All Saints Sunday
Isaiah 25:6-9
Psalm 24
Revelation 21:1-7
John 11:32-44
32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus began to weep. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Tears No More
There is something about being surrounded by the people, gathered by the Holy Spirit, who share with us the faith of Jesus Christ. Regardless of where they have been in their lives, regardless of the paths that lead to the event in question, usually, something very powerful happens when we put down our defenses and embrace the gift that binds us: our common identity as beloved children of the same God, the communion of all the saints, made righteous by his abundant loving grace poured upon us.
Perhaps it is because these moments may represent the fulfillment of one of those promises of old when God spoke through the prophets:
1b Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
I have called you by name, you are mine.
5 Do not fear, for I am with you;
I will bring your offspring from the east,
and from the west I will gather you;
6 I will say to the north, “Give them up,”
and to the south, “Do not withhold;
bring my sons from far away
and my daughters from the end of the earth—
7 everyone who is called by my name,
whom I created for my glory,
whom I formed and made (Isaiah 43).
It is biblical! I can tell you that there are not many ingathering events involving God’s people that are more powerful than the ELCA National Youth Gatherings. If Jesus promises to be with us when 2 or 3 are together in his name, imagine 30,000 people bound by the hope of the always renewing church, and willing to make a positive impact on the community hosting them. It is one of those pieces of evidence of the Spirit still at work. When that many people gather in Jesus’ name, God is in the house! One can feel it with every fiber of one’s being. It is something to behold. It is one of these moments where we catch a glimpse of the foretaste of the joyful feast to come. The promise. The good news.
I can also tell you when that mass of believers leave the premises together, overflowing with the glory of God, oozing and shedding God’s grace. It rubs in the pain, the fears, the sadness, the anger, the suffering of the world outside, exactly like Jesus did. Likewise, it does amazing things. The tales of those encounters and their transforming effects are vast and part of the lore of many groups attending the gathering. It happened to me in the summer of 2018 in Houston, TX.
There is a law in the Universe that says that for every force, there is an opposing one with equal intensity. So despite all the immense positive energy around, one can be sure there will be always opposing negative forces trying to sneak in and spoil the party. It seemed some of those forces decided to latch on to our amazing group in the first couple of days of the week-long gathering. We, adult chaperones, were very spiritually drained by mid-event, yours truly especially, as the one accountable for the pastoral care of both adults and youth. Things were turning for the better on that day, which was Thursday or Friday, I don’t remember. But I decided to skip the evening worship at NRG Stadium and head back to the hotel since one of our youth was not feeling very well. I could use the mental rest.
We hopped into the Houston Metra, which is this very nice surface rail public transportation system that takes you into and from downtown where our hotel was. It was evening rush hour, so I made sure our youth had a place to sit while I stood up which happened to be next to a lady who I thought seemed very worn out after a day of work. I was wearing the event T-shirt and so were a few others in our wagon. At one moment, we shared a gaze and she asks about what was going on in the stadium since she has seen people wearing the t-shirts all over town in the past few days – yep, we usually make an impression. I gave her the short version, which seem to spark her eyes a bit. As we were talking I begin to suspect she may have been through some tough times, health issues maybe. I don’t know exactly what I said. Whatever it was, it inspire her to share some of her tales with me. My pastoral instincts kicked in and tried hard to listen carefully to her, despite my own exhaustion.
Indeed, she had been through a lot. Heart issues, chronic pain in her hip, the husband left the family some years back. She was working multiple jobs to keep the younger child off the streets. Even if she didn’t tell me, I could see that she had some serious cataracts on her left eye, which made me wonder if such an eye could see at all.
She then moved to ask me if was a fan of some big-time southern TV preacher who had many churches in the area apparently. I truthfully responded that I had heard of such personality but never listened to any of his sermons. That answer granted me a nod of approval and a little smile, “you are not missing anything”, she said. Apparently, once upon a time she found a spiritual home in one of his ministries for a while but told me she would stay away from it as much as possible for the rest of her life. It was then that I managed to do what pastors usually, encourage her to persist in her faith, that God is always faithful to God’s promises – and maybe give us, Evangelical Lutherans, a try.
Our station was about to come. I signaled to my youth member that it was time to hop out, and I was about to leave when she told me again with a smile, yes, God is faithful reverend. Remember,
“the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
4he 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.”
It was my turn to smile, and with that, I wished her a good evening and left the train.
I have to tell you that three years following our return from Houston were some of the most difficult of my life. There were a lot of tears, all kinds of tears. There was death. First, my father, who succumbed to a cruel melanoma on his face. Then our tears and the tears of our youth when one of the churches we served left the ELCA. There were tears over the lack of compassion some that I held dear showed to fellow beloved children of God. There were tears of anger over blatant discrimination and the telling of life-draining lies. Then when things seem to be turning for the better, another death. Breast cancer took the life of a close friend and parishioner. This was followed by COVID-19 and more tears over lack of grace and forgiveness over those bound together in sacred relationships. Then the death of yet another close friend and parishioner to COVID-19. Until very recently there were tears of doubt and hopelessness. There were tears of anger and the thoughts of no longer being on the way and following a different path.
But God is faithful to God’s promises, I will be forever their God, I will bring them back through brooks of water, from the ends of the earth, the fire will not burn them, tears will be no more, death will be no more, for I will eat it for a snack, so they may feast on the table that I will set for all of them, every single one of them, whom I made for my glory. My children, which I love and redeemed, said the Lord, our God.
Our Savior, Jesus Christ, never promised us an existence without tears, without walks through the valleys of the shadow of death. He asks us, nonetheless, to love, to forgive, and to be for one another, to believe that he is the resurrection and the life. Trust in the promise of everlasting life you, all Saints of God. Rise up, allow the Holy Spirit of Truth to work on you among God’s faithful people. The promise is true. How do I know? I never told the lady on the train that I was a pastor. Tears will be no more, only joy. Thanks be to God. Amen.
Bridging Faith 