Today is All Saints Day, the Christian answer to the pagan-started festival of All Hallow’s Eve. So, today I talk about Saints, Zombies, Lazarus, and things that are blue. Ok, not the blue things. Have at it, kids!
John 11:32-44; Revelation 21:1-6a; Psalm 24; Isaiah 25:6-9
I really like movies. I watch a lot of them. Lacking cable TV, I tend to fill up the vast majority of my free time with the movies that appear in my mailbox every few days from Netflix. Well, that and their whole streaming online feature which is just a beauty. Because I watch so many movies, I tend not to focus on any one genre over another, although sometimes I get locked into a certain one and kind of run with it for a while, until I get tired and move on to the next one.
Not long ago my movie genre of choice was zombie movies. I watched a whole bunch, mostly because they’re usually not very good and find themselves in the streaming online section so I don’t have to wait for them to come in the mail. It makes it easy. And the plot line is almost always the same – the dead come back to life, start eating people, and you can’t actually stop them and all but the first two people shown in the opening credits die.
Now if one had never heard this story before, you might think the story of Lazarus is a little bit like the start of a zombie movie. Jesus gets word that a friend of his is sick, and to be blunt Jesus wastes a lot of time getting to Bethany to heal him. When he gets there, Jesus finds out that Lazarus has been in the grave for four days, which meant he died right around the same time Jesus got word of Lazarus’ illness.
Now when Jesus finally gets to Bethany, he and Martha have an interesting conversation: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” “Your brother will rise again.” “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
In this conversation it seems like Martha doesn’t really follow. Her first response is fairly acceptable, she believed, as we do now and confess in the creeds, that there will be a resurrection of all who have died in faith. But she doesn’t seem to really comprehend Jesus’ last statement. But they go on about their business, and come to Lazarus’ Tomb. When they get there, Jesus says “Take away the stone”. I can really see why Martha would be wary of this, and I love the way she says it: “Umm … Jesus. I know you’re the Lord and all, umm. But my brother has been in there for … four days now. It’s not gonna smell too good.” But Jesus insists, and the stone is rolled away and Lazarus comes out, very much alive.
Now when Jesus raised Lazarus, it didn’t stick. Lazarus didn’t stay alive forever; he eventually died just like other humans. But this passage in John’s gospel is a sort of preview of what Jesus will do. Martha’s statement is even a preview within a preview, where she brings up this concept of the resurrection at the last day. Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, those who believe in him should not perish but have eternal life.
But what does this eternal life look like? For that we have the book of Revelation. Now a lot of pastors don’t like preaching out of Revelation. It’s sometimes considered too confusing, or too scary, or too a lot of things. But I really enjoy this book because it essentially tells us that no matter what is going on around us, and no matter what things we experience in this life, God wins. It paints a picture of what is to come, and in our lesson for today that picture is one of a new heaven and a new earth, with God dwelling among us. There is no more death or pain or sickness.
Now we might think this is something far off, something that we can’t really experience. But there is one part of our worship service where God comes among us – and that is at Holy Communion. We come to God’s banquet feast, joining together not only as a congregation, not just as a denomination, not just as the Christians living now, but with all Christians from all times. In the preface before we sing Holy, Holy, Holy it says, “and so with the church on earth and the host of heaven we praise your name and join in their unending hymn.” The Lord’s Table is for all believers in Christ – all saints of God.
So on this day when we recognize all the saints of God, as you come up to communion, think of receiving communion alongside all those who have come before us and are now with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The saints we didn’t know: Paul, Peter, John, Augustine, Benedict, Francis, Martin Luther – and the saints we knew: grandparents, parents, children, friends, spouses. We all come to the same banquet feast of our God, enjoying the presence of God in our lives and in the bread and wine.