Ephesians 1:11-23

In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Sermon Text

All Saints’ Day marks a time when the Church acknowledges that its membership is larger than just who sits in the pews. The Church is not just those baptized members that work and walk on the face of the earth, but all those who are present with God beyond the veil of death. As the Church on Earth awaits the resurrection, so those present with God await the same, looking for the day where heaven and earth, physical and spiritual, new and old are all mixed together into a new, perfected creation.

There is, surprisingly, very little within the scope of scripture that describes what sort of life the dead participate in. We know that faithful people, upon their death, are present with God in some meaningful way.[1] We know that they are conscious and that they are actively worshipping God and awaiting Christ’s final victory at the end of the age.[2] Beyond this, however, we do not know exactly what it is like to be physically dead, yet spiritually alive and present with Christ. The time between our physical death and the future resurrection is not something the early church seemed very concerned with. Later writers would develop all sorts of concepts of the “intermediate state,” and of “the beatific vision,” granted to the dead. However, from a standpoint of scripture, very little is revealed to us about the nature of our afterlife.

I think it is intentional that scripture does not fixate on the nature of our existence between death and resurrection. Our duty is to do what is right now, to worship God as we live, and to go into the world to proclaim the good news of Christ in all that we do. To focus on something that we cannot participate in until we actually get there would be to miss the point of the here and the now. We do not get an exact guide to what death brings.

Yet, we are given an abundance of assurance. Christ’s immediate presence with us in death means that, not only is death nothing to fear, it is a gift. Paul says in Philippians that, if he had a say in the matter, he wished he could die sooner rather than later. Yet, he did not see his life as a burden either. He says, “To live is Christ,” meaning it gives us the opportunity to imitate and better know the savior, “to die is gain,” meaning that we get to be present with Christ in a fuller, more direct way.[3] The Christian is not meant to crave death, but we are not to see it as something great and terrible either. For us, death is just a transition from one state to another, a changing of the self from the physical to the spiritual, until the day we rejoin our physical self once again in perfection.

It seems to me that the Church has lost some of its ability to be fearless in the face of death. The process of dying is hard, it does not always go smoothly, but it is not the end of us. There are many things death robs us of – opportunities we could have taken but did not, time with family on this side of eternity we cannot get back – but death is still only a temporary separation. If we believe that, then it should hold no sting for us. While we can, and should, mourn that the people we love die and that they are no longer beside us, we should not “mourn as those without hope.”[4] We believe Christ has marked us, that our faith has confirmed us, that we have a future even beyond death.

Still, I believe people hope that they might be immortal. On one hand this manifests in recklessness, but on the other, and just as dangerously, it manifests as a obsessive pursuit of wellness. New vitamins, new supplements, new exercise regiments, new procedures, new this that and the other, just to deny that one day this life must end. Why are we fearful of growing old? Of wrinkles and stretch marks and grey hair? Why do we chase after youth that has already passed by? It is ok to be as old as we are, to enjoy the benefits and to face the hardships every era of life brings. There is no shame in aging, in frailty or in strength we are all of us significant, all of us still beloved by God. Death comes to everyone, and there is no shame in it.

It can seem a grim topic, to address death so straight on. Yet, it is an important part of life. Christ came and lived and died, in large part so that we would have a companion in every step of life. When we come to the end of this life, we die. Born into eternity in that moment, we see things in a new way. We are present with God, with all the saints who went before us, and we join them in something new. We wait for God’s redemption of the world as people who have seen it closer than anyone else. We behold Christ face to face, we see the power of the resurrection right in front of us. We pray for the day all people can know its power.

On All Saints’ Day, we acknowledge that the Church consists of both the living and the dead. We also acknowledge that we too shall someday die. We will be a name in an obituary, a carving on a grave stone, a face on a poster. Yet, that is not the end of us. In dying we join the feast which Christ set long ago, and we eat and drink and celebrate God’s glory with people from all of space and time. Even today, as we take bread and cup and declare Christ’s salvation through these elements, we do so in the presence of the many witnesses who have gone before us.

Let us find God’s glory at work in every part of our lives. Those of us who are young, rejoice in your youth and vitality! Those who are old, let every achy joint and grey hair testify to the good things that have brought you thus far. Those of us in between, do not mourn the transition from one era to another. For in all times, and all places, in life and in death, God is with us. Praise God, all you people, for God is with us forever more. – Amen.

---

[1] Luke 23:43

[2]  Revelation 6:9

[3] Philippians 1:21

[4] 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14