All Saints Sunday
Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12
Christians of the Lutheran Tradition take another break from the Revised Common Lectionary when we celebrate the All Saints Festival. On Reformation Sunday, we learned that God plays no favorites. There is no distinction. We are all sinners who have fallen short of the Glory of God. At the same time, we are all made saints by absolute forgiveness and freedom from sins through faith in God’s Word, Jesus Christ. This Sunday, we celebrate every saint reborn from God’s Holy Spirit in Baptism who received faith as a gift.
It is, therefore, true that the Christian believer cannot find favor with God because we all have been blessed already with the gift of faith. Nonetheless, Matthew’s timeless beatitudes still reveal to us what God favors: humility (verses 3 and 5), compassion (verse 4), justice (6 and10), mercy (7), faith (8), peace (9), resilient discipleship (11), and thanksgiving (12). The Beatitudes are also timely as massacres in the Holy Land keep being live-fed to us.
Faith is the assurance of things we hope for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). The author of Revelations assures us that the divine promise of a joyful feast of restoration and redemption at the throne of Christ is indeed for everyone, “every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages” (Isaiah 25: 3-6, Jeremiah 31:31-34, Revelation 7: 9, 17), all beloved children of the same God (1 John 3:1).
“Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord;
let us exalt God’s name together.
Taste and see that the Lord is good;
happy are they who take refuge in God!”
(Psalm 49:3, 8)
Bridging Faith 