1.
Grace, mercy,
and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus
Christ. Amen. The message from God’s Word as we observe the
Festival of All Saints’ Day is taken from Revelation 7:9-17, it’s entitled, “God
Will Wipe Away Every Tear from Our Eyes,” dear brothers and sisters in
Christ.
2.
Life in this world has often been described as a “vale
of tears,” an old English way of saying, “valley of tears.” That expression
comes from a single Bible passage: Ps 84:6. Our English Bibles today don’t
translate that psalm verse with “valley of tears.” They just use the
Hebrew word, Baca: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you [O
Lord] . . . As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of
springs . . .” The Valley of Baca. That Hebrew word Baca is
related to “weeping.” The valley of weeping. The valley of sorrows. The
vale of tears. It’s a way of describing the pilgrimage of God’s people through
this life, through this “valley of tears,” on our way to the eternal
joys of God’s kingdom. And even though our English Bibles no longer use that
phrase in Ps 84:6, the expression “valley of tears” is still well known to
us—and the experience of life as a “valley of tears” is well
known to us as well. That experience doesn’t
leave out God’s saints. We who believe in Jesus are God’s saints, but we
are not immune to sorrows. Quite the contrary. Yet, on this All Saints’ Day, we
rejoice, because, yes, Life in This World Is Often a “Vale of Tears,” but
the Day Is Coming When God Will Wipe Away Our Tears Forever.
3.
This world truly is a vale of tears. Even though pop psychology tells us such a
view is unhealthy, and advertisers and marketers tell us it’s unnecessary, it
remains true. There are so many
sources of tears. Physical pain. Grief over death. Injustice, mistreatment, persecution. Loneliness or rejection. Sympathy for others. Our own sin and guilt. Even in our happiest moments, there is often
some sorrow.
4.
Author Henri Nouwen observes: “There is a quality of
sadness that pervades all the moments of our lives. It seems that there is no
such thing as a clear-cut pure joy, but that even in the most happy moments of
our existence we sense a tinge of sadness. In every satisfaction, there is an
awareness of limitations. In every success, there is the fear of jealousy.
Behind every smile, there is a tear. In every embrace, there is loneliness. In
every friendship, distance. And in all forms of light, there is the knowledge
of surrounding darkness. When you touch the hand of a returning friend, you
already know that he will have to leave you again. . . . But this intimate
experience in which every bit of life is touched by a bit of death can point us
beyond the limits of our existence. It can do so by making us look forward in
expectation to the day when our hearts will be filled with perfect joy, a joy
that no one shall take away from us.”
5.
In compassion for us, Jesus entered into our vale of
tears. God isn’t blind or deaf to our
weeping. Biblical examples: Israelites enslaved
in Egypt (Ex 3:1–8), Hagar in the wilderness (Gen 21:8–21), childless Hannah (1
Sam 1:9–20). What tears have you shed? God
has seen your tears and heard your weeping. The Psalms speak of God storing up our tears
in a bottle and keeping record of them in a book (Ps 56:8). But God has done more than notice our tears.
In Christ, he has entered into our valley of sorrows. There was no room for Jesus’ parents in the
inn when He was born in Bethlehem. Soon after Jesus’ birth, Herod would come
seeking his life, and many mothers of slaughtered boys would be wailing (Mt
2:16–18).
6.
Jesus himself experiences all the sorrows of this
world; he weeps. Weeping with Mary and Martha at the death of his friend Lazarus (Jn
11:33, 35). Weeping over Jerusalem and
its coming divine judgment (Lk 19:41). Crying
out in sorrow over the bitter path of betrayal, abandonment, and death before
him (Mk 14:33–34; Heb 5:7).
7. But Christ also came to do more than simply weep with
the sorrowful; he came to take away their tears! To the
widow at Nain, Jesus comes to raise her dead son, saying, “Do not weep”
(Lk 7:13). To those wailing at the death
of Jairus’ little daughter, he says, “Do not weep, for she is not dead but
sleeping.” At first they mock him, but soon the girl is alive, and their
tears are gone (Lk 8:52)! To Mary
Magdalene, weeping in the garden outside his tomb on that first Easter morning,
Jesus comes to speak her name and to bring her resurrection joy (Jn 20:11–16)!
8. One day, our God will wipe away every tear—forever. This world is a vale of tears, but its tears
are temporary! This is God’s promise to us: Ps 30:5b;
126:6; and especially Jn 16:20–22. A day
is coming when John’s vision will be our own vision. A huge multitude from every nation, all in
white, with palm branches and song worshiping Christ the Lamb. No hunger! No
thirst! And no tears! The blood of
the Lamb (v 14) will have made all the difference. In that day, God will wipe away every tear
from our eyes, forever.
9. Wiping away
someone else’s tears is one of the most intimate of all personal interactions.
It is the very picture of empathy and compassion—the caring one is
acknowledging and sharing the hurt and the grief behind those tears. But the act of wiping away someone’s tears is
not simply joining with them in grief; it’s not just “weeping with those who
weep.” Taking your fingers and drying someone’s tears says something; it
personally promises hope: “Don’t cry. Let me dry your tears. You’re not alone.
I’m here to help, to shoulder the burden, to mend things. No more tears now. It
will be okay. I promise.” For now,
we wait. And often, we weep. In this life, we sow in tears. “Blessed are
those who mourn,” Jesus says, “for they shall be comforted” (Mt 5:4).
10. And as we
wait for the day God will dry our tears, we look for opportunities to dry the
tears of others, to extend to them God’s own compassion, to bring them the good
news of Jesus—who saw their tears, carried their sorrows,
cleansed them by his blood, who will one day wipe every tear from their
eyes.
11. Today, we
celebrate God’s faithfulness to those who have died in the faith, whose
struggles and sorrows are over, whose tears have ended. God’s saints shed many
tears in this world. But for his saints in heaven, there is no more crying—just
joy. They will behold the face of God (Mt 5:8), and God will behold them. He
will reach out his nail-marked hands to them—to us—and wipe away every tear.
Amen. The peace of God that surpasses
all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus until life
everlasting. Amen.
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