Ephesians 6,10-17 5920
21. Sonntag nach Trinitatis 066
All Saints
1. November 2020
1. O Heavenly Father, Thou art the Perfect Love; grant us to keep constantly before our eyes the love of Jesus, so that His love works on our hearts to show true love of our neighbor. Amen. (Starck 133 ¶ 1)
2. »Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the Devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, so that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand therefore, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming darts of the evil one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
3. With All Saints’ Day, the Church remembers all who have left this temporal life for the heavenly life. Some have been gone for decades, even centuries, and others may be a few months, but they all have a place in our hearts and minds. Gone from us, but never forgotten; nevertheless we long to see them once more.
4. What does it mean to be a saint? Christians are called saints or holy ones. That means they’ve been taken away from this world, cleansed in Christ’s blood and united with Christ Himself (Giertz 781). This righteousness has been given to us in our Baptism. The Apostle Peter tells us: »Baptism now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ« (1. Peter 3,21). The apostle furthermore links Baptism to the ark and the Flood: »the ark … in which … 8 people, were brought safely through water. Baptism corresponds to this ark« (1. Peter 3,20-21). Noah and his family were saints, and God saved them from the Flood, for Noah had found favor in His eyes (Genesis 6,8). After he departed the ark, Noah offered burnt offerings to God as thanksgiving for thing saving him and his family. God approved of Noah’s sacrifice, for Noah is a righteous man, a saint.
5. Every day of the year has a saint assigned to it. November 1 is one of the exceptions, for all in this day we remember all the saints who are too numerous to assign a day for each and everyone. It was no coincidence that Luther posted his 95 Theses on indulgences on the Eve of All Saints, Halloween.
6. Holy Scripture sets before us Christ who is to be prayed to, and He Himself has promised to hear an answer our prayers (Augsburg Confession 21). As to the saints, we remember them and follow the example of their faith and works so that we likewise confess Christ and help our neighbor with charity. Likewise, we remember this day all the saints of our congregation. Some we know, but others we do not. Yesterday marks the 105. anniversary of our church, and the works of some of the saints remain before us to this very day. All the stained glass windows, depicting the ministry of Christ, are dedicated in memory of particular saints. The pulpit is dedicated in memory of Marie Floerke and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Heideck; The altar in memory of Henry and Katie Kramer. The 1. Baptism in this church was Grace Anna Caldwell on Easter Sunday 31. March 1918, the daughter of James Caldwell and Grace nee Herzog. She was baptized by Pastor F. Jena. The first saint in this church to enter paradise was Harry Aron Keder on Good Friday 25. March 1921 (buried Easter Monday 28. March), a young man, 21, who died from influenza. No one here knew these 2 saints, perhaps some still recall or know of the Caldwell and Keder families, but Grace, Harry and all the other departed saints in this church are known to Jesus; they dwell in fellowship with Him and are a cloud of witnesses who gather with us as we worship Christ our Lord. And our church remembers them, each one faithfully recorded in our record books: their Baptisms, confirmations, weddings and funerals – all there on pages dating back over 100 years. Your name is recorded too in those books, and we are thus connected with those in this congregation who have gone before us. And finally, befitting the Feast of All Saints Day, Our stained glass window of the Lord’s Supper is dedicated and loving memory to those called home, and is one of the few that has a White Friar in the corner commemorating the company that made all our stained glass windows. I encourage you from time to time to admire our windows, meditate upon Christ and remember those who before us left us with a beautiful sanctuary. There is a plaque on the wall that lists all those who dedicated particular vessels on furniture that we still used today decades later.
7. All Saints’ Day is like a family reunion. We remember the saints, and give thanks to God for them, even if it is only a name on a page or a plaque, for they are known to Jesus; this the Paschal Candle is lighted with the votive candles surrounding it, reminding us that Jesus is in the midst of His saints and those in heaven surround Him and praise Him, drawing our attention to Christ our Lord and Savior; we give thanks to God for them. Amen.
8. Let us pray. O Heavenly Father, who makes sinners into saints; since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us look to Jesus, so that in Him we rejoice for He is the Founder and Perfector of our faith. Amen. (LCMS Verse for All Saints’s Day; Hebrews 12,1a.2a)
To God alone be the Glory
Soli Deo Gloria
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All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.
ELKB. Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern. www.bayern-evangelisch.de/www/index.php. Copyright © 2019 Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche in Bayern.
VELKD. Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands. www.velkd.de. Copyright © 2020 Vereinigte Evangelisch-Lutherische Kirche Deutschlands.
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