November 12-14, 2022 Pastor Timothy J. Spaude Text: Hebrews 11:32-40 “TOGETHER WITH US!”

 

SAINTS TRIUMPHANT

November 12-14, 2022

Pastor Timothy J. Spaude

Text: Hebrews 11:32-40

 

“TOGETHER WITH US!”

1.     Saints have triumphs and trials.

2.     Saints get what’s better.

 

          It does not seem to me to be as popular as it once was, but it is still a part of American culture. I’m talking about trading cards. America’s heroes. Baseball cards are still probably the gold standard but many do football, basketball and yes, Pokemon and other fantasy games. Hey, we even got into it here at Jacobi. Look in your bulletin for information on your Jacobi pastor and principal cards and how to use them. I can already imagine it. “I’ll give you 2 signed Spaudes for a Waldschmidt. Are you nuts? You can’t tell whose chicken scratch that is!” Did you know you can get Bible hero trading cards? Might be a good way to review your Bible stories. The word of God before us does that too. It comes from Hebrews 11, the “Heroes of Faith” chapter of the Bible. Check out the names of our heroes. What it reveals to us about them comforts and encourages us as once again we celebrate the All Saints portion of the church year. Remember saints are people who God declares righteous through faith in Christ Jesus. The Saints Triumphant are the ones in heaven. The Saints Militant are us, still stuck in the sin filled world. And God makes it clear that in His plan He wants all of us together.

          Together with us saints have triumphs and trials. Prior to our reading the writer had drawn attention to saints named Abel, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses and Rahab. An then he wrote this. “And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, ³³who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, ³⁴quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. ³⁵Women received back their dead, raised to life again.” Wow! Remember the triumphs! Gideon with 300 men defeating the Midianite army. Samson and his great strength defeating the Philistines. David and Goliath. Daniel in the Lions’ Den. Shadrach Meshach and Abednego and the fiery furnace. The widow of Nain whose son was raised back from the dead. The saints of the past had triumphs.

          And trials. “Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. ³⁶Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. ³⁷They were stoned ; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated-- ³⁸the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.” Suddenly being a saint does not look so cool any more. Jeremiah put in prison. The Apostles flogged. Stephen and Paul stoned. Tradition says it was the prophet Isaiah who was placed inside a hollowed out tree and sawed in two. That’s not pretty. But it is real. God’s saints have had trials even leading to their deaths.

          Together with us saints have triumphs and trial. I don’t know Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel but I do know other saints in heaven personally. So do you. For many of us that’s mom or dad. For some it is son or daughter, childhood friend or niece. Time seems to help us forget their whole package. We remember them fondly. But actually they had both triumphs and trials. They had times in their life that they were great examples of faith and times where they stumbled. Maybe they didn’t defeat nations but they fought for God’s truth in their own church and prevailed. Maybe they held the family together in tough times. Maybe their love for Christ moved them to sacrifice for you so you could have Christ in your education. Maybe they also had a drinking problem. Maybe anger led them to sin. Maybe they were not literally sawn in two but maybe you know how they agonized over some past sin and it had their guts tied in a knot in shame and guilt until the Lord released them from sin for good at their death. They had triumphs and trials together with us. And that’s where Gods’ word encourages us. You too will have times of great spiritual triumph. You and the church will triumph. Things will go well for us. And you will have trials. Things won’t go well. That’s OK. You are not alone. All the other saints went through similar things. You are not alone. God is with you, watching and guiding all things with His love. Together with us saints have triumphs and trials.

          And together with us saints get what’s better. “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. ⁴⁰God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” The saints, the believers of the past lived by faith. They believed what they did not see. They did not receive what had been promised. The Savior. Jesus did not come in their lifetimes. So they fought and they triumphed. They fought and they failed and never saw the Promised Savior come. Just like the saints you know personally, mom and dad and all the rest, fought their good fights of faith, had triumphs and trials and did not live to see Jesus come the second time. Why not? Because God has something better in mind for them and us. Together with us all saints will get what’s better.

          And what is that? An eternity together, with Jesus, and with them. The reward in heaven Jesus promised in the Gospel lesson. The new heaven and the new earth. Sin has royally messed up everything. Bodies break down, get cancers, vision goes, hearing goes. Minds slip. Dementia assails. Relationships suffer. People hate. Kids are mean. Spouses acted selfishly not selflessly. Kids rebel. Parents don’t care. There’s a lot of hurt you experience in life. Species God created have gone extinct. The world winds down. God’s solution is a Savior Jesus. He sends Him not to restore this broken world but to save people from it and for something better. What is it going to be like to have a new heaven and a new earth? If we enjoy the company of our pets now, what will it be like when the lion lies down with the lamb? If we enjoy the warmth of the sun on our face on warm fall day, what will it be like when we need no sun because we are in the glory of God Himself? When God tells us that he has something better planned what He is really saying is something perfect and did you hear what He said? Only together with us.

          Together with us. All saints. If there is ever an emphasis of the church year that brings truth to us in a way that digs deep into our emotions it is today. If you ever wonder whether your faith is worth it, all the time devoting to God’s Word, coming to worship Jesus, fighting against sin, feeling like the outsider; if you ever wonder whether whole hearted and full walleted support for the work of your church is worth it, if you ever wonder whether it’s worth it to witness for Jesus in your personal life or if devoting your life to full time church work matters, it is today. All saints. We may have to be separated for a time but not for an eternity. “Only together withs us” says the Lord. Who jumps from your heart to your mind. Who are you missing? Look ahead. Together with us. God has planned what’s better. Today we recognize with thanksgiving to God those associated with our church family who were transferred from the church militant to the church triumphant since last we gathered for this observance.

 

Barnard Nowak, Eddie Rivera, Marilyn Kloke, Gary Blahnik, David Mierendorf, Donald Doepke, Gary Anderson, Ryan Jeske, Joyce Hertig, LaVerne Denlinger, Louis Dominguez, Arlene Barber, Laurell Nommensen, Kenneth Price, George Schaser, Shirley Witt.

 

Together with us. Amen.