For All the Saints
Psalm 116:15 and Revelation 14:12-13
Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
Revelation 14:12-13
Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus.
I heard a voice from heaven saying, “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They are blessed indeed, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!”
I. Memorial Day and Death
A. Memorial Day
Decoration Day honoring soldiers who died in was
B. My First Experiences with Death
3rd Grade – Cindy Clayton’s Dad
6th Grade – Ellen and then Popoo
C. A Ministry Constantly in the Presence of Death
Hospice, Grandmother, Thorhauer
D. Difficult Ones
Close Friends … Willem and Kish
Last Week – Bob McMichael
E. Jen and Julie
II. Death is not a Foreign Language
A. Ministry has made me comfortable with death and dying
Yet neither easy or seeking
B. As a Pastor People Turn to Me for Comfort
An expectation for words
Despite extensive post-funeral praise
You said the right thing
C. I stumble and struggle for words
Can be spoken so easily, so casually, so confidently
But can be as empty as the breeze
Halfway through every funeral
I wish someone else was speaking
D. My comfort is not from practice or experience
I still weep and am at a lose for words to explain
E. I read a lot of scripture
At least 8 at every service
Scripture expresses well what we feel and hope but cannot express.
III. Today’s Scriptures are 2 which I Never Use
A. Yet they express truth in which I find comfort and hope
B. Psalm 116:15
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
C. Expresses God’s emotion at death
Death is precious to God
Must mean He does not grieve as we do
For God, death is a gain, not a loss
D. Are all death’s a gain for God
This passage does not say that
A gain when only a saint dies
E. Who is a saint in God’s sight?
Not the over achieving goodie-two-shoe believer
We are all sinners, depraved, who fall short of God’s standards
None of us can qualify as self-made saints
(even though we may be self-righteous about our standing with God)
F. The Hebrew Word for saint is hasid
A meaningless, foreign word for many
Hasid’s etymology is interesting
It’s guttural root, without Hebraic pointing is HSD
The famous HSD word in Hebrew is hesed
Hesed is God’s everlasting steadfast love and mercy
==> Translators to define hasid as
Those who have received God’s everlasting steadfast love and mercy
G. The saints God finds precious at death
Are those who have received His mercy/grace
God does not waste His love for us in our death
IV. The 2nd Scripture – Revelation 14:13
A. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.
They are blessed indeed, that they may rest from their labors!”
B. Familiar words from the hymn For All the Saints
For all the saints, who from their labors rest.
C. Life is hard, difficult, a struggle, filled with suffering
A reality balanced with blessings and joys, and meaning
But let’s face it, life is hard
D. At death, for the saint, the difficult labors of this life are done
Just as we long for weekly rest – TGIF
Just as we long for retirement at some point
At death we enter into eternal rest from the labors of this life
E. Those who are left behind, grieve their loss
Yet, death, for the saint is rest
F. We all have watched loved ones struggle in pain
Physical and emotional pain is no more at death
V. Funerals are Approached with Dread
A. This explains our propensity to ask for a
Memorial Service or Celebration of Life Service
B. These services are meant to put a happy spin on grief
I understand that, but also recognize grieving is critical
C. This leads to always reading Revelation 21:1-7 at Services
Particular imagery in the passage
Highlighted last week at Bob McMichael’s Service
D. Nancy’s onset of dementia => confusion about what was happening
Just before the service, she told her daughter
It’s Susann’s Wedding …
E. Earlier I had sent the bulletin to the local clergy as Wedding Bulletin
Decided to focus on the wedding motif
F. The funeral for the saint is a marriage in heaven
God comes, God unites, God holds,
God commits and covenants Himself to the saints who have died
VI. As We Celebrate Memorial Day
A. We can rejoice
B. For the saints who gave their life in battle
Have been wed to God in heaven
C. Just as we decorate graves in honoring remembrance
Our Lord decorates His heavenly kingdom
Including adorning Himself for the Wedding ceremony and Feast as He weds Himself to
Saints who are precious in His sight and who have died
D. They leave us to go to Him
Death is a marriage to celebrate as much as a loss to grieve.
Bread Crumbs - Devotions for Life 