All Saints Sunday

 

All Saints Day

Today is All Saints Day. Today, we honor the saints.

But, who are the saints? Many of us think of those who have been or are being canonized by the Roman Catholic church as the saints. But Lutherans, like most Protestants, believe that all believers in Christ Jesus are saints. The term saints appears 68 times in the bible. In most cases, the term is used to reference the faithful, the believers.

You are therefore a saint. In fact, every Sunday you confess your sainthood in the words of the Apostles' Creed when you confess your belief in the holy catholic church. The holy catholic church in fact is God's spiritual church here on earth, a church that is comprised of the saints here on earth. That includes you and me. We also confess our belief in the communion of saints. Here we are speaking of the oneness of the saints here on earth with those who have gone before us.

What is a saint? What does sainthood mean? To some, sainthood means that we have or can have a spiritual life here on earth. Many Christians have had spiritual experiences and have testified to those experiences. To others, sainthood means that we are redeemed and sanctified sinners. To these theologians and believers, sainthood and redeemed sinner are like two sides of the same coin. Theologians have argued for many centuries.

How can I be a saint and a sinner at the same time? This seems illogical! Illogical, no; incomprehensible, yes. The equation 2+3=7 is illogical. Einstein's theory of relativity is logical but incomprehensible, at least to you and me. We cannot reject our duality as both saint and sinner merely because we cannot understand it.

On this All Saints Day, we honor the saints. You are a saint. Therefore, we honor you, not as a sinner, but as a saint. This somehow doesn't seem right. John 17 contains what many call “the great high-priestly prayer” where Jesus prays in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of Maundy Thursday, just hours before his betrayal, arrest, trial, conviction, and death on the cross. In this prayer, Jesus prays for his own glorification, believers' protection, believers' sanctification, the unity of all believers, and the ultimate glorification of believers. He prayed a lot for you and me as God's saints on earth.

You as a sinner are mortal. As a sinner, you will die. You as a saint are immortal. As a saint, you will live forever. As a saint, you do and will always stand before God pure and unblemished, having been made so by Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and by God's grace. It's all so simple, yet somehow so incomprehensible.