• Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission and Core Values
    • Our Beliefs
    • Congregational Documents
    • Our History
    • Our Pastor
    • Contact Us
  • Worship
    • Church Year Explanations
    • Sermons
    • Bulletins
    • The Singing Church
  • Resources
    • Summer 2025 Bible Reading Plan
    • Food Pantry
    • Related Sites
  • Give Online
  • Calendar
  • 90 Day Objective suggestions
Epiphany Lutheran Church | Dorr, Michigan
  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission and Core Values
    • Our Beliefs
    • Congregational Documents
    • Our History
    • Our Pastor
    • Contact Us
  • Worship
    • Church Year Explanations
    • Sermons
    • Bulletins
    • The Singing Church
  • Resources
    • Summer 2025 Bible Reading Plan
    • Food Pantry
    • Related Sites
  • Give Online
  • Calendar
  • 90 Day Objective suggestions

The Feast of All Saints (Observed) 2018

11/4/2018

0 Comments

 
The Epistle to the Hebrews gives us the best summary of the Feast of All Saints: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:1-2).  Today the Christian Church remembers all of those faithful who have gone before us, those who rejoice with us in heaven, who live in greater light than we, that multitude which no one can number, whose hope was in the Word made flesh, who died in the faith, and who live before the throne of God and praise Him each day in His temple. 
And although we as a congregation are not remembering anyone from our flock who has transferred their membership from Epiphany to the Church Triumphant, each of us have been touched by death, many of us in the last year.  We all have someone—family or friend—who now resides in St. John’s vision of heaven, worshipping in that great multitude that no one can number.  And although we miss them dearly, we rejoice because St. John told us what they are doing: their tears are being wiped away by the Lord.  They wave the victor’s palm branch and sing day and night: “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb.”  And we sing with them today.  We joined in the words of that new song as we sang This Is the Feast.  We’re about to join with them as we sing the Sanctus.  All of that is to say, Jesus’ Words are the only words that matter here: “Do not weep, for [they are] not dead.”  (Lk. 9:52)
 
The reason the Feast of All Saints is such a joyful day is because we are reminded that those who have died in the Lord are finally free.  We are afflicted by sin—our own and the sins of others.  We are saddened by life in a dying world.  We are poor in spirit, hungry and thirsty for righteousness, persecuted for righteousness’ sake, reviled and persecuted.  We know that the life we live is nothing like the life God intended us to live when He created our first parents in Eden.  We were supposed to be in constant, perfect communion with God, walking with Him in the bliss of that sacred grove.  We were supposed to interact with one another perfectly, living in wonderful union with one another, not sad or ashamed or angry or divided. 
 
And for those whom we remember this day, that is no more!  They do not know sadness or fear or anger or disease or death or anything else ushered in by Satan and his deadly deception.  So we rejoice for them this day.  We give thanks to the Lord that He removed them from this vale of tears.  We miss them in ways words can never express, but as much as we miss them, we are happy for them.  They experience what Adam and Eve knew in Eden, even if it was very brief.  And we are slightly jealous.  We’re ready to be with them!  We’re ready to experience the same for ourselves.  We’re ready to go to that happy place beyond all tears and sinning.  We’re ready to take up the white robe and the victor’s palm, to rehearse with the choirs of saints, to fall down before the Lamb who was slain.
 
All in God’s good timing, dear Christian.  One day this will be yours.  One day Jesus will come to you and say to you “Arise” and you will be taken to His presence, standing with the angels and archangels and all the company of heaven.  One day you will stand in the kingdom of heaven, receiving perfect comfort, being satisfied, seeing God face to face.
 
Until then, you have the Lord’s Supper.  This is the greatest gift you have on this side of eternity.  This is a foretaste of the feast to come.  Here you are united to Christ, your fellow Christians here, and the Church Triumphant.  The Lord’s Supper is where we receive the greatest comfort when we miss our loved ones who are in heaven.  The sainted Lutheran Pastor Berthold von Schenk summed it up perfectly in his book The Presence, which he wrote in 1945 while serving at Our Savior Lutheran Church in the Bronx.  He writes:
 
“Our human nature needs more than the assurance that some day and in some way we shall again meet our loved ones ‘in heaven.’  That is all gloriously true.  But how does that help us now?

“When we, then, view death in the light of the Communion of Saints and of Holy Communion, there is no helpless bereavement.  My loved one has just left me and has gone on a long journey.  But I am in touch with her.  I know that there is a place where we can meet.  It is at the altar.  How it thrills me when I hear the words of the Liturgy, 'Therefore with angels and archangels and with all the company of heaven,' for I know that she is there with that company of Heaven, the Communion of Saints, with the Lord.  The nearer I come to my Lord in Holy Communion, the nearer I come to the saints, to my own loved ones.  I am a member of the Body of Christ, I am a living cell in that spiritual organism, partaking of the life of the other cells, and sharing in the Body of Christ Himself.

“There is nothing fanciful or unreal about this.  Indeed, it is the most real thing in my life.  Of course I miss my loved one.  I should miss her if she took a long holiday trip.  But now, since she is what some people call dead, she is closer to me than ever.  Of course, I miss her physical presence bitterly.  I miss her voice and the sound of approaching footsteps.  But I have not lost her.  And when my sense of loss becomes too great, I can always go to our meeting place at the Altar where I receive the Body and Blood of my Lord that preserves my body and soul just as it has preserved her unto everlasting life.  Do learn to love the Altar as the meeting place with your beloved who have passed within the veil.  Here again the Sacrament is the heart of our religion.  The Blessed Sacrament links us not merely to Bethlehem and Calvary, but to the whole world beyond the grave as well, for at the Altar the infinite is shrined in the finite; Heaven stoops down to earth; and the seen and the unseen meet.

“Oh, God, the King of Saints, we praise and magnify Thy Holy Name for all Thy servants who have finished their course in Thy faith and fear, for the Blessed Virgin Mary, for the Holy Patriarchs, Prophets, Apostles, and Martyrs, for all Thy other righteous servants; and we beseech Thee that, encouraged by their example, strengthened by their fellowship, we may attain unto everlasting life, through the merits of Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.”  (The Presence, pp. 131, 132)  Amen!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    1 Corinrghians 1:4-9
    1 Corinthians 11:23 32
    1 Corinthians 11:23-32
    1 John 3:1-3
    1 Kings 19:3-8
    1 Peter 1:3-9
    1 Timothy 5:3-10
    2 Corinthians 2:3-11
    2 Samuel 22
    Acts 1:1-11
    Ad Te Levavi
    Advent 1
    Advent 2
    Advent 3
    Advent 4
    Advent Midweek
    All Saints
    Annunciation
    Ascension
    Ash Wednesday
    Baptism Of Our Lord
    Cantate
    Christian Questions With Their Answers
    Christmas Day
    Christmas Eve
    Christmas Octave
    Commemoration
    Confirmation
    Daniel 7:9-18
    Deliverance From Pestilence
    Deuteronomy 10:12-22
    Easter
    Easter Sunrise
    Easter Vigil
    Ember Wednesday Lent
    Ephesians 4:1-6
    Ephesians 5:20-33
    Epiphany
    Epiphany 2
    Epiphany 3
    Epiphany 4
    Epiphany Octave
    Esther 13:9-18
    Exaudi
    Exodus 20:12-24
    Ezekiel 36:23-28
    Feast Day
    Funeral
    Gaudete
    Good Friday
    Good Samaritan
    Holy Monday
    Holy Tuesday
    Holy Wednesday
    Holy Week
    Hymn Festival
    Invocabit
    Isaiah 17:1-8
    Isaiah 62:11 63:7
    Isaiah 62:11 - 63:7
    Jeremiah 11:18-20
    Joel 2:12 19
    Joel 2:12-19
    John 10:11 16
    John 10:11-16
    John 10:22-38
    John 1:1 14
    John 1:1-14
    John 1:19 28
    John 1:19-28
    John 12:1-11
    John 12:1-36
    John 1:29 34
    John 1:29-34
    John 13:1-15
    John 1:35-42
    John 14:23 31
    John 14:23-31
    John 15:1-11
    John 15:26-16:4
    John 16:16 22
    John 16:16-22
    John 16:23-30
    John 16:23 33
    John 16:5 15
    John 16:5-15
    John 19:28
    John 20:1 18
    John 20:1-18
    John 20:19-31
    John 2:1 11
    John 2:1-11
    John 3:1-15
    John 3:1 17
    John 3:1-17
    John 4:46 54
    John 4:46-54
    John 5:24-29
    John 6:1 15
    John 6:1-15
    John 6:60-69
    John 8:42 59
    John 8:42-59
    John 8:46-59
    John 9
    Jubilate
    Judica
    Katharina Von Bora Luther
    Laetare
    Last Sunday
    Lent
    Lent Midweek
    Leviticus 19:1-19
    Luke 10:23 37
    Luke 10:23-37
    Luke 11:14 28
    Luke 11:14-28
    Luke 12:13 21
    Luke 12:13-21
    Luke 1:26-38
    Luke 1:39-56
    Luke 14:1 11
    Luke 14:1-11
    Luke 14:15 24
    Luke 14:15-24
    Luke 15
    Luke 15:1-10
    Luke 15:11-32
    Luke 1:57-80
    Luke 16:1 13
    Luke 16:1-13
    Luke 16:1-9
    Luke 16:19 31
    Luke 16:19-31
    Luke 17:11 19
    Luke 17:11-19
    Luke 18:31 43
    Luke 18:31-43
    Luke 18:9 14
    Luke 18:9-14
    Luke 19:41 48
    Luke 19:41-48
    Luke 2:1 20
    Luke 2:1-20
    Luke 21:25 33
    Luke 21:25-33
    Luke 21:25 36
    Luke 21:25-36
    Luke 2:21
    Luke 2:22-32
    Luke 2:22 40
    Luke 2:22-40
    Luke 2:41 52
    Luke 2:41-52
    Luke 5:1 11
    Luke 5:1-11
    Luke 6:36 42
    Luke 6:36-42
    Luke 7:11-17
    Luke 7:36-50
    Luke 8:4 15
    Luke 8:4-15
    Mark 10:17-22
    Mark 14:1-15:46
    Mark 16:1 8
    Mark 16:1-8
    Mark 7:31 37
    Mark 7:31-37
    Mark 8:1 9
    Mark 8:1-9
    Matthew 10:26-33
    Matthew 11:12 15
    Matthew 11:12-15
    Matthew 11:16-24
    Matthew 11:2 10
    Matthew 11:2-10
    Matthew 12:11-15
    Matthew 12:38-50
    Matthew 15:1-20
    Matthew 15:21 28
    Matthew 15:21-28
    Matthew 17:1 9
    Matthew 17:1-9
    Matthew 18:21 35
    Matthew 18:21-35
    Matthew 20:1 16
    Matthew 20:1-16
    Matthew 20:17-28
    Matthew 2:1 12
    Matthew 2:1-12
    Matthew 21:1 9
    Matthew 21:1-9
    Matthew 22:1 14
    Matthew 22:1-14
    Matthew 22:34-46
    Matthew 24:15 28
    Matthew 24:15-28
    Matthew 25:1 13
    Matthew 25:1-13
    Matthew 25:31 46
    Matthew 25:31-46
    Matthew 28:1 10
    Matthew 28:1-10
    Matthew 4:1 11
    Matthew 4:1-11
    Matthew 5:1 12
    Matthew 5:1-12
    Matthew 5:17 26
    Matthew 5:17-26
    Matthew 6:16-21
    Matthew 6:24 34
    Matthew 6:24-34
    Matthew 7:15 23
    Matthew 7:15-23
    Matthew 8:1-13
    Matthew 8:23-27
    Matthew 9:1 8
    Matthew 9:1-8
    Maundy Thursday
    Michaelmas 1
    Michaelmas 2
    Michaelmas 3
    Michaelmas 4
    Michaelmas 7
    Michaelmas 8
    Michaelmas 9
    Misericordia Domini
    Most Holy Name Of Jesus
    Nativity Of John The Baptist
    Oculi
    Palmarum
    Palm Sunday
    Passiontide
    Pentecost
    Pentecost 21B
    Pharisee And Tax Collector
    Philippians 2:5-11
    Populus Zion
    Presentation Of The Augsburg Confession
    Proverbs 25:6-14
    Psalm 103
    Psalm 118
    Psalm 119:73-80
    Psalm 50
    Psalm 91
    Purification BVM
    Quasi Modo Geniti
    Quinquagesima
    Reformation
    Reminiscere
    Revelation 12:7-12
    Revelation 7:9 17
    Revelation 7:9-17
    Rev. Jeffrey Miskus
    Rogate
    Romans 3:21-28
    Romans 5:6-11
    Rorate Coeli
    Second Last Sunday
    Second-Last Sunday
    Septuagesima
    Seven Last Words
    Sexagesima
    St. Andrew
    St James
    St. John Passion
    St. Mary Magdalene
    St. Matthew Passion
    St Michael And All Angels
    St Titus
    Tenebrae
    Thanksgiving
    Third Last Sunday
    Third-Last Sunday
    Titus 1:1-9
    Transfiguration
    Tre Ore
    Triduum
    Trinity
    Trinity 1
    Trinity 10
    Trinity 11
    Trinity 12
    Trinity 13
    Trinity 14
    Trinity 15
    Trinity 16
    Trinity 17
    Trinity 18
    Trinity 19
    Trinity 2
    Trinity 20
    Trinity 21
    Trinity 22
    Trinity 25
    Trinity 26
    Trinity 27
    Trinity 3
    Trinity 4
    Trinity 5
    Trinity 6
    Trinity 7
    Trinity 8
    Trinity 9
    Trintiy 7
    Vicar Burgdorf
    Visitation Of The BVM
    Wedding

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    December 2024
    November 2024
    March 2024
    February 2024
    January 2024
    December 2023
    November 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    June 2021
    April 2021
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Mission and Core Values
    • Our Beliefs
    • Congregational Documents
    • Our History
    • Our Pastor
    • Contact Us
  • Worship
    • Church Year Explanations
    • Sermons
    • Bulletins
    • The Singing Church
  • Resources
    • Summer 2025 Bible Reading Plan
    • Food Pantry
    • Related Sites
  • Give Online
  • Calendar
  • 90 Day Objective suggestions