Sermon Preached by Fulton Porter, III November 1, 2009
All Saints Day
St. Thomas Church
Revelation 21:1-6a
Temporary Tears
O God, Thou hast made us for thyself, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
I lift the text today from the book of Revelation, a book filled with mystery and shrouded with mystery. A hook, however, that has some of the most beautiful passages in the bible. For it is in the Book of Revelation where God says: Behold, I stand at the door and knock, and if any man hears my voice I will come in and sup with him and he with me. It is in the Book of Revelation where Jesus says and we read today: I am the first and the last, the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end. It is in the Book of Revelation where Handel found his majestic words: And the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth, and he shall rain forever and ever. Hallelujah!
It is in this passage read today from the Book of Revelation that we see the description of God’s ultimate plan when we shall be regenerated; the day when we shall study war no more; when the old and tired make way for the new. It is here that we are able to peek in on the scene as a new heaven and a new earth replace materialize and the New Jerusalem descends from the realms of glory. I can only imagine the scene. I can imagine that an incredible gathering of human beings, martyred saints, are present to hear the proclamation from the majestic throne occupied by a Presence too awesome and fearful to describe. These were those of whom the angel spoke and asked the question we find recorded in the 7th chapter on the book: Who are these? And the answer comes: These are they who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. These are they who have come out of the great tribulation.
And it is here in Chapter 21 that we meet John as he recounts: And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away." And I believe I heard them say somewhere else that- They will hunger no more and thirst no more. The sun will not strike them nor any scorching heat. And God will wipe away all tears from their eyes.
As I read these stirring words, and as my imagination soared to the realms of glory, I could hear another verse of the hymn as it played in the cathedral of my mind:
O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
And I began to realize that the work of the saint is one of staying in the fight. Because there would be no tears to wipe if there were no trial to test. There would be no mourning and crying to abate if there were no battles that we have to fight. The work of a saint, one who is holy by virtue of the saving grace of Christ, is the work of one who is called to endure hardship as a good soldier. In other words, we would-be saints on earth, we who now strive to be disciples of Christ, we who would claim Jesus as our savior, we have to realize that being a saint of God requires that we go through something. Now let me make it plain. Being God’s child means that you will be be tossed and driven by the restless winds of time. Being God’s child, a saint of God, means that the road will not always be easy.
We must pick up our cross and follow Jesus. Our cross is that to which we are crucified. Carrying our cross means enduring hardship for the sake of Christ. Saints are people who know that love, and suffering are connected. They learned that the path of sainthood is not one of accolades, but accusations. The Saints of history were charged with demanding change because they wanted people to know more about God than others could stand to have revealed. The Saints of old challenged governments and leaders who were exploiting others. They worked to bring justice to those who were ground down by unjust systems. And in their dedicated work, they were jailed, beaten, maligned, and sometimes murdered. This is why Jesus says in Matthew’s gospel blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Blessed are you!
And there will be some tears. Some of us have just faced a long night of weeping. There will be tears because you are enduring mean and ugly and nasty things. There will be tears and trials. The psalmist declares that my tears have been my meat day and night. There will be tribulations and heartache and disappointment as you carry your cross.
As saints of God, don’t expect to occupy the place of ease but expect that you must endure some things that are hard. Expect that you will have to endure some scorching heat in the burdens of this life. There will be heat on your job. There will be heat in your families. There will be heat. Please be disabused of the notion that being a Christian is an easy thing. For living a Christian life can be anything but easy.
Isaac Watts wrote of the Christian's warfare and suffering in his hymn, "Am I a Soldier of the Cross?”
Must I be carried to the skies
On flowry beds of ease,
While others fought to win the prize
And sailed thru bloody seas?
Sure I must fight if I would reign;
Increase my courage, Lord.
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
Supported by Thy Word.
Yes, to be sure, to be a saint is not easy. We must go through some stuff. For saints have a testimony. And one cannot have a testimony unless and until you have been through some tests. One cannot have a testimony until you have something to testify about. Can I get a witness! In other words, you’ve got to know God in you troubles. If you’ve never been sick, you would not understand that God is a healer. If you’ve never been broke, you would not understand that God is a provider. If you’ve never been hungry, you would never understand that God is manna in the desert. If you’ve never been thirsty, you would not understand that God is the living water. Drink of him and you will thirst no more. If you have never been in trouble, you would never know that God is a lawyer who never lost a case. If you’ve never been just sick and tired of it all, you would never know that God is a rock in a weary land and a shelter in the time of storm!
So I would not have you deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters. If you’ve come to church thinking that life will miraculously be easier, I think you’ve picked the wrong place. For the saints of God must have a testimony, and in order to have a testimony you’ve got to go through some trials and tests.
The ancestors used to sing: We've come a long way, Lord, a mighty long way; We've borne our burdens in the heat of the day but we know the Lord has made the way. We've come a long way, Lord, a mighty long way. I've had hard trials each and ev'ry day but I know the Lord has made the way. And that is a testimony!
Yes, some of us ore going through something right now. Some of us are hungry and the sun has blistered the skin of others. Tears still fall from our eyes and some of us have no sheltering place. God promises to shelter us, feed us and protect us from the scorching heat and wipe away our tears. This is the promise that we stand on.
But what about the in between time when we are waiting on God’s promises? What about the in between time when we have to wait painfully on our testimony? Hearts damaged by years of pain develop scar tissue that is hard to penetrate. And we come to realize, dear friends, that this life is the great ordeal, the great tribulation, which affects us all. And we live in a crazy world. We live in a world where we deploy assets around the world to look for weapons of mass destruction that are not there, but we have trouble finding the folks who murder our children in cold blood on the streets of Chicago. We live in a world where we have the intelligence to locate weapons that were not there, yet we can’t get the drugs and the drug dealers and gang violence out of our neighborhoods. We live in a crazy world where life is our great ordeal.
And sometimes it is easy for us to lose hope while we are waiting on God to bring us out and give us a testimony. It is easy to sink deep into the depths of despair because life is difficult. We battle depression and addiction as we try to make it in this world where our tears can oftentimes be our meat. There may be something going on in your life right now and you don’t know how you will face it. The tears are ceaseless and sleep is a stranger to you. Perhaps it is a marriage gone bad. Perhaps you are dealing with the death of a loved one. Perhaps what you are facing is on your job. Perhaps it is a child addicted to drugs. Perhaps it is an illness that has changed your life forever.
Whatever it is, whatever your situation today, wherever your trials and tribulations originate, I came to declare to you today that because Christ lives, you can face whatever tomorrow has to offer. Because He lives, all fear is gone. Because he lives, he holds the future and life is worth the living just because he lives! And because He lives, I want you to know that your tears are just temporary.
Temporary tears are what the saints of God cry, those who have been redeemed and purchased by God and accepted His saving grace. Cheer up, beloved, for they are but temporary tears. For God will wipe away all tears from their eyes. Temporary tears-Weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Temporary tears-They that sow in tears shall reap in Joy. Temporary tears-He heals the broken heart and binds up their wounds! Temporary tears!
And after all the tears, God will give us a testimony that will bring others to Christ. Our testimony can save someone else’s life. For the bible says that they overcame by the blood of the lamb and the power of their testimony! Somebody needs to hear your testimony. Somebody needs to know that you made it through. Somebody needs to hear your story of triumph over tragedy. Somebody needs to hear your story of hope in despair! Somebody needs to tell that single mother that they can make it. Somebody needs to tell the story of how they beat their addiction. Somebody needs to hear your story of overcoming great obstacles by God’s sustaining power. Somebody told my mother that because I was a little slow in Kindergarten that she should not expect that I would be able to achieve much academically in my life. But here I am, 35 years later, and the rest is history! Somebody needs to meet Jesus in your testimony! Some poor soul needs to be able to say: I met a man named Jesus and we had an exchange. I gave him my sorrows, and he gave me his joy. I gave him my confusion, and he gave me his peace. I gave him my despair, and he gave me his hope. I gave him my hatred, and he gave me his love.
Yes, beloved, to be a saint be assured that you are going to have to go through some things. You’ve got to shed some temporary tears and endure some temporary pain. But from you tears will come your testimony. So, never lose hope! Never give up! Don’t give up on your God! Don’t give up on your faith! Be encouraged today, for the battle is not yours but it’s the Lord’s! (And today, as we welcome a new saint into God’s family by the waters of baptism, let us be reminded that we are all called to be saints of God!)
And then we will all be counted on that day in that multitude, about which the angel shall speak: Who are these robed in white and where have they come from? And the answer comes: These are they who have come out of the great ordeal, yes even the saints of God, who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!
Amen!
