For All The Saints

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands. Revelation 7:9

The Bible contains all sorts of different genres of writing; biographies, styled histories, songs, wisdom writings, and letters. These types of writing are familiar to us...we have read biographies, histories, and letters before; but there is one type of writing in the Bible that is less familiar to us...called "apocalyptic" literature. Examples in the Bible include some small sections in the Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John), the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, and the book of Revelation in the New Testament.

The word "apocalypse" doesn't mean "frightening terrible end of the world" as we have come to think of it in popular culture. The root word behind it simply means "revealing" or "unveiling." Picture a game show host asking for the curtain to be pulled back on the proverbial "Door Number 1" and you get the idea. The curtains are pulled aside and we get something revealed to us.

The reading from Revelation above is revealing something important to us about those who have gone on ahead of us...they hold palm branches in their hands!

While this may not seem like a big deal at first, think about the last time you knew of palm branches in the Bible. As Jesus rides into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, the people participate in what was for them a familiar ritual; a military conquest parade. Like our own practice of a "ticker tape" parade, palm branches were thrown down when soldiers would return from battle victorious. The crowds that lined the streets for Jesus were predicting he would lead a revolution that would kick out the Roman occupiers and restore independence to Jerusalem. Indeed, just a few days after that, they learned that this God conquers through love and not through war.

Today is All Saints' Day; a day historically set aside to remember those who have died. Who are the saints in your life who have gone on to glory? Maybe friends or family members; maybe someone who was a "giant" in the faith and an example for you. Take a moment of peace...a deep breath...a little silence...and hold their names in your mind and in your heart. Then, re-read the passage above.

After that passage, it goes on to say this:
"They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the centre of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."
Revelation 9:16-17

Indeed, there has been a victory! Throw the Palm Branches down! Today, we can celebrate that, regardless of the circumstances of their death, these saints who you remember today are part of a vast multitude no one can count...singing praise to the one who brought them through the great ordeal, with palm branches in their hands! They are wrapped in white robes, covering up every sin and scar and pain! No more tears, no more suffering...they rest forever in endless praise.

Today, I give thanks for those of you reading this devotion, and for those who you remember. I give thanks for my stepfather, Steve, who joined this crowd just one year ago...and for all those who have been "giants" in the faith for me. I sing my own praise to the God who holds them, and us, in his love.

PRAYER:
Loving God, we thank you for the saints in our lives, for those who have entered into your more immediate presence, and for those still with us. For all the saints we give you thanks, in Christ’s name. Amen.*

*Prayer taken from the Moravian Daily Texts