Month: April 2024

Sermon on Revelation 7:13-17‌
All Saint’s Sunday‌
November 5-6, 2023‌
Our Hope Lutheran Church‌
Huntertown, Indiana

‌‌Note: This is a sermon version of my All Saints’ Day devotional revised as a sermon remembering my late wife Kris and dear friends at my home parish. She entered rest on 29 April 2022 and was buried from this church 6 May 2022.

Text: “Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “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. “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.”

‌Prayer: For all the saints who from their labors rest, Who Thee by faith before the world confessed, Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Amen.

Christ is Risen!

‌Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who by his death has destroy death and by his rising again opened the kingdom of heaven to all believers.

Introduction: All Saints’ Day is a memorial day. From the earliest days of the church, first congregations, then regions, remembered Christian loved ones on the day they died — especially those who died as martyrs. Around 800 AD, Charlemagne set November 1st as the day the church remembered all the saints. Since then, the church has marked that day to follow the lead of the Book of Hebrews: “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God; consider the outcome of their life, and imitate their faith. Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:7–8) Memorial days are really the last stage of grief. We thank God for our departed, remember how they lived, especially how they trusted God, and make their trust in Jesus our own. They are now at rest with Jesus, after all, and one day we will join them.

‌Our text this morning opens the curtain of heaven for us to see the throne of God. The Elder explains to St. John that the crowd no one can number are coming from the Great Tribulation, the time between the Ascension of Jesus and his return in glory. They are gathered before the Father and the Lamb of God. They are God’s children from every time – Adam and Noah, Joseph and Moses, David and Elijah, all those trusting in the coming Messiah. The the Apostles and Evangelists, Christians from every time and place, language and nation are there. There also people much more familiar to us. Our grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, spouses, friends and sometimes children are there. It is good to remember them, to thank God for them, to consider the things they did, especially the good things they did in faith and because they love God.

‌Who do you remember? I remember my own grandparents and grandparents-in-law, who lived and prospered through incredibly hard times, kept the faith in their own … unique … ways, who were often living examples of saints and sinners at the same time. Some of you remember the days of the World Wars and depression all too well. I remember my grandmother Smith reading from the big, KJV family Bible to me as a child on her lap. I remember my grandmother Schneider and her aunt who gave me my first Greek New Testament as a confirmation gift. There are also my parents and parents-in-law, troubled in troubled times, yet who still kept their faith. Also present is my father, that bruised reed the Lord did not break. And now in 2023, i remember my beloved wife, Kris, who has joined them. She loved me, her children and grandchildren through constant pain all of her life, produced endless beautiful and practical crafts that blessed many. Her straightforward, rock-hard faith was an inspiration to me and to many.

‌Who do you remember? As you and I look out at our church today, we remember brothers and sisters in Christ who sat here with us. We can almost see them in their favorite pews. All are at rest with their Savior. Many others are there, too. My Fathers and brothers in the faith. I remember those that taught me and many others and laid the stole of ministry on me the same stole I have now laid on my son-in-law, spiritual sons. I am thankful for them and for their confessions. I pray to be as faithful to the Lord as they were.

So, how did they get there before the throne? Born sinners they struggled with the Old Adam and Old Eve until the day they died. Yet when they were baptized, Jesus united them with his death. He, the Lamb of God, took away the sins of the world – their sin, our sin. When he rose from the dead, he opened the way for them – and us – to be with him forever. He gave them and us the white robe when he baptized them, the robe of his perfect righteousness. He placed the palm branch of victory in their hands. When we worship, we join them and angels and archangels in praise. You can almost see them waving the branches when we sing with them “Hosanna in the highest!”

At their deaths of our dear saints, Jesus sent his angels, to bring them home to him in paradise. In our church, we drape their bodies at rest in a pall. It reminds us of that the white robes of his righteousness and the palms of victory they now wave before the throne.

So, how did they make in through this Valley of the Shadow of Death? In life, Jesus was their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might; he was their Captain in the well-fought fight. Their fears were calmed when the remembered he was with them. They placed their burdens at the feet of the cross. The Lord’s Supper strengthened them like bread for the journey — a phrase that pastors often say when communing the very ill and those near death.

I was blessed to celebrate All Saints Day with my wife thirty-four times, thankful for each day we were together, praying to thank the Lord for those safely home. Now I pray after receiving the Lord’s Supper to thank God for my late wife, an ever-growing list of grandchildren, my children and their spouses. I will rejoice that this year I can still hold their hands, speak with them and see them all once in a while. Soon, all too soon, the angels will come for me or one of them, to join those at the Wedding Feast of the Lamb as the Lord Jesus says to one of us, “welcome to the joy of your Father.”

As glorious as this is, yet there breaks a more glorious day. As blessed as being with Jesus in paradise, the best is yet to come. The saints triumphant will rise in bright array; The King of glory will pass on His way. Sin and death will die. The world renewed, restored and be transformed, fit for eternity. God will pitch his tent with us and live with us forever. And he will dry every tear from our eyes. There will be no more sorrow, sighing grief or pain. All these will pass away. God will make all things new again. Once more he will see all that he has made and now redeemed with his own blood and say, “Look, it is very Good!” Amen, come Lord Jesus, at the end of days and at the end of our days.

Christ is Risen!

Prayer: Oh, 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! Amen.

‌Now may the peace of God, which passes all understanding, set watch over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus to life everlasting.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2023-2024 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

by Robert E. Smith

Sleep well, my love,
When next you wake,
Your eyes will see our Savior’s face.
With joy, he’ll dry your every tear,
And gently calm your every fear.

Sleep well, my love,
Before too long,
I’ll hear his call to come on home,
With you and loved ones gone before
We’ll see the God whom we adore.

Sleep well, my love, The Shepherd keep,
Your body safe until the time
When he will call us from the grave,
To live with him in endless day.

Notes: Kristina Pugh Smith (1960-2022) went to sleep on Thursday evening, April 28th, 2022. Her husband and daughter had spent the day with her. She settled into a coma and her family was alerted that death was near. The next morning, they had the blessing of spending the last seven hours of her life with her. Her husband said words similar to this, along with the Nunc Dimittis that Friday morning. As morning prayer began in Kramer Chapel that day, therapeutic care was removed and hospice care began. As they seminary community prayed a prayer of commendation of the dying, she gently entered eternal life. This poem was written to capture those words a week later.

©2022 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Encore Post: “Holy” is one of the most common church words. It is a part of the very fabric of the English language, used often even by non-Christians. We give very little thought to the word — most often we think of it as another way of saying “Godly.” We use it to connect something to God — or as a swear word or phrase to emphasize something. So, if we think about it, the phrases “Holy God” or “Holy Trinity” seem like we’re repeating ourselves — kind of like saying “Godly God.”

The Hebrew word for holy is קָדֹושׁ (kadosh — Separate, devoted, pure). When we say God is holy, we mean he is completely separate from all things, high above all things. Theologians use it to describe all of God’s qualities (attributes) Everything about God is absolutely pure and not mixed with anything else. When it comes to talking about God’s will and actions, the word holy means that God is absolutely good and without sin. Nothing impure can exist in his presence. That is why a sinful person cannot see God’s glory and live. That is why in the temple only the purified High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place (Holy of Holies) once a year and then only to bring the blood of the sacrifice that brought the people of Israel the forgiveness of sins.

Because God is holy, anything set apart for his use is called holy. The temple, the sacrifices, his people. In the New Testament, the Word of God and the Sacraments are called holy: they connect God and his people. They are Means of Grace, the way that God in his grace and mercy creates faith in our hearts, forgives our sins, claims us as his own children and gives us life and salvation for the sake of the atoning sacrifice of God’s son on the cross. In Baptism, Jesus makes us holy. (Ephesian 1:4, 5:27) Now we are his saints (“Holy Ones”). We are a holy nation, called to proclaim his good news to the whole world.

Now God calls on us, as his holy people, to be holy as our Heavenly Father is holy and perfect. (Leviticus 19:2, Matthew 5:48) As sinners, we will not be completely holy in our lifetime, but in faith, trusting in Christ, we can begin to do good works. Because of the cross, God sees only these works and remembers our sins no more. When we die and enter Christ’s eternal presence, we will then be purged of our sins once and for all, and live as holy people in fellowship with our Holy God forever.

Rev. Robert E. Smith
Concordia Theological Seminary
Fort Wayne, Indiana

©2019 Robert E. Smith. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com

Encore Post: Orthodox is a term that is a bit like catholic in the minds of casual Christians. We hear these terms as they are applied to identifiable sects. That identification can cause us to assume that the word itself must mean the sect.

Catholic simply means universal or whole. So, in the Sunday morning prayers, when we pray for “the whole Christian Church on earth,” we could just as well say the “Catholic Church” on earth. Our friends in the Roman Catholic sect are the most significant association with that term, applying to a specific denomination within Christianity. There are also other non-Roman Catholic denominations that identify themselves as Catholic. Rome neither holds nor exercises exclusive rights to that term, though the pope may want us to think that.

Orthodox rings similarly in our ears. For those who’ve heard of the Eastern Orthodox Church, we assume those terms synonymously mean the Eastern Christian sect. That’s not exactly so.

The Eastern and Western Christians split in 1054 AD. The patriarchs of Rome and of Constantinople had a falling-out, which resulted in the split. The patriarchs of the Eastern churches sided with the patriarch of Constantinople. The Roman patriarch found himself alone, heading a large portion of Christianity. The churches we call Orthodox are from the Eastern side and those patriarchs. That time deserves its own treatment in another article or articles.

Ὀρθόδοξος (Orthodox) simply means straight teaching, opinion, or belief. For those of an etymological inclination, ὀρθῶς (orthōs) means: straight, unbent, or unwavering. And, δόξα (doksa) means: teaching, opinion, or belief. It is the foil of heterodoxy which is mingled or combined teaching.

There’s more here than simply lexical understandings. Orthodoxy in Christianity is normed by the scriptures and our teaching drawn from it. The Bible is the norm which norms our teaching. Our teaching is the norm, which is normed by the Word of God, the Bible.

There are also orthodox teachers of non-christian religions. Orthodox adherents of Judaism, who may or may not be Orthodox Jews, will want to destroy the Dome of the Rock, rebuild the Jewish Temple, and resume the O.T. sacrificial system. Orthodox Muslims are politely called “extremists.” It is orthodoxy in Islam to desire and seek the death of the infidel, all non-muslims. Orthodoxy in the Latter Day Saints requires plural marriage and the rejection of all unbelievers (Christians outside the LDS). Former mormons receive the worst fate among orthodox LDS. They are the only ones who can go to “outer darkness.”

There is also an orthodoxy in all sects of Christianity. Orthodox Lutherans, Anglicans, Baptists, and Methodists seek to maintain adherence to the teachings as we have received them. In a seeming incongruity, orthodox teachers of heterodox churches teach contrary to Christian orthodoxy and the Word of God from which it springs.

For we Lutherans, that means that we hold to our doctrines and remain in the Word of God, always ready to be corrected by the scriptures in our understanding and teachings. The five solas of the reformation (grace alone, faith alone, scripture alone, Christ alone, to the glory of God alone) constantly direct us back to the Word of God and conform our straight teaching to it.

By our Orthodoxy, we preach Christ and Him crucified.

Rev. Jason M. Kaspar
Sole Pastor
Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church & Preschool
La Grange, TX

©2021 Jason Kaspar. All rights reserved. Permission granted to copy, share and display freely for non-commercial purposes. Direct all other rights and permissions inquiries to cosmithb@gmail.com.