When We Get There
Matthew 5:1-12 & Revelation 7:9-17
There are times when I look back at my childhood and think, My parents must have been crazy! It was nothing for us to be enjoying a quiet Saturday morning and mom and dad would decide we needed to go do something. So, we’d pack a picnic lunch and load into the car for destination unknown – well, at least unknown to my sister and me! We would sometimes drive for hours to arrive at a park or a historic location. My favorite parts of these journeys were usually the car rides to the destination. Christa and I would pass the time trying to guess where we were going and what we would see or do when we got there. The anticipation of the destination was almost always what made the car rides bearable – even when the unexpected (like flat tires or over heating engines or traffic) delayed the journey.
As I read the scripture passages for this morning, I was struck with this same sense of anticipation. This same excitement about arriving at a destination and being greeted by the sights and sounds and activities of that place. Today as we observe All Saints Day, we focus on the glory of heaven - the destination - that awaits all the faithful children of God. Imagine being in God’s presence, dressed in the white robes of glory, waving the palm branch of victory and singing praises of salvation that belongs to God! Isn’t that enough to make you excited to be a faithful child in the here and now?
I’ve often heard people in different situations make comments about not being ready to die… but quite frankly I can’t wait! I can’t wait to be called to God’s eternal Kingdom and to live in eternal praise! The anticipation of arriving at the ultimate destination makes living life worthwhile. Don’t you think?
This week as I prepared this message, I was time and again drawn to Revelation 7:14. John of Patmos (the author of Revelation) sees the multitude dressed in white praising the one seated on the throne. And one of the elders turns and asks John, “Who are all these people and where did they come from?” And John replies, “Sir, you should know.” And the elder says, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”
I was captivated by the idea of coming through the great tribulation. Now, our evangelical brothers and sisters would speak of this passage in terms of the Great Tribulation (with capital G – great and capital T- tribulation). They see the Great Tribulation as a specific event. Most of them equate the Great Tribulation with the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. So when they read this passage, they are immediately drawn to the prospect and hope of that time when Christ will return and all the faithful alive in the world will be whisked away to join in praising the Lamb upon the throne. That is undeniably one possible reading of this passage.
But I want to suggest this morning another reading. A reading that talks of the great tribulation with lower case g and t.
Let’s face it, none of our lives are without trials and tribulations. Tribulation quite simply is hardship and suffering. Many people in this world live daily a life of great tribulation. I think of families torn apart by drugs and alcohol. I think of the millions of people living in sub-standard housing, drinking contaminated water, and eating garbage out of dumps. I think of people losing homes and jobs in the current economy. I think of the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, those who are persecuted, those who are insulted and who suffer all kinds of evil because of their faith in Christ.
Brothers and sisters, look around - our mortal lives are lives living in great tribulation! This mortal world abounds in hardships and suffering: cancer, Alzheimer’s, death, miscarriages, war, poverty, natural disasters, disappointments, opportunities lost, opportunities squandered and the list could go on… couldn’t it? I bet if I gave each of you a piece of paper and a pencil, and if you were all truly honest, you could make a list of suffering that you have had to or are traveling through right now. Though some of us try to put on a good face, the truth is we have all had hurt and suffering in our lives. The truth is we have all had hardships and troubles. The truth is none of us are perfect, and neither are our lives… no matter how great our faith.
Why do you think Jesus began his teaching with the beatitudes? The Sermon on the Mount lasts for two full chapters of Matthew. And in it Jesus teaches about all matters of faith from fulfilling the Law to marriage and divorce, to loving each other, to worship and prayer and fasting to worrying and giving to those in need. But, before he taught anything else, he gave the crowds a message of hope – a message that met people where they were in their lives and addressed the tribulations in which people were living.
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven…
What some people outside the faith don’t understand is that our reward for faithful living – even in the midst of trials and tribulations – is a reward yet to come. Our reward is indeed to make it through the tribulations of our lives and to one day stand in the kingdom of God, surrounded by other faithful children, dressed in robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb, waving the palm branch of victory and singing praises to our God - who was, who is and who will be with us each step of the journey of our lives.
Some people want their rewards in the here and now. Some people want to be spared from death and mourning. Some people want to avoid persecution and insults. Some people want their faith in God to insulate them from the life that the rest of us live… but that doesn’t happen. We Christians have the same problems as the rest of the world. But, what we have the others don’t is our faith in the promises of God and the anticipation of getting to our destination and of attaining the waiting reward. What gets many Christians through the tribulations of life is the anticipation of being fully in the presence of God. It’s the anticipation of God’s justice and righteousness being meted out in our lives and in the lives of others.
What we have in the scripture readings this morning is confirmation to keep living in the faith, even when the world and circumstances and our friends and our families may be calling us crazy and encouraging us to abandon our faith. The promise of coming through the great tribulations of life (whatever that may be in your life) is an amazing motivator to keep us striving for the goal of the kingdom of God.
Today, on this day when we remember the saints of faith who have preceded us in faith and who have been called to their eternal home, reaping the great reward, we should be finding encouragement in their lives and in their devotion to God and to Christ. We are each called to live faithfully, no matter what the circumstances. And as I look back over this year and remember Bob Harrison and Gloria Orr and Carolyn Walker – the faith they and their families lived even in the last days of their earthly lives. I reflect upon their contributions not just to this church family, but to the larger family of God in the world. And I am encouraged to know that for them the reward of eternal life has been achieved. But I also remember the stories told by family members and friends of struggles and hardships that each of them had to endure in life. At nearly every funeral that I have led, the family has talked about struggles but also about God’s grace which encourages and empowers.
The table that is set before us this morning is the feast of grace. When we break the bread and share the cup of salvation, we are reminded of God’s presence in our lives. We are reminded of God’s grace in the midst of tribulation. We are reminded of the coming fulfillment of God’s promise of a new Jerusalem, and of our place within the kingdom of God.
Brothers and sisters, this is indeed the joyful feast of God that nourishes our lives reminding us to remain faithful, to remember Christ’s teachings and to look forward to that great day when we will arrive in the Kingdom of Heaven having traveled through the great tribulation. And, oh, when we get there, what a glorious day it will be when we join our voices with all the saints of past, present and future singing praises to God for all God’s gift of salvation and the grace that has carried us through life.
Friends, do not afraid of what may come in this life. Know that God is always with you, waiting for the appointed time to call you home. Therefore, live not in fear or trepidation, but live in anticipation of God’s promises that will be fulfilled when we get there.
Amen.
