"Faithful Unto Death"
Revelation 2:10b
Alleluia! Christ is risen! He is risen
indeed! Alleluia!
“Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” These
words, Marvin’s Confirmation verse, are recorded in the Revelation to Saint John. Jesus told
John to write these words to the troubled Christians in the Church at Smyrna. They experienced
trials and persecutions in such measure that they wondered if they should
continue to confess the Lord as their God. Smyrna’s Christians experienced
worldly poverty, but Jesus reminded them just how rich they were in the holy
things of the Lord—things like forgiveness, eternal life, salvation, hope, the
Word of God, and the eternal inheritance awaiting them. “I know your tribulations and your poverty,” Jesus said to them. “Do not fear what you are about to suffer.”
Jesus could say this to them—and to
us—because He is not a God who is far off. He can say this to them because of
what He has done. He can say this because He became one of us. He is Emmanuel:
God with us, God made flesh, dwelling among us for our salvation. He knows our
trials and struggles because He experienced them Himself. His first bed was an
animal food trough. His family fled with Him to Egypt to preserve His life from
King Herod. He mourned the death of His friend, Lazarus. He felt the
excruciating pain of the scourge. He experienced humiliation and mockery at the
hands of both the Jews and the Roman soldiers. He was forsaken by His Father.
He was nailed to the cross, where He suffered and died. So when the Lord speaks
these words—when He tells His people to be “faithful
unto death,” when He tells them not to be afraid of the suffering to
come—He speaks with authority.
“Be
thou faithful unto death.” Marvin built his life around these words. We are
not here to preach Marvin into heaven, for Jesus has already done all the work;
even now, Marvin rests from his labors, awaiting the resurrection to come on
the Last Day, because Jesus bore all Marvin’s sins to the cross. But the Church
has always looked to those who have gone before as examples of faith. It’s
important for us to know that Marvin lived his faith: how he was a faithful
father and husband; how he shared his gift of music; how he worked with
Laborers for Christ. In all of this, he rejoiced at how the hand of the Lord
upheld and sustained him. He rejoiced in the many blessings he had received
from the Lord: a loving wife; faithful children, grandchildren, and
great-grandchildren; food, shelter, clothing, and, indeed, “all [he needed] to support this body and life.”
But Marvin especially rejoiced that
the Lord made him His child in the waters of Holy Baptism. He rejoiced to
receive the forgiveness of his sins. He rejoiced to be fed with his Savior’s own
body and blood. These gifts sustained him throughout his life, even when his
body bent and began to fail. This is not to say that Marvin was worthy of all
these blessings from God, or that he had strength or reason to trust in the
Lord on his own, or that he earned his place in heaven. But Marvin took the
Word and promises of God very seriously. By the grace of God and the work of
the Holy Spirit within him, Marvin was faithful until death, and now the
crown of eternal life is his.
Jesus said, “I
will give you the crown of life.” He won that crown for you by wearing the
crown of thorns. By His innocent suffering and His atoning death on the cross,
the holy Son of God shedding his blood for you, Christ Jesus paid the price you
owed, died the death you deserve, and obtained the forgiveness you so
desperately need. This promise is for you. Of course, just as this was true of Marvin,
you cannot remain faithful by your own power—nor could the Christians in Smyrna or any of the
other Christians who have died in the faith down through the centuries.
Faithfulness only comes by the power of the Holy Spirit, both in good times and
in bad. That power of the Holy Spirit—the Spirit you have received in the
waters of Holy Baptism—will give you the faith to cling to the words and
promises of God. The Lord is faithful. And in His promises and gifts, He will
strengthen your faith through all adversities and temptations. The Lord does
this through His Means of Grace, the Word and the Sacraments. Through these gospel
means, the Lord of the Church sustains His people.
So “do not be
afraid of what you are about to suffer.”
Do not be afraid of illness. Do not be afraid of death. Do not be
afraid of the grief that you’re experiencing right now. Marvin was a blessing
to you, and it’s okay to miss him. Do not be afraid, for the Lord is with you.
The One who died in agony on the cross knows your pain, your suffering, and
your grief; He will neither leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid to mourn,
but do not mourn like those who have no hope. Our risen Lord is with you, and
He will send His Spirit to comfort you, to sustain you, to keep you steadfast
unto death. By the grace of God, just like Marvin, you will receive the crown
of life. Alleluia! Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia! In the name of the Father and of the Son (†)
and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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