The book of Revelation is unlike any other in your Bible. It is a vision given to Saint John when he was exiled on the island of Patmos. It is not a singular message from God like the command for Noah to build an ark or for Joseph to take Mary as his bride. It is a complex drama unfolding before him, and it turns the eyes of the people of God toward the future, toward the culmination of time itself. It is full of vivid details and profound scenes that capture the imaginations of our hearts. It begins with these words, “The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants the things that must soon take place… Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” Some people view this book with some fear. After all, there is a lot of talk about judgment, destruction, and great beasts that seek to torment the Church. Yet, it is, in the end, a book of great comfort and hope. It is a revelation of the final victory of our God, and with such a victory comes the Church’s victory as well. It is a reminder of what is real and eternal and what is but a passing shadow.

Our text for today from Revelation7 comes after the opening of the first six seals. Death and destruction have been unleashed upon the earth as the four horsemen of the apocalypse are sent forth, but there is a pause in the action. It is a pause where the servants of the Lord receive a seal, a mark which will ensure that they will endure the tribulation. It is a promise for the faithful in the midst of great distress. And in the vision given to John, he turns to see a great multitude of people too numerous to count. People from all over the world, people from every nation, tribe, and language who are “standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands.” John sees them before the very presence of God. They fall down on their faces and cry out together, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

It is a picture of pure worship, devotion, and praise. This is not mere sentimentality or individualistic moments in a spiritual experience. This is a scene of bowing before the Creator of all things in reverence and fear. And one of the elders asks John, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” And John gives the greatest non-answer. He basically says, “You know who they are!” To which the elder tells us all, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” They are coming through the destruction, through the upheaval, the wars, the famines, and the earthquakes. They are those who have been sealed and washed in the blood of the Lamb.

Today is All Saints’ Day, an ancient festival day in the Church. It is a day to remember and give thanks to God for His continued work of calling and gathering His people together. We give thanks for all the saints, both those gathered here today and especially those who have gone before us, those who have died in the faith and await the great resurrection from the dead. We, like John, are invited to see the great multitude gathered around the throne and the Lamb in peace and security. The saints of God gathered here today, sitting in the pews around you, are reminded that the Church of God is much bigger than what we can see. The dead are not forgotten. They are still part of the church, part of those who worship and praise our God.

All Saints’ Day is marked by tension. It is a tension established by the grave. We tend to experience it individually, but, here, we are called to embrace it as part of our reality as together we long for the resurrection of the dead. I see it regularly on Sunday mornings. I see it in the eyes of those who have lost a spouse, those who grieve the death of that person they built a life with. There was a time when everyone was with them in their grief and heartache. There was the funeral and the committal, the calls of support, and the intentional reaching out to make sure they were doing okay and to remind them they are not alone. But as time rolls on, people fall back into the natural order of things. They move on.

But for the man grieving the loss of his wife or the woman trying to figure out the pattern of a life without her husband, there is no returning to normal life. For the son who is haunted by unsaid things he had wished to speak to his father, he cannot just pretend the grief is not there. These brothers and sisters of ours live in a palpable tension between the life and gifts we receive today and the longing for the day to come. They ache for the fulfillment of the promises of our God. As the hymnwriter beautifully put it, “But, lo, there breaks a yet more glorious day: The saints triumphant arise in bright array!” This is their constant longing and hope.

And on All Saints’ Day we are all invited into this tension. Once again, the church gathers around the grieving and mourning, and we are reminded how, although we grieve, we do not grieve as those who have no hope. Today we confess that this age, this time, this tribulation, is not all there is. Time will not roll on without end. There will be a final day, a day when the separation of those who have gone before us and our daily struggle will disappear. On that day, there will be a great reunion, a celebration as we once again embrace those we love, as we are united in the promises and victory of Christ.

What John sees is the reality that those who have died in faith are under the care of the Good Shepherd. They have come through the tribulation and their race is done. He says, “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and He will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” They are at rest. They are safe and secure. But they, like us, look forward to that more glorious day to come. We will meet them in the new Heaven and new Earth and meet them at the springs of living water.

With this promise ringing in our ears, we strive on. We embrace the tension as we long for the final culmination of all things. And like the saints who have gone before you, you are well cared for. You are given His Word and His sacraments. You are fed by His life, death, and resurrection, so that you too might endure. You are baptized into His death. You are washed in the blood of the Lamb. And together with all the saints we sing His praises as we look forward to the resurrection and the life, amen.