“Jesus Commands Life to the Saints”

All Saints Sunday and Stewardship Sunday 2006

Isaiah 25:6-9; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44

Lord God, comfort those who mourn this day with the sure hope of the resurrection to eternal life, and keep your church united in one holy communion with all the saints until the day of Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.   

Today is All Saints Day and many of us have come today to remember a loved one who has died. I recognize the fact that this is not an easy day for some of you, because in our remembering the pain of grief returns. The flickering lights before us fill us with sorrow. A loved one has died.The stories of life and death cause tears to stream from our eyes. We miss their presence, their touch, their laugh, their conversation, their care and concern. When a loved one dies it is as if a part of ourselves dies with him or her. It creates a feeling of emptiness that longs to be filled.

What may surprise some of you is that Jesus also experienced the pain that comes from the death of a loved one. He was not immune from sorrow and grief. The one who said, “I am the resurrection and the life” was confronted by the power and reality of death, felt its terrifying effect, and cried tears of grief. His friend Lazarus had died. Mary and Martha already had the funeral and buried him. Four days had past before Jesus came to the cemetery. You can almost hear the sadness in her voice when Mary falls on her knees before Jesus and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She knew Jesus had power over life and death. She witnessed some of his miracles, but she never imagined what Jesus was about to do. “Disturbed in spirit, and deeply moved,” Jesus came to the place where they laid Lazarus and, in a loud voice, he commanded, “Lazarus, come out!” And from his tomb, “the dead man came out,” alive, freed from the bondage of death, the strips of cloth unraveling around his body. Jesus has power over death to create life. 

In this Easter type of story, Jesus changes our whole perspective on death. Things are not as fixed, and final, and finished as we once thought. Jesus commands life, gives hope, and creates a whole new reality.  As it says in Revelation, “I make all things new.” This story of the raising of Lazarus only foreshadows the raising of another, as Jesus himself will go on to suffer and die on the cross, be buried in a tomb, and after three days be raised from the dead. By his death and resurrection, death is defeated once and for all. Death could not hold him, and, for the faithful, for all the saints of God, it will not hold us either. This is the hope of the blessed saints who have died. It is our living hope as we wait for the day when we will be reunited with those have gone on before us.

That’s why today is not only a day for grief, but also for joy, because the Lord Jesus has commanded life for all his saints. It is this word that we are to proclaim every Sunday as we come together as the community of faith for worship. We worship the Living Lord who promises life for all the saints, for those who have died, and for those who are living. It is within this community that we live in the communion of saints, trusting in the Word proclaimed that what the Lord Jesus promises is really true. “Because I live,” Jesus says to his disciples, “you shall live also.” “I am the resurrection and life,” Jesus says to Martha, “Those who believe in me and die will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me, will never die.” “For God so loved the world,” Jesus tells Nicodemus, “that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but may have eternal life.” It is within this community that we live in the communion of saints, trusting in the promises contained in the Sacraments of the Lord. In the waters of baptism, we hear our Lord say, “You are mine,” making us as child of God, freeing us from the bondage of sin and death, dressing us in the royal clothing of Christ. The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans, “We have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too might live a new life.” At the Lord’s Table, we feast on the Lord’s body and blood and share in his real presence, receiving a foretaste of the feast to come with all the heavenly host. Jesus himself said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats of this bread will live forever, and the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.” In this community of faith, we boldly proclaim with all the saints of God … death is no more. With God, there is only life and salvation.

For us at United Lutheran Church, that is our mission, to proclaim what Jesus commanded, that life conquers death. Through our ministry of Word and Sacraments in this place, we proclaim the good news of life and salvation through Jesus’ death and resurrection. Cleansed of our sin, fed and nourished in our faith, we go out to share this good news of life and salvation in word and deed through our witness and service to our neighbors. Within this communion of saints, we are disciples of Jesus for the sake of the world. As good stewards of his grace, we share our resources for the sake of the world. This is our mission and ministry as the living saints of God, to bring to all the world the good news of life and salvation through our living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

As we sing the next hymn, we will remember the saints who have shared their faith with us and their example of discipleship. You are invited to come forward and light a candle for a loved one who has died, remembering and giving thanks to God for the life they lived, but more so, for the life they live in the presence of our living Lord and Savior. Amen.