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'Behold the Great Multitude'
Revelation 7:9-10
All Saint's Day (Observed)
November 6th, 2005
Divine Service
O blest communion, fellowship divine,
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
All are Thine, that is, all of us, from the youngest children to the oldest here, all of us belong to the Lord, we are His, His people, His possession. We are His... and that is why we are saints.
And so, Dear Saints of God,
Grace and peace be yours from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Is it strange to you to be called a saint? It has almost become a common part of our talking that we say, “I'm no saint.” Like saying, “Nobody's perfect.” We know that we fall short of the law, that we don't live up to God's standards; we don't even live up to our own standards for ourself. We might not like to admit it, but we know this about ourselves: we do not live a perfect life; we do not, in every way, with all of our heart and mind and strength, love God and love our neighbor; that we really are “poor, miserable sinners.”
And so we want to confess, “I'm no saint.” It is my intention this morning, in this sermon, to take those words out of your mouth and your mind, and to give you a new word, a new confession, that you would no longer say, “I'm no saint,” and instead say, “I am the Lord's saint.”
“But pastor,” you say, “I daily sin much and need forgiveness.” Yes, I know, I too daily sin much. To be a saint does not mean that we do not sin, that we no longer need the Lord's forgiveness. We all need this forgiveness, and it is precisely this forgiveness that makes us saints.
To be a saint is to be holy. Part of the trouble, why we want to say “I'm no saint,” is the way we want to think about holiness. We think that holiness is the same as morality, that we are holy when we do good and right things and that when we do bad and wrong things we are unholy. But is this how the Lord thinks of holiness?
In the Scriptures we hear of a holy building, the temple, with holy places.
A holy mountain, Mt Zion.
A holy land, Israel.
Holy food, holy oil, holy incense.
Now tell me, how can one building or a mountain be more moral than another? How can food, or oil, or incense do more good works than other food and oil and incense? When we think about these things when begin to see that holiness is different than morality.
Well, if good works don't make something holy, what does? Why were the mountain and the temple and the food called holy? They were holy because they were God's, because they belonged to Him and were set apart for His use. They were holy because they were in the temple were God had placed His name, where He was pleased to dwell with His people. These things were holy because God put His name on them and because they had come in contact, physical contact, with God.
Remember Isaiah, when he sees God in the temple, and the angels crying, “Holy, Holy, Holy.” And Isaiah confesses, “I'm no saint. I'm not holy. I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.” But the angel flies to him with a burning coal from the holy altar and touches him, actually physically truly touches the lips of Isaiah, and now, Isaiah, having contact with the holy things is made holy as the angel announces, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your iniquity is taken away and your sin is purged.” [see Isaiah 6:1-7]
This is what it means to be holy, to be the Lord's saints, it means that God has but His name on you, that you belong to Him, that He has touched you, and you are holy, you are His, you are saints.
When did God put His name on us? Dear saints, let us remember our baptisms. “I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost.” [See St Matthew 28:19f] God's holy name connected to and combined with that water, poured over your head, and you are holy, you are His, you are saints.
When does God touch us? Dear saints, rejoice in this altar, in what the Lord is pleased to do here. Jesus brings His holy body and holy blood, and touches us with them, actually physically truly touches each of us, and announces, “Given for you, shed for you for the remission of all of your sins.” [St Matthew 26:26-29; 1 Corinthians 11:23-26] You take and eat and drink these holy things and you hear these holy words, and you are holy, you are His, you are saints.
There is much rejoicing here, that the Lord is pleased to do the work, pleased to place His name on us, pleased to feed us with His holy body and blood, and in this to have us sinners as His own dear children. It's true, we don't deserve it; we can never deserve it. His holiness comes to us as gift, pure gift, without any merit or worthiness in me.
And so we find our holiness not in our works of efforts or intentions, but instead we find our holiness in the Lord's forgiveness of all of our sins. We are saints, not because of what we do but because of what the Lord has done on the cross. Saints, not by the Law but by the Gospel, not by our own perfect life but by the forgiveness of all of our sins.
So listen how St John sees the saints in the text we had for today's Introit, Revelation 7: “After these things I looked, and behold a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” These white robes are the saints' holiness, and how did they get these white robes? By good works? By their morality?
“These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” [see Revelation 7:14] Washed and made white and holy in the blood of the Lamb, the spilt blood of Jesus.
Dear saints of God, Was this blood spilt for you? Yes. Are you clothed in the white robes of Christ's righteousness? Yes. Are you forgiven? Yes. Are you holy, holy by God's name, holy because God has touched you and given you the sure promise of sins forgiven? Yes. And so, dear people, are you a saint? Yes, by the mercies of God, yes indeed, you are His saints. You are holy, you are His, you are saints.
And so let us no longer say, “I'm no saint,” but instead, rejoicing, say, “Thanks be to God, I am forgiven and holy. I am the Lord's saint.” Amen.
And now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, guard your hearts and minds through Jesus Christ the Lord. Amen.
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