Life in Better Times Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12; 1 John 3:1-3 

Grace. mercy, and peace be with you, from God, our Father, and our Lord, Jesus Christ.

Today we’re going to talk about life in better times.

Have you ever longed for the good old days? We don’t have to get very old to start remembering the good old days. 

I remember my daughters when they were about 10, 12, saying to each other, reminiscing, “Do you remember back when we used to …”. 

I remember as a kid hearing my grandfather talking with another elderly gentleman, and they both agreed that they had lived during the best of times.

And this from two men who had young families to take care of during the Great Depression, which was also the Great Drought. 

Everything bad seemed to be happening at once in the 1930s. Doesn’t sound like the best of times to me. Yet looking back on their lives, those two grand old gentlemen felt that they couldn’t have lived during a better time.

Some of that might have been nostalgia, but some was being able to look at life through a lens of grace.

I don’t think the two old gentleman were talking so much about economics as they were talking about life and relationships, loving your neighbor as yourself; how people pulled together and helped each other out as much as they could during those hard times.

And most of all, how their families were always taken care of and never went hungry, when other families did. 

Looking back, I think that my Grandpa just felt so thankful, so blessed that his dear family was taken care of. 

That’s the power of a perspective of gratitude and grace. 

When we can see how we’re being blessed, even through what seem to be difficult times, then the times don’t seem quite so tough, and we feel more empowered to make it through them.

When we believe the promise in Romans 8:28, that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, then we’re better able to see Him at work in our lives and in our world, and how He’s blessing us during difficult times, and well as during good times.

Times become better when we look to God for grace and strength; that turns even hard times into the good old days. 

When you can see and believe that God is good, all the time, it makes life so much better.

So do you think your life is better or worse than it was pre-Covid?

It’s been crazy. That’s for sure. We’ve never seen anything like this. It’s been over 100 years since our country and the world has seen a pandemic like this, although the pandemic of 1918 was far worse than this, because they didn’t have anywhere near the medical resources we have now.

The virus has certainly caused some inconvenience for everyone, and has wreaked some financial havoc. Look to God for strength; He’ll get you through this.

Then looking back at it, you’ll see that God never left, He was walking beside you, uplifting you, blessing you in ways that were hard to see, but were very powerful.

When you see God’s blessings by faith, through a lens of grace, through the Gospel, then you can better see how much He’s helping you.

As we see our life and our world through God’s grace, we can look back, and see how good it was to walk with God, even through the hard times; and you can see your life now, that God is blessing you, even during these challenging times; and by faith you can see more joys and blessings ahead, even eternal blessings.

When you can see what’s pictured in our reading from Revelation, all the saints in heaven, all the faithful departed, rejoicing before the throne of glory, not only does seeing that in your mind and believing it in your heart, give you great hope for your future, it also gives you great strength for today.

These difficult days on earth are short, and our earthly troubles are temporary.

With God, you’ll make it through these times. Being loved and helped by Him, and by your family, and by your friends, and by your spiritual family, makes the difficult times better.

Knowing how blessed we are, as Jesus tells us in our Gospel, the beatitudes, and how loved we are, as He tells us in our Epistle, “How great the love the Father has lavished on us”, and how blessed we will be in Heaven, as Revelation 7 shows us, it makes things so much better even now. Even when we face terrible troubles, and heart-breaking grief, God’s love and comfort are still there for us. 

One of the things we thank God for on All Saints Sunday, is what we call the blessed or joyful reunion.  That supremely happy day when we will see and embrace our Beautiful Savior, and our dear loved ones who went before us in faith.

We miss them and how wonderful it will be to see them again, and to see them basking in and reflecting the glory of Christ; and how happy it will be for them to see us in that glory; knowing that by God’s grace, we remained faithful, and there we will be with them to share that joy forever.

And then, we’ll take our place before the throne of glory. And we’ll welcome our loved, who followed us in faith; we’ll embrace them with love and joy. And it’ll go on and on, until all God’s chosen are brought and welcomed into eternal glory.

The joy will go on and on, with new souls added to the glory of Heaven every day, and there will always be more rejoicing!

Sometimes we can handle only so much joy here on earth in our fallen state. But in heaven, in our glorified state, we’ll be able to handle all that joy, nonstop joy; it won’t be overwhelming, or draining; we’ll have the power to do that, to experience and to share, all that godly joy!

And then the day will come when yet another dimension is added our joy. 

Christ will return to earth, all will be raised, the faithful raised in glory, your soul from Heaven reunited with your risen, glorified body, and you will marvel at power of God do that amazing thing!

Sometimes when we last see our loved ones before they depart from this world, illness and disease have ravished their body. But on the day of resurrection , it’ll be a very different sight. There’ll be no sign of the disease or injury or old age that they succumbed to, or that you will succumb to.

You’ll see your faithful departed loved ones in their new, glorified bodies, and they’ll see you that way. And together with all the faithful, in body and soul, we will live in what Revelation calls a new heaven and a new earth, a glorified place prepared for our eternity.

Seeing all this in my mind, and believing it in my heart, I’m so much more strengthened to face whatever troubles are ahead of me in my life. I hope you feel the same.

This comforting Gospel makes hard times better. Living in God’s grace, means that you live in better times, even when times are tough. And it means you’ll live forever in the best of times, in the glory and joy that never ends.

Live and rejoice in better times, not necessarily times without trouble, but times with God’s love and blessing. These better times of grace lead to perfect times of glory.              

And as you live in these better times of grace, and hope and wait for those perfect times of glory, may God’s peace, which passes understanding, guard your heart and mind, in Christ Jesus, our gracious and glorious Lord. Amen.