All Saints' Sunday
Preaching
Preaching And Reading The Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
One of the best ways to uncover the principal themes of an Old Testament text is to note its repetitions. That is a useful tool in the exercise known as rhetorical criticism, because repetitions are made for emphasis in biblical texts. An examination of the repeated words and their parallels in this passage yields several results.
First is the repetition of "this mountain" in verses 6 and 7, and in Isaiah, that refers to Mount Zion. So the events mentioned are being portrayed as taking place on Mount Zion, that is, in Jerusalem, which the prophet Isaiah understood would form the center of the coming Kingdom of God (cf. Isaiah 2:2--4). The portrayal is an eschatological vision of the events that will take place at the end of the sacred history.
Second, there is repeated emphasis in the text on a universal happening. We have the repetition of "all peoples" (vv. 6--7), "all faces" (v. 8), "all the earth" (v. 8). So the salvation that is going to take place will be for members of every nation, even though the context of the passage in chapter 24 contains words about the judgments of the Lord that will be leveled against his opponents throughout the earth. The end--time salvation that is expected will be for people of every race and nation, class and color and circumstance.
Third, however, those who will enjoy the saving event are twice said in verse 9 to "have waited" for the Lord. That is, they are those who have looked to God and his future act for their salvation, which is a prominent theme in the Isaiah tradition (cf. Isaiah 40:31).
And what is the nature of the salvation that the saved of the Lord will enjoy? First of all, the picture is of a feast of "wine" and "fat things," that is, of choice drink and food (v. 6). So the portrayal is one of a celebratory banquet of eating and enjoyment. There is gladness and joy (v. 9), and that is a picture that permeates the scriptures (cf. Isaiah 55:1--2; 62:9; 66:11). When our Lord Jesus spoke of the coming Kingdom of God, he spoke often of a banquet (Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:29; 22:30; Mark 14:25, etc.), with its festivities. So the picture of the end of God's saving work is not one of somber piety, but of happy celebration and good times. If we take the visions of the scriptures seriously, life in the Kingdom of God will be fun!
Two facts make it fun and a climax to be eagerly anticipated, in the view of the Bible. For one, death, with all of its tears and sorrow, will be done away forever. The "veil" or "covering" in verse 7 of our text refers to the veil that covered the mourner's face, and verse 8 picks up that repetition to state that God "will swallow up death forever." "The Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces" (v. 8), an amazing picture of the Lord God that Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 repeat. "Sorrow and sighing" will be done away forever (cf. Isaiah 35:10; 51:11; 65:19; Revelation 21:4). The "last enemy" death, as Paul calls it (1 Corinthians 15:26), with all of its pain and loss, its darkness and void and emptiness, will be gone.
In the second place, the Kingdom of God will be an enjoyable realm because, says our text in verse 8, God will take away "the reproach of his people." Certainly that refers first of all to the scorn and opposition that the truly faithful have always encountered in the world. Similar passages support that interpretation (cf. Psalm 69:9; 89:50--51; Isaiah 51:7; 54:4; Matthew 5:11; 1 Peter 4:14). Our sinful world does not readily accept those who do not live by its secular and wanton standards, and the true servant of God always suffers in some lesser or greater ways for his or her faithfulness. But perhaps the "reproach" of which our text speaks can also refer to reproach from the Lord himself. God judges us for our sin, but in his kingdom, he judges no more. All are accepted in forgiveness and love and the saving care of the Lord God.
This passage is the text specified for our use on All Saints' Sunday, that is, the Sunday that is nearest All Saints' Day, which falls on November 1. (The secularized version of the day's eve, of course, is Halloween.) This is the Sunday when we celebrate the lives and trust of all of those faithful followers of the Lord who have gone before us - their steadfastness in their loyalty to their Lord, their lives of service in church and community and world, their Christian example that is enshrined in our memories of them, who make up a "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). That group includes not only the great figures from the past history of the church, such as Augustine and Luther, Calvin and Knox and Wesley, but also the saints whose stories are told to us in the scriptures - Peter and Stephen, Mary Magdalene and Elizabeth, Amos and Isaiah, Moses and Abraham, and a whole list of souls too lengthy to mention. Certainly Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr., are among them too, but also those meek souls we have known in our lifetime - aunts or uncles, the neighbor who used to live down the block from you, your mother or mine, the man you worked with who died too early, or the child lost in a car accident. Indeed, I am sure there are some surprising inclusions among the saints, whom we never expected to find there. God has a way of seeing into hearts and lives that we have considered unimportant or unworthy.
We in the church are convinced that the company of saints does not live on only in our memories and stories and Bible. No. They live on in the eternal Kingdom of God, in the presence of their Lord. That future, eschatological event portrayed in our text is not future for them. It is present reality. Future time is swallowed up in God's eternity, and all of his faithful followers now know what we can only see as eventually coming.
And what is the nature of the life of the faithful in God's everlasting kingdom? It is that happy, joyous, fun--filled celebration envisioned in our text. Yes, the scriptures are sure that eternal life is filled with magnificent praise of God, as portrayed in the Book of Revelation. But the scriptures also know that eternal life is enjoyable, with laughter and feasting on good things, and very good company in which to share it. The prophet Zechariah even pictured life in the kingdom as life in a public park, where children played happily and safely, and old folks chatted contentedly in the sun (Zech--ariah 8:1--6). Whatever the metaphorical portrayal given to us in the scriptures, however - and they are all metaphorical - we can be very certain that eternal life with our Lord is a joy--filled life.
It's something to press on toward, as Paul says (Philippians 3:12), isn't it? Not that we can earn our way into it. No work, not even what we consider a good work that we are able to do, makes us worthy of entrance into the kingdom. We all remain spotted with our sin. But you see, what we trust is that God in his merciful grace can take us there. By his forgiveness, his loving work in Christ Jesus, his abolishment of evil and death in his Son, the Lord God is able to save even you and me for his eternal life of joy. In him, therefore, is all our trust. And in him will be all our joy.
First is the repetition of "this mountain" in verses 6 and 7, and in Isaiah, that refers to Mount Zion. So the events mentioned are being portrayed as taking place on Mount Zion, that is, in Jerusalem, which the prophet Isaiah understood would form the center of the coming Kingdom of God (cf. Isaiah 2:2--4). The portrayal is an eschatological vision of the events that will take place at the end of the sacred history.
Second, there is repeated emphasis in the text on a universal happening. We have the repetition of "all peoples" (vv. 6--7), "all faces" (v. 8), "all the earth" (v. 8). So the salvation that is going to take place will be for members of every nation, even though the context of the passage in chapter 24 contains words about the judgments of the Lord that will be leveled against his opponents throughout the earth. The end--time salvation that is expected will be for people of every race and nation, class and color and circumstance.
Third, however, those who will enjoy the saving event are twice said in verse 9 to "have waited" for the Lord. That is, they are those who have looked to God and his future act for their salvation, which is a prominent theme in the Isaiah tradition (cf. Isaiah 40:31).
And what is the nature of the salvation that the saved of the Lord will enjoy? First of all, the picture is of a feast of "wine" and "fat things," that is, of choice drink and food (v. 6). So the portrayal is one of a celebratory banquet of eating and enjoyment. There is gladness and joy (v. 9), and that is a picture that permeates the scriptures (cf. Isaiah 55:1--2; 62:9; 66:11). When our Lord Jesus spoke of the coming Kingdom of God, he spoke often of a banquet (Matthew 8:11; Luke 13:29; 22:30; Mark 14:25, etc.), with its festivities. So the picture of the end of God's saving work is not one of somber piety, but of happy celebration and good times. If we take the visions of the scriptures seriously, life in the Kingdom of God will be fun!
Two facts make it fun and a climax to be eagerly anticipated, in the view of the Bible. For one, death, with all of its tears and sorrow, will be done away forever. The "veil" or "covering" in verse 7 of our text refers to the veil that covered the mourner's face, and verse 8 picks up that repetition to state that God "will swallow up death forever." "The Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces" (v. 8), an amazing picture of the Lord God that Revelation 7:17 and 21:4 repeat. "Sorrow and sighing" will be done away forever (cf. Isaiah 35:10; 51:11; 65:19; Revelation 21:4). The "last enemy" death, as Paul calls it (1 Corinthians 15:26), with all of its pain and loss, its darkness and void and emptiness, will be gone.
In the second place, the Kingdom of God will be an enjoyable realm because, says our text in verse 8, God will take away "the reproach of his people." Certainly that refers first of all to the scorn and opposition that the truly faithful have always encountered in the world. Similar passages support that interpretation (cf. Psalm 69:9; 89:50--51; Isaiah 51:7; 54:4; Matthew 5:11; 1 Peter 4:14). Our sinful world does not readily accept those who do not live by its secular and wanton standards, and the true servant of God always suffers in some lesser or greater ways for his or her faithfulness. But perhaps the "reproach" of which our text speaks can also refer to reproach from the Lord himself. God judges us for our sin, but in his kingdom, he judges no more. All are accepted in forgiveness and love and the saving care of the Lord God.
This passage is the text specified for our use on All Saints' Sunday, that is, the Sunday that is nearest All Saints' Day, which falls on November 1. (The secularized version of the day's eve, of course, is Halloween.) This is the Sunday when we celebrate the lives and trust of all of those faithful followers of the Lord who have gone before us - their steadfastness in their loyalty to their Lord, their lives of service in church and community and world, their Christian example that is enshrined in our memories of them, who make up a "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). That group includes not only the great figures from the past history of the church, such as Augustine and Luther, Calvin and Knox and Wesley, but also the saints whose stories are told to us in the scriptures - Peter and Stephen, Mary Magdalene and Elizabeth, Amos and Isaiah, Moses and Abraham, and a whole list of souls too lengthy to mention. Certainly Mother Teresa and Martin Luther King, Jr., are among them too, but also those meek souls we have known in our lifetime - aunts or uncles, the neighbor who used to live down the block from you, your mother or mine, the man you worked with who died too early, or the child lost in a car accident. Indeed, I am sure there are some surprising inclusions among the saints, whom we never expected to find there. God has a way of seeing into hearts and lives that we have considered unimportant or unworthy.
We in the church are convinced that the company of saints does not live on only in our memories and stories and Bible. No. They live on in the eternal Kingdom of God, in the presence of their Lord. That future, eschatological event portrayed in our text is not future for them. It is present reality. Future time is swallowed up in God's eternity, and all of his faithful followers now know what we can only see as eventually coming.
And what is the nature of the life of the faithful in God's everlasting kingdom? It is that happy, joyous, fun--filled celebration envisioned in our text. Yes, the scriptures are sure that eternal life is filled with magnificent praise of God, as portrayed in the Book of Revelation. But the scriptures also know that eternal life is enjoyable, with laughter and feasting on good things, and very good company in which to share it. The prophet Zechariah even pictured life in the kingdom as life in a public park, where children played happily and safely, and old folks chatted contentedly in the sun (Zech--ariah 8:1--6). Whatever the metaphorical portrayal given to us in the scriptures, however - and they are all metaphorical - we can be very certain that eternal life with our Lord is a joy--filled life.
It's something to press on toward, as Paul says (Philippians 3:12), isn't it? Not that we can earn our way into it. No work, not even what we consider a good work that we are able to do, makes us worthy of entrance into the kingdom. We all remain spotted with our sin. But you see, what we trust is that God in his merciful grace can take us there. By his forgiveness, his loving work in Christ Jesus, his abolishment of evil and death in his Son, the Lord God is able to save even you and me for his eternal life of joy. In him, therefore, is all our trust. And in him will be all our joy.
