former things have ended. The dead will rise.
He will raise you as well. That is one of the themes of All Saints Day. Unless the Lord returns first, you will physically die. Jesus died for you to take your sins away. He died your death. Now death cannot have you. You belong to Jesus, who is risen from the dead. In Baptism, He gives you His life. All Saints’ Day is a little preview of your funeral. Your body will rise!
On All Saints’, we mock death and spit in his eye. Christ is risen. We will rise. The risen Christ stops death in its tracks. Our loved ones will be given back to us – alive, healed, and whole. That means my mom. That means your loved ones who are with the Lord and all the saints now safely home in endless day. That means you. We long for the day when the tissues are no longer needed.
Amen.

October 27, 2024 – Reformation Text: Psalm 46

Dear Friends in Christ,
Just a few weeks ago I was telling Toni how excited I was to preach this Reformation sermon. The reason? For the first time in 33 years of ministry I have a new perspective on the Reformation. This summer we were privileged to walk where the reformers walked. We saw the buildings and the churches and the topography of the land. We got to experience how far away some of the towns were from each other. We went into the woods to see where Martin Luther was kidnapped and taken to Wartburg Castle. Those of us brave enough made the walk to the castle, the others came by van, but we saw how steep it was to get up there, even with modern day steps. We saw the Castle Church in Wittenberg and the 95 Theses. We went to Leipzig and Eisleben and Torgau and Schmalkalden and Coburg and Worms. Beautiful German towns.
I did not realize until being there, how much travel they had to do for the Reformation to take place. As an example, if you went from Wittenberg to Worms by car today it would take you five hours. Just imagine in Luther and Melanchthon’s time the travel time. I appreciate even more the effort to bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the forefront of what we teach and preach. It took a lot on . . .
“THE LONG WALK TO FREEDOM”
We walked a lot on this trip, and I loved it – 11,000-13,000 steps most days. How do I know? One lady counted them. It was strange watching her leave the hotel . . . one, two, three . . . well, actually did you know they have these things on your wrist that count your steps. Amazing! The topography to go from town to town was rarely flat and, in some cases, could be quite steep up and down the valleys.
This was the world the reformers lived in. It would take some stamina to do what they did. Here I stand. Here I walk. Here I travel. They thought it was worth it and it was.
The most interesting thing learned on the trip and the reason we saw many buildings and churches still intact was because someone you would never think of was affected by the reformers. Josef Stalin. He ordered his Russian troops not to bomb the Luther sites. In a way nobody really knows, he appreciated what they stood for.
What did they stand for? Why did they travel so far to get their message out? Because the church at that time had people chained up in the Law. They couldn’t break free from indulgences and doing enough and a vengeful God. The Church was locked up. Our text for today, Psalm 46 says of the church, “God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns.” (v. 5) Luther clearly understood that the Word of God makes us alive, grants us freedom to walk on the straight and narrow path. Our baptism is a deposit that guarantees what is yet to come. Christ’s holy body and innocent blood continually forgives our sins and relieves our guilty consciences. Without these we don’t have the strength to continue on. We receive the Means of Grace through faith. Christ lives within us.
We visited two castles that Luther stayed in. Wartburg, where he was hidden, because he had a death sentence against him and the Veste Coburg, where he stayed during the Diet of Augsburg, because he couldn’t leave his territory. They are both fortresses. Beautiful places. High up. The walk was worth it and was blessed to do a devotion at Coburg.
Luther wrote “A Mighty Fortress” sometime after his time at Wartburg. He had to feel protected there. He worked on his translation of the New Testament there and at Coburg he translated the Old Testament. The Scripture was going to the masses. The printing press came along and the road to freedom was opening up. The Reformation is our blessing. The message that Christ won our salvation without any merit or worthiness in us, is a great comfort. When you feel a little worn out, like we all did who walked up to the Wartburg Castle, you just have to keep going in the freedom of the Gospel, in the love of Christ who carries us through and in the grace and Word of God that is our “refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
There is a phrase semper reformanda, “always reforming.” The 18 of us on this trip had a reformation of sorts. Being where they were gives you a new perspective and appreciation for what they did. The world is going to keep changing around us. The challenges the reformers had are not going away. The Word of God is always going to have people go after it. Our hearts and our lives will always require God’s restoration and reformation until the day when we have been raised from the dead and completely transformed into the image of Christ Jesus. Then we shall be free. Until then, enjoy the long walk to freedom through Christ alone, by faith alone, grace alone, and Scripture alone.
Amen.