All
Saints' Day Observed – November 2nd and 3rd,
2019 – Matthew 5:1-12
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
Sometimes
we as people can be very near sighted. And I’m not talking about
the fact that I am wearing contact lenses that I’m basically blind
without – I’m talking about our perspective. We can get so
focused upon ourselves, our immediate surroundings, that we don’t
see the big picture – we can miss the forest for the trees, as it
were. All Saints’ Day is a day where we are brought back to the
larger picture – where we are made to remember that Christ’s
Church is more than just this place right now. The Church of God
consists not just of we few who bothered to show up on a Saturday
night/Sunday morning – but it is the full company of heaven, the
countless throng from so many nations. It is not just us here –
but the Church is full of countless millions of Christians all around
the globe. It is not just us here – but the Church is made up of
saints from all times, those who lived hundreds, thousands of years
ago on earth yet live in the presence of God right now – and even
those who are yet to be born and will be brought to faith before the
Lord returns. Christ’s Church, His Body, spans all times and all
places, and as we are united to Him, we are united together, bound up
in His Holy Communion, in a way we so seldom pause to comprehend.
All Saints’ Day is a day that we do this – where we remember all
the saints – many times we will focus more so on those from our own
congregation who have recently been given rest from their earthly
labors and now see God face to face, but it is truly a day where we
see beyond just the here and the now.
We
must remember, dear friends, that the Church is not defined by us.
The Church is not created by us, it is not made by us, it is not run
by us. The Church is the Body of Christ – and yet, we can be so
bogged down in the every day concerns of life, of attendance and
offerings and bills and upkeep that we can forget this. We don’t
define the Church. Rather, the Church is the Body of Christ, is
those who are gathered around Christ’s Word, are washed into
Christ’s Body by Baptism, who receive Christ’s Body for
forgiveness and strength – and also those in eternity who are with
Christ now, the Lamb of God, face to face. The Church is those who
struggle now on earth, and those who have received heavenly joy. So,
what does this look like – our Lord tells us.
Blessed
are the poor in Spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God.
Christians are going to be poor in Spirit.
Christians in this world will see so much sin and violence and filth
that our spirits must ache, must feel poor and lowly. Consider this
past week. How much pain, how much disappointment did you see? In a
sinful world, this is what we see, and rather than delighting in this
like the world does – it causes us sorrow. It caused Christ Jesus
sorrow as well, and for this reason He came down from heaven to win
salvation – He Himself bore up our infirmities – so that He might
win for us by His death and resurrection –the kingdom of God.
Because Christ came and was poor in spirit, those who are of the
Church have the kingdom of God. The Saints who have gone before us,
they see this now fully. We, we see this in part, but then we too
shall see it in full.
Blessed
are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
There’s much to mourn in life – not just death as a whole, but
all the little, bitty bits of death we experience before hand. How
many of us have dying ears, dying eyes? How many of us have dying
friends, dying relationships, dying hopes and dreams? There is much
to mourn. And what does Christ Jesus do – He comes down from
heaven, and He mourns, He encounters all the loss and suffering that
we do – He even tastes death. And why? So that He would rise, and
that in rising He would bring us with Him, so that He would comfort
us with heaven, the resurrection, and life everlasting. We know this
by faith, and the Saints in heaven, they see, they receive the
comfort of our crucified and risen Lord right now – they behold Him
in His risen Body upon the Throne and they therefore know that on the
Last Day they too shall rise.
Are
you seeing the pattern here? The beatitudes aren’t just pretty
words – they describe the Church and Christ. The first part
describes what we see here in this sinful world – the second part
describes what all the saints who from their labors rest now see –
and all of this, whether we are the Church militant here on earth or
the Church triumphant is ours because of Christ – because He is the
poor Man who inherits the kingdom of God, but makes it ours –
because He is the One who mourns His fallen creation but is comforted
by redeeming it. The Church has it’s existence in Christ. Let’s
see more.
Blessed
are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
As Christians, we are called to be meek. To keep our sword in its
sheath. When wronged, we are not to wrong in return. We are not to
focus upon ourselves, but our focus is to be upon our neighbor. And
in this, we simply follow Christ. Christ Jesus is the Meek One, who
went quietly and meekly to the Cross to win us forgiveness for those
times when we are not meek, when we are brash and sinful. But our
Lord was meek, and He has inherited the Earth, and He has promised
this, and not only this, but a new heaven and a new earth to all His
Saints.
Blessed
are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be
satisfied.
Does this not describe us here? We hunger, we thirst for
righteousness. We confessed our sin, we said we lack, we need
righteousness, we need forgiveness, we don’t have enough of it on
our own. Christ saw the world’s lack, and so He became Man, became
our righteousness for us – lived perfectly in our stead and said to
us, “Here, I long for you to be righteous, take My righteousness.”
Do you hunger and thirst for righteousness – Our Lord says, “Take
and eat, this is My Body – take and drink, this is My Blood.”
And this is the same feast that the Saints in Heaven are celebrating
eternally – they are most well and truly satisfied by our Lord.
Blessed
are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
We do not show mercy like we ought – often we are mean and cruel
and self-centered. But Christ our Lord is merciful, and He has
called us unto Himself, has bound us to Himself in the waters of Holy
Baptism, applied His Name to us, and He gladly gives us mercy for His
Name’s sake. We see this now – but we also often forget. We
struggle with sin, we wander – our Lord must call us back over and
over again. But consider the Saints of heaven – they see this
mercy, they have received it in full, never to wander, never to
stray. The Love of Christ has been made complete in them.
Blessed
are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
In and of ourselves, our hearts are not pure. So what do we do? We
cry out to God – Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a
right Spirit within me! And Christ our Lord does – He gives us
forgiveness over and over all our days, until our last day, and then
what? The Saints see God face to face, they dwell with Him. God
desires you to dwell with Him as well, and so He forgives you, makes
your heart to be pure.
Blessed
are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.
Christ Jesus is the true peacemaker – He
made peace when He went to the Cross, when He suffered and died –
when He cried out, “It is finished.” And it was finished – our
war, our rebellion against God, begun by Adam and Eve in the garden –
our Lord put an end to it – He made peace. That was 2000 years
ago. But then, in the here and now, in our own lifetime, Christ took
water and His Word, and He baptized you into His own death, made you
to be a partaker in all that He has done – you share in Christ’s
death, you share in His peace which He won for you, you speak this
same peace out, and now God is your Father. The Saints see this
clearly.
Blessed
are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is
the kingdom of God.
To be a Christian is to struggle, is to be reviled and thought poorly
of, to be mocked by the world. Indeed, in many places, to be a
Christian is a death sentence, to mean the government, the angry mob,
will come for you. Just as the world did to Christ, so too happens
to Christians today. But what does our Lord teach us – yes, Christ
suffered, but His is the Kingdom of God. Likewise, should we suffer
– so be it – the Kingdom ours remaineth. We have this promise –
the Saints in heaven see this promise in full now.
And
finally, Blessed are you when others revile
you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely
on My account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in
heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
You are part of the Church, and despite what
we like to tell ourselves – the Church is never popular, we never
live in a nice, clean world. This sinful, fallen place is always
sinful and fallen, and if you strive to follow Christ, you will be
mocked and reviled. For so the prophets were treated, for so was our
Lord Himself treated. But what is the reality – the reality of
eternity that stretches beyond the here and now, beyond our present
suffering? That being united to Christ, we will face difficulties in
this life, but Christ will see us through them until we too are
brought unto the joys of heaven and life everlasting – joys far
surpassing what we see here.
Do you
see, dear Christian, the larger picture? Do you see from the Words
of our Lord that you are part of something much greater than just
your own little life? Your Lord Jesus Christ has had compassion upon
you, beheld you in your sinfulness, in your struggles in this life,
and He has had compassion to you. And He has gathered you by His
Word, joined you to Himself through the gift of Holy Baptism, and He
has said, “I will suffer all for your sake, so that you might have
everything for My sake.” He has promised us new heavens and a new
earth – told us that this fallen one shall pass away and we will
get that which is better. Right now though, we are here on earth –
we don’t see this fully. The Saints in heaven do, they behold
Christ face to face right now. And our Lord knows that we left on
earth don’t see this perfectly, that we only see dimly and in a
mirror now, not yet face to face. So He calls us here to His Church,
invites us to join in for a few moments with the song of Angels and
Archangels and all the company of heaven – gives us His own Body
and Blood, so that we would be sustained until the day when we do get
to see Him face to face. Christ Jesus blesses all His saints, and
thanks be to God, by the power of His forgiving Word and the wonders
of His blessed Sacraments – you are numbered with those saints. In
the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit +
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