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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