“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.” (1 John 3:1)

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

“Beloved, you are God’s children now” (1 John 3:2).

God has declared this by His Word, which means this is most certainly true.

For even while we were still sinners;

even though we had turned (and continue to turn) from our God and Father and from His house and His perfectly ordered life for peace in communion with Him and with one another,

He has never quit loving us.

He has never turned aside from His promise to gather us back into His household.

He has never turned back from His promise to set us apart from sin and death, that we might have life everlasting in Him.

In fact, just the opposite!

For even while we were still sinners, God sent His Son for us (Rom 5:8).

Christ our Lord died for us to rescue us, to redeem us, and to restore us to God’s presence in God’s household in everlasting communion with Him and one another for everlasting peace.

And it is this finished business, this completed salvation,

this new and everlasting reality that St. John literally sees with his own eyes in his vision at Patmos.

According to the revelation given to Him AND to you by our Lord this day,

John sees a multitude of the poor in spirit now made rich by the grace of God.

He sees the persecuted prophets who have come to their reward.

He sees those who have left behind all mourning, meekness, hunger, and thirst, for he sees the saints of God – the blessed – the “set-apart –

the holy ones gathered about the Lamb who has raised them up from sin and death. 

He has made their robes white by the cleansing of His own blood.  

He has cleansed their hearts and consciences in the waters of Holy Baptism.

He has distilled them to their finest essence, to their truest selves by removing their guilt and regret, their shame and fear.

In other words, He has made them fully human as He is fully human (Tx David Petersen)

Today, we see them with the palms of victory in their hands, for they have overcome the evil one by the Blood of the Lamb.

Today, they reap the benefits – the plunder and the glory of HIS sacrifice:

They reap where they did not sow.

They buy and eat without money or cost.

Jesus relieves them of all burdens and bestows His own inheritance and perfect love upon them.

And of all their joys, here is the greatest:

that Christ Himself, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, abides in their midst.

He is with them, and they are with Him.

That is, after all, what it means to be blessed.

To be “blessed” means to be set apart for life in Christ. 

To be set apart means to be holy. To be holy means to be a saint, righteous in God’s sight,

redeemed by grace and declared not guilty before God so that you may remain in His presence in communion with Him for life everlasting in His kingdom.

Blessed – set apart – sainted – holy…

These words all mean the same thing!

And they all refer to what St. John sees in his vision.

For John sees the blessed ones –

He sees the set-apart – the saints – the holy ones.

He sees the people from every tribe and nation and language who have been called out of the darkness and gathered into the Lord’s presence – which means,

he sees you! For you, too, are participants in that very multitude!

Christ has redeemed you.

Jesus has Baptized you, cleansing you that you may enter into God’s presence.

Jesus has absolved you, which means your sins are forgiven.

Your robes shine with the brilliant white of His righteousness, for you have washed them in the blood of the Lamb (Rev 7:14).

And so, you ARE saints.

You ARE holy. And so am I!

Do you see my halo?

Do you see the shining crown gleaming over my head as a revelation of my holiness and saintliness?

If you don’t, it’s only because you are looking in the wrong place…

Because it’s right there [point to Jesus’ silhouette]!

You see, I have no halo of my own… I have NO HOLINESS of my own…

and neither do you.

For we will never be holy by way of our own moral efforts or good behavior.

Rather, the holiness we have –

the holiness we receive, is Christ’s holiness which He shares with us when we abide in Him.

            It is HIS halo that covers us – HIS righteousness that clothes us.

The scriptures make this clear.

I’ll refer you back to the “welcome statement” in your Service Folders this morning for all the Scripture references,

but in 1 Cor where St. Paul tells us that Christ is our holiness (1Cor 1:30), he means that “we are holy in Him (Phi 1:1; 4:21);

we are sanctified by faith in Him (Acts 26:18).

His Word makes and keeps us holy (John 17:17, Eph 5:26, 1Tim 4:5).

God the Father sanctifies us by uniting us with His Son and by giving us His Holy Spirit (1Cor 6:11, 2Thes 2:13, 1Pet 1:2).

We are not expected to generate our own holiness.

Rather, we participate in God’s holiness which we receive from Christ as we travel with Him through life along the holy way” (John W. Kleinig, “Grace Upon Grace: Spirituality for Today,” CPH, 2008).

Therefore, to be a saint means nothing other than to take your place under the shelter of Christ’s holiness –

quite literally, to take your place in worship before the throne where you add your voices to those of every nation and tribe and people and language in the unending song of praise,

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!

Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

We sing this song even now in this fallen world;

we sing it as we are reviled and persecuted for Christ’s sake,

and we will sing it forever in all the fullness of glory to be revealed.  

Who ARE these clothed in white robes that St. John sees with his own eyes?

They are Brenda, Bill Cookston’s beloved wife;

Victor, Susan’s father,

James, my own father,

Adolph, Mike Lorence’s father,

Lazarus, John and Jo Rudsenske’s grandson who died on the eighth day of his short, blessed life.

Who are these in white robes standing in the presence of God?

They are you and me – the Baptized –

all who have been raised up in Christ as a new creation to share in His holiness –

all who hunger and thirst for His righteousness, and who now come into His presence to receive His gifts for life everlasting.

Blessed are you.

Holy are you.

Set apart are you for a life of unending peace and joy in the presence of God and of the Lamb.

He will shelter you with His presence.

You shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore.

The sun shall not strike you, nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne is YOUR Shepherd,

and He will guide you to springs of living water,

and God will wipe away every tear from your eyes.

In the Name of Jesus. Amen.

Preached by Pastor Holowach

Sermon Texts: Matthew 5:1-12, Rev 7:9-17, 1 John 3:1-3.