"Robes Made White in the Blood of the Lamb" (Funeral sermon on Revelation 7:9-17)

You may have noticed this photo as you came into church today. It’s a picture of Pastor Tom Reeder wearing a white robe and a white stole, preaching from this pulpit. It was taken during the Easter season a couple of years ago--you can see the white Easter paraments on the altar. This was the photo that I posted on my Facebook page on Friday when I announced that Pastor Reeder had fallen asleep in Jesus on Thursday night. I thought it really depicted Pastor as most of you here knew him, happily proclaiming the life-giving gospel of our risen Lord Jesus Christ. When I posted this photo, one of our members commented that she thought it was fitting that we have this picture to give us that wonderful Easter hope in the face of Pastor Reeder’s death.

Then on Saturday I talked with Joan, Tom’s wife, about plans for this service. One of the hymns she requested was the one we just sang, “Behold a Host, Arrayed in White.” Oh, and another request: Would it be OK if Pastor Reeder is dressed in his clerical garb for the visitation and funeral? I said, “Not only is it OK, how about putting his white Easter stole on him, too? And thank you, Joan, for giving me the idea for my sermon!”

Yes, today I want to speak to you about the white robes that Tom Reeder wore during his life--correction, the white robes that Tom Reeder wore and now will be wearing! Because today our message is about “Robes Made White in the Blood of the Lamb.”

You noticed that at the start of the service today we began with a “Remembrance of Baptism.” We put the white funeral pall on the casket and said, “In Holy Baptism Thomas was clothed with the robe of Christ’s righteousness that covered all his sin.” You see, that act of placing the funeral pall is a picture of what actually happened in Tom’s baptism. God placed Christ’s perfect righteousness over all of Tom’s sin. God was claiming Tom to be his own dear child. Jesus’ holy blood was washing away his sins. The Holy Spirit was launching Tom into a life of faith and discipleship, and sealing him with the guarantee of the resurrection unto eternal life. That’s what God was doing when he baptized Tom Reeder. So that was the first time Tom was clothed with a white robe: in his baptism.

And that baptism was not without effect! The Holy Spirit kept young Tom Reeder in his baptismal grace. Tom was inspired to dig into the Scriptures and go to seminary and study to become a pastor, which he did. And over the next fifty-plus years, Pastor Reeder preached thousands of sermons, taught countless Bible classes, baptized, catechized, married, and buried hundreds of people, made hospital visits, shut-in visits, you name it. What a blessing Pastor Reeder has been to so many people!

And all that while, Tom had his beautiful wife, Joan, standing by his side, as together they juggled church and home and raised a family. I’m sure, Reeder family, that you will miss this man even more than we will. But God will comfort you in the days ahead with the same gospel comfort that Pastor Reeder proclaimed during his ministry.

So, that was the second white robe that Tom Reeder wore, the vestments of a clergyman. You know, we pastors wear these duds to be walking visual aids for you, the people of God. We wear a black shirt, to symbolize our sin--the sin of all humanity--and then over that we wear a white vestment, to show forth Christ’s pure robe of righteousness, which covers all our sin. That’s what Pastor Reeder wanted to proclaim, even as his body would be lying in a casket. Well done, Pastor Reeder!

And now we come to the third white robe, the one that Tom Reeder will be wearing for the rest of eternity. We read about it in the Book of Revelation: “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” Friends, Tom Reeder will be in that white-robed multitude, and so will you, you who believe in Christ, your Savior!

“Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” Ah, the blood of the Lamb! There it is! There is the super-cleansing agent that will remove every smudge and stain of sin! Have you ever heard of getting clothes clean by washing them in blood? Well, now you have. Only the blood of Christ will do the job. You can’t get the stains out yourself. But Jesus can--and does.

Jesus, the Son of God come in the flesh--Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world--he, Jesus Christ, offered up his holy precious blood on the cross as the sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. Jesus did this for you and me and Tom Reeder and all the sinners who ever lived. You are covered. By faith in Christ, you wear the robe made white in the blood of the Lamb. Christ’s righteousness has got you covered.

And the result? This same Lamb of God, our risen Lord Jesus Christ--this Lamb will be your shepherd, and he will guide you and Tom and all who trust in Christ--he will guide us to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from our eyes.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, I want to close now with a couple of things that Joan has asked me to share with you. The first is a little poem that invites you to trust in Christ. It goes like this:

The condemnation for your sin Jesus already did pay. No fear of eternal death remains for you today. Jesus rose from the dead on Day Three. Salvation has been won, both for you and me. Pass over not this Good News. It is your life, now and forever, despite the world’s views. Hold fast to Christ and remain in Him. He is your life and your freedom from judgment and sin.

And the second thing is something Joan shared with Tom together last Thursday, the day he died. Joan was able to spend some hours with Tom in the hospital, and during that time, she read a devotion from “Portals of Prayer.” The reading that day was called “Surprise Ending,” and it closed with these words: “Yet through it all, the steadfast love of the Lord endures and nurtures us to our own surprise ending, which is not the eternal death we have earned but the gift of eternal life in Christ Jesus.”

Yes, the surprise ending here today is that this is not the end for Tom Reeder. Because his robes were made white in the blood of the Lamb, this is not the end, but just the beginning, the beginning of a life that has no end.

Revelation 7:9-17 (ESV)

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

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