Nov. 2, 2025 - Rev. 7:9-17 - All Saints' Day

I would bet it probably goes as far back as anyone can remember, as far back as we have written records for that kind of thing. People have always found ways of expressing themselves through how they look. I’m not talking about people doing things to make themselves look good, putting on makeup or getting your hair done or that sort of thing, though those things sometimes apply here too. No, I mean telling the world what kind of person you are.

Maybe you have certain hobbies or interests that you put on display. If you like motorcycles, you might wear a biker jacket around. If like a particular music group, you might have shirts with their logo on them or perhaps a hat. If you want to show that you have certain views or that you belong to certain groups, you’ll probably dress accordingly. The hippies of the 60’s and 70’s tended to have long hair, tie dyed clothes, colored sunglasses and that sort of thing. The punk rockers will wear a lot of spiky leather, shave their heads or dye them crazy colors. They’ll have a lot of piercings. Goth people will wear mostly black and dye their hair black. They’ll use a lot of eye makeup and wear leather or more formal attire.

You might dress differently based on the job you do. Many jobs have uniforms that distinguish them from the rest. Soldiers, police officers, clergy, doctors can be determined with a glance. If you work in an office most of the time, you might wear a suit and tie. If you are more blue collar, you probably wear something that can take a little more abuse. All of these things say something about who you are.

The Revelation reading for today describes the saints as having a uniform too. They wear white robes. There’s no indication here of what they might have done in life. Were they pilots? Farmers? Civil engineers? Did they like heavy metal? Jazz? Classical? Did they prefer sleek sports cars? Luxury sedans? More practical SUVs? Did they like Chinese food? Mexican? Italian?

Who can say here? They have no logos on their shirts. We don’t know if they were clean cut and professional, if they had Rastafarian dreadlocks, or punk mohawks. None of those things are evident here. They wear white robes and that’s all that matters. What jobs you did, what hobbies and interests you had, none of that seems to matter here. Everyone wears the same white robes.

If I saw a movie like this, I might be a little unnerved by it. Is this some far future where we’re all just like ants and everyone is interchangeable? Is this a depiction of communism, where conformity is enforced? Where is the individualism? Where is the ability to express yourself? What about being your own person? Why not a little color, maybe a tattoo? Why can’t they wear their favorite hat or maybe some jewelry? It’s like they’ve been erased. There’s nothing to distinguish any of them anymore.

In a country built on individualism, the notion that all of these differences would be wiped away doesn’t sit well. Does God want a legion of mindless robots? Does he want us all to be a bunch of cookie cutter people, all stamped out from the same dough? Does he even care about the kinds of things we said and did in life? Does anything we do that differentiates us matter at all?

A lot of people these days are touting the benefits of individualism and expression, living the way you want, being the person you want, doing the things that feel true to you. God doesn’t seem to go for that kind of thing. In fact, many of the things people are trying to do are thing God explicitly says are unacceptable. None of those lifestyle choices are in evidence here either. It’s not all that surprising that God would do away with things he has said are forbidden, but this looks like it goes well beyond that.

What value is there to being different if God is just going to erase all of that anyway? When St. Paul says, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female,” there’s a part of us that likes the idea that no one can be better than we are. But, there’s also a part of us that chafes at the idea that we can’t be better than anyone else. We can’t delight and enjoy who we are and what makes us different. What’s the point of having different hobbies, interests, and talents, if God doesn’t want any of those things?

That might be an extreme way of putting it, but it’s the kind of place our mind goes when we see God at work. When we hear God’s rules and commands that forbid this or that, when we see these scenes with, what looks like, enforced sameness, we object. “God made me this way! God wants me to be happy! God wouldn’t give me this ability, this desire, this talent, this opportunity, if he didn’t want me to use it! Not only that, but we’re individuals! I’m proud of the fact that there’s no one else like me and I’m going to take every chance I get to show everyone else how great it is to be me!”

It’s true. God did make us different. He made us unique. He made us special. He gave us, as Luther says, “my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason and all my senses, and still takes care of them.” God made everything you have. He made everything you are. He also made us with limits. Our individuality only goes to a point. Wanting to truly be our own people, being the person you want to be, living the way you want to live, doing everything the way you want to do it, wanting to truly be an individual also means being completely alone. The only way you end up completely different from everyone and everything is if you’re the only one around.

Our individuality, our expression, our choices and lifestyles are good, but only within the limits God has created us to have. When our choices and decisions go beyond those limits, then we have declared our sovereignty over ourselves and the world around us. We look at the laws God gives, laws he gives to everyone in creation, and we chafe at the restrictions. We complain about how they hold us back from being who we want to be.

We look at the restrictions, the laws, the limits God puts around us and think how God wants us all to be the same. We get so focused on the things we want, and the people we want to be, that we entirely miss all of the other places God has made us unique. All of the saints gathered around the throne are wearing white robes, it’s true. But they are also people gathered from all tribes and peoples and languages. They are the same as all other saints and they are different, all at once.

We are all unique, and yet none of stands before God on our own merits, our own talents, our own accomplishments. We stand before God without any sign of what we have done, because none of it counts. It is only by the blood of the one perfect lamb that our sins are washed away. He alone makes us all clean. It is not our lives that God evaluates. It is the life of his Son. We are baptized into his death and resurrection and we share together in all that Christ has done for us.

The white robes of the saints are not there to show off what we have done. They are there to show off what Christ has done. They display proudly who we are because of his sacrifice. They are a mark of his love for us. Where your hobbies and accomplishments won’t save you, the blood of Christ does. This is what we display proudly. The one thing we have, the one thing that saves us is that Christ died for us.

The world may appreciate your woodworking hobby, or your exceptional knowledge of Razorbacks sports trivia, or your love of nachos, but all that does is tell me how you’re different. The Gospel message tells me how I’m different too, but then it goes on to tell me how God became like me. He became like me, accepting both the joys and the sorrows. He became like me in taking on my sin. He became like me so that I could become like him, pure and perfect. As Luther reminds us, “Jesus has redeemed me, a lost and condemned person, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil; not with gold or silver, but with his holy, precious blood and with his innocent suffering and death.”

God became the same as me, so that he could die for me, so his blood could wash me clean, so that I would be like him in righteousness. This is why the saints are gathered around the throne. They are individuals who are united, united as one family. They are brothers and sisters who have been brought together by the grace of God to stand before the throne proudly wearing their badge of honor. But, it is not their honor. It’s is Christ’s. The present to God the one thing that makes them righteous, and in that, they stand as one. The saints rejoice that they are not seen based on what they have done or not done. They are seen based on what Christ has done. They are made clean. They are made holy. They see the end result of God’s saving work.

Here in this world, we cling to all of the different parts that make us who we are, both the good and the bad. We chafe at the idea of losing anything, of giving it up. We want to revel in both our virtues and our vices. We want to be justified in living however we want. We want to be right, just as we are.

Jesus shows us something very different. It’s uncomfortable to see him at work, because he demonstrates that we are not alright, just as we are. There is something greater out there that is completely out of reach. Instead of living with evil, he shows us a life without any evil, a life where we don’t have to try and justify the evil that we do because there isn’t any. Being made like Jesus sounds like we are erased, but instead we are being set free, free from sin, free from guilt, free from shame and hatred and every other evil inclination. God is not taking away their individuality, he is perfecting it, freeing every talent, skill, and interest we have from the sinful baggage that weighs us done and makes every moment of this life a chore and a struggle.

Luther finishes his explanation of Christ’s work and what we receive because he paid the price for our sins, by saying, “that I may be his own and live under him in his kingdom and serve him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, just as he is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true.” Look with assurance at what Christ has done for you. Rejoice in your invitation to gather together around the God who has made you clean and holy. Celebrate with all of the saints, living and dead, who are united as one at his table, where they receive the continued benefits of his grace and are made like him, as you see now in miniature what you will one day see in its fullness.