The Hope to which God Called You - All Saints Sunday
Author: Pastor Scott Schul
November 02, 2025
On All Saints Sunday,
our thoughts naturally gather around our loved ones who have completed their
mortal journey. It’s a day to
grieve. It’s a day to give thanks. It’s a day to remember. And it’s a day when we might find ourselves
taking stock of our own lives, and honestly assessing our past behavior,
our present disposition, and our future prospects. After all, on a day like today, we’re all
very aware of our own mortality. Someday,
we too will close our eyes on this side of heaven for the very last time. And someday, God willing, our names will be
fondly remembered at an altar like this on an All Saints Day long in the
future.
And so through this
special and solemn church festival, which Christians have marked since ancient
times, the Church invites us to undertake this vital work of grieving,
thanksgiving, remembering, and assessing. Here at Grace we’ve developed a lovely tradition of doing this by
lighting candles, tolling bells, and gazing at these photos before our
altar. All of these things help remind
us of our loved ones, our saints.
I say that they “remind
us” because the candles, bells, and photos don’t magically conjure the presence
of our saints. Instead, the candles,
bells, and photos help us recognize what’s already true: as scripture teaches,
we are surrounded by a “great cloud of witnesses.”1 The boundary between heaven and earth is tissue
thin. Our saints are not as far away as
we think or fear. In Christ, we
remain united with our saints.
But let’s pause for a
moment and consider this phrase I’ve been using today: “our saints.” What makes these people pictured here, and
the ones you’re picturing and holding in your hearts today, “our saints?” Well, the “our” part should be
evident. They are “ours” simply because
we loved them and had a relationship with them. That love and relationship is neither broken nor diminished by
death. It’s a love and a relationship
that I have no doubt continues into eternity. Moreover, these beloveds are “ours” and worthy of remembrance today at
Grace whether or not they were members here. When one of us grieves, we all grieve. We are church together so we can bear the burden of loss together. They are “ours.”
OK, that’s easy enough,
but why do I persist in calling them “saints”? Is it because they all lived lives of perfect holiness and conducted
themselves with exemplary righteousness? Well, we all know that’s not true. Our saints here are just like us: sinners who make mistakes, lose their tempers,
and get distracted and occasionally captivated by the things of the world. That’s probably not the image of a saint
we’ve grown up. Usually we think of
saints as being solely the people portrayed in great art, iconography, and
statues - perfect, sinless people. But
just read your New Testament. People we
regularly call saints, like Peter and Paul, made all sorts of terrible
mistakes. They often failed at
faithfully loving their neighbor and they regularly failed to faithfully love
Jesus.
But Jesus never failed
to love them. And it’s that
unyielding love of Jesus that made Peter and Paul saints. It’s that same love of Jesus that
makes our loved ones saints as well. Their holiness, their righteousness, is not derived from what they did; it’s a gift of grace which comes from what Jesus did, as he
surrendered himself by walking to a cross, and then three days later emerged
from a tomb, victorious over sin, death, and the devil. He won that victory for the famous saints
like Peter and Paul. He won that victory
for our saints. And he won it for all of us as well.
But don’t merely take
my word on this matter. Look at our
lesson from Ephesians. It makes this
expansive definition of a saint crystal clear. Nine times in this letter, we read about “the saints.” The Greek word is ?γ?ους, “holy ones.” From the overall content and context of
Ephesians, it’s clear that the early Christians didn’t define a saint as the
mythical perfect person memorialized in paintings or statues, but instead the
regular, ordinary, imperfect person who simply puts their faith and trust in
Jesus. People like us. People like “our saints” who we have here
before our altar and the ones we are quietly carrying in our hearts today.
And so holy scripture
is clear on this point. By the grace of
Jesus Christ, and only by his grace, we are God’s saints. And they are God’s saints. OK, but so what? What’s the significance on All Saints Sunday
of knowing that in God’s eyes we are saints, and they are
saints? The significance is that as
saints, as imperfect people who put our faith and trust in our perfect Savior Jesus, we have been equipped to see things through God’s eyes. And that changes everything.
What exactly does that
entail? Remember what I said at the
beginning, that on a day like today, we naturally take stock of our past behavior, our present disposition, and our future prospects? Well, my fellow saints, verse 18 of Ephesians
says we can do all of that through God’s eyes. It reads, “With the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may perceive
what is the hope to which God has called you.” In other words, we’re no longer bound by our limited, human
perspective. Instead, God blesses us with
the capacity of viewing the past, the present, and the future through the
divinely inspired eyes of hope… grace-colored glasses!
So let’s do that now with
our loved ones, our saints, who have died. Today, I want you to rest assured that they are in Jesus’s loving
care. Once again, it’s not because they
were perfect or sinless. We are saved by
grace through faith in Jesus Christ. That’s not a wish, or a goal, or a philosophical possibility. This is God’s promise. And so despite all the grief we
understandably feel, and even if that grief accompanies us all the days of our
lives, we do not have to worry about our loved ones anymore. We can put our trust in our Savior, Jesus
Christ. The past of our saints no longer
defines them. Their faith in Jesus has
secured both their present and their eternal future. And because of that, even with tears in our
eyes, we can and should celebrate and give thanks. For our saints, all is well!
And what about us? Well, today I want you to be freed from the
chains and regrets of your past. In Christ, you have been forgiven. Now granted, we’re all going to have new sins to contend with as the
upcoming hours and days unfold, so it’s a good habit to renew that confession
and seek God’s forgiveness daily. God’s
forgiveness is shockingly abundant.
That promise of
forgiveness should decisively influence our present. We don’t have to exhaust ourselves trying to
impress God with our pious practices and righteous works. Instead, we can see our present through those
holy eyes of hope, those grace-colored glasses, and rest in the assurance of our
salvation by grace through faith in Jesus. But when I say we rest, it doesn’t mean we are passive or inactive. In Christ we have been freed! And in that freedom we now have the
opportunity, here in the present, to express our gratitude by loving our
neighbor, by supporting the church financially, by caring for our friends and
family, and by doing all those things that make our world more beautiful and
our lives more whole.
And that brings us to
our future. What will happen to us when
we die? Through the eyes of divine love,
through “the eyes of the heart enlightened,” through the eyes of hope, we can
trust that Jesus and our saints will be there to welcome us back home in love
and mercy. So do not be afraid. Because as we will sing in just a few
moments, “there breaks a yet more glorious day: the saints triumphant rise in
bright array; the King of glory passes on his way. Alleluia! Alleluia!”2 Amen.
1 Hebrews 12:1
2 For All the Saints, Evangelical
Lutheran Hymnal #422, verse 6
© 2025 Rev. Scott E. Schul, all rights reserved
Sermon Text: Ephesians 1:15-23
Gospel: Luke 6:120-31
20 Then [Jesus] looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21 “Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22 “Blessed are you when people hate you and when they
exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man.
23 Rejoice
on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven, for
that is how their ancestors treated the prophets.
24 “But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25 “Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.
26 “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is how
their ancestors treated the false prophets.
27 “But I say to you who are listening: Love your enemies; do
good to those who hate you; 28 bless those who curse you; pray
for those who mistreat you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the
cheek, offer the other also, and from anyone who takes away your coat do not
withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who asks of you,
and if anyone takes away what is yours, do not ask for it back again. 31 Do
to others as you would have them do to you.”
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