From Tribulation to Jubilation

Festival of All Saints

November 3, 2024

Revelation 7:9-17

“From Tribulation to Jubilation”

This past summer when my family and I traveled out to Iowa for a family reunion and wedding, we also stopped at the cemeteries where family members on both sides are buried. Generations of loved ones are resting there. There is nothing morbid about this, at least not in my book. It’s fitting to go there and pay respects to those who have gone before us and now rest in the Lord. Your own family likely has such a place where generations of loved ones rest. On this All Saints Sunday, we remember and give thanks for all those who have gone before us in the faith and who now rest in the Lord. With that text from today’s Epistle lesson before us, the theme for the sermon is entitled “From Tribulation to Jubilation.” May the Lord’s rich and abundant blessing rest upon the preaching, the hearing, and the living of his Word for Jesus’ sake.

This amazing text from the final book of Scripture is before us today with its incredible imagery: a great multitude which no one can number of all peoples and tribes and nations and languages, all standing before the throne of God and before the Lamb – that Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29) who is also the Good Shepherd (John 10:11). Clothed in white robes with palm branches of victory in their hands, they all cry out: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” (Revelation 7:10). John’s vision continues as he is questioned by one of the elders there before the throne of God: “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” (Revelation 7:13). John meekly defers to the elder’s wisdom and then is told: “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” (Revelation 7:14). What does this mean?

When we are baptized into Jesus’ own death and resurrection, we are clothed with the robe of his own righteousness; with the garment of his salvation (Isaiah 61:10). This is that spotless robe we hear of in this text from Revelation. In holy Baptism, we are marked with the cross of Christ and sealed by the Holy Spirit for eternal life, but this doesn’t mean that we escape tribulation in this mortal life. The Lord does not spare his children from suffering, pain, heartache and sorrow. The saints who have gone before us have much to teach us about this from their life and witness. There is much misinformation and confusion about the great tribulation here. The so-called rapture figures into this; that is, the mistaken belief that God’s people will somehow be spared suffering and be transported to heaven before the end of the world. Do not be misled or deceived by this false teaching. The translation in our worship bulletin is correct: “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation.” It is a present participle (ἐρχόμενοι), which means that this is a continuous, ongoing process. Every one of God’s children – ourselves included –  each one of that great multitude, upon death, is “coming out” of the great tribulation. This is not some kind of end-of-time cataclysmic event. The great tribulation is every believer’s journey through this life with all that it includes: suffering, pain, heartache and sorrow. It is as Paul the apostle tells us: “We must through many tribulations enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).  This looks different in each believer’s life with some experiencing more tribulation and some less as God alone knows best. God who did not spare the life of his only Son, but freely gave him up for us all (Romans 8:32) has made us his own beloved children through Baptism. Because of the grace given in holy Baptism, the words in today’s Epistle lesson (1 John 3:1-3) are true: “Beloved, we are God’s children now.” Whatever tribulations we endure in this life cannot compare with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18). It is all according to the loving plan and purpose in Christ Jesus that God has for each one of us.

Tribulation is not the final word, just as death is not the final word. As death must give way to life in Jesus, so tribulation must give way to jubilation because of Jesus. And the reason for this? “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.  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” (Revelation 7:15-17). This is all about what God in Christ has done and is doing now for the sake of his people, even something as seemingly small as wiping away our tears. How blessed we are to be knit together as the Body of Christ; the whole Church on earth and in heaven! We are the communion of saints; one holy catholic and apostolic church. Eternity itself will be too short to sing songs of jubilation to our God as we join in praise with angels, archangels and all the company of heaven.

Leslie Brandt was a Lutheran pastor and author. Having died in 2001, he is now part of the church triumphant in heaven; that great multitude which no one can number. He wrote contemporary versions of the Scriptures in books like Psalms/Now, Epistles/Now, Jesus/Now, among many other works. In a book titled, A Battle Manual for Christian Survival, he wrote the following:

             There is something we must learn how to do: it is to begin and end each day,

            as well as every week, with celebration. It would be well if we spent less time

            with pious consideration of our failures and more time in celebrating the loving

            forgiveness and acceptance that God has already offered to us.

            I wonder if there is anything our world is more in need of than honest and unrepressed

            joy of God’s children who truly accept God’s gifts of redemption and reconciliation

            and who respond to God’s eternal love by lovingly offering their bodies and beings

            on the altar of their fellow person’s needs.

            (A Battle Manual for Christian Survival. St. Louis: Concordia, 1980; pp. 58-59).

As our nation prepares for Election Day on Tuesday of this week, I think this is helpful. That call to jubilation – honest and unrepressed joy on the part of God’s people – will be important for all of us to hold onto, come what may. Over against all of the negative hype, name calling, suspicion and fear, there is this clarion call for God’s people to express our joy by lovingly offering our bodies and beings on the altar of our fellow person’s needs. That is the God-given work that is before us, regardless of who may hold public office. What we started last Sunday with our Reformation Rededication Challenge, we now conclude today with that prayer of rededication found in your worship bulletin. I encourage you to hold onto this prayer and use it again and again. Together with all the saints, let us rededicate our selves, our time, and our possessions to the Lord as we pray this prayer:

             Gracious and Giving God, in thankfulness for your redeeming love, I rededicate myself to You.

             Help me to pray, worship, and be in your Word frequently; serve faithfully; live generously and love boldly, always point others to You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.