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Greetings in the name of the Father, the Son,

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and the Holy Spirit.

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Amen.

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Brothers and sisters in Christ,

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as we come together these few days

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to reflect on one holy Catholic Church,

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I am reminded of a moment that was swept all over Africa

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in the early 1990s,

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which is the Church Grows Movement.

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And of course this movement originated here in the United States,

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which sought to envision and create a large,

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or large and expanding churches by implementing a strategy,

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which they called Homogenous Unit Principle.

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And this principle emphasized the idea that churches grow faster

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when everyone is comfortable and looks alike.

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Well, that idea was entertained in Africa

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and churches were built over ethnic lines.

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And I moved over to the United States about 14 years ago,

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and for my shock, there hasn't been,

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or the change hasn't been that different.

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Immigrants from all over Africa and Asians

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building churches based on ethnic lines.

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And the congregations here as well,

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the local churches following the same line,

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Ethiopian churches, Nigerian churches, Korean churches we call them.

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While the intention behind following this principle

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may have been to promote church growth,

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and it raises some important questions for us to consider,

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is the goal of the church to simply get big and expand rapidly?

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And is uniformity and sameness truly what God desires for his church?

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As we reflect on the text for today,

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and perhaps there is a different path that God calls us to walk,

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one that is more challenging and yet ultimately more fulfilling.

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And in our text for today,

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we are given a beautiful vision of the diversity and unity of God's people.

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What it's like to worship God together,

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regardless of our differences as one and holy saints.

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And as we read in the book of Revelation, it says,

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after this I looked and behold,

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a great multitude that no one could number from every nation,

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from all tribes and people and languages,

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standing before the throne and before the lamp.

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What great example can we find for our confession,

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one holy Catholic church?

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What a powerful image this is,

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a multitude of people from every corner of the earth,

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representing diverse nations and tribes and languages,

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standing together before the throne of God.

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This is a picture of unity and diversity,

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a testament to the reconciliation that comes through Christ

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and his redemptive work on this earth.

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And as we can see in this text,

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God's vision for his church doesn't seem to be centered on rapid growth or homogeneity,

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but rather he's calling us to something deeper and richer,

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a community that embraces diversity and challenges comfort

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and fosters unity and unity amid differences.

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And the beauty of the church lies in its ability to bring together

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people from all walks of life,

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all backgrounds and cultures united in their love for the risen Lord.

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Yes, this is what we see in our text for today.

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And yet, this vision, challenged the notion of homogeneity,

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encourages us to embrace the richness of diversity within the body of Christ.

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God's kingdom, which we were talking about last night,

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is not limited to one particular group or ethnicity and culture,

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but encompasses people of all walks of life and all backgrounds and languages.

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And in Christ, we are all reconciled to God and to one another,

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united in our shared faith and love for our Savior.

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Yet, as we read this passage in the book of Revelation,

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it's not just about Catholicity or being one and worshipping together regardless of our diversity,

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but it's also about our response and the response of those saints before the throne of the Lord.

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Well, for a moment, let us envision this incredible scene described in the book of Revelation.

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A great multitude dressed in pure white robes, singing and shouting praises to God,

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who sits on the throne and to the Lamp, shouting praises to God.

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As I was reflecting on these stakes with my children,

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my daughter suggested something which I thought was funny.

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And she said, those saints didn't seem to be Lutherans because it says shouting praises to God,

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and we Lutherans do not shout.

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Well, I had to disagree and tell her sometimes we also shout and scream for joy.

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Probably depends on the day.

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But what a magnificent sight.

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This is the joy of salvation, the joy of being saved from sin and death,

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and the joy of an eternity in the presence of our Lord in heaven.

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And remember now the world that John lived in was filled with suffering and turmoil.

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Persecution and suffering were a daily reality for many Christians during his time.

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And yet, in the midst of all this chaos and despair,

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John saw a vision of a great multitude standing before the throne of God,

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closed in white robes and praising the Lord with one voice.

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And this multitude had come through a great suffering,

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and now they are gathered in the presence of their Creator,

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experiencing peace and joy beyond measure,

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and therefore they shout and praise the Lord with joy.

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And what is John telling us here?

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Well, in addition to their diversity, being from different cultures and ethnicities and languages,

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those people share one thing in common,

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which is sharing the suffering of Christ together as one people.

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John here is telling us that just like a mother feels great joy after painful childbirth,

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our joy in salvation will be intensified by the contrast with the pain and sorrow that we leave behind in this world,

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and in the fact that we all as saints are sharing this suffering together,

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supporting each other, uplifting each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.

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And think of the Christians in John's time,

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who faced persecution and martyrdom for their belief in Christ.

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And think of the Christians today in places where being followers of Christ is a dangerous and deadly choice.

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And I have visited some Christians living in Asia and in the Middle East,

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where they are the minority and are being persecuted.

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And as I read this text and passage for today, it is all Christians that I remember.

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And yet, as John tells us here, in the midst of all this pain and suffering,

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we have hope and promises of salvation.

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Our joy in salvation will be all more precious because of the hardship that we have endured all together.

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The source of our hope is in the word of John, where he says,

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Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, Who are these clothes in white robes?

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And from where have they come?

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And I said to him, Sir, you know, and he said to me,

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Those are the ones coming out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

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And yes, indeed, this is where our hope comes from, the blood of the Lamb,

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Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for us all.

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It is through his suffering that we are all able to be cleansed of our sins and made pure in the eyes of the Lord.

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This cleansing is not something that we can achieve on our own,

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but it is through the powerful blood of Jesus that we are washed clean and made white as snow.

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And if there is one thing that unites us all, regardless of our differences, it is the blood of the Lord.

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And this cleansing flood of grace was applied to us in our baptism,

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where God claimed us as his children and washed away our sins.

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And it is through our trust in Christ as our Savior that we are clothed in his righteousness and made ready to stand before the throne of God.

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Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, as we face the challenges and trials of this world,

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let us hold fast, be together, regardless of our differences,

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knowing that we do have hope and assurance in the blood of Jesus, the risen Lord.

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And let us remember that we are washed clean by His blood and are made white as snow in His sight.

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And as we reflect this week on being one holy Catholic Church and on John's vision,

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let us also remember that when we are not alone in our sufferings and struggles,

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and the great multitude that is so was not individuals who were spared from hardship,

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but were ethnicities and people of different cultures in our world who faced their trials together as people and Christians of the same community.

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And they are endured and now they stand, they stood before the throne of God as a testament to His fulfillment, to His faithfulness and grace.

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And these saints are all of us today.

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And God is calling us to unite as one and holy saints with hope that we have assurance in the risen Lord.

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Therefore, let us take heart, my friends, and trust in the promises that God is with us, Emmanuel, in our darkest moments.

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Just as the great multitude came through their trials victoriously, so too can we overcome our trials and find peace in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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And may this vision of hope inspire us to persevere in times of trouble, to remember our unity in Christ,

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and to look forward to the day when we too will stand before the throne of God,

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closed in white robes and singing praises for all eternity. Amen.