Waiting
Grace to you and peace from God our
Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
If you think the Church on earth should look and act more
like the Church in heaven; if you think the Church of the Reformation should be
more faithful to that Reformation, you are not alone. You are not the only one
shocked and disgusted by the Church’s in-fighting or worried about the impact
of that fighting on its mission and witness. You are not the only one who is
reeling from Satanic attacks upon our nation and our synod. But such anxiety
comes from judging by appearance. Those who live by sight are betrayed by it.
By themselves, the eyes only see poverty, meekness, and hunger. If what we can
see is all that there is, then life would be futile.
But faith sees more clearly than the eyes. It sees through
today and into tomorrow. It embraces the promise. It sees blessedness in the
cross, in suffering, in striving, and even in what seems to be death. After
all, faith knows that there is no true death for those who die in the Lord.
They pass through the earthly death of the body into real and lasting life. Our
God is the God of the living. Abraham, though he died long ago, is not dead!
Our departed loved ones, who have preceded us in the faith, are not dead
either. And neither shall you, who live by faith in Jesus, be dead. Though for
a time you are beaten and downtrodden, you shall never die.
This is the peace that passes all understanding. It is
peace that exists in turmoil, in sadness, and in the face of tragedy. It
endures because it comes from God. It lives by faith, by things unseen, things
promised, things yet afar off—though not as far as they used to be. It is the everlasting
hope of the Church which has been bought and redeemed by the death and
resurrection of her Lord. It is peace with God and men. It is peace both now
and to come.
This is how our Lord describes the Christian’s lot on this
side of glory: the faithful are poor in spirit, mourning, meek, hungry, cursed,
reviled, hated by men, at war, in strife and difficulty. But in Christ, you
shall be comforted. By grace, like Abraham, you shall inherit the earth. You
shall be filled with righteousness. Baptized into His death, you shall obtain
mercy. You will not be judged by your sins, by your deeds, but by His perfect
life and death. It is enough. It is enough to make dead men alive. It makes
sinners into saints. In the resurrection, you shall see God. You shall be
called sons of God. The kingdom of heaven is yours. You eat the living Bread of
heaven and drink the Blood that washes you clean.
On this side of glory, the saints are waiting. Mostly this
is waiting in the midst of sorrow, trial, and uncertainty; or poverty,
meekness, and hunger; or of fighting, hardship, and worry. Some days are better
than others, but there are no days when everything is just right. We are
foreigners—always outsiders, always suspect, always the object of the world’s
scorn, always a target for the devil’s false doctrines of glory in this life.
So the Word of God calls us to live by faith, to believe and rejoice in things
unseen—things such as saints and angels, the presence of Christ in bread and
wine, the Church Triumphant, and of better days to come.
This is your future. Out of the great tribulation you shall
come with your baptismal robe, washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.
The Beatitudes will be fulfilled in you and for you. You shall neither hunger
anymore nor thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike you, nor any heat. The
Lamb who is in the midst of the throne—who was slain but lives; who gave His
life for yours; who rescued, redeemed, bought, and forgave you—He will shepherd
you. He will lead you to living fountains of waters. And He Himself will wipe
away every tear from your eyes, for you are His saints. In the name of
the Father and of the Son (+) and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
The peace of God which passes all
understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus always. Amen.
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