Heavenly Clothes
A sermon based on Revelation 7:9-17
by Rev. Rick Thompson

     Shortly after I moved to Colorado and began serving as a pastor here, my bishop invited me to lunch.  He wanted to welcome me to the Rocky Mountain Synod and get acquainted.  I gladly accepted and, even though it was summer in Colorado, I dressed the way I would have dressed to meet a bishop in the Midwest, where I came from: nice slacks, sport coat, and tie.  I was warm, but I looked good!

     You can imagine I was a little bit surprised, then, when I arrived at his office and met the bishop.  There he was—wearing a nice pair of slacks, and a denim shirt with the logo of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America stitched on it!  

     That was my somewhat embarrassing introduction to casual Colorado.  Now, though, I have come to appreciate the casual dress code in this state.  Yes, there are still times I like to dress up, but I don't mind a bit that jacket and tie are rarely required dress!

     Now, today, I am dressed differently, in the robe and stole of a pastor in a liturgical Lutheran church.  I am still Rick Thompson, but I stand before you today not as Rick Thompson, but as a pastor of the church, bound by oath to proclaim God's Word faithfully and rightly administer the Sacraments of God's Church—which I can do only with the help of God. 

     Sometimes, the way we dress determines what we say and how we act.

     In the British legal tradition, in rendering judgment, the judge puts on not only a black judicial robe, but also a wig.  This covers the judge's individuality.  The robe and wig remind the judge—and the court—that the judge makes judgment not on the basis of personal preference, but on the basis of the law of the land. 

     Sometimes, the way we dress determines what we say and how we act.  That's the case with the pastor in a robe and stole, and a judge in robe and wig.

     And it's also the case with the people of God.

     Now, let me be clear about something.  Let me make it clear that I'm not trying to tell you today, literally, how to dress, either for worship or in your daily life.  But I do want to talk with you about the heavenly clothes we wear as people of God.  Why?  Because the clothes we wear as God's people determine what we say and do!

     In our second reading today from Revelation, John offers us a vision of heaven. 

     Now, we know that Revelation can be difficult reading.  We need to understand that it was written to encourage Christians in Asia Minor, in the western part of what is now Turkey, near the end of the first century A.D.  The writer, a leader of the church now in exile, urges Christians to remain faithful in spite of the reality that they were being pressured to abandon their faith.  Roman government officials in the region were insisting that Christians declare their absolute loyalty to the Emperor and forsake their loyalty to Jesus Christ.  In fact, the Roman Emperor took as one of his titles “King of Kings and Lord of Lords”.  In Revelation, it is Jesus who is declared to be “King of kings and Lord of lords!”  Don't you think that's interesting?

     Some Christians chose to declare their loyalty to the Emperor in order to save their own necks.  But some did remain faithful to Jesus.  And some of those paid the ultimate price—martyrdom.  They were executed for their allegiance to their Lord. 

     That's why John writes Revelation.  He’s not trying to scare people with vision of hell and damnation, fire and brimstone.  No, he’s trying to encourage Christians to remain faithful, no matter what the personal cost.  That's why the book is full of visions like the one we have today—the saints and martyrs, now in heaven, worshipping and celebrating in the presence of God and the Lamb.  John writes to encourage Christians with visions of the eternal glory and peace that God promises to God's people.

     And did you notice how the saints are dressed?  In his vision, John asks his heavenly host to explain what he's seeing.  The elder announces, “These are the ones who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.”

     They're wearing their heavenly clothes!  It's not Colorado casual, or the garb of a British judge or a Lutheran preacher.  No, they're wearing robes that have been washed white—washed white by the blood of the Lamb!

     Now, isn't that an interesting image?  Robes.  White robes.  Robes washed white by blood.  And what color is blood?  Red, of course!

     Obviously, John is not being literal here.  In fact, throughout Revelation John is often writing in images rather than being literal.  And that's what he's doing here.

     The Lamb, of course, is Jesus.  That's a prominent image in Revelation.  Jesus is the Lamb who has been slain.  He has risen from the dead and ascended to the Father in heaven.  And he now rules as victorious King of kings and Lord of lords.  In his death and resurrection, he has defeated sin and death.  In his eternal glory, he shares his victory with his faithful followers.  It is his blood—the blood of the Lamb, the blood of Christ—which has cleansed his people from sin and death.  It is his blood—the blood of Jesus—which washes the clothes of his followers and makes them, symbolically, a bright, clean, radiant, heavenly white! 

     The saints in heaven are wearing their heavenly clothes—their symbolic white robes, given them in the sacrificial death and resurrection victory of Jesus!

     Because this Lamb—and John is stretching language as far as he can here to describe the indescribable—the Lamb is also the Shepherd who will lead the people to righteousness, peace, and abundance.

     And did you notice in John's vision what they are saying and doing in their heavenly clothes?  They are waving palm branches, celebrating the victory of the Lamb once slain.  And they are shouting acclamations:

            “Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne,

             and to the Lamb!”

They are shouting acclamations, and they are singing:

            “Amen!  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving

             and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever.  Amen!”

     Now, what does that sound like?  That's right—it's the language of worship.  That's another technique John uses in writing the Revelation.  He repeatedly includes the familiar language of worship.  That's not an accident.  As he strives to encourage the Christians under pressure, he uses the language they know.  Revelation is full of what is believed to be ancient hymns—and many of them sound like hymns we still sing today. 

     Gathered around the throne of God, in the eternal presence of the Lamb, the triumphant people of God continue the worship they had done while on earth.  It's as if John is offering a reminder, a word of powerful encouragement to those who are struggling under Roman oppression: “When you worship, you are acting as if God's victory is already yours—and, indeed, it is!  When you worship, you are enacting the eternal rule of God, right here on earth!  When you worship, you are brought into the mystical presence of God, and you remember God's promises, and you know—you know!--that nothing or no one can take those promises away from you!!

     And the faith they confess, the songs they sing—well, those are our songs, too. 

     And so are the clothes.  Those are our heavenly clothes!  We are the ones who've been washed, clean, by the blood of Christ.  We are the ones who are assured that, no matter how tough life can get here on earth, God has claimed us as God's own for all eternity.  We are the ones who hear the Shepherd's voice telling us, “You are mine!  Now and forever, you are mine!  Trust me.  Worship me.  Follow me.  And join me in eternal glory!”

     So let's put on our heavenly clothes!  Let's remember—as we gather to worship and scatter to serve God in our daily lives—that we have been claimed for eternity by the blood of Jesus Christ.

     And let's remember, too, that the clothes we wear determine what we say and what we do!

     Reformation era theologian Ulrich Zwingli reminded the Christians of his day that, when a young novice joined a monastery in the Middle Ages, he was given a monk's cowl and robe.  Now, interestingly, the robes were all the same size—adult size.  A young man, wearing the large robe of a full-grown adult, looked pretty ridiculous!  But, over time, the young man would grow and mature, and, one day, the cowl would fit him perfectly.

     So it is with our heavenly clothes.  The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, has cleansed them with his blood, and given them to us in our baptisms.  We continue to fall short, and soil that clothing—and God keeps on forgiving!  God keeps on seeing us as what we will someday be—saints, made perfect and whole, gathered around the heavenly throne!  God keeps encouraging us, leading us, calling to us, inviting us to grow and mature, so that the clothes God has given us will fit.

     So John encourages us today with his vision.  Here we are—the saints of God.  Wearing our bright, white robes.  Gathered around the throne of God, worshiping God, experiencing a taste of heaven.  Basking in eternal glory.  Strengthened by the promises of God.  Following our good and faithful Shepherd. 

     And don’t we look good!  Yes, wearing our heavenly clothes—the clothes Jesus gives us in his victory, the clothes we’ll wear for eternity—we look good indeed!

AMEN.