“Reward in heaven” (Luke 6:23a)

Luke 6:20-31

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Pastor Tom Johnson, November 6, 2016

Wednesday evening is one of the greatest sporting events of my life. But it is not just the outcome of the World Series that has me so excited. There are four things about Wednesday night’s game that have drawn me into the beauty of what we celebrate this All Saints Sunday.

First:

In the six inning, two Cubs players—Rizzo and Ross—shared a vulnerable moment that was broadcast on television. Rizzo, his hand and arm around the older Ross, told him that he was an emotional wreck. “It’s understandably so, buddy,” says Ross, “I hear ya. It’s only going to get worse. Just continue to breathe. That’s all you can do, buddy.” I know it was not a life and death struggle. I know that it is just a game. “Just breathe,” Ross says. Jesus knows that we too will be emotional wrecks, physically assaulted, and spiritually attacked. He hears our cries in our battles. He knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust (Ps 103:14). The people of God will experience poverty, hunger, grief, hatred, and persecution. At the same time we are called to an impossible challenge: to love our enemies, to do good to those who hate us, to bless those that curse us, to pray for those who abuse us…to do to others as you would have them do to you. Just breathe. We are called to love freely, sacrificially, and against our sinful nature—to overcome our hatred, retaliation, and curse of death. Yes, God calls us to do the impossible—to go against the grain of the world that often seems so against us and to love—to breathe in the grace of God and breathe it out back to those around us. We are on the same team. Be sisters and brothers in Christ; put your arms around each other. Lean on each other. Jesus said it may only get worse. Be teammates. Share the struggle. Encourage one another. Just as Jesus breathed the Spirit on his Apostles, breathe encouragement and strength into one another.

Second:

That smile. It was an extra, tenth inning after a rain delay. The Cubs just need one more out to be World Series champions. Third baseman Bryant sees his opponent hit a slow, rolling ball and throws it to Rizzo at first to get the out. Cubs win! But even before that final moment there was that smile. The smile said, “This is it. We are almost there. We will have the victory.” The slow motion replay reveals just how much he was grinning from ear to ear even before he picked up that ball. “Rejoice. Leap for joy. Your reward is great in heaven,” Jesus says.  “Go ahead and smile since you know what is coming.” Just minutes before there was a rain delay. Later ABC news was spelling rain R-E-I-G-N. That is kingdom language. That is how Jesus wants us to live—as citizens of his Kingdom where the reign of God has already begun to break through the darkness and evil—so that we smile and leap for joy since we know what is coming. Smile. We are almost there.

Third:

The curse. Baseball fans can be a superstitious lot. Many people truly believe a curse has been broken. People talk about it as a matter of fact with straight faces even on television. The curse has been broken! Dear child of God, the curse of sin, evil, and death has indeed been broken. What our first parents brought upon us will be reversed. Yours is the Kingdom. You will be filled with good things. You will laugh. You and I will rejoice and leap for joy and reap our heavenly reward. We will celebrate the victory Christ has won for us.

Fourth:

The cloud of witnesses. One man listened to the game on the radio right upon his father’s gravesite because they made a promise—to share that moment of victory one day together. The grave was not going to separate father from son. People flocked down to an empty Wrigley Field and said they felt the presence of parents and grandparents that have long since left us. What they shared in the ball park together could not be destroyed by death. Fans told stories of how loved ones brought them to games over the last 108 years and never lived to see them win it all. It brought out a generational love—a love that is passed down through the ages and transcends time. How much more of a reality do we have as citizens and co-heirs of the Kingdom of God?

We are part of an international coalition of believers. We share love from the Kingdom of God to a sometimes hostile world. We participate in the celebration that has begun in heaven. Nothing separates us from heaven and its reward. With angels, archangels and the whole company of heaven we receive the Body and Blood of Christ given for our forgiveness and assurance of eternal life. We are part of a team with a multitude that no one can number—sinners transformed into saints—those who shared our struggle but now have begun their eternal reign. Our reward is great in heaven; and the Kingdom’s blessings overflow to us now.

Oh blest communion, fellowship divine!
We, feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blest.
          (For All the Saints Who from Their Labors Rest, LSB 677, vv. 4-6)