As a Roman citizen, Paul had the right to be tried by the emperor himself. Since the High Priests had decided to kill him, Paul exercised that right. Traveling by ship was still the quickest way to get to Rome, although it was risky, especially in the fall, when Paul’s ship set sail. Having arrived at a small port in Crete, the group had to decide if they would want to try for a larger port to their west. Paul had a vision of danger, and warned the party without success.
When a ship in this circumstance runs too close to shore, sailors would throw all unnecessary cargo overboard. St. Paul’s crew did this and put down the anchors as well. Since this left the boat at the mercy of the winds, sailors would always look for other options. Normally it is not wise to attempt to land in an unfamiliar place without aid. St. Paul’s crew had no better option and ran the ship into a sandbar attempting it.
Throughout this ordeal, God kept Paul and his companions safe as He promised He would. Paul’s calm in peril impressed all the pagans who traveled with him. These events are remembered to this day in Malta, where they were stranded over the winter.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
Sermon on Revelation 7:13-17 All Saint’s Sunday October 30, 2022 Saint Paul Lutheran Church And Trinity Lutheran Church McGregor and Guttenberg, Iowa
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: On this All Saints 2022, a flood of thoughts and emotions occupy my thoughts. Three years ago on Reformation Day, Evangeline Charissa Keller was baptized into the name of the Triune God by her father in the NICU in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Her entrance into the world was dramatic and the shadow in the back of my thoughts as we drove there was the remote possibility that she, her mother — my daughter Hanne — and her father could be at the Marriage Feast of the Lamb by that day. The Lord had mercy and blessed the work of doctors, nurses and many others to perform near perfect procedures. They all came through well and thrived as I preached for my son-in-law that year’s All Saints divine service. It was as if the Holy Spirit whispered “not yet, not yet.” In the years since, all is very well with them and a very bright three-year-old joined her six-year-old sister in delighting and challenging her mother and father.
Our text this morning opens the curtain of heaven for us to see the throne of God. There gathered before the Father and the Lamb of God are the children of God from every time – Adam and Noah, Joseph and Moses, David and Elijah, and all those trusting in the coming Messiah. There are also the Apostles and Evangelists, Christians from every time and place, language and nation, and people much more familiar to me.
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. 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 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 2022, my beloved wife, Kris, 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. All are at rest with their Savior, along with two grandchildren whom the Good Shepherd folded in his arms while still in the womb. Many others are there, too. My Fathers and brothers in the faith that taught me and many others and laid the same stole of ministry on me as I have now laid on my son-in-law and spiritual sons. I am thankful for them and for their confessions, praying 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. When he rose from the dead, he opened the way for them – and us – to be with him forever. He, the Lamb of God took away the sins of the world – their sin, our sin. At their deaths, his angels came, gave them the white robes of his righteousness and the palms of victory they wave before the throne.
In life, he was their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might; he was their Captain in the well-fought fight. Now they rest from their labors and God has dried every tear from their eyes. Yet to me, and to you, the Holy Spirit still seems to whisper, “Not yet, Not yet!” We feebly struggle, they in glory shine!
Eight years ago, I struggled with a massive infection in my heel. Several times I told my pastor that I still believed what I taught and confessed these thirty-seven years as I went to surgery. Later I was told that I was on the threshold of attending the Marriage Feast. It was as if the Holy Spirit had said, “not yet, not yet.” In the years since, I have continued to preach, to teach, cared for my home congregation when our pastor was on the threshold himself, presided at the weddings of two of my children, seen all my grandchildren save one baptized with the same baptismal shell with which their parents and others were baptized, began to pass the baton on to four of my spiritual sons, welcomed a brand new pastor to our home congregation, and, with him, mentor vicars. God has blessed me more than I deserve.
And now I reflect that 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 through the ether 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 Feast as the Holy Spirit no longer says, “not yet” but the Lord Jesus says to one of us, “welcome to the joy of your Father.”
And yet there breaks a more glorious day. The saints triumphant will rise in bright array; The King of glory passes 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.
Christ is Risen! Amen, come Lord Jesus, come!
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
In ancient times, salt was precious. People would pay a lot of money for it because it kept food from spoiling. If meat was not salted, a family would have to throw it out in a day or two. When meat was salted, it might last a few months. Even in the early days of America, salt was necessary to have meat to eat in the winter. If salt isn’t pure, it could lose its taste and the ability to preserve food. Then salt has very few uses. At best it could be used to keep plants from growing on the paths they need to walk on.
Lamps were made of clay and shaped like a bowl. Olive oil was poured in the lamp and a wick stuck in it to soak up the oil. Someone in the family would light it. Tall stands were put around the house. The person who lit the lamp would place it on a stand so that the room would be bright.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
Sheep are not the cuddly, fluffy, pure white creatures we see in paintings and picture books. They are dirty, smelly, noisy and interested in only one thing – food. They wander wherever they want to go and do not pay attention to the dangers of world around them. They often walk off cliffs, in the path of wolves and other predators and are easily separated from the flock.
For this reason, shepherds often took their flocks out together. If one got lost, then, helpers would watch those that did not wander while the shepherd. Shepherds often loved their sheep the way we love our pets. If a sheep or a lamb was too weak to walk, they would carry the sheep on their shoulders. If a lost sheep was found, everyone would rejoice.
Shepherds and sheep appear often in the pages of the Bible. Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and David were shepherds. The Bible calls God our shepherd. He feeds us, guides us safely through the wilderness, finds us when we are lost, binds up our wounds and carries us home. Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd. We hear His voice, we follow Him and He lays down His life for us. The Christian Church from the very beginning called its leaders pastors, which comes from the Latin word for shepherd. God calls pastors to care for His people – His sheep – the way He cares for them.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
The Parable of the Lost Son is one the most loved of the stories Jesus told. Everyone can relate to it. We see a very strong love shown by the Father to both His sons – the responsible one as much as the wasteful one. In the time of Jesus’ ministry, a father normally did not divide his property while he was alive. In the story, when the younger son asked for his inheritance, he was saying “I wish you were dead.” Still the father did what his son wanted. The father so loved his son that he kept looking for him to return.
When the younger son came back, the father saw him and did what men at that time did not do – he ran to meet his son. He would have to pull up his robes to do so and would be embarrassing. He did not wait for the younger son to apologize. Instead, he dressed his son as one of his own heirs and threw a very big party to celebrate his return.
When the older son was so angry that he did not come to the party, he was insulting his father. Yet his father came out to plead with him. The older son continued to show disrespect when he lectured his father. Yet the father still speaks to him tenderly. “All I have is yours,” he said, “but we have to rejoice, for your brother who was dead is now alive, was lost has now been found.”
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
The Pharisees were the good people. They loved God. They went to the Synagogue every Saturday. Not only did they try to keep God’s law, but they tried to do even more. They thought that, if they did more than God commanded, they would never break His law, but that God would love them even more. They thought that God would reward them for their good work and that they deserved a place in Heaven because of it
When other people did not try as hard as they did to serve God, they got angry. They thought the Messiah would come only when all of the Jewish people kept God’s law. They called these people “sinners” and were sure that God would send them to Hell.
The tax collectors were very different. The Roman government out-sourced tax collection. They gave collection contracts to local people. The Romans told their tax farmers how much to collect The tax collectors could add whatever charge they wished on top of that. The Pharisees thought they were traitors because they served a foreign government and because they often made themselves rich on the fees they charged.
In this parable, the Pharisee stands in the temple as close to the Holy of Holies as he was allow to get. The Tax Collector stood in the back, as far away from the sanctuary as he could get and still be in the temple. The Pharisee bragged in prayer, thinking God would reward him. The Tax Collector knew he deserved nothing from God and repeated King David’s prayer: Be merciful to me, a sinner Jesus tells us that it was the Tax Collector that pleased God, not the Pharisee.
For more than 1500 years, Christians have repeated this prayer in their traditional worship services. Called the Kyrie by the first word of the prayer in the Greek language, we pray, “Lord, have mercy, “Christ have mercy,” “Lord, have mercy.”
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
Mustard seeds and yeast were important to people where Jesus lived. Mustard seeds were the smallest that farmers planted, but grew into a tree as large as 10 feet tall. The seed of this kind of Mustard plant was black. Farmers ground the seed to make a spice and to use the oil in them. Birds loved to eat these seeds and would often come to eat the seeds and build nests in their branches.
Women used yeast to make soft, fluffy bread. When they baked bread, they would save a small piece of dough with yeast in it. This is called leavened bread. When they made more bread dough, they put the leavened piece in the flour for the bread. The yeast would grow and spread through all the flour. When the baker would make new read, the whole batch would be leavened.
Jesus compared the mustard seed and yeast to the Kingdom of God. The kingdom starts small, but grows very big, so that many people can become part of it. The kingdom doesn’t seem to be important, but it will change everything for the good.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
In Israel, a rugged mountain range runs through the middle of the country. In a dry region like the Middle East, these mountains were loved for the streams that ran from them, the cool caves that provided shelter and a solid place to stand. In the Bible, they were called rocks. In a storm, there was no safer place to be than upon a rock.
In the poetry of the Bible, God is called the Rock, a fortress that would never fail. Storms and rain were used to describe times of trouble and testing. When a believer was in troubled times, when everything else failed, They could rely on God the Rock.
In this parable, Jesus tells us that His words are like a rock. When we do what He says and use His words to guide our lives, nothing in this world can shake us. He defeated sin and death on the cross. In baptism, He built us on that foundation that can never be moved. We will stand, even when death blows over us.
This parable closes the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus uses it to make the point that the wise person builds on the words he spoke. Heaven and earth will pass away, but his words will not pass away.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
Encore Post: When Martin Luther was born, Europe, including Germany, was changing. The discovery of America and trade routes to India and the Far East brought a flood of goods, gold and ideas fueled changes in everyday life. After many years of population decline due to disease, life for the lower and middle classes improved and births filled their ranks. The ideas of the Renaissance brought changes in art, music, philosophy and theology. Inventors brought new technologies to everyone, one of the most important being the printing press. People could afford to buy and own books for the first time in history.
All these changes caused the everyday languages people spoke — the vernacular language — to adapt and grow. The isolation of medieval society, made up of patchworks of small territories, free cities, and counties (territories ruled by counts, princes and knights), meant that thousands of dialects made conversation between everyday people difficult. The Latin language unified the ruling and educated classes somewhat. The Church discouraged the use of translations of the Bible, convinced that unlearned people studying it directly would multiply heresies. They did not need to worry. Most vernacular translations were virtually unreadable: wooden, word-for-word representations of the Latin Vulgate.
As the Reformation took hold, both Luther and his friends became convinced that everyday people needed to be able to read the Bible in their own language. The fast pace of events, his ever-growing insight into the teachings of God’s word and the need to write a high volume of tracts kept the reformer from translating the Bible himself. In 1521, when his prince put him in his Wartburg Castle for safe keeping, he finally had the time. He produced a first draft of his German New Testament in eleven weeks. It was published in September 1522. It sold out immediately. Luther followed with a revision in December of the same year.
Luther’s work was a masterpiece of the emerging High German Language. His use of his prince’s Saxon Court German, well understood throughout German lands, supplemented by words spoken by everyday people throughout Germany was easily understood, sounded natural to people when read aloud and designed so that no one would suspect its writers were not Saxon peasants. It was so widely published, bought and read that it brought about a common German language.
So impressed was Luther’s disciple, William Tyndale, it shaped his own translation of the Bible into English. In 1611, when King James’ translators produced the King James Version of the Bible, they, in turn, used most of Tyndale’s work. So it came to be that the standard Bible translations of Germany and the English speaking world came largely from the labors of Luther to bring the Bible to the homes of everyday people.
Rev. Robert E. Smith Concordia Theological Seminary Fort Wayne, Indiana
Encore Post: Ruth was a gentile and as such cut off from God and His presence. When she married Naomi’s son Mahlon, Ruth became a Hebrew and one of God’s people. When Naomi’s husband died, her sons were her only means of support. When these sons in turn also died, she was a widow without sons — helpless in a society where having husbands and sons are key to survival. On top of that, she was in a foreign country, where no one cared about her. Yet all she could think about was her daughters-in-law. She tried to send them home to their families, but only one of them went back.
Because Ruth truly loved her Naomi and loved God, she refused. She would never leave her mother-in-law. Whatever would happen to Naomi, she would share her fate. So, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law went home to Naomi’s family — the Bethlehem in Judea. Does that town sound familiar?
While she was gathering the grain left in the field for the poor, she met a relative of her late husband. This man, Boaz, went out of his way to provide for Naomi and her daughter-in-law. He claimed the right to marry Ruth under the Levirate law — the nearest male relative marries a widow and their children become the legal heirs of the deceased man.
When he did this, Boaz showed the true, selfless character of a redeemer. God blessed this marriage with children. Their son Obed would later marry. Obed’s was the father of Jesse, whose son was King David. And so the self-giving nature of Ruth and Boaz was blessed. In this way, God put a gentile into the family tree of the Son of David — and his own Son — Jesus (Matthew 1:5, ).
