Our Robes are Made White

Title: Our Robes are Made White By Pastor Lohn Johnson

Text:  Rev.7:9-10;13-14 9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,  … 13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?"  14 I said to him, "Sir, you know." And he said to me, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

INTRODUCTION: My dear friends in Christ, As I worked on this text I was drawn to the idea of an old child’s game called Monkey in the middle.  Yes, this game is hard on the Monkey in the middle, while the people on each end are picking on him or her.  And we can learn from this childhood game because all of life seems like playing monkey in the middle.  One side is the past, the other side is the future and our lives are lived in the middle.  And it can seem quite cruel to us in the middle.

I. Yes we are people who live in the middle of time. And People who live in the middle of time are like people who play monkey in the middle but also like people who swim into the middle of a lake, and find it hard to see, either shore.

A. Here, in the middle of time, that we call the present, we often feel so "in over our head" and aware of how easy it might be to sink –like the cruel past and the unknown future are playing with us.

1. This is because we are in over our heads in sin.

a. Now the word “sin” doesn’t’ seem to have the traction it once did. Tell someone that something is a “sin,” and they’ll probably laugh at you and call you a “religious fanatic.” b. And because of sin our struggles will continue here.  We splash about as if we are sinking or we run back and forth unable to catch what we need.

2. And because we are caught in the middle we shouldn’t expect this life to be easy. Don’t expect a divine bailout for your problems.

a. The prophets before you were persecuted. b. All but one of the apostles, John, were martyred. Expect trouble, now. In fact, be suspicious when things are going peaceful. It’s the quiet before the storm.

B. We are in the middle of the lake and we seem to be sinking to our doom.  But now that water is transformed for us.

1. God has provided us with life-giving water. And if we follow that stream of water back, we will find that it started to flow from a hill – a hill called Golgotha.

a. Jesus was killed by crucifixion on that hill. He died on a cross after being brutally mistreated. He was killed to make peace between a holy God and sinful humanity. b. When the spear pierced His side out flowed water and blood as He died.

2. And when on a dark Friday afternoon his body was placed in a grave, his friends thought that they were seeing the last of Him. A large rock placed at the entrance. But on Sunday morning, He rose.  And the stream that started at the cross began flowing. It seemed only a trickle at first. And then, then that river started to surge. It exploded and burst from its banks at Pentecost. Its water began flowing and carving its way through all nations and peoples. It has been washing people clean for generations.  That water has come to us too.

II. We are still in the middle but everything is changed. We are no longer monkeys in the middle with the cruel past and future threatening to abuse us. We are no longer in the middle of the lake sinking down.  Now because of that flow of water to us in baptism we are redeemed and now we have a picture of the past, the present and the future that is quite different.

A. Our picture of the past is changed.

1. You see Everyone in heaven has a past.  You do not go to heaven without one.

a. No Israelite entered the Promised Land without first traveling through the desert.  And no one enters the Promised Land of Heaven without having lived here on the earth. b. But the fact of the matter is that we make too much of our past.  Either we count on our past getting us into heaven, or we despair that our past will keep us out of heaven.

2. But our text speaks of God's saints as having a past, but the only thing it says about their past is that "they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb."

a. It does not say, "They tried their best to keep the Commandments."  It does not say, "They were good people," or "They were good enough to be called saints of God."  b. All it says about their past is "They washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb"--that's all...period!

3. No saint is in heaven because of their past, and no saint is barred from heaven because of their past.

a. they are only there because in their past they had had their robes washed in the blood of the Lamb.  b. Now we are added to their number.  In our baptisms we are washed in the blood of the Lamb.  Our past transgressions are washed away.

B. And our present is changed. Whatever is in your present; whatever worries, troubles, and frustrations--Jesus is not just the Savior of your past, He is here for you in your present as well.

1. His words give strength to you today.  His Sacred Meal sustains you now in this life.  His forgiveness is for your past and for your present.

a. Do you miss your loved ones?  Your loved ones who died in Christ did not leave you.  They are still with you.  You and I just cannot see them or touch them.  And Jesus joins them with us.  In Holy Communion there is no past or future--there is only the eternal present.  b. A few years ago a group of Christians from the United States visited war-torn Nicaragua. While there, a young man in this group was killed by the Contras. This left the group confused and full of questions. On the next Sunday a memorial service was held. From the altar the priest said, "The peace of the Lord be with you" and people from the congregation, Nicaraguan people, began to embrace these Americans and say, "Paz" or "peace." These people who had suffered in so many ways were passing the peace of Christ. During the Communion service there was a pause. The congregation was silent. Then someone called out a name. In one voice everyone responded, "Presente!" Another name was called out. Once again the response was, "Presente!" During the service at least twenty names were called out and each time the same response: "Presente!" The pastor leading this group of American Christians did not understand what was happening until he heard the name Oscar Romero. Then he realized that all the names were those of persons who had died. From that moment on he joined in shouting, "Presente!"  At the Lord's table the word "presente" means "in our midst" or "present with us." Shouting "Presente!" in that worship service was a way of proclaiming the reality of the communion of saints.

2. And our present is transformed by what happens in worship.

a. I heard someone suggest a while back that "the church, especially in its worship, is the language school of the Kingdom of God." In this sense, he said, going to church is like going to language school. If you're planning a trip to a faraway country, you go to language school to learn how to speak the language of the country to which you're traveling. You learn what to say in that country in order to negotiate your way around it. b. This is precisely what we do on Sunday morning. We go to church to try our hand at a strange language. It's the language of forgiveness, and we're still getting the hang of it. We don't speak it near as well as we could, but we come here to practice that language; and, as we do so, the time we live in now gets overthrown by the time we will live in someday.

C. And our view of the Future is transformed.

1. Like this: One author recalls the time when his children were younger.  He and his daughter, Cathy went to find a pet. Cathy selected a tiny peekapoo puppy. When they got home the author agreed to build a dog house for the new pet to live in. He said, "The only kind of dog I knew very much about was a really big bird dog, so when I built the dog house, I built a very large house." In fact the house was too large for the small dog. The size of the dog house scared the little peekapoo puppy. No matter what they did the little dog would not go near the dog house. In exasperation, the author admits, "I would shove him in and hold my hands over the door; but the minute I would move, he would run out, unbelievably frightened." Nothing worked. The little dog would not go into his dog house no matter what they did to entice him. In disgust, the author went inside, and sat down in the den while his daughter, Cathy, stood outside crying over her dad's impatience and the refusal of her puppy to cooperate. After a while, Cathy got down on her hands and knees and crawled into the dog house herself. When she crawled into it something wonderful happened. That little puppy trotted right in beside her and stretched out on the dog house floor. Before too long the dog was taking a nap. All the fear was taken out of the darkness, because the one whom he loved and trusted had preceded him into that dark and frightening place. It no longer caused him fear.  Jesus has done for us what that little girl did for the puppy.

2. John, in writing to this community of Christians, gave them a gift.

a. John pulled back the curtain that obscured their vision of history, in order to show them a party going on in heaven. A party, of those who have been vindicated by God, who are in heaven praising and glorifying God's holy name. b. This was John's way of saying, to them and to us: Have courage, you who bear the ministry of the cross! For you are moving toward the triumph of God! Your life in the middle of time has meaning, because of where it's all headed.

CONCLUSION: You and I look at past, present and future with trepidation. It may seem like we are monkeys in the middle with past and future cruelly abusing us—even the present is hard.  Or we are in the middle of the lake sinking far from either shore.  But Jesus has transformed that water because of the water that flowed from his side. He has removed the abuse that the past, present and future can be for us.  Now the past is forgiven – washed in the blood of the lamb.  Now the present is a time we are in communion with all the saints who have gone before us and we practice the language of heaven in worship.  Now the future has lost its fear factor because Jesus had gone before us and we have a glimpse of the party we will join in heaven.  Amen.  The Peace of God which passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.  Amen.