Loving God, you have made us part of the communion of saints - the body of Christ - the community of your people. Make us aware today of the cloud of witnesses that surrounds us, and fill our hearts with a living hope, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Today, we celebrate something called All Saints' Sunday. It is a time when we remember those who have died during the past year and give thanks for their love and for their lives. At the same time, we remember that we are part of a communion of saints that is much larger than just the people whom we can see who are here at worship with us. Rather, we are part of a church community that covers all times and all places. Whenever we gather together for worship, and especially when we gather together at the Lord's Table, we are joined by all other Christians from the past, the present and even the future. It is a very large family that we have as members of the body of Christ and of the family of God!

Yet, there are often times of great sadness for us when members of that family leave this earthly life and pass through the heavenly gates into the life to come. During this earthly life we experience mourning and crying and pain. However, at the same time we hear the promises in today's reading from Revelation: "Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away" (21:4).

The vision that is presented in Revelation is one that many of us long for. It is a vision of God living among us - of a new heaven and a new earth - of God himself wiping away every tear from our eyes. It is a vision of a time when there is no more death and no reason to mourn or to weep. It is a vision of a time when all things have been made new. It is a vision of the kingdom that Jesus came to initiate.

During Jesus' own life here on this earth, there were little glimpses that broke through of the kingdom of God and of eternal life. In fact, almost everything that Jesus did gave people glimpses of the life that only comes from God. He also gave us a living, breathing example of what God is like, which is passed on to us through the Scriptures.

Today's gospel from John 11 is a passage which tells us quite a bit about God's response to suffering and death. We see God's response through Jesus, who comes to visit his friends Mary and Martha a few days after their brother Lazarus has died. As we read the story, one of the first things that we notice is how deeply Jesus feels this death. He is deeply moved by their weeping and their pain, and Jesus himself weeps with them. Several times we are told that Jesus is "greatly disturbed in spirit" (Jn. 11:33). He is not at all "okay" with either Lazarus' death or with the suffering of those who loved him.

Now, as it happens, Jesus - as Son of God and Son of Man - is uniquely qualified to do something about it. He orders the stone removed from the tomb. He tells Martha that those who believe will see the glory of God. He prays and thanks his heavenly Father for hearing him. He asks for God's power to be poured out so that all those standing there might believe that Jesus is the Son of God - the Saviour. And then - he simply raises Lazarus from the dead.

In this gospel, we learn at least a couple of things about God. First of all, when people weep and when people are in pain, God is in pain with them and God weeps with them. God is indeed present, wiping every tear from their eyes. Secondly, death is no match for God's resurrection power. That same power that raised Lazarus from the dead and that raised Jesus from the dead will one day raise all those who belong to God through Jesus Christ.

Yet, for many people this does not seem to be enough. The question that keeps coming up for many people is why God continues to allow pain and suffering and death. They don't want God to be with them in the midst of it. They want God to take it away! And really, who can blame them? After all, who wants to suffer pain and grief?

However, the reality is that life in this world will always include pain as well as pleasure, sorrow as well as joy, sickness as well as health, and death as well as life. We are, after all, mortal and fallible human beings living in a sinful and messed up world. We can, of course, ask God to take away all of the bad stuff, but we need to be aware of what we are asking. To do so, it would seem that God would have one of two choices: Either simply remove all of the human beings from the world, or remove the freedom of human beings to choose the good or the bad.

However, if God wanted a bunch of puppets on a string, he would have created us that way in the first place. God does not want forced obedience, but love - and worship that is in spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:23). At the same time, if God wanted to remove all of the human beings from the world, he would have done it a long time ago. God's plan is not to destroy his creation, but to redeem it and to renew it. This is what Jesus' life, death and resurrection were all about. This is what gives rise to the vision of a new heaven and a new earth which is communicated to us in the Revelation to John -- a vision which will never be fully realized this side of the grave, but which - at least in part - is already true, for God is among us.

In this world, there will continue to be pain and suffering. Sometimes when people experience a difficult time, they respond as if God has somehow singled them out for cruel and unusual punishment. However, God does not do this to people. Rather, God allows life in this world to continue, which inevitably will bring some sorrow with it somewhere along the line.Yet, this same world is full of great beauty and provides pleasure for the senses and provides us with the opportunity to love and to be loved. It is the world that continues to be loved by God as he patiently waits for people to turn to him and be healed. "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life" (Jn. 3:16).

The Scriptures never promise freedom from all pain and sorrow for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ. However, the Scriptures do promise eternal life - a force which begins now and which reaches perfection in the world to come. We also know that we are never alone - whether in joy or in sorrow - for our God is with us, both as the Holy Spirit and through the other members of God's family who share our joys and our sorrows. At the same time, we are reminded today of some of the other promises of the Scriptures:

There is the promise of resurrection for all who believe. There is the promise that Jesus will be with us always - even "to the end of the age" (Mt. 28:20). There is the promise that we will be reunited with all those who have gone before us in the faith. We do not have a God who is far removed from us and who doesn't care what happens to us. Rather, we have a God who came to live among us in Jesus, revealing God's power for salvation and for healing and for resurrection and eternal life.

"See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away" (Rev. 21:3-4).

Amen. May it be so. Amen.

All Saints' Sunday (B) John 11:32-44
November 5, 2006 Revelation 21:1-6a
St. Luke's Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison Moore
? 2006 Lynne Hutchison Moore All Rights Reserved