ALL SAINTS, A – November 2, 2008

SCRIPTURES – 1 John 3:1-3; Revelation 7:2-17; Matthew 5:1-12

   
Friday evening, just after dark, I went out walking my dog, Jack. I soon saw some trick-or-treaters. A young boy was eagerly running across a lawn to the front door of a house, and as he was running I heard his mom cry out, “Kyle, wait for your sister!” I didn’t need to hear the, “Aw, Mom, do I have to?” for those words popped right into my head. Kyle stopped a few steps from the porch and stood, kind of rocking in place, his body fighting his mom’s command, eager to move. Mom hustled up the drive, pulling Kyle’s little sister, who was now crying, in a wagon. “Kyle, if you don’t wait for your sister we’re going to go home!” Ah, yes, the fun night of costumes and gaiety, made all the better as large quantities of sugar are mixed in with excitement and greed. Can it get any better than this?

Late in his life the apostle John saw in a vision a large crowd of people who were also dressed up. They were clothed in white robes, carried palm branches in their hands, and were crying out, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" John saw Christ’s Church in heaven. But, he heard no cries of “Wait for your sister!” or “Do I have to?” There is no greed or envy or selfishness in heaven, but only purity of body, mind, and spirit. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God,” Jesus proclaims. John sees the fulfillment of this promise.

If you want to go to heaven, then you must be pure. For, heaven is where God, the Holy and pure One, dwells. Heaven is His holy presence. Only the pure can be there, for God hates sin and evil, whether it be selfishness or greed or envy or any other kind of sin. He will not tolerate the impurity of sin in His presence, for sin will not bow down but must rule, must be God. No sin can be in us, for if any sin remains it will grow and fill and take over and deform, like cancer does in the body. Only the pure will see God!

After this sermon I will read the names of those members and friends of our congregation who died this past year. Are they now part of the company of heaven who are clothed in white? Are they pure; and, if so, how did they attain purity?

 

These questions came to my mind when I received a mailing this week from my daughter Catie’s college, St. Anselm, which is a small Catholic college in NH. The mailing said: “The Church sets apart this month of November as a time for special mindfulness of the dead by praying for them during their time of purification that they may grow in the holiness necessary to enter the full joy of heaven.” The Catechism of the Catholic Church was quoted: “All who die in God’s grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect.” It then listed the names of 60 monks of the Benedictine order who died this past year, and invited those who received the mailing to send in names of deceased relatives and friends, that the prayers offered at St. Anselm might also help them to achieve purity.

 

Now, I’m not quoting this so that I can pick on the Catholic Church. It is right in stressing that we must be pure to enter heaven. But, how is purity attained? Do we grow in it until we achieve it after we die? Do we gain it for others, especially the dead, by our prayers and Masses and works of devotion? No. This is an affront to the Son of God, who alone bore the sins of the world and gave His life on the cross as a sacrifice to forgive all sins. "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" the believers in heaven cry out. They claim no credit for themselves or any other. Salvation from sin, death and hell and deliverance into the joys of heaven is solely the work of the Triune God through the Lamb, Jesus.

 

Today we heard in 1 John 3 a precious promise from the Bible, one which you should repeat and learn and take to heart:

“Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when Christ appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. Everyone having this hope in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

We who believe in Jesus are God’s children now. No matter what is happening in your life; no matter how you, or anyone else, feel about yourself and your life; no matter what sins you are guilty of; in Christ Jesus you are God’s children now. If you are in Christ, in whom there is no sin, then you are pure before God now.

 

Can you be certain that you are pure? Yes; but, not if you look at yourself and trust in yourself. “Everyone having this hope in him purifies himself as he is pure,” Scripture says. It is not our own efforts at goodness and purity that purify us, but hope in Christ, which is faith, sure and certain faith. Hope in Christ is not some uncertain thing, you see. We don’t hope Jesus died for our sins. He did! We don’t hope He rose. He did, thus proclaiming His triumph over sin and death and our forgiveness and life! We don’t hope He will return for us. He will, for He ascended on high and rules over all things! Hope in Christ is certain and sure, for He left nothing undone that God sent Him to do.

 

“You are already clean because of the word that I have spoken to you,” Jesus says to His disciples the night before He dies on the cross (John 15:3). Such sinners they are. They have even been arguing about which of them is the greatest! But He takes care of all of their sin on the cross. They have Christ’s word, and they believe in Him. They don’t have to wait until after death and after their time in purgatory is finished to be pure. He pronounces them clean and pure already. We have the same promise and hear it affirmed every time we confess our sins and hear Christ’s word of absolution. Don’t ever doubt Him. Jesus pronounces pure and clean all who hear and believe in Him. His word is true.

 

What happens, then, after death? What of those among us who have died? Where are they? Well, as St. Anselm’s College rightly recognizes, not even those 60 monks who gave up much to devote their lives to Christ are pure enough to gain heaven. None of us sinners can do enough to make up for our sins! In Jesus, however, we have a Savior who has done it all. On the cross, just before He died, He cried out, “It is finished!” Nothing can be added to His sacrifice, nothing more needs to be done. And so, at death God purges you of the sin that clings to your mortal body by removing your soul from this sinful body. Your sinful flesh perishes in death, while your soul goes to be with Jesus, who is in heaven. On the Last Day He will raise up your body – not impure and needing to be purified in Purgatory, for if this were so, He would be responsible for raising up sin. His work on the cross would be incomplete. No, He will raise you up a new body, one that is whole and sound and pure, with no stain of sin. With your whole being you will join in the cry, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!"

 

Joyfully and gladly receive Christ and His purity now in His Word and Sacrament. Rest your hope on Him and be purified in Him. Then, look forward to the glorious Day when He returns, for “when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.” You, with all of His people, will be dressed in the white robe of His purity to run to Him and fall before Him in joyous praise.