Saints Triumphant

 

Bulletin cover; St John's/Montello, Wisconsin, WELS

 

This day on the Lutheran calendar is called "Saints Triumphant." It's the day we acknowledge those believers who have gone before us and who are already in the presence of the Lord - and how, we, too, will one day (maybe soon) be there with them. 

I walked into church this morning unprepared to see my husband's name on the screen. I had forgotten what day it was,  so when I sat down and looked up at the screen as I waited for the service to start, my husband's name there was a very solid kick in my heart. It has been ten months, but the tears started flowing like it was yesterday. My purse was soon filled with soggy tissues, and my face mask quickly became uncomfortably damp. But, I perfectly exemplified one of today's verses: 

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope.

1 Thessalonians 4:13 

As Christians, we still grieve. The tears still come, and it's OK. I remind myself often that Jesus wept over Lazarus, even though he was going to be resurrected that same day. (John 11:35) We just don't grieve as those who have no hope. The verse goes on: 

For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. 

1 Thessalonians 4:14 

My sweet husband and all of our loved ones who have gone ahead of us are not lost. They are alive - living more fully than they ever did on this earth. Remember what Jesus said?

But about the resurrection of the dead—have you not read what God said to you, ‘I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob^'? He is not the God of the dead but of the living.”

Matthew 22:31-33  

Yet I was surprised this morning at how close to the surface the tears still are. Apparently I can be fine (more or less) one minute and sobbing the next. I have been dealing with it in two ways. Most of the time, I keep myself so busy and work so hard that I don't think about it. But, that doesn't heal - it just postpones. 

The second way, the better way, is to remind myself (as often as I need to!) that my husband is not dead. He has just gone ahead to the place where all of us believers will be, perhaps very soon. I - we - need to live in that reality. This world is not our home. We were not created to live in a fallen world. We were created for a world that God called "very good." Here, now, even nature groans, waiting for the redemption to come. (Romans 8:18-21)

That day is coming, though, and on that day, I will see my husband, my mother and father, and my little son, because none of them are gone. They have just gone ahead. Best of all, we will be with Jesus from that time and forevermore.

 According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words. 

1 Thessalonians 4:15-18 

Thank you to my church family who reached out to me today with exactly that encouragement. And to you reading this, that encouragement is for you, too. Jesus is coming soon to make all things right again. This world is fallen, flat and colorless, full of darkness and evil. The real world is the one that's coming, full of light and life and only goodness. That is the world we were created for and it for us. Your loved ones who claimed Jesus as their savior are not gone. They have only gone ahead to that place. If Jesus is your savior, too, you'll be with them again. Just hang on ♥