In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

For over seventeen hundred years, Christians have set aside a day to give thanks to God for those people that the Lord has translated from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant in heaven. In our First Reading, we heard part of St. John’s vision of heaven with God on His throne. Before His throne were the twenty-four elders – representing the Church of all times and places – who fell down and worshiped Him who sits upon the throne. In the midst of that throne room, St. John saw the Lamb who took the book of the seven seals and opened six of them. But before the Lamb opened the 7th seal of final judgment, the Blessed Apostle saw four angels at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds from destroying the earth until the servants of God were sealed and the elect of God were gathered in … that group of 144,000 which symbolizes perfection and completeness … from every nation, tribe, people, and language. And that vast multitude that was standing before the throne and the Lamb were clothed in white robes … symbolizing righteousness and purity … with palm branches in their hands. And they cried out. It’s so glorious that I have to read it again:
“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

Then one of the elders said to John: “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” The answer is already known. “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” These are the saints in heaven who, on account of Jesus Christ – the very Lamb of God – stand before the throne and the Lamb in worship and adoration without hunger or thirst or suffering: having been guided to springs of living water and having had God Himself wipe away every tear from their eyes.

This, dear children of God, is a glimpse of those who’ve departed this life in the faith.

They’re still awaiting Christ’s second coming and the resurrection of their glorified bodies on the Last Day. But they’ve reached the rest that God has promised for His people, and we can be confident of their eternal safety and perfect joy. Their troubles are truly over. They’re done with the temptations of the devil, the world, and our sinful flesh. And we give thanks to God for their salvation and for their example of steadfast faith to us.

But our Gospel Reading from St. Matthew focuses on a different group of saints: the saints on earth – the Church Militant – all of us who continue to struggle with temptation, sin, and suffering.

The text is familiar to us. It’s the Beatitudes – the first part of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount – and it applies to us Christians who still bear witness to Christ’s saving truth as salt and light in a sin-darkened world.

Every one of the Beatitudes begins with the word ‘blessed’. When we hear this word, many think that it’s referring to happiness or pleasure or good fortune. But ‘blessed’ here means much more than that. Its root is the Greek work that means ‘great’ – as in, wealthy, powerful, and highly honored. And when Jesus uses that word to refer to His disciples – to us – He is saying that we are great not because we are somehow good and perfect (for we know our many transgressions and our sin is ever before us) … but He’s calling us great because we’ve been restored by His grace and mercy to the relationship we were intended to have with Him who is the very Author of Creation.

Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” We are poor in spirit when we realize that we’re all beggars.

We’re not self-sufficient but rely on God for every spiritual and material blessing. We’ve all experienced the inadequacy of our attempts at self-sufficiency … those times when the storms of life sweep over us, and we frantically try to keep our heads above water: only to realize that we’re drowning in sin and strife, and the brokenness of our flesh. But blessed are we indeed who, by God’s grace, do not depend on ourselves … receiving counsel and strength from God who alone is able to provide for our every need of body and soul. To such poor in spirit God gives the Kingdom of Heaven – the promise that in Christ we will triumphantly endure the enemies of this world until we join the victory celebration of the Church Triumphant of St. John’s vision.

Jesus says: “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” This mourning isn’t the sorrow that everyone experiences over the pain and heartache of this world, but the sorrow we have over our sins and how we so easily succumb to the temptations of the flesh: sins for which the Son of God was crucified.

We truly and rightly mourn when we stand at the foot of the cross and see the bloody love of Christ poured out for us who know the true sorrow of having sinned against Christ’s love by our ingratitude and our coldness of heart. Yet Jesus says that we who mourn our sins will be comforted. He says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt 11:28). At the foot of the cross we receive the comfort of knowing that Christ has taken away the burden of our sin, cleared out everything that stands between us and God, and comforted with the lasting comfort of Christ’s mercy and forgiveness.

Jesus says: “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” The natural reaction of our sinful nature is to fight and argue with God when He deals with us according to His will and our rebellious nature is really the source all our unhappiness. God wants us to perfectly love and serve Him and to perfectly love and serve our neighbor, but we want to do things our way … and for our own creature comforts. If we are meek, then we do not think too much of ourselves or our positions in life. We don’t allow or tempers to flare up when we’re provoked. And we don’t expect to always be treated with respect by the people around us. The meek simply strive to fulfill their God-given vocations in love – not seeking honor from men but seeking that which is pleasing to God. But this meekness isn’t natural to us as I’m sure you recognize. It’s a virtue. And, like all virtues, God Himself must work it in us by His Word and Spirit.

Christ’s perfect meekness won the victory over our enemies of sin and death. He patiently bore the insults and unjust punishments that we rightly deserve to put our sins of pride to death in His body. And as a follower of Christ the meek, He makes you an heir of His Kingdom.

Jesus says: “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Do you hunger and thirst for that right relationship with God that you lack by nature? Then the Word of God has aroused this desire in you and God is faithful to fulfill His promise. “For our sake [God] made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in [Christ] we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21).

Jesus says: “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.” If we are merciful, then we actively show mercy toward others. That’s God’s will for us. We should be reflecting the undeserved mercy of God toward us by showing mercy toward others. Not to somehow earn God’s mercy for ourselves, but because God first showed His mercy to us in Christ. As St. Paul writes: “you were dead in trespasses and sins … But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ … For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God …” (Eph 2:1-9).

Jesus says: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” In the way Holy Scripture speaks, the heart represents our whole moral nature: our understanding, our emotions, our conscience, our will, indeed, our whole inner life. The saints in heaven can certainly say that their hearts are pure, but can we? Jesus said that “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, [and] slander” (Matt 15:19). That’s a much better description of what comes naturally to our hearts. We see this clearly in the world around us – also within ourselves. So many folks seem to be unconscious to sin: unaware of the reality that their transgression of God’s moral code has eternally deadly consequences. But you’re here because you know the natural impurity of your heart. And, having confessed your sins, Jesus says to you, “take heart, your sins are forgiven” – absolving you and purifying your heart so that you might be a godly influence for the good of your fellow man in this life and ultimately stand among the great multitude of saints in heaven who see God with their own eyes.

Jesus says: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” If you want to be a peacemaker – and you should – you have to have peace yourself. And the greatest and most necessary peace is the peace that the angels sang about on that very first Christmas Eve: the peace with God that the infant Christ brought to earth. God is a God of peace and Christ is the Prince of Peace. As such, Christians are called to love and work for peace within our vocations: in our homes, in our families, in our churches, in our workplaces, in our neighborhoods and abroad. The world is a stranger to peace because it doesn’t know the peace of reconciliation with God that He effected while we were still His enemies. You are baptized … you are cleansed … you’ve been washed in the blood of the Lamb … reconciled to God and at peace … knowing that your sins are forgiven on account of the saving work of Jesus the Prince of Peace.

And Jesus says: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 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.” This is especially pertinent to us Christians these days on account of the growing hatred toward God and toward His people so listen up. You’ve had the Gospel preached to you. By the life-giving Word of God, you’ve been given the gift of faith and your sins have been forgiven. Christ’s righteousness is now your righteousness: imputed to you through Word and Sacrament. So, when you live as a Christian, striving with the help of the Holy Spirit to live according to God’s will, you will be persecuted … you will be reviled … you will be mocked … you will be defamed just as your Lord and Savior was. But in spite of that, you are called to take up your cross and follow Christ.

In fact, the proof of your status as a child of God and a citizen of Christ’s kingdom is that you will suffer and be persecuted. But “rejoice and be glad” because you suffer in good company as we’re reminded on this Feast of All Saints’. The Holy Prophets, the glorious company of the Apostles, the noble army of Martyrs, and a great host of your brothers and sisters in the Holy Church throughout the world have walked that path – called by the Gospel to saving faith and strengthened by Christ’s Word and Spirit. The kingdom of heaven is theirs, and the kingdom of heaven is yours.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

Pr. Jon Holst