2025-11-02 All Saints' (Observed)

Scripture Readings

Grace, mercy and peace be to you from God our Father and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen!

As I mentioned last Sunday, Luther posted his 95 theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg on October 31st precisely because the next day was November 1st, also known as All Saints’ Day or All Hallows’ Day (hence our word ‘Halloween’ from ‘All Hallows’ Eve’). We can trace the roots of this festival in the church all the way back to the 4th century when Christians began commemorating martyrs, those who freely gave their earthly lives in exchange for faithfulness to Christ. By around the 7th century, specific days were dedicated to honouring saints collectively. And this is what commemorate actually means, to literally ‘co-memory’ or ‘communally remember’ people with respect for who they were and what they did.

This is the heart of our civic holiday of Remembrance Day, to remember our soldiers and veterans who served their country, and even making the greatest sacrifice, dying for king and country. And so, in 837 Pope Gregory IV made this practice official on November 1st each year, to commemorate and remember all the Christian saints and martyrs, especially those who didn’t have their own special commemoration days throughout the year.

The other day, I saw some internet meme that said people are only 2 or 3 generations away from being forgotten. I thought to myself “Huh?” But then I realized it was true! I know my grandparents’ names, I know my great-grandparents’ names but do I know my great-great-grandparents’ names?? I have to confess that I do not! Isn’t that crazy? How commonplace is this across the board, I wonder? Maybe I’m just a terrible tender of the family tree, or it’s quite possible that most people also fit into this category.

But this is where our Christian faith pulls us in the opposite direction. The concept of remembering and commemorating is actually fundamental to the Christian church. It’s a deeply spiritual practice, centrally tied to our faith, identity and our koinonia or fellowship together as God’s people.

Throughout the Old Testament, time after time after time, the Israelites were commanded to remember their creator, to recall the mighty works of God and proclaim them to a generation yet unborn. Psalm 77 tells us “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old” (11). This most especially applied to the Passover, that central act of deliverance and redemption when God led the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. It became commemorated with a special Passover meal every year. “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast” (Ex 12:14).

And if you recall, it is at this meal that our Lord Jesus Christ upgrades the Passover software to version 2.0 - Holy Communion. St. Luke tells us straight up: “And He took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (22:19). Also St. Paul says the same thing in 1 Corinthians 11:24-25 with an even greater double emphasis.

The concept of ‘remembering’ here isn’t just a nice sentiment, as we stroll down memory lane with a little grin on our faces. It refers to an active, intentional act of recalling or commemorating, often with a sense of reliving or making present a past event. It has this liturgical weight and substance to it, a direct participation in the mighty work that God has done, is doing and will continue to do in the future. Whereas the Passover meal was hyperlinked to God’s deliverance of His people in Egypt, the Lord’s Supper is hyperlinked to the Cross of Christ where He delivered the entire world from sin, death and the devil through, yes, you guessed it, the blood of the Lamb.

It’s no coincidence then that this is baked right in to the creeds of the church. The third article of the Apostles’ Creed says: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.” It is emphasizing this spiritual bond between the church on earth (the Church Militant) with the church in heaven (the Church Triumphant). It really drives home this idea that Christians just don’t evaporate when we die. We are all alive in Christ our Lord as precisely this ‘communion of saints,’ waiting for our Lord Jesus to come again. Our Lord tells us plainly: “everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die” (JN 11:26).

One of the things I’ve heard time and time again at the funerals I’ve done is “It’s too bad the only time we get together for family reunions is when somebody dies!” The idea is lamenting getting together only in times of grief rather than in times of joy. We can all pretty much relate to this I’m sure, especially the older you get and your kids have their own kids and people tend to grow further apart. But spiritually speaking, the church is one big family. As we are baptized and come to faith, we become children of our Heavenly Father. All Saints’ Day is a reminder of this too. Just like at family reunions when you look back and remember family members of yesteryear, we do the same with the Saints in the family of God.

And every year, as we come to another All Saints’ Day, we commemorate and remember the faithful departed from our church family here at Emmanuel. We hear the names of the people who have passed on from the Church Militant into the Church Triumphant in our midst. It has both a moment of sadness as we mourn and miss them as well as a bright light of hope, knowing that they are with Christ. So just as we look back and remember our family members and all the Saints’, we at the same time also look forward. Forward to the fullness of light in the Kingdom of God. The Lamb on the midst of His throne. God wiping away every tear from our eyes. Behold, that great day is coming soon.

The other aspect to this is when it comes to remembering people, we tend to remember folks who stand out in one of two ways. Those who were great examples of virtue and those who were more notorious than the potholes of Moose Jaw! All I have to do is say the name and you know exactly what I mean. Vladimir Lenin. Joseph Stalin. Adolf Hitler. Colonel Sanders. You get the drift. But we can go the other direction too. Martin Luther. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Mother Theresa. The lives of saintly and virtuous people stand out as heroes and examples to emulate. Their lives of faith, courage, love, compassion, charity and even martyrdom - they stand out to us, spurring us on and encouraging us as we run the marathon of the Christian faith ourselves.

Jesus Himself shows us what the saintly life looks like in His sermon on the mount. It’s a life of blessings and blessedness - just not in the way we typically think about blessings. We typically tend to think about money, possesions, food, house, family and other necessities for earthly life as blessings. But look at what Jesus says about such blessings. Blessed are those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted and reviled! Rejoice and be glad when your life is full of these things, He tells us, for great is your reward in heaven! This picture really smashes the worldly idea of a saint being some kind of a Ned Flanders, Guy Smiley, do-gooder.

The image and likeness of a saint is none other than a glimpse of Christ Himself. He became poor to make us rich. He mourned for us that we may have joy. He became meek that in Him we may be bold. He was hungry and thirsty for us in the desert that we may be full and satisfied. He showed us mercy that we might show mercy to others. He was sinless and pure in heart that we may be forgiven and walk in the newness of life. He made peace with God through the cross that in Him we might have peace. He was reviled and persecuted that we might be extolled and accepted as sons and daughters of the King. This is a saint, dear friends. A baptized and forgiven people who look like Jesus. In His Name, amen!