Sermon Illustrations for All Saints Day (2015)
Illustration
Object:
Isaiah 25:6-9
Most people love celebrations. There are all different varieties of them -- families celebrate the birth of a child; we have birthday parties. We get excited about weddings, graduations, job promotions, and a host of other things. Sometimes an entire city will have a celebration. A World Series win or a Super Bowl championship can be a cause for parades, speeches, and awards. Sometimes an entire nation can have a celebration. July 4th and days commemorating a war victory are noted in big ways around the United States.
Celebrations are exciting and fun, but perhaps none more so than the one described in this text. When God restores his people, he himself will host a banquet. Darkness will be cast aside. There will be no more death. There will be no more tears. No more death and no more tears. Wow, won’t that be wonderful? It only takes a cursory glance at the news to see horrific things and death on a nightly basis. The amount of tears shed by the hurting and grieving could fill an ocean. What a glorious day that will be when the Lord does away with the things that plague his people. That day will be cause for celebration.
Bill T.
Isaiah 25:6-9
This passage could be looking ahead to the Last Supper. This will all happen after Jesus returns in the second coming, when death is swallowed up forever. It is also evidence that the Messiah’s life was foretold in the Old Testament long before he was born on earth. This is just one of many passages that confirm Jesus’ life as the Messiah. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day must not have read those passages!
It makes us wonder if there will still be food in heaven. Will we need it? There will even be wine! Will alcoholics no longer be in danger on that day? It seems that it will be old and more delicious wine aged in “suffering.” We have to leave that in the hands of our Lord. The point is that there will be a great victory celebration on Mt Zion, because death is swallowed up in victory. How then can there be any tears? There will be a time when there will be no more persecution or suffering... so why cry?
The point is that the powers of evil will have an ending -- they will not go on forever. God is in charge, and he will (and has) overcome all and destroy that shroud that we all face on this earth until we come home to be with him. This text implies the resurrection. If we trust in him only, then we can rejoice. He has saved us now, so all we have to do is wait upon him. Death will only mean a passage to the next life. We must keep our eyes on that salvation and quit crying. We can rejoice, even at a funeral!
Isaiah is one prophet who extends salvation not just to the Jews but to all the people on earth. He foresaw a more inclusive salvation. There will be proof (when the Messiah comes) that God is real and has done all this for us!
Bob O.
Isaiah 25:6-9
But the announcement here (v. 8) is breathtaking! Surprising! Worthy of the King of Kings! The great royal edict is portrayed as final. It is not a temporary reprieve or a delay of sentence. In a section that is so filled with violence and death, the dreadful unspoken fear that the cycle of blood-guilt and vengeance can never be broken has finally been brought into the open. Yahweh of Hosts has announced that he will deal with it personally and permanently. He had taken steps to imprison the kings and their armies (24:22) to await their sentences. Now he decrees royal amnesty, destroying the death-ban on the land.
(John D.W. Watts, Isaiah 1-33: Word Biblical Commentary 24, p. 332)
Frank R.
Revelation 21:1-6a
The vision of John is a truly difficult book of scripture to understand and to interpret in its entirety, but not so this passage. This passage spells out the promise, the fulfillment of the journey from Genesis. This is God coming back to live among mortals, heaven being restored to the earth. This is the hope: that pain and sorrow and grief and mourning will disappear forever -- that God will make all things new and all things right.
As we celebrate All Saints Day, we may wonder how long it will be until this comes to be, comes to pass. No one knows, but the saints who passed before us did not have an easy human life either. Their lives were filled with pain and suffering, with arrest and torture, with challenge and miracle. Yet they endured, kept the faith, and followed their journey to its end. And now we as Christians celebrate them and remember that this passage from Revelation likely sustained them, as it sustains us. God was present with humanity, will be present with humanity, and is present with humanity. God, the beginning and the end, present with us. Praise God!
Bonnie B.
Revelation 21:1-6a
Augustus Chiwy was the “forgotten nurse.” She was born in the Congo, but relocated to Belgium. While she was visiting a friend in Bastogne in December 1944, there was a knock on the door. Dr. John Prior was the only army physician for the 101st Airborne Division, which was surrounded by three German armies in Bastogne (during the German offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge). He had no nurses and his ambulance driver had been killed -- Prior had no one left. He requested if Chiwy and her friend Renee Lemaire, both nurses, could assist him. When the three reached the makeshift medical aid station a 500-pound shell exploded, killing Lemaire. Soon Chiwy’s clothes were soaked with blood from ministering to the wounded. She put on an army uniform, which meant that if she were captured she would not be considered a civilian volunteer but a soldier and would likely be killed. Having been born in the Congo and being black, military regulations would not allow her to aid the white soldiers. But Dr. Prior simply told the soldiers: “You either let her treat you or you die.” Chiwy, 23, would often crawl out onto the battlefield to retrieve wounded soldiers. Dr. Prior said it was her small five-foot frame that enabled her to dodge mortar and machine-gun fire. Chiwy demurred, saying: “A black face in all that white snow was a pretty easy target. Those Germans must have been terrible marksmen.” She is credited with having saved hundreds of lives. Augustus Chiwy is called the “forgotten nurse” because it was not until a book was published in 2010 that her heroic exploits become known.
Application: A new heaven and a new earth begins each day there is a Augustus Chiwy to bravely minister unto others.
Ron L.
Revelation 21:1-6a
This text is about God’s commitment to giving us fresh starts. The famed German New
Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann claimed that glimpses God gives us of the future
(eschatology) pertain to us today: “Eschatological preaching views the present time in the light of the future and it says to men that this present world, the world of nature and history, the world in which we live our lives and make our plans is not the only world; that this world is temporal and transitory, yes, ultimately empty and unreal in the face of eternity” (Jesus Christ and Mythology, p. 23).
With this insight, everyday life looks a lot different for the faithful. All the mistakes of the past are empty and ultimately unreal. For us saints of God, it is like L.M. Montgomery wrote in Anne of Green Gables: “Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it.” We can live like the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart advised: “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” The 19th-century English novelist Mary Shelley offered a similar observation. For Christians, she said, “The beginning is always today.”
Mark E.
John 11:32-44
We like a good “comeback story.” It might be in sports, where a team comes from way behind to win what seemed like an unwinnable game. It might be in politics, where a candidate comes out of nowhere, beats the odds, and overcomes the obstacles to win. It might be a heartwarming story where a person works their way back from an injury or illness to regain or surpass what they’d done previously. A “comeback story” is always refreshing and motivational.
In this text we find what might be the second greatest comeback story of all time. Some of Jesus’ best friends are in trouble. Lazarus is dying. His sisters send word, and they expect Jesus -- but he doesn’t come. He shows up later, but too late... or so it seems. All present in Bethany know that Lazarus is dead. There is weeping, hurting, and pain. Perhaps there is even a hint of frustration. Death -- it seems so final. It is so heavy. It is so dark. It respects no one’s status. It cannot be bribed. Death comes to everyone, and when he does it’s over.
That was the sentiment outside the tomb of Lazarus. But what seemed like finality to so man, was only the staging for a great comeback story. Jesus broke through the gloom and the tomb to disarm death and rob him of his prize. It would be foreshadowing of when he would defeat death forever on another day at another tomb. That day would be the greatest comeback story. For now, though, Lazarus was back with his sisters. People were amazed, and God was praised.
Bill T.
John 11:32-44
Some have claimed that when Lazarus’ tomb was opened after four days there was no smell, so Jesus assumed that the Father had answered his prayer and that Lazarus had not died. But even if that were true, what shape would a man be in after four days in a tomb? I think the speculators are missing the point, since Jesus brought others back from the dead like the son of the widow woman who was taking him to be buried.
The point is that Jesus had compassion -- so much so that he cried. Maybe that was for Mary and Martha’s sake, since they were in mourning.
The message for us is that Jesus will also have compassion over our tragedies. He may not raise a loved one from the dead, but he will give us a comfort that can’t be found elsewhere. Today our comfort is mostly in the fact that there is a wonderful place for us in God’s heaven.
A man died six years after his wife, and she was showing him around heaven. It was astounding him, but he had a grumpy look on his face. “What’s wrong?” she asked. He answered, “If you hadn’t given me all those vitamins and diet foods, I would have been up here long ago!”
Bob O.
John 11:32-44
We see clearly the human side of Jesus just two verses later. In that verse -- the shortest in the New Testament -- we are told “Jesus wept.” This verse is the first I learned in my childhood when we had to memorize Bible verses as part of our early instruction. Needless to say I learned it for its brevity and not its theological import. Here the description of Jesus seems less concerned about orthodox doctrine and more about a genuine concern for those who have suffered loss. He discovers that his delay and demonstration of power over death has caused human suffering, and he weeps. In essence, Jesus joins the mourners.
How then are we to understand the anger of Jesus from this perspective and in a gospel that is driven by the theme of love? The Greek word for anger is mentioned twice: in the meeting with Mary and again at the tomb of Lazarus. What is he angry about? In a desire for help on this question, I pulled down my massive Greek dictionary by Moulton and Milligan, which emphasizes definitions drawn from non-literary sources such as the ancient papyri letters, business receipts, and official documents -- in other words from everyday life and not a theological lexicon. One of the definitions of this rare Greek word, embrimaomai,is to be angry with oneself....
How can a loving Lord simply overlook human suffering to create a theological demonstration? The answer is -- he can’t.... The answer is self-directed for the pain and suffering he caused.
(Robert W. Neff, “What Is Our Perspective?” Messenger, May 2014, pp. 15-16)
Frank R.
Most people love celebrations. There are all different varieties of them -- families celebrate the birth of a child; we have birthday parties. We get excited about weddings, graduations, job promotions, and a host of other things. Sometimes an entire city will have a celebration. A World Series win or a Super Bowl championship can be a cause for parades, speeches, and awards. Sometimes an entire nation can have a celebration. July 4th and days commemorating a war victory are noted in big ways around the United States.
Celebrations are exciting and fun, but perhaps none more so than the one described in this text. When God restores his people, he himself will host a banquet. Darkness will be cast aside. There will be no more death. There will be no more tears. No more death and no more tears. Wow, won’t that be wonderful? It only takes a cursory glance at the news to see horrific things and death on a nightly basis. The amount of tears shed by the hurting and grieving could fill an ocean. What a glorious day that will be when the Lord does away with the things that plague his people. That day will be cause for celebration.
Bill T.
Isaiah 25:6-9
This passage could be looking ahead to the Last Supper. This will all happen after Jesus returns in the second coming, when death is swallowed up forever. It is also evidence that the Messiah’s life was foretold in the Old Testament long before he was born on earth. This is just one of many passages that confirm Jesus’ life as the Messiah. The Pharisees in Jesus’ day must not have read those passages!
It makes us wonder if there will still be food in heaven. Will we need it? There will even be wine! Will alcoholics no longer be in danger on that day? It seems that it will be old and more delicious wine aged in “suffering.” We have to leave that in the hands of our Lord. The point is that there will be a great victory celebration on Mt Zion, because death is swallowed up in victory. How then can there be any tears? There will be a time when there will be no more persecution or suffering... so why cry?
The point is that the powers of evil will have an ending -- they will not go on forever. God is in charge, and he will (and has) overcome all and destroy that shroud that we all face on this earth until we come home to be with him. This text implies the resurrection. If we trust in him only, then we can rejoice. He has saved us now, so all we have to do is wait upon him. Death will only mean a passage to the next life. We must keep our eyes on that salvation and quit crying. We can rejoice, even at a funeral!
Isaiah is one prophet who extends salvation not just to the Jews but to all the people on earth. He foresaw a more inclusive salvation. There will be proof (when the Messiah comes) that God is real and has done all this for us!
Bob O.
Isaiah 25:6-9
But the announcement here (v. 8) is breathtaking! Surprising! Worthy of the King of Kings! The great royal edict is portrayed as final. It is not a temporary reprieve or a delay of sentence. In a section that is so filled with violence and death, the dreadful unspoken fear that the cycle of blood-guilt and vengeance can never be broken has finally been brought into the open. Yahweh of Hosts has announced that he will deal with it personally and permanently. He had taken steps to imprison the kings and their armies (24:22) to await their sentences. Now he decrees royal amnesty, destroying the death-ban on the land.
(John D.W. Watts, Isaiah 1-33: Word Biblical Commentary 24, p. 332)
Frank R.
Revelation 21:1-6a
The vision of John is a truly difficult book of scripture to understand and to interpret in its entirety, but not so this passage. This passage spells out the promise, the fulfillment of the journey from Genesis. This is God coming back to live among mortals, heaven being restored to the earth. This is the hope: that pain and sorrow and grief and mourning will disappear forever -- that God will make all things new and all things right.
As we celebrate All Saints Day, we may wonder how long it will be until this comes to be, comes to pass. No one knows, but the saints who passed before us did not have an easy human life either. Their lives were filled with pain and suffering, with arrest and torture, with challenge and miracle. Yet they endured, kept the faith, and followed their journey to its end. And now we as Christians celebrate them and remember that this passage from Revelation likely sustained them, as it sustains us. God was present with humanity, will be present with humanity, and is present with humanity. God, the beginning and the end, present with us. Praise God!
Bonnie B.
Revelation 21:1-6a
Augustus Chiwy was the “forgotten nurse.” She was born in the Congo, but relocated to Belgium. While she was visiting a friend in Bastogne in December 1944, there was a knock on the door. Dr. John Prior was the only army physician for the 101st Airborne Division, which was surrounded by three German armies in Bastogne (during the German offensive known as the Battle of the Bulge). He had no nurses and his ambulance driver had been killed -- Prior had no one left. He requested if Chiwy and her friend Renee Lemaire, both nurses, could assist him. When the three reached the makeshift medical aid station a 500-pound shell exploded, killing Lemaire. Soon Chiwy’s clothes were soaked with blood from ministering to the wounded. She put on an army uniform, which meant that if she were captured she would not be considered a civilian volunteer but a soldier and would likely be killed. Having been born in the Congo and being black, military regulations would not allow her to aid the white soldiers. But Dr. Prior simply told the soldiers: “You either let her treat you or you die.” Chiwy, 23, would often crawl out onto the battlefield to retrieve wounded soldiers. Dr. Prior said it was her small five-foot frame that enabled her to dodge mortar and machine-gun fire. Chiwy demurred, saying: “A black face in all that white snow was a pretty easy target. Those Germans must have been terrible marksmen.” She is credited with having saved hundreds of lives. Augustus Chiwy is called the “forgotten nurse” because it was not until a book was published in 2010 that her heroic exploits become known.
Application: A new heaven and a new earth begins each day there is a Augustus Chiwy to bravely minister unto others.
Ron L.
Revelation 21:1-6a
This text is about God’s commitment to giving us fresh starts. The famed German New
Testament scholar Rudolf Bultmann claimed that glimpses God gives us of the future
(eschatology) pertain to us today: “Eschatological preaching views the present time in the light of the future and it says to men that this present world, the world of nature and history, the world in which we live our lives and make our plans is not the only world; that this world is temporal and transitory, yes, ultimately empty and unreal in the face of eternity” (Jesus Christ and Mythology, p. 23).
With this insight, everyday life looks a lot different for the faithful. All the mistakes of the past are empty and ultimately unreal. For us saints of God, it is like L.M. Montgomery wrote in Anne of Green Gables: “Tomorrow is fresh with no mistakes in it.” We can live like the medieval mystic Meister Eckhart advised: “Be willing to be a beginner every single morning.” The 19th-century English novelist Mary Shelley offered a similar observation. For Christians, she said, “The beginning is always today.”
Mark E.
John 11:32-44
We like a good “comeback story.” It might be in sports, where a team comes from way behind to win what seemed like an unwinnable game. It might be in politics, where a candidate comes out of nowhere, beats the odds, and overcomes the obstacles to win. It might be a heartwarming story where a person works their way back from an injury or illness to regain or surpass what they’d done previously. A “comeback story” is always refreshing and motivational.
In this text we find what might be the second greatest comeback story of all time. Some of Jesus’ best friends are in trouble. Lazarus is dying. His sisters send word, and they expect Jesus -- but he doesn’t come. He shows up later, but too late... or so it seems. All present in Bethany know that Lazarus is dead. There is weeping, hurting, and pain. Perhaps there is even a hint of frustration. Death -- it seems so final. It is so heavy. It is so dark. It respects no one’s status. It cannot be bribed. Death comes to everyone, and when he does it’s over.
That was the sentiment outside the tomb of Lazarus. But what seemed like finality to so man, was only the staging for a great comeback story. Jesus broke through the gloom and the tomb to disarm death and rob him of his prize. It would be foreshadowing of when he would defeat death forever on another day at another tomb. That day would be the greatest comeback story. For now, though, Lazarus was back with his sisters. People were amazed, and God was praised.
Bill T.
John 11:32-44
Some have claimed that when Lazarus’ tomb was opened after four days there was no smell, so Jesus assumed that the Father had answered his prayer and that Lazarus had not died. But even if that were true, what shape would a man be in after four days in a tomb? I think the speculators are missing the point, since Jesus brought others back from the dead like the son of the widow woman who was taking him to be buried.
The point is that Jesus had compassion -- so much so that he cried. Maybe that was for Mary and Martha’s sake, since they were in mourning.
The message for us is that Jesus will also have compassion over our tragedies. He may not raise a loved one from the dead, but he will give us a comfort that can’t be found elsewhere. Today our comfort is mostly in the fact that there is a wonderful place for us in God’s heaven.
A man died six years after his wife, and she was showing him around heaven. It was astounding him, but he had a grumpy look on his face. “What’s wrong?” she asked. He answered, “If you hadn’t given me all those vitamins and diet foods, I would have been up here long ago!”
Bob O.
John 11:32-44
We see clearly the human side of Jesus just two verses later. In that verse -- the shortest in the New Testament -- we are told “Jesus wept.” This verse is the first I learned in my childhood when we had to memorize Bible verses as part of our early instruction. Needless to say I learned it for its brevity and not its theological import. Here the description of Jesus seems less concerned about orthodox doctrine and more about a genuine concern for those who have suffered loss. He discovers that his delay and demonstration of power over death has caused human suffering, and he weeps. In essence, Jesus joins the mourners.
How then are we to understand the anger of Jesus from this perspective and in a gospel that is driven by the theme of love? The Greek word for anger is mentioned twice: in the meeting with Mary and again at the tomb of Lazarus. What is he angry about? In a desire for help on this question, I pulled down my massive Greek dictionary by Moulton and Milligan, which emphasizes definitions drawn from non-literary sources such as the ancient papyri letters, business receipts, and official documents -- in other words from everyday life and not a theological lexicon. One of the definitions of this rare Greek word, embrimaomai,is to be angry with oneself....
How can a loving Lord simply overlook human suffering to create a theological demonstration? The answer is -- he can’t.... The answer is self-directed for the pain and suffering he caused.
(Robert W. Neff, “What Is Our Perspective?” Messenger, May 2014, pp. 15-16)
Frank R.
