The Bride, The Groom, The Ring

By Rev. Steven D. Spencer, Pastor

Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27, (22:1-5)

Revelation 21:9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues, came and spoke with me, saying, "Come here, I shall show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper.. 22 And I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it. 25 And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall never be closed; 26 and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; 27 and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. 22:1 And he showed me a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne of God and of the Lamb, 2 in the middle of its street. And on either side of the river was the tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit, yielding its fruit every month; and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 3 And there shall no longer be any curse; and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His bond-servants shall serve Him; 4 and they shall see His face, and His name shall be on their foreheads. 5 And there shall no longer be any night; and they shall not have need of the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, because the Lord God shall illumine them; and they shall reign forever and ever.

It’s a tradition in the Scandinavian Lutheran church to shape the communion rail as a shallow curve. There’s a reason for this, it proclaims hope to all who mourn the death of loved ones. If you must endure hardship, you’ll find comfort there. But before I tell you why, let’s start by meeting the bride.

I. The Bride

The bride of Christ is the Church, that is, the people who believe in Him. The bride was created on the sixth day of creation, and begins with a congregation of two, Saint Adam and Saint Eve. Their church is the Garden of Eden. It’s a perfect church with no sin and no death. They’re told by God to be fruitful and to multiply, that more people might be added to the bride. Yet still better, because there is no sin, they can look upon the very face of God. They walk with God in the joy of His presence.

So the bride is created, and the betrothal is on. God promises that the wedding day is coming, and God always keeps His promise.

But as you know, Paradise doesn’t last very long. Satan creeps his way into the garden and tempts the bride. Saint Eve gives in to temptation, and Pastor Adam doesn’t stop her. On that day, sin comes into the world, and the consequence is death. The bride of Christ is defiled that day. The sin in the Garden of Eden is to turn from the bridegroom to another god, self. Adam and Eve are unfaithful to the bridegroom, following their own lust instead.

Let me make this perfectly clear: “Every sin that is committed in the world today is this same sin: unfaithfulness to God, it's spiritual adultery that chooses loyalty to a false god rather than the Bridegroom.”

How does the Lord respond when Paradise is lost? Does He abandon His unfaithful people? No! Instead, He warns them that sin is now in the world and He promises that a Savior will come. The Bridegroom will be born of a woman and shall suffer yet He will crush the head of devil (Gen. 3:16). Although there will be misery and death in the meantime, the wedding day is still on for the people of God.

As the Lord announces this promise of Gospel that day, another curse is evident to Adam and Eve: They can no longer see the Lord face to face because of their sin. They can hear Him, but to look upon His glory in their sin is to die. Therefore, the Bridegroom will always have to cloak Himself when He visits, hiding His glory so that they can abide His presence. But Bridegroom will still visit His people as He sustains them for the wedding day.

We see this when the Lord calls Moses from a burning bush. Go get my people from Egypt (Exodus 3). Despite the unfaithfulness of His bride, the Lord is with her. The wedding day was still on, because the Bridegroom always keeps His promises.

Later on in Exodus, we see the Lord lead His people out of Egypt. He is there, present though hidden, guiding His bride from a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (Ex. 13:21). Along the way, His bride will be unfaithful asking Aaron to build an graven image of an Egyptian god. Oh, the people of God richly deserved abandonment. But the Lord is faithful, and the wedding day remains as planned.

One final example from the Old Testament: The temple built in Jerusalem where the Lord inhabits it. A cloud of glory descends into the Holy of Holies, and God dwells with His people. He is hidden behind walls and curtain, but He is there to accompany His bride towards the wedding day. But the tragic story is that the people turn to false gods and worship them. The bride proves unfaithful to her Bridegroom again and again. Eventually, unwanted by the vast majority in Jerusalem, the Lord withdraws Himself from the temple (Ezekiel 11:23). The city is sacked, and its citizens who survive are led away to Babylon. There, a faithful remnant weeps at the spiritual adultery of Israel. All seems lost.

But the Bridegroom is faithful, and the wedding day is on. In the fullness of time, the Bridegroom comes to secure the wedding day. He visits His people during the reign of Caesar Augustus. He cloaks His glory once again, not in a burning bush or a cloud of glory. This time, He hides His glory in human flesh, born to a Virgin named Mary. In that manger in Bethlehem lies the baby Bridegroom. His name Immanuel, "God with us," and He has come to save His bride: To give Himself for her, to sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish (Eph. 5:25-27).

The Bridegroom comes, and His people believe in Him; but the world has no use for such a Savior. Rather than honor Him, they do their best to make Him look as little like the Savior as possible: They scourge Him, beat Him, and crucify Him. It’s the same rebellion and infidelity that they had always had, and they kill the Son of God. Truly, His glory is never more hidden than when He hangs upon the cross. But there, on the cross is where the Bridegroom redeems His bride, dying for the sins of the world.

The Bridegroom lays down His life for His bride and He rises again three days later. But His glory is still hidden. He ascends into heaven, but not before promising, "Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age"(Matt. 28:20).

You see, despite the sinfulness of man, the Bridegroom still quietly visits His people. Despite the sin and unfaithful wanderings of the Church, the wedding is still on.

II. All Saints

And part of the job of the people of God on earth is to wait - to wait wisely and faithfully for the Bridegroom, because the wedding day is guaranteed.

A dear member of the bride of Christ, that waiting isn't an easy thing. Daily, there’s temptation to sin and every sin is a declaration that we don't care to follow God's Word. Every sin is an act of infidelity toward the Bridegroom who has died for you. The waiting isn't easy because the temptations are so many and great, and the sin so easy to commit.

The waiting isn't easy as we witness the effect of sin upon this world that is so hell-bent on destruction. Those effects are sometimes evident in spectacular ways, like a terrorist attack or war; and sometimes they are subtle, like a spasm in the side and a dark blot on a CAT scan. You endure afflictions of body and mind, or sometimes endure the pain of loved ones who are afflicted. All of these are the effects of sin.

Too often, you don’t just witness such effects, but experience them yourself. You face affliction, doubt, disease and injury; and should the Lord not return soon, you, too, face death. In the meantime, there is sorrow; and among the sharpest of griefs is the death of loved ones.

In such bleak times, it may be hard to believe the Bridegroom's promise that He is with us always. It may be very difficult to believe that wedding day is still on.

So, on this day, we celebrate the festival of All Saints, remembering the saints who have gone before us, be it Saint Abraham or Moses, or those believers whom we have personally known.

The Apology to the Augsburg Confession gives three reasons for remembering the saints. 1. First, we remember the saints so that we might give thanks to God for the mercies He showed to them, and for using them as His instruments for the good of others. 2. Secondly, we remember the saints so that we can be strengthened in faith: We see how God has forgiven and preserved them, and we are strengthened with the assurance that He forgives and preserves us. 3. Finally, seeing the good they did by the faith the Lord gave them, we seek to imitate their example by the faith God has given us. That's why Dr. Luther says it is therefore proper to celebrate this Festival of All Saints.

As we give thanks for the saints who have departed, we do so with a living hope: The Bridegroom has redeemed His bride, and the wedding day is still guaranteed. God has so promised, and God always keeps His promises. God's presence with His people is not some make-believe idea, nor is it something that happened just "way-back-then." Dear Saints, the Bridegroom continues to visit you, His bride, to keep you safe until the wedding day. For now, you cannot witness His glory and live, so He hides His glory behind external means so that He might be here for your good.

The Lord draws near to you today. He doesn't conceal Himself within a burning bush or a cloud of vapor; rather, He cloaks Himself in water that He might be present and active at your Baptism. He doesn't hide His glory in human flesh today; instead, He veils His body and blood in, with and under bread and wine. And, as always, He speaks to you: Not through a thundering voice on a high mountain, but through the mouth of a pastor or another fellow Christian.

The Bridegroom visits you, and with purpose! He isn't some shady suitor who appears now and then to string you along and keep your hopes alive. No, He comes to keep His promise sure, in the words of our Old Testament lesson: “But your dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning; the earth will give birth to her dead” (Is. 26:19).

This is the gift of the Bridegroom to His bride on that wedding day: To the people of God He cries out, "Your dead shall live!" All those who trust in Him will be raised to eternal life.

And finally, now, we are prepared to hear our text for today: “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came to me and talked with me, saying, "Come, I will show you the bride, the Lamb's wife." And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light.” (Rev. 21:9-11, 22-23)

Behold the bride! She is spotless, she is sinless, she is prepared for the wedding day because the Lamb has been slain to cleanse her with His own blood. Oh, when the bride is revealed in heaven, there is no spot or wrinkle, for all sin and sorrow have been washed away. Behold the bridegroom! He is there to be seen! In heaven, there is no need for the Lord to cloak His glory. People can look upon Him joyfully and live! He is no longer hidden. His glory illuminates the city, and His people live and walk by His light.

The unrepentant are not there. As they had no desire to be with God during their earthly lives, the Lord will not force them to spend eternity with Him. He allows them to a place where He is not [at least not graciously], there possibly to wield His mighty hand. But such destruction is not for the people of God. No, the bride of Christ is assured that the wedding day is coming.

Dear friends, this is your comfort on All Saints day. You may mourn the loss of saints who have gone before you. But here is your hope: While their sinful bodies are consigned to ashes and dust, even now they enjoy the presence of God. The grief isn't theirs; indeed, their suffering is over and they no longer know grief. Nor is anything hidden from their eyes: Freed from sin, they look upon the face of God in all of His glory. They are the bride triumphant, without spot or blemish or sorrow; and God has wiped away every tear from their eyes.

Does this take away our mourning and sense of loss? No. It still remains with us as long as we remain in this world. But someday we too shall be freed from this world and delivered into that glorious presence of God. Meanwhile, we are also the bride of Christ, for He has redeemed us. And while we don’t see His glory yet, we are in the presence of the risen Lord, our Bridegroom: He visits us today, cloaking Himself in His Word and Sacrament, so that He might welcome us to the wedding feast of the Lamb.

This takes us back to that curved communion rail in Scandinavian Lutheran churches. The rail is curved because it is part of a circle-a circle that extends beyond the walls of the church and into eternity, a ring that extends around the throne of God. You see the saints, who have gone before us are the Bride of Christ and so are we. They stand in the presence of God, and so do we. They see Him in all of His glory, but we trust Him hidden in His means of grace; but it’s the same Christ, the same Lamb, and the same Bridegroom in both places. And because He is present there in heaven and here on earth, we are together in Christ with them. They simply worship on the other side of the altar.

That’s why we sing the Sanctus "with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven we laud and magnify the Lord" We sing with them, because we are with them in Christ.

Rejoice, people of God! As we remember the saints who have gone before us in great joy. The Bridegroom who has died has risen; for His sake, though believers have died they live. For His sake, you have the hope of eternal life. By His presence, you are together with that heavenly communion of saints in Him. In Jesus name, Amen!