Dear friends in Christ.
So what did you do last night? Did you enjoy a quiet evening at home with your family? Or did you go out and enjoy a Halloween style celebration? Did you dress your kids up and lead them around town for a fun evening of collecting treats from the neighbors? Or did you, perhaps, dress up yourselves, for an evening of fun, frivolity, and maybe even a little fear?
Well, an evening of fear was undoubtedly the exact thing that a 34 year old man was facing as he prepared to post his 95 statements for debate on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. Fear was undoubtedly what Martin Luther was facing as he went out on that Halloween evening 492 years ago to post his theses for debate. But why, you may ask, why did Luther choose the night he did? What moved him to go out on that All Hallows Eve? Why, out of all of the days in the calendar, why did he choose Saturday, October 31, for the posting of his theses? Well, he chose that night, because he knew that on the next morning a large crowd of people would be gathering for mass at the castle church. He chose that night, because he knew that on Sunday morning, November 1, all the members of the church would be present to join in the celebration of All Saints Day, and thus his invitation to debate those 95 points would be most effective. In short, he chose the evening of October 31, because he knew that the celebration of All Saints Day on November 1 was a Holy Day of Obligation. It was a day that attendance of the mass was required unless a person was simply too elderly or too ill to come. It was a Holy Day that had been celebrated since the days of Charlemagne in the early 300’s. It had been established as a day of Obligation during the reign of Pope Gregory III in the middle 700’s, as a day on which to honor all the Saints, known and unknown, because “They continually intercede with the Father for us.” (See: Catechism of the Catholic Church Paragraph 956 accessed online at http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P2B.HTM October 27, 2009.)
If this is the case; if this is the history behind All Saints Day, then, “Why, in all the world, are we celebrating it today?” Well, even though this may be the history behind the day, this is not the reason we have gathered to celebrate today; for on this All Saints Day, we have come, not to worship the Saints who are now at rest in the heavenly kingdom. Rather we have come to give praise to the Lord our God who has made each and every one of us his saints through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior. We have come to worship the Lord our God who has given us the sure hope that one day, each and every one of us will receive his gift of eternal life forever by his side in his heavenly kingdom. We have come to worship the Lord our God for all the Saints whom he has already called out of this life, who are already living by his side and resting from all their labors, because they believed in Jesus Christ as their one and only Mediator, Intercessor, and Savior. We have come to worship the Lord our God, and praise him as his saints because he is the one who assures us that one day through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we too will go to join the multitudes from every nation who have already been gathered before the throne of God and in front of the Lamb.
This is the very picture that John paints for us in our text as he writes, “After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”" (Revelation 7:9-12)
With such beautiful words, the Lord our God gives us every reason to praise him as we celebrate this All Saints day. For with this incredible vision, the Lord our God reminds us that he is the one who has made us his saints through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior. He is the one who has been populating his heavenly kingdom with his saints since the beginning of time. He is the one who has called his saints, his faithful people who have believed his promises of salvation; he is the one who has called his faithful people, his saints from every nation, tribe, people, and language. He is the one who has assembled an innumerable multitude of his saints who are now gathered before his throne and serve him day and night in his holy temple as they now rest from all their labors. He is the one who called them to be his saints because they trusted in his promise of salvation, and he is the one who also calls us his saints because we have trusted in his promise of salvation—the salvation that is ours through faith!
It is this gift of salvation through faith for which we give praise to the Lord our God today, because it was through this gift of his salvation, which the Lord himself bestowed upon us that we have been made his saints. This was not something that we were able to earn. It was not something that we were able to rent, until we had paid enough rent to own it. It wasn’t even something that we could put on layaway. It wasn’t something that we could win by playing the lottery, signing up for a raffle, or even sitting down to a friendly bingo game. Rather, the salvation which the Lord our God has bestowed upon us was a gift given to us by the Lamb who was slain. It was a gift, addressed to us with his love. It was sealed and stamped with his forgiveness. It was signed in his own hand with his own blood. In short, this gift of the Lord’s salvation, gives us the complete and absolute assurance that through faith in the Lamb of God, our Savior, we are his saints even as we live here on earth. We are his saints who continually praise him for his gift of salvation as we ever look forward to the day when we will be gathered before the Lamb to be united forever with all God’s saints in his heavenly home.
I’m not exactly sure what it is, but there is just something about our homes that is special to us. It is a place of warmth and comfort on a cold and rainy fall afternoon. It is a place of rest and relaxation after a long hard day of work. It is the place we long for when a vacation has been too full or simply gone on too long. In many ways, this was the very picture that John was painting as he continues in our text, “Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes—who are they, and where did they come from?” I answered, “Sir, you know.” And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, “they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat upon them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”" (Revelation 7:13-17)
As we praise the Lord our God who made us his saints, we are ever looking forward to the home of glory to which he will one day call us. We are looking forward to that home of glory where we will dwell as God’s saints with all the saints who have gone before us. Though here on earth we must linger in the great tribulation of this sin-filled world, through faith, our eyes are always focused on the home of glory with which we have been blessed. Though here on earth we constantly feel the hot breath of our enemy striking the back of our necks, it is our Savior who sends the cool breeze of his gospel to give us strength. Though our enemy is constantly driving his SUV through the puddles of temptation, seeking to drench us in the muck and mire of sin, it is our Savior who provides the bleach of his blood and washes us clean from every spot and stain of our sins. For we know that through faith in Jesus, we will be called out of the great tribulation of this sin-filled life to live with the Lord in his heavenly kingdom, forever! We know that when Lord calls us to fill out the final change of address forms of death, and he takes us, as his saints to his heavenly kingdom, we will be washed one last time in the wash basins of the Lamb’s blood. There we will be washed clean of every spot and stain of our sins, through Jesus’ blood. We will be dressed in the white robes of his righteousness, which he, himself, has provided for us, and we will make our dwelling with the Lord, who will spread his tent over us!
In that day, when we are united with all the saints who have gone before us, we will raise our hearts and voices in praise of the Lord our God for the great gift of his heavenly home. In that day, we will raise our hearts and voices in praise of the Lord our God because never again will we face hunger. Never again will we deal with thirst. We will never again deal with the frustration of weather that is beautiful when we have no time to do outside work and is terrible when we have made plans to spend the day in the yard. Never again will we face any of these things, because the Lamb at the center of the throne will be our shepherd. He will lead us to the springs of living water, and the Lord, who spread his tent over us, will completely wipe away every tear from our eyes.
This is the home of righteousness to which we are looking forward, and this is the reason why we have gathered as God’s saints to celebrate All Saints Day. We have not come together because this is a day that we are required to be in church, nor have we come together to worship, honor, venerate, or give glory to anyone who has gone before us. Rather, as I said earlier, we have come to give praise to the Lord our God who has made each and every one of us his saints through faith in Jesus Christ, our Savior. We have come to worship the Lord our God who has given us the sure hope that one day, each and every one of us will receive his gift of eternal life forever by his side in his heavenly kingdom. We have come to worship the Lord our God for all the Saints whom he has already called out of this life, who are already living by his side and resting from all their labors, because they believed in Jesus Christ as their one and only Mediator, Intercessor, and Savior. We have come to worship the Lord our God, and praise him as his saints because he is the one who assures us that one day through faith in Jesus Christ our Savior, we too will go to join the multitudes from every nation who have already been gathered before the throne of God and in front of the Lamb.
Amen.
Pastor David M. Shilling
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church -Le Sueur, MN
