Readings

Sermon

The Feast of All Saints (Observed)
1 John 3:1-3; Matthew :1-12
What We Will Be Has not Yet Appeared
 
In his first Epistle St. John gave this word of reassurance: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.”
 
This is the great hope, the great comfort we have at the Feast of All Saints.  What we will be has not yet appeared.  But John heard the voice from heaven that said, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on” (Rev 14:13).  What we will be has not yet appeared, but for our blessed dead, those who have died in the Lord, what they are has appeared.  For them, the Lord has come with the shout of victory.  They are at rest with the Lord; they are not dead.  As a congregation we celebrate today on this All-Saints Day because Ken and Haran’s membership has been transferred from the Church Militant here on earth to the Church Triumphant.  All your loved ones who have died in the faith enjoy the same victory, the same rest, the same bliss of being in the presence of Jesus Christ for eternity. What we will be has not yet appeared, but they now enjoy that for which we long.  Thanks be to God! 
 
So, this day is another Easter reminder, similar to what we had a few weeks ago when the Gospel told of Jesus raising the only son of the Widow of Nain.  Today the distant triumph song is heard by our ears.  We already heard the angelic “Glory be to God on high,” repeated heaven’s alleluias, and soon we will join in the cries of “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  Your loved one has gone before you and you just sang with hem and will again.  They are not dead, but are in that blessed heavenly chorus. They rest from their labors.  But we labor now

• We are poor in spirit, but theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• We mourn, and they are comforted.
• We are meek, and they have inherited heaven.
• We hunger and thirst for righteousness, and they are satisfied.
• We are merciful, even to those who hate us and treat us spitefully, and the blessed dead receive mercy.
• We struggle with impure bodies, hearts, and minds, and they see God.
• We work to make peace on earth, and they are called sons of God.
• We are reviled and persecuted and spoken evil of for Christ’s sake, but their reward is great in heaven.

Beloved in Christ, the fight is fierce, and the warfare is long here in the Church Militant as we wait for the sealing of the 144,000 that John witnessed in the revelation given him by Jesus.  But soon this time will come to an end.  Soon the last soul conceived on this sinful earth will be sealed and the number will be complete, and Jesus Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, to bring down out of heaven the new heaven and new earth where righteousness dwells.  You may die and join the company of heaven before that day or you may be alive and see that great and awesome day, but until your end comes, the Lord Jesus and the blessed saints in heaven bid you take heart, they bid you hear the Word and eat the foretaste of the Feast to come to receive the strengthening your faith needs so that you may endure until that day. 
 
But that day has not yet come for you.  In this meantime, enjoy what Jesus gives you.  He has pulled back the curtain for you like He did for St. John.  He has shown you that the dead, your loved one who has departed in the Christian faith in the crucified and risen Jesus is in the kingdom of heaven.  They see God as He wipes the tears from their eyes and as He opens his hand to satisfy their hunger and thirst.   He is their covering that blocks them from the sun and scorching heat.  He id their shepherd who carries them in His nail-pierced hands forever.
 
Beloved, we you God’s children now, and what you will has not yet appeared; but what the dead in the Lord are is revealed to them and known by them, and sin God’s good timing and by His great mercy it is and will be yours forever when you see Him as He is.

In the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, the writer talks about the faith that motivated the saints.  He begins to name the saints, using them as examples of what faith does.  He chronicles the stories of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and Sarah.  He concludes the list with saints known in that day.  In the Epistle they are unnamed, unknown to us, but known to the writer, and, most importantly, to God.  In the middle of the chapter, the writer summarizes the lives of these men and women: “These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.”

The feast of all saints in the Lutheran Church is observed a little differently from its original intentions.  Originally, the Feast of All Saints was established as a sort of “catchall” day for the Church to observe and give thanks to God for those men and women who had made a memorable contribution to the Church on earth, but for whatever reason were not given a set date on the calendar.  They didn’t rank with Apostles and Evangelists, famous Martyrs, or others, so they were remembered as a collective group on the first of November.