Sermon - All Saints Day 2019 - Matthew 5:1-11

A blessed feast of All Saints to you my friends in Christ. Throughout the church year we Christians celebrate a number of feasts and festivals. Very early on the Christian church gathered weekly on Sunday, the day on which Christ rose from the dead, in order to celebrate Easter each and every week. After some time, they decided to set apart one Sunday in the church year as an especially high feast day to celebrate Easter. They set this day during Spring, around the time of the Passover, when Jesus would’ve been crucified and resurrected. From there, they set the day of the Annunciation, when Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb, on March 25th, since it was the tradition that people died on the day they were conceived. Fast forward 9 months from Jesus’ conception and you get to December 25th, which is celebrated as Christmas. 

From there many other feasts and festivals also arose, such as Epiphany, Pentecost, and Ascension Day. But also at the same time, the Christian church commemorated the days on which various Christians were martyred for their faith, which is why we have many saint’s days throughout the year. However, after a short time, there were simply too many martyrs, too many people being killed for the faith, to have a day for each one. Moreover, what of those Christians who had died in the faith but weren’t martyred? Ought they not to be remembered as well? For that reason, the feast we celebrate today was set for November 1st, the Feast of All Saints, a day on which we remember all those saints who now rest from their labors. Today is the day when the church proclaims with Christ in His sermon on the mount: Blessed are the saints in the Lord! Indeed, blessed are they who die in the Lord.

So in a way, today is a sort of funeral for all those have died in the faith and have gone before us to the joys of heaven. For many of us today can be quite emotional, as we continue to grieve and mourn the deaths of those near and dear to us. It’s a day of wonderful hope, as we heard that beautiful glimpse of heaven in the Revelation to St. John. What a glorious day that will be when we together with those already sleeping in their graves will be reawakened unto heavenly glory! What a sight it will be, surrounded by angels and “a great multitude that no one could number…(and we’re right there with them), standing 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!” 

What a day that will be! So on today, while our hearts are filled with grief, we meditate and focus on that great day which is coming soon; the day when we shall stand before the King of glory in His heavenly kingdom. So in the midst of your sorrow, dear children of God, also rejoice in the hope of eternal life, when you shall see your loved ones and even Christ, face to face.

While today we may focus heavily on that future glory and the blessing of those who have already died, we also focus on the current blessing of those who are still alive. Today we don’t only remember the saints who have died, but the saints who are still living: you and me.

Afterall, in the first of Jesus’ teachings in the Gospel of Matthew, when He sat down on the mountain, “He opened His mouth and taught them, saying: Blessed are…” This is present tense! Not only referring to those who have died and are in heaven already, but also referring to those here on earth right now! Blessed are they! Indeed, blessed are you, right now. 

But why and how are the saints blessed? Why are those in heaven blessed? Why are the saints here on earth blessed? Well let’s first get something straight, we’re not blessed because or if we do the things Jesus talks about. Jesus is not saying, blessed are you if you’re poor in spirit, if you’re mourning, if you’re meek… and so on. 

So if we’re not blessed because we’re fulfilling some sort of commandment, what is it that blesses us? Jesus. Jesus is the one who blesses His people, not because of anything we’ve done, but because He is merciful and loving towards us. “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called Children of God; and so we are.” Children don’t deserve to be called children, they’ve done nothing to deserve that title. Children are blessed solely because of the love of their parents who bless them. So in the Beatitudes, it’s Jesus who blesses us undeserving sinners, with the Gospel.

How does Jesus do this for us? Jesus blesses us by first allowing the beatitudes to describe Him, and then through our communion with Christ, the Beatitudes describe us. Let’s therefore look at the beatitudes in light of Christ. Jesus is the one who is firstly “poor in spirit.” Jesus came as the poor infant babe of Joseph and Mary, persecuted by King Herod from the beginning. Jesus went to the sick and dying, went to us, and “took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” It’s the Christ who bore our iniquity and upon Him was laid the chastisement of us all. Jesus became the servant of all and became the poorest of all people when on the cross He bore the sins of all and died the lowest death. 

We see Jesus throughout all of the Beatitudes! It’s Jesus who mourns, not for Himself, but for dead Lazarus, all of Jerusalem, and indeed all people everywhere! Jesus is the meek one, as He says of Himself: “I am meek and humble of heart.” Jesus, more than any other, hungers and thirsts for righteousness, since He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, desiring all people to be righteous as He is righteous. Jesus is the merciful one, who is merciful like our Father in heaven and shows mercy to all who beg of Him. Jesus is pure in heart, as pure as God is pure, such that whoever sees the Son sees the Father. Jesus is the peacemaker, since He is the Prince of Peace who reconciles the world to the Father through His blood. Jesus is the persecuted one, the one who was reviled enough to be nailed to a tree while innocent. 

Because Jesus has perfectly fit the description of all of these beatitudes, through Him we receive great and abundant blessing beyond all earthly measure. Through Christ, the kingdom of heaven is ours! Right now! Already, Jesus is the King of heaven, and Jesus is our King. Jesus explains that His kingdom is not of this world, but is from another place, namely heaven. But already, when we are with Christ, we are presently dwelling in the kingdom of heaven. So when we stand here around the altar, before the slain Lamb of God, singing Holy, Holy, Holy with the angels, archangels, and the whole company of heaven, our voices are joined to that vast multitude which no one can number, because at that moment we’re in heaven.

Through Christ, we who mourn are blessed with the comfort of the sure and certain hope of the Gospel. Through Christ, we are blessed to inherit a land we did not earn. Through Christ, we who’re by nature sinful and unclean are blessed by being filled and satisfied with Christ’s righteousness. Through Christ the merciful one, we are blessed to receive the Father’s mercy, which we do not deserve. Through Christ, we are the blessed ones who see Jesus, that “these mine eyes with joy may see, O Son of God, Thy glorious face, my Savior and my fount of grace.” Through Christ, who is the only-begotten Son of God, we are blessed to be called sons of God, and heirs of God’s kingdom.

It’s only through Christ that we can “Rejoice and be glad, for our reward is great in heaven.” Dear Christians, heaven is a real place because Jesus assures us that it is. We who’ve been clothed in the white robe of Christ’s righteousness in Baptism are blessed through this unity that we have with Jesus. All of our loved ones who have died in the faith are blessed, not because they themselves were anything special in this life, but because they are united with Christ and He blesses them through His death and resurrection. Likewise, we who’re still alive on earth: we’re not blessed because we are anything special in this world, but solely because we’re united with Jesus.

Therefore, we together with the faithful departed, are all saints because of the Love of God. Through communion with Jesus, we’re the holy people of God; we’re the saints who shall rest from our labors in heaven. Since today we’re gathered before Jesus our King, clothed in baptism, listening to His voice, and eating His body and blood: for a moment, we are in heaven. When you open your mouth and sing, kneel at this rail, and pass by the baptismal font, you’re doing all of those things with the saints in heaven before the Lord our God who is seated upon the mountain of His throne. 

The feast of All Saints therefore is ultimately about all the saints, living and departed, who have communion with Christ and therefore with one another. Trully, blessed are the saints, not only today, but every Lord’s Day, who receive communion with Christ and all the church.