All Saints Day (Observed) - November 7, 2021

Dear Saints of St. James, as we have gathered this Lord’s Day for the blessing of Word and Sacrament, it is a day that has the potential of being one of sorrow. All Saints Day is a day we remember the faithful who have died this past year. Though as we remember we certainly have sadness, it’s not such without hope. No, on this day we give prayer, praise, and thanksgiving for the faithful who have gone from this temporal life and await the great reunion of the final day. Our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.

Those loved ones who have died in faith are not lost. Not at all. In fact, we recall the words we just sang - “For all the saints, who from their labors rest…” Those who have died in the faith now rest - their souls in the presence of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, before the great altar of God - their bodies asleep in their resurrection spots. “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…”

And those words give much comfort to you as well. You are of “all the saints, who from their labors rest.” As you just confessed moments ago, you believe “in one holy and apostolic church” or as confessed in the Apostles’ Creed “the communion of saints.” You confess with those words that the priesthood of all believers - the invisible church - is not a them and us - a those who have died and those who continue to have breath and temporal life. No. The church is one body - all who believe and are baptized shall be saved.

So, how does that provide you comfort? Well, dear friend, as you gather here regularly on the Lord’s Day you have opportunity to the blessing of Word and Sacrament. Particularly for us this morning the blessed comfort lies in the gift of the Sacrament. Perhaps even more of a reason to have and receive the body and blood often, if not every week, is that when the body and blood of Christ is given for the forgiveness of sin - you are joined by the “angels and archangels and ALL the COMPANY OF HEAVEN!” That company is the saints “who from their labors rest.” You come to this rail to receive the blessed gift of God’s grace and mercy in need of rest and they meet you on the other resting within that grace and mercy. Together we participate - the saints of the Church - in the foretaste of the eternal feast to come.

So, who is a saint? Simply put, a saint is one who has been made holy - a baptized child of God. Nothing of your doing. Nothing assigned or awarded to you by means of good works and miracles of your doing. Nope. You are made such through the very Word that created you. The salvific Word that redeems you. And through the holy Word that Sanctifies you. When the Word of God speaks through the Scriptures and your pastor it does what it says. As a cleansed, claimed, and contrite child of God, you are, indeed, a saint.

How does a saint live? Well, that’s a relatively simple answer as well. In fact, it’s provided for us in the Gospel reading this morning by way of the beatitudes. Now, the temptation with anything Law like from the Scriptures, such as the beatitudes, is for you to believe that you are to make a list of the things therein for you to be able to accomplish. Further, you believe that you are to do in order to be with God. But that gives you no peace - not in the thought of your loved ones who have died, and not in the reality of your lives. The Law kills. The Law brings no peace and comfort. Compared to the list of God’s desires for your life, you fail - often. There’s no peace.

As children of God - saints claimed through the blood of Christ, we find peace in that which is outside of our doing. We are who we are and are able to be faithful as such because of the work of Christ. What is expected of us as faithful believers is given to us in the Word of that expectation. As we hear “All who believe and are baptized will be saved,” we are given the faith to believe in that salvation. That’s how God’s Word works. That’s how salvation comes through Baptism. That’s how the bread and wine are the body and blood. That’s how your sin is forgiven. That’s how the expectation of faithful living laid out in the beatitudes is fulfilled. You are given the ability to do all the Lord expects of you through the very Word that proclaims it. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

Now, as you and I both know, the very reason for this day of remembering the dead is also the reason you struggle through this valley of the shadow of death called life. The damning question asked of Eve is the damning reality you face each and every day - “Did God really say?” Does God really want you to be a saint? To be holy and live accordingly? To not live as if your way is best? To fall for the lie that you can be like God? The sadness of this day is rooted in sin. The struggle of your days is rooted in sin. You live in the paradox of being both saint and sinner. And the reality of such will be a constant nagging upon your faith and a pull to seek peace in the abiding of the world.

However, as you were encouraged through the Word of God last week, as children of God you abide not in the temptations and desires of this world. As ones who abide in Christ, you abide in a truth that sets you free. Repent. And as you do, hear the blessing of God’s absolution - You are forgiven all your sin. Forgiven, you go about your days. Forgiven you love God and love others. Forgiven, you live according to the Law because of who we’ve been made to be - faithful saints.

And what you must remember is that though you are forgiven and made holy through Word and Sacrament, the sin of this broken world remains. As you live the paradox of both saint and sinner, you are going to experience much you wish not. You are going to feel the pains of brokenness. Death becomes all. Others hurt you. And you others. And so you continue the life of your Baptism and repent. You abide in Christ and he in you.

That’s why coming to this ark, the church, often is so vital. Here, in this place you find the peace that removes you from the great tribulation that is the world - that is sin - and regularly recieve the means by which your robes are washed. Washed in the blood of Christ, your robe of righteousness marks you as the saint you are - gives you the spot at this rail at which you join the company of heaven in the very feast that gives you life. Here in the church is where the saints of Christ find peace - where we come to abide in the Word of God.

Why? Because it is only in that truth that we have life. It is only in the abode of the body of Christ that you have eternal life. It is the only way you are able to rest assured that the faithful who have gone before you shall one day see again. For now, you wait. You rest in peace by way of Word and Sacrament as your loved ones, too, rest in peace. However, in waiting, you also join in song. “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Abide with me, fast falls the eventide.

The darkness deepens; Lord with me abide.

When other helpers fail and comforts flee.

Help of the helpless, O abide with me.

Hold thou Thy cross before my closing eyes;

Shine through the gloom, and point me to the skies.

Heav’n’s morning breaks, and earth’s vain shadows flee;

In life, in death, O Lord, abide with me.

And all God’s saints said - Amen!