Thoughts for All Saints’ Day

All Hallows’ Eve (a.k.a. Halloween) is the day that still gets attention on everyone’s cultural calendar. In the church’s history, All Hallows’ Day, that is, All Saints’ Day, was the more important festival.  All Saints’ Day (November 1) is meant to commemorate all of God’s people who have gone on to be with him in glory. It is also a recognition of our connection as Christ’s people on earth to the hosts of heaven.  This installment of The Electric Gospel focuses on our identity as saints of God in Christ.

Me, a Saint?

You may not think of yourself as a saint … but think again. The definition of sainthood is often drawn too narrowly. Sainthood is not a merit badge earned by a select few who’ve lived flawless lives. If that were the definition, no one would meet the test. The Bible itself says so:

The Lord looks down from heaven on humankind
to see if there are any who are wise,
who seek after God.
They have all gone astray …
there is no one who does good,
no, not one.   (Psalm 14:2-3)

Look further at Scripture, and you’ll see that those who are called “saints” encompass many souls. Consider the way the epistles address the members of churches:

• “To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints … ” (Romans 1:7).
• “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints …” (1 Corinthians 1:2).
• “To the saints who are in Ephesus and are faithful in Christ Jesus …” (Ephesians 1;1).
• “To all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi …” (Philippians 1:1).
• “To the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae …” (Colossians 1:2).

You get the picture. There are not just a handful of holy people or “saints.” All who are in Christ Jesus are in the saintly category. “We have been sanctified [made holy] through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10).

Martin Luther had much to say on this subject. For instance:

• We should not deny or doubt that we are holy. It would be well to impress this deeply on people and to accustom them not to be shocked at it or hesitate to accept it. For when Christians call themselves holy after Christ, this is not arrogance; it is honoring and praising God. For thereby we do not praise the foul-smelling holiness of our own works, but his baptism, Word, grace, and Spirit, which we do not have of ourselves. He gave them to us.

As we get used to the idea that God looks at us as holy people because of Jesus, we may ask ourselves, “If Christ saved me from sin, why can’t I stop sinning?” The fact remains that we are people who have endless shortcomings. We “ fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We sin. But sin’s result (death) is no longer our final destiny, thanks to Christ (cf. Romans 6:23, 1 Corinthians 15:54-57). Sin’s stain is cleansed from us through Christ (1 John 1:7). And sin’s power over us is no longer a stranglehold because Christ now empowers us.  “If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation …  everything has become new (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Martin Luther frequently spoke of the fact that we are simultaneously sinners and saints — made righteous through Christ but still struggling with the reality of sin. More thoughts from Luther:

• Sin remains in the believer for the exercise of grace and the humbling of pride. For whoever is not busily at work driving out sin surely sins by this very neglect. For we are called to labor against our sinful desires. By God’s mercy, he does not charge the penalty of sin against those who know the grace of God and who by grace struggle with their failings. Therefore whoever repents of sin should not think he is laying down his burdens to live a life of ease. Each confession of sin enlists us as soldiers of God to battle against the devil and the sin within us.

So, my fellow saints, let us celebrate All Saints’ Day. We honor and remember all the saints who have gone before us, called by Christ to join him in glory. And we strive as saints here on earth — called to be holy through Christ — to live lives worthy of the calling we have received in his name (Ephesians 4:1).

This is how we would describe our path as saints on earth who are heading toward heaven:  “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own.… Forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).

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Scripture quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Quotations from Martin Luther taken from What Luther Says, Concordia Publishing House (1959), volume III.