"All Saints Day, A Day Of Remembering”

In Jesus Holy Name November 3, 2024

Text: Revelation 7:9-17 All Saints Day, Redeemer

“All Saints Day, A Day of Remembering”

11-3-19 Sermon Notes “For All The Saints” All Saints’ Sunday

Why are the Beatitudes read on All Saints Day? A very good question, I’ll come back to it in a moment. was curious about that.

All Saints day began in the early centuries of Christianity to remember those who refused to rejtect their faith in Jeus and were Martyred for their faith. We know some of them.

. I’ll tell you the story of two of them. Stephen was the first in Acts. As they were stoning Stephen, Luke tells us that he looked up to heaven and saw the glory of the Lord. “Looking up he said “ I see heaven open And the Son of Man standing there at the right hand of God. That made them angrier, and they threw more stones, because they knew those words “Son of Man” was the phrase Jesus used for himself. Luke writes: On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem.

Then James was arrested and beheaded by Herod., Eventually Peter and Paul crucified in Rome.

You are probably familiar with a man named Polycarp. He lived about 200 years after the Christian church was founded. Polycarp was Bishop of the church at Smyrna (present day Turkey). A disciple of John and thus Jesus. Persecution broke out in Smyrna, and many Christians were fed to the wild beasts in the arena. The bloodthirsty crowd would not be satisfied until they had killed their leader and sent a search party to find him. He was brought before the Roman authorities and told to curse Christ and he would be released. He replied, "Eighty-six years have I served him, and he has done me no wrong: how then can I blaspheme my king who saved me?" The Roman officer replied, "Unless you change your mind, I will have you burnt alive." It is hard to picture a smile on the face of Polycarp or Justin as they were being burned or beheaded. Yet, “blessed are they who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,” Jesus declares. Yet that was peace on the face of Stephen. We Could add Charlie Kirk who practiced living out the beatitudes, showing mercy and seeking to be a peacemaker in all of his collage debates.

We know from Revelation 6 The Apostle John writes in Revelation “When the Lamb opened the 5th seal I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the testimony of God and the testimony they maintained. They called out in a loud voice. How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our death.” On this day, we await His return.

that those who are martyred for their faith that their souls are at the altar of God in heaven.

Another way that we use the word Saints is to refer to ordinary Christians as saints. Listen to the Apostle Paul: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus. We are saints because of our connection to Jesus by baptism God sees us already holy in His sight.

For all the saints who from their labors rest,

who Thee by faith before the world confessed;

Thy name, O Jesu

O blest communion, fellowship divine!

We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;

yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.

Alleluia, Alleluia!s, be forever blest.

Alleluia, Alleluia!

Now back to our opening question Why the beatitudes on All Saints day?

*We read the Beatitudes on All Saints Day because the Saints we celebrate are those who have committed their lives to Christ by living out the beatitudes. All Saints are all those who have had the courage to be different, to stand apart from the crowd. This is the first sermon of Jesus and he is telling those who follow him this is how we should live.

Martin Luther interpreted the Beatitudes as describing the state of a person who has been humbled by God's grace and is no longer trying to earn salvation through their own efforts. He saw them as a result of faith, describing how a person is "blessed" after being transformed by divine mercy.

In the Beatitudes Jesus explains that the kingdom of God is very different than the kingdom of the world. Paul writes in Romans 12 In view of God’s mercy offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. Jesus gives advice to all saints believers who follow him, on Christian living and behavior in the beatitudes

The Beatitudes are more for living saints than for those who have died. The pronouncements of blessing Jesus offers here are in the present and future tenses, not in the past tense. “Blessed are … for they will….” These words of Jesus are his advice for experiencing the “good life”. I’m only going to focus on the first few verses.