The Commemoration of All Saints (obs.) – November 3, 2024Psalm 31; Revelation 7:2-17; 1 John 3:1-3St. Matthew 5:1-12
In the Name of the Father, and of the +
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
In Holy Baptism, your soul, stained
with the impurity of your sin, is washed in the blood of the Lamb. It is made
white in the purity and righteousness of Christ. His righteousness is imputed
to you, that is, it is made yours by faith. This robe of righteousness is not
strictly figurative. Christ is, Himself, united to you in Holy Baptism. And,
since Christ is in the Father and the Holy Spirit proceeds from both the Father
and the Son, Holy Baptism joins the entire Trinity to you. This spiritual union
is a glorious gift of God.
There is another union with Christ. The
Sacramental Union with Christ occurs when you receive the Holy Body and
Precious Blood of our Savior. In the Holy Supper, Christ joins His physical
body with yours. What is spiritually joined in Baptism is physically joined in
the Supper. It is in this way that faith is strengthened and for this reason we
can proclaim that the Holy Supper strengthens and preserves you in body
and soul unto eternal life.
They physical union with Christ is
necessary because we are physical beings. If we were somehow only spiritual,
then a spiritual union with Christ would suffice. But we are created, embodied
beings. We are the crown of creation. We have been given dominion over all the
rest of creation and as such, it is meet and right that God would join Himself
to us not only spiritually, but physically.
And if the Lord has said that He is
physically present in the Supper, if He has said that This is His Body and This
is His Blood, then who are we to deny it? Or who are we to treat it as common
food? If we cannot trust the Lord who has joined Himself to us in such a
physical manner, how can we trust His other physical promises?
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
Blessed are those who mourn, Blessed are the meek, Blessed are
those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, Blessed are the
merciful, Blessed are the pure in heart, Blessed are the
peacemakers, Blessed are those
who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, Blessed
are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil
against you falsely for My sake.”[1]
Each of the Beatitudes praises and proclaims blessings on those who are seen as weak and reviled by the world. No one will advance in the world by seeking to be poor in spirit, mourning, meek, or pure. This is something Christ tells us directly, “because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you.”[2]
Almost every year, on the Commemoration
of All Saints, I have taught that the Beatitudes have their first fulfillment
in Christ. He fulfills each of these statements to their fullest. At the same
time, the Beatitudes find fulfilment in you, Christians. This is precisely
because Christ has joined Himself to you. You are spiritually and physically
united with Him and if the world hates Christ, so too the world will hate you.
What is worse is the truth that
hypocrites exist in the Church on earth. There are those who will persecute you
and think they are doing service to God.[3]
And these will seek to tempt, to deceive, to persuade even the elect, if
possible, to join them in the persecution of the Church.[4]
Therefore we must holdfast to the true Word of God. We must holdfast to the
true Bridegroom of the Church, who has united Himself to all His people.
And it is, in fact, because of this
union that we experience persecution, affliction, and suffering. This is, in
fact, a promise and a blessing of God. By persecution, affliction, and
suffering – both spiritual and physical – we know that we have been united to
Christ. He has chosen you to be united with Him in a death like His, that you
might also rise to a new life like His.[5]
Like a father proudly training his son in the family business so that one day,
he might inherit his father’s life’s work, Christ joins you to Himself. He
joins you to His own suffering and affliction because He loves you. It is not
torment. It is not masochistic. It is an act of love.
On the one hand, He does it so that you
would be driven away from sin and into His loving arms. He allows the suffering
of the saints on account of our sin and that we would know that we have been
truly united to Him. Even the martyrs sit beneath the altar of the Lamb in
glory, crying out ‘How long until our blood is avenged?’[6]
They are not so arrogant as to believe their blood is more righteous than
Christ’s. They are crying out for the vengeance against their persecutors on
account of the Blood of Christ’s. It is Christ’s blood that speaks better
things than that of Abel’s. Abel’s blood cries out for redemption in the very
blood of Jesus.[7]
We do not seek out suffering. We don’t
have to. The Lord has promised that it will come to His faithful because they
have been united with Him. At the same time, we do not have to earn our rest.
He has promised that our reward will be great in heaven.
We commemorate, today, all those who have received that reward, or at least have received it in part. The saints in glorious array who have fallen asleep in Christ enjoy the nearer presence of Christ. They enjoy a union with Christ that we, the Church on earth, are still looking forward to. While our union with Christ is by faith through Baptism and physical in the Holy Supper, their union is glorious as they stand before Christ in His flesh. Their souls enjoy the company of the whole host of heaven, and they are given to worship Christ, whom they can see with their own eyes.
And yet even these have something
greater to look forward to. Their glorious union with Christ will be made
complete in the resurrection of the flesh. Currently, they worship Him in soul,
freed from sin and in joyous rest in Christ. At the resurrection, they and all
the saints of God, will worship Him in their own flesh. At that time, our union
with Christ will not be mediated by water, bread, or wine. It will be in
actuality, in a way that we can only dream of now. St. John says “now we are
children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know
that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.
And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”[8]
While the saints in glory are at rest,
even they long for the day when we will be made like Him, receiving bodies
glorious as He is glorious; pure as He is pure. Thanks be to God that He has
joined Himself to us, united us to His Holy Body and Precious Blood in spirit
and truth; even if that means we must endure a time of suffering, just as our
Lord did on our behalf. Let us rejoice with angels and archangels, and all the
company of heaven as we look forward to the day when we too, will be at rest in
body and soul, united with Him in glory.
In + Jesus’
name. Amen.
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