Sermon Index
November 1, 2020, All Saints Day
On the church calendar, today is All Saints Day. {The Church Calendar is on page x at the front of our hymnals (Lutheran Service Book.)} There are the big events in the Life of Christ, his Birth, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. There is Pentecost, and the seasons of preparation: Advent and Lent. Then there are saint days and commemorations. We remember the saints because they become models for us how to live as a Christian, and in the case of the martyrs, even how to die as a Christian. Some of the saints have special days, like St. Valentine and St. Patrick. But November First is a day to remember all of them in a big, festive memorial service. All Saints Day becomes a celebration of salvation, not just of the dead saints, but a celebration of our own salvation because we too believe in Jesus Christ as our Savior.
In the modern Lutheran church, we remember not only the saints who have the title of “Saint” with a capital “S” in front of their names, but also small letter “s” saints who are the Christians that we personally know and who have been called to heaven. This can include our parents and grandparents and friends. The older we get the longer the list becomes. Today we will have a memorial prayer and will also remember the saints of our Okinawa Lutheran Church.
Today is a memorial service, but it is a little bit like a funeral. [A simple funeral service is on page 278 of our hymnals.] In a memorial service we remember the person who died, but in a funeral we remember Christ who died. Often times in a Christian funeral there is a eulogy before the sermon. The word “eulogy” literally means “good word.” Someone will say a “few good words” about the person who died: when and where they were born, where they went to school, their family, work, their struggles and victories in life and accomplishments and how they died. The person’s good deeds are spoken of, as if to say, this person was such a good person that they surely deserve to go to heaven. They were a good father or mother, good neighbor, worked in the church, etc. They were such a good saint!
And then comes the sermon. The preacher says they were surely saints, but they were also sinners. They did not live according to the Beatitudes of Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount. They won’t get to heaven because they sang in the choir. They will only be saved through faith in the grace and forgiveness of Jesus Christ. That is the power of a Christian funeral. It is not the sweet music and beautiful flowers. The Power of the Christian funeral is the Gospel that Jesus Christ has taken our loved ones into his arms and given them eternal life; even though they were sinners. Because the forgiveness of Jesus Christ is stronger than sin. Because his blood shed on the cross washes us clean. And this salvation is not just for our loved one who have died, it is also for us now. We know that we will see our loved ones again in the Resurrection. That is the living hope and comfort of Christianity.
Today is not a sad funeral; it is a happy Celebration of Salvation. We need days like this because even we Christians get bogged down in our earthly life. Unlike the saints, we are not yet freed from the worries and disease and tragedies of this earthly life. We can lose sight of our Good Shepherd. We can wander off into temptation and sin and evil and unbelief. When we forget our baptism, we can become spiritually dry. When we are absent from the Word and from the Lord’s Supper, we become spiritually under-nourished. We fear that we will be remembered on October 31st rather than on November 1st.
In old Europe, during the dark nights of autumn and winter, there was real fear of death and evil spirits. Halloween was not a fun night; it was a night of real terror, death and evil. The Christian Church knew there was only one way to overcome that fear. It was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Holy Ghost defeats the evil ghosts. The Resurrection of Jesus defeats death and hell. The Christmas, Good Friday and Easter Gospel tells us that Christ is with us in the midst of our earthly strife and suffering, from our birth to death and to eternal life. Through Jesus Christ we have the victory.
So today is a victory celebration. It is the Gospel that through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, sinners like you and I can become saints: that we can join the number of those who have gone before us.
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church