Sermon | Revelation 7:9-17 | ALL SAINTS DAY - "Pulling Back the Curtain" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

What a scene, huh?! A countless multitude…made up of all people groups and families…speaking all different languages…standing before God waving palm branches—the sign of victory—making a simple and powerful statement: “Victory/Deliverance/Salvation/Healing and Wholeness belongs to God and to the Lamb!” Saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb” both makes a statement about with whom salvation belongs…while also saying with whom salvation does NOT belong. It’s God, not Rome… It’s the Lamb (Jesus), not Caesar… No person or group will bring the true victory or healing of the world. Only God. And only God through the work of the Lamb. This Lamb is described as slaughtered in Revelation. There is NO WEAKER symbol to present than a slaughtered lamb. Yet…that is the symbol of the great power to rescue all of Creation. A slaughtered Lamb is who people are shouting songs of victory to. This whole idea of Jesus is supposed to be peculiar. But a Lamb who has passed through death… Who has suffered… Who has struggled…is the perfect symbol for what God is doing and will do. A Lamb who has faced the worst the world can throw at it and endured the deepest depths of sin and death is the most encouraging image we can have as we consider those whom we have lost—those who have suffered…who have struggled…who have died. While we may see in our earthly vision that death got the last word… we find another truth when the Revelator pulls back the curtain for the church. We can be assured that those who have endured life unto death are now celebrating the victory won by Jesus Christ the slaughtered lamb. The slaughterer, Caesar, may seem to have gotten the last work… He may seem like the victor—but we know better! And on this All Saints Day… Where would we rather our loved ones be than celebrating victory with God where they are sheltered from decay, hunger, pain, sadness, and death? Where would we rather hope to be one day? We come to this sanctuary every weekend to lift up songs of celebration and praise NOW for the victory that was won LONG AGO which we will all live into ONE DAY. We come to this time and step out of the hustle and bustle of our lives and worries and stresses and fears…to enter a sanctuary created by Jesus Christ. We take a break from a world full of people trying desperately to be in charge and have their way and dictate to us how we should think and feel…to come to a place where we celebrate the one who come out of love to show us a life where we can and will be free of pain and suffering. We come here to pull back the curtain to be reminded that there is a bigger story… a bigger plan… a bigger promise… a bigger Ruler at work for us. We find the truth with God. We find true blessing and glory and wisdom with God… We find Thanksgiving and honor with God… We find power and might is God’s forever! Where do we find salvation and healing friends… Is it from a donkey? Is it from an elephant? No…it is ONLY from the slaughtered Lamb! No matter what storms may come in life… No matter what bad turns we have taken or continue to take as we struggle… No matter how uncertain we might find ourselves to be… May we remember the great reality behind it all… And on this day when we remember and celebrate our Saints… let us remember that it is only in God and the slaughtered Lamb where we find the salvation, hope, and life for which long. It is only in Jesus Christ we find final victory…the last word…the truth and life…and in him we find a hope that cannot be shaken or conquered… For our saints, For our world, And for ourselves… Forever and ever… Amen!