SAINTS
TRIUMPHANY
November
8-10, 2025
Pastor
Timothy J. Spaude
Text:
Revelation 21:1-6
“HAS GOD GOT A
DEAL FOR YOU!”
Some of you may know I really like
getting a good deal. BOGO! Buy One, Get One. Half price apps. Happy hour. 50%
off. That’s the kind of language I like to see. Some who get stuck along with
me in my desire to get a good deal might think it borders on obsessive but for
me it’s pretty simple. It’s a matter of time and money. I am willing to spend
extra time researching or traveling if it will save me some money. Oh, and I
prefer the label frugal to cheap! I’m pretty sure part of the reason I am this
way is my competitive spirit. With no outlet for competitive sports getting a
deal feels like a win. Part of it also flows from my desire to please God. I
understand very clearly that everything in my care is God’s. He’s letting me
use it, manage it, for Him, and so for me it also becomes a matter of Christian
stewardship. God deserves to get the best deal on whatever I buy. God should
pay only what is necessary for quality items. I also wonder though if the Lord
has trained me to be this way. Think about it. From the very beginning to the
very end God gives us a deal, a great deal.
The Bible verses before us today from
the end of Revelation proclaim Has God got a deal for you! The book of
Revelation is written in a style called apocalyptic. That means the Holy Spirit
had the writer make heavy use of visions and symbols to communicate God’s
truths. The main truth of Revelation is Jesus wins! No matter what the Devil or
the unbelieving world try, Jesus always wins. That means that those with faith
in Jesus win too. They triumph. Which is why a reading from Revelation is very
fitting for Saints Triumphant Sunday. Saints are people that are declared holy,
innocent of their sins because Jesus has taken away their sins. Saints come in
two varieties, still fighting saints and triumphant saints. Still fighting
saints are those believers who are still stuck living in the sinful world.
Triumphant saints are those granted the privilege of life with God in heaven.
I, for instance, am a fighting saint. Saint Timothy. Pleased to meet you! You
are fighting saints too.
Our reading today draws our attention
to both kinds of saints. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new
earth, because the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. And the
sea no longer Existed. 2And I saw the Holy City, the New
Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for
her husband. 3And from the throne I heard a
loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with people. He will dwell with
them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them, and he will be
their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes.
There will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain, because the former
things have passed away.” The Apostle John draws our attention to the end
of the ruined world and the beginning of eternal life in its fullest sense.
There is a brand new place for people to live physically, spiritually,
emotionally. Jerusalem is used figuratively like it often is in the rest of
Scripture. It’s the Church, all believers, the Bride of Christ. Heavenly life is
described in two ways. The presence of something and the absence of something.
We’ll get to the presence part in a
bit but for now let’s focus on what is absent from heaven. Tears. Sorrow.
Crying. Pain. These are the things of the world we live in. Did you notice the
stark difference between the first Scripture lesson from Revelation and the
next two? The Hebrews lesson first pointed to some temporary triumphs
experienced by Saint Gideon and Saint Samson and Saint David and Saint Samuel.
Then it went on. Other saints experience mocking, lashes, chains, sawed in tow,
needy, afflicted, mistreated. Jesus, in the Gospel lesson. You are blessed when
you are in want, weeping, hated, excluded, insulted and rejected because of
your faith in Jesus. I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t sound like a good
deal. But the problem is not God. It is sin. Our sin. Other people’s sin. This
world is ruined because of it. And so if you are a believer in Jesus still
stuck in the sin filled world you will be a still fighting saint. Now I know
this can be hard but let’s strive not whine about it, complain about it, or feel
sorry for ourselves. Embrace the fight! It’s a sign you are a saint! Saints fight
against their sinful nature and its desires. Saints fight against the inroads,
the corruption our society is putting into our minds and our children’s minds
where God’s rights about sexuality and gender and marriage are called wrong and
God’s wrongs are called right. Saints embrace the insult and the exclusion. Saints
fight the sinful reaction to retaliate when someone, especially someone you
love or who should love you, hurts you. Saints fight the loneliness of your
loved ones gone and the hurt of people who don’t value you for you. Let every
tear, every sorrow, every crying and every pain be a testimony to you that you
are one of God’s saints, a still fighting saint. But then get your chin up.
Because the sin broken world won’t last. This life is temporary.
The next is triumphant. Absent are
tears, sorrow, crying and pain. Present is the Lord! “And from
the throne I heard a loud voice that said, “Look! God’s dwelling is with
people. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people. God himself will
be with them, and he will be their God.” This is what God intended all
along! Boy, did Adam and Eve get a great deal in the beginning! They lived
physically, spiritually emotionally, in a perfect world. A perfect garden where
their relationship to each other was perfect. Where they were in complete
harmony with the created world, all the plants and animals, where they had
meaning and purpose as they enjoyed and carefully tended their perfect place to
live we call the Garden of Eden. And best of all, best of all, God was present.
He lived with them and they had no guilt, no shame, only love, joy, peace!
While they lost that true “heaven on
earth” through sin, our Lord Jesus has won back our relationship with God by
taking our sins away. He has destroyed the power of the Devil so there will be
no fear of snakes in the Triumphant life, no chance to fall and reject God’s
gracious deal. Our relationship with everyone there will be perfect, no strife,
no resentment, no hurt. Does that sound good? In the new heavens and new earth
there will be perfect harmony with nature. Those of you who have found joy in
pets here, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Meaning and purpose to everything we do
whether God has us tending a garden or the mansion he has prepared for us or
enthralled in rapture listening to the angel choirs. And God will be there in
fullness. We will be with Him! No fear, shame, guilt, doubt to mar our
relationship Him. Seeing Jesus face to face. I could go on and on with what it
means to be fully in the presence of God trying to paint my best picture which
will fall far short of the real glory God has prepared for us.
Some of us who used to have to wonder
exactly what that would be like are not wondering any more. Some of ours who
were still fighting saints are having to fight no more, for they have joined
the Saints Triumphant.
Clarence
Osten, Richard Solazo, Melanie Schmidt, Frederic Eckert, James Sabrowsky,
Helmuth Rogalla, Kaye Eckert, Maycel Plautz, Helen Tellier, Pearl Holsen, Ralph
Engelhardt, and Melvin Schmidt. And one more as we remember those of your loved
ones not our members who also fought the good fight of faith and received from
Jesus the Crown of life. Theirs is the glory, the joy, the peace, the
understanding. They live with God and God with them. And they are waiting for
you.
Because God has a deal for you too! “The
one who was seated on the throne said to me, “Look, I am making everything
new!” He also said, “Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6And
he said to me: It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the
End. To anyone who is thirsty, I will give freely from the spring of the water
of life.” Jesus on His throne makes the command that changes everything.
It’s all brand new. Jesus, the Alpha and Omega, the A to Z the be all and end
all offers a deal. Picture language. Are you thirsty? Do you long for the
better life, eternal life? It’s yours. For free! God’s talking my language.
Yours too. Has God got a deal for you! Amen.
