Doing what I do; being who I am, I have a lot of experience with death. And I have to say, I’m not a fan. Indeed, I hate death. Now I know hate is a pretty strong word. When my boys say they hate something I tell them they may not like the thing, they may even detest it, but it is unlikely that they hate it. But I mean what I say when I tell you I hate death.
I don't hate death so much for what it is going to do to me. Although don't get me wrong, I am less than thrilled by the realization that with each passing year I statistically get closer and closer to knocking on death's door. I don't think I am really afraid of death. I believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and that whoever believes in Him will live even though he dies.[1] I trust my God to keep His promises. But honestly, I have never done it before, die that is. I have no personal experience with the process. So yeah, I'm a little apprehensive, a little unsettled by the thought of my death.
But the reason I hate death so much is not about what it is going to do to me, it is because of what it does to families. It tears them apart; death tears mothers and fathers away from their children, it tears sons and daughters away from their parents, it tears husbands from wives and wives from husbands. I hate that Steve Bohlmann checked Heidi into the hospital two weeks ago and a nurse told him he had 30 minutes to come up with a living directive for his wife. I hated seeing that man; that pillar of faith crumble at the sight of his wife on life support. I hated sitting there with him day after day as he tried to make peace with the fact that his wife was likely going to die. I imagined what Steve was going through and I hated death for doing that to him.
For a few sickening moments last week, I did more than imagine what Steve has been going through for the last two weeks. I was out of town. And when I say out of town I mean out of town. I was in the middle of a national forest. I was running a race I had been looking forward to for quite some time. It was a beautiful day; 60 degrees, sunny, low humidity. I was on a pine straw covered trail that rolled through the Talladega national forest. The views were breathtaking. I was running well; 1 second per mile faster than I had planned to run. I was in the middle of a pack of like-minded runners having the time of my life when all of the sudden my phone rang. I joked to the other runners that I had to take the call. It was from home. My 10-year-old son Elijah was on the line. I said, "buddy daddy is a little busy at the moment what do you need?" The other runners laughed. But I stopped smiling when I heard anxiety and fear in Elijah’s voice. My little man said, "daddy, did you know that mommy is in the hospital?". I got that feeling you get somewhere between your heart and throat, that racing, breathless, tightening feeling. It hurt to swallow but thankfully my mouth felt like it was full of cotton. You see, I did not know mommy was in the hospital. I was two hours away, covered in mud in the middle of the woods, terrified that death was going to do to my family what I had seen it do to so many families so many times before.
I hate death. Don’t you? I mean, you don’t have to imagine what it feels like to lose someone you love. Death has visited your family like it visits all families. Your family too has been torn apart by death. This morning our Narthex is full of photos of former members of Messiah who have been taken away by death. Those people are your friends, they are your family, they are people you love --Great-grandparents, grandparent, parents, siblings, spouse-- and death took them from you. You have sat before their caskets. You have heard the preacher read the 23rd Psalm. You have mourned the loss of someone you love. I imagine you hate death every bit as much as I do.
You know who else hates death? God. God hates death. It was not His plan for any of us to die. We were designed to live. God designed us without an expiration date. In the garden of Eden there were no terminal diseases, no need for hospice care, no such thing as a mortuary. It is only because of sin that there is now death in this world. (The devil left that little tid-bit of information out when he tempted Eve with the forbidden fruit.) Before there was sin there was no death, but now there is sin and so people die. It's not what God wanted for any of us. He hates the pain it causes us. He hates how death tears our families apart.
God understands why we feel the way we do about death. He knows what it feels like to watch someone He loves, die. I can't imagine what it would feel like to lose a child --God I never want to know-- but God knows. He knows what it is like to watch His one and only Son die. It would be a mistake for you to think God does not know how it feels to lose a loved one. Saint Luke tells us, when Jesus died the sun stopped shinning[2]. Matthew tells us, the earth shook, and the rocks split[3]. God understands how you feel about death, He has as much reason to hate death as you do.
Death is such an imposing presence that when it visits your family it is hard to see anything but the pain, sorrow, and loss that it brings. But today, God invites us to look beyond death; look beyond the pain, look beyond the sorrow, look beyond the loss. Look beyond death and see, see “a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb.” See the great multitude! This is no small band of victims huddling together for support. This is a great multitude; an ever-increasing crowd of people who are being gathered from all over the world. They stand like a mighty army of proud warriors before the throne of their triumphant King. Look closer and you will see the individual people who make up the great multitude. Look closer and you will see them “wearing white robes” and “holding palm branches in their hands.” Their robes are white because they are the holy ones, they are pure and perfect, they are righteous and innocent. They are holding palm branches because they are celebrating a great victory. Listen as they scream and shout, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” They are celebrating His victory. The old saying has come true, “Death has been swallowed up in victory,”[4] “Where, o death, is your victory?” they scream. “Where, O death, is your sting?”[5] they shout.
Because of god’s victory, nothing, not even death can hurt the white robed ones now, for “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.” Those who stand before the throne of God enjoy the protection that throne offers. God’s “tent” is like an impenetrable shield. Nothing gets through it. The white robed ones are shielded from all harm and danger. “Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat.” Beneath God’s tent, the white robed ones are at last and for all eternity, safe and secure. And more than that, they are happy; happier than they have ever been. “For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” The white robed ones are with Jesus. Jesus is taking care of them now. God Himself has wiped every tear from their eyes.
A great multitude of people wearing white robes and celebrating God’s victory over death is a beautiful sight to behold. But I want you to look closer still. Look upon their faces and tell me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” You recognize them don’t you. They are the believers who have been taken from you. They are your family, friends, and loved ones; your great-grandparents, grandparent, parents, siblings, spouse. The last time you saw them death had them laying in a casket. How is it that they now stand among the great multitude? And how did their robes get so white? The prophet Isaiah reminds us that even the most loving, kind, generous, and faithful of Christians still wears filthy rags[6]. Let’s face it, granny may have been as sweet as the day is long, but the old girl was not holy. Your daddy may have great role model, but he was not pure and perfect. Your sibling may have been the most honest person you have ever known, but they were not righteous and innocent. Then how is it that they are now wearing white robes? How do they stand among the great multitude? You know the answer, but I’m going to give it to you anyways. Jesus. Jesus is how your loved one stands among the great multitude and wears the white robe. No longer are their garments stained with sin “they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” You see, God may hate death every bit as much as we do. But He loves us so much that He allowed death to tear His family apart so that our loved ones and all who believe in Jesus as their savior might stand among the great multitude and wear the white robes.
The next time death visits your family, I don’t expect you to welcome it with open arms, I seriously doubt that I will (I’m still not much of a fan). It is not my intention to change the way you feel about death this morning. All I want to do today is encourage you, the next time death threatens to tear your family apart, encourage you to look beyond the pain, look beyond the sorrow, look beyond the loss; look beyond death and see your fellow believers not laying in a casket but standing among the great multitude; see them not stained with sin, but washed in the blood of the Lamb and wearing white robes. See them not as those who are dead and gone, rather see them as they really are, saints triumphant. When the time comes, I pray such a sight be a source of comfort for us all. Amen.
[1] John 1:25
[2] Luke 23:45
[3] Matthew 27:51
[4] Isaiah 25:8
[5] Hosea 13:14
[6] Isaiah 64:6