Matthew 5:1-12
The Festival of All Saints, Cycle C, 02 November 2025 | A Sermon based on lessons Revelation 7:9-17, 1 John 3:1-3 and Matthew 5:1-12 | By David M. Wendel
“All Saints, All Souls and the Reformation Gospel!”
St. Matthew 5:1-12 (English Standard Version)
Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2 And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
7 “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons[a] of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness‘ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Today is something of a mix of themes! On the one hand, we’re celebrating today as “All Saints’ Sunday,” because while All Saints’ Day is November 1st, we observe it on the nearest Sunday in November, because, well, Lutherans and other Christians aren’t so open to midweek worship services these days. But then, today is also “All Souls’ Day,” which is actually November 2 every year. Which is somewhat confusing, as the two days each have a distinctly different focus. And then, when you dig into the history of each of these days from a Lutheran perspective, leads you to the Reformation, which is actually October 31st, so that the Lutheran liturgical calendar almost makes this a Reformation Sunday, part 2! Which I’m guessing has you thoroughly confused! We’re observing All Saints’ Day, but it’s actually All Souls’ Day, but pastor’s talking about the Reformation Part 2, so maybe your head’s spinning! But I can explain!
As you may remember from last Sunday, Dr. Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses or proposals for academic discussion on the doors of the Wittenberg Castle Church on the Eve of All Saint’s Day, All Hallow’s Eve, Halloween, as we call it. The choice of October 31st was not by chance, but by design, as Luther wanted his theses posted on the door of the church to coincide with what was really the three day observance that began with All Hallow’s Eve, Oct. 31st, when the folk of Wittenberg believed the restless spirits of dead relatives would walk the streets, looking for their still living loved ones, first, to solicit their prayers, and second, to warn them to mend their ways before it was too late. The observance continued on November 1st, when the frightened folk would go to the Castle Church, intentionally named “All Saints’ Church,” to view the extensive collection of relics gathered by Prince Frederick the Wise, displayed publicly only once a year, beginning on All Saint’s Day. The faithful visited the Castle Church to pay the required fee and pray at the accumulated relics of saints, expecting that it would benefit their own souls but also the souls of their dead relatives, believing that the merits of the saints were a treasury that could be drawn upon to shorten the time you and your departed loved ones would have to spend in purgatory, speeding the time when you could enter heaven. You could draw on the treasury of the merits of the saints if you would make the required financial contribution and perform acts of devotion while visiting the relics of the saints. The observance continued on November 2nd, observed as All Soul’s Day, when the distinct focus was not on the saints, but on all the souls who had departed this life who were now thought to be in purgatory, needing desperately the help of those still in this life, to free them from suffering.
The message of All Hallows’ Eve was, „No one lives forever–death brings a long, painful time of purging, by fire, for your sins in this life.“ The message of All Saints’ Day was, „The saints and martyrs have accumulated a vast treasure-house of merits that may be accessed for the benefit of you and your loved ones.“ The message of All Souls’ Day was, „Won’t you make a financial contribution, pray to the relics of the saints, receive an indulgence, freeing you, or your departed loved ones, from purgatory?“
As you can imagine, these three days, together, were a powerful motivation for Christians in Wittenberg and the surrounding area, using fear, guilt, and hope as tools to manipulate them into visiting the relics in the Wittenberg Castle Church, making offerings, praying to the saints and receiving indulgences, that supposedly excused you or your relatives, from time in purgatory. Practically speaking, it was a great system! Christians who were worried about their own salvation or who were grieving the loss of a loved one could do something concrete and pro-active. The Church raised funds and the parishioners in Wittenberg received hope! Everyone got something and the Church and the people were pleased, for the most part, with this three-day observance.
Everyone was pleased except Dr. Luther! Everyone except Martin Luther who believed the Church was leading individual Christians astray. Everyone except Martin Luther who believed the peasants should keep their alms for food and clothing and shelter, rather than purchasing indulgences or praying to the relics of saints, which Luther believed provided false hope. Everyone was pleased, except Luther, who encouraged the people of Wittenberg, instead, to pray to Christ for forgiveness and mercy; to pray to Christ, who died on the cross for our salvation, rather than to the saints, who may or may not be able to help you. Luther knew that by disrupting the common observance of All Hallows’ Eve, All Saints’ Day and All Soul’s Day, he would not only be knocking a stool out from under common lay people, but threatening the important income his prince, Frederick of Saxony, would receive from the crowds of Christians who would flock to the Castle Church during these three days.
But Luther also knew that ultimately, earthly works and paying money to buy salvation and praying to relics, would save no one. Luther knew that knocking the two- legged stool of salvation by works out from under Christians, would allow them to stand, once again, on the solid rock, of faith in Jesus Christ! This was Luther’s desire and intention when he went to the Castle Church on All Hallow’s Eve, 1517 and nailed his 95 Theses to the door. Although the theses were in Latin, the language of scholars, and although his intention was to have these propositions debated by university theologians, the fact that he posted them on the Church door on All Hallow’s Eve, the fact that he posted them, publicly, the fact that he was addressing an issue that struck at the heart of the people’s faith and the income of both prince and Church suggests Luther expected some response, if not a Reformation. And Luther got a response. Immediately, almost as soon as the theses had been posted on the Church door, they had been copied, translated into German and printed for mass distribution. And we know the rest of the story. What we don’t often think about, or consider, is what it really means for us. We claim to be Lutherans. We claim Luther and the Reformation as our own. But do we grasp what this means for us and for our dear, departed loved ones?
All Saints’ Sunday is a day when we think, in general terms, about all the saints of God, living and dead, who strived to live and serve faithfully as Christians. But on this All Saints’ Sunday, being observing on All Souls’ Day, we might well consider, briefly, what salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ means for our departed loved ones. Of course, we care as much for our loved ones as the Wittenbergers cared for theirs. Sometimes we may wonder where they are and how they are and how they stand, before God. We hope all of our loved ones have been received into heaven, to receive eternal life. We can almost understand folks in Luther’s world using all they had to purchase an indulgence, praying to the relics for hours on end to try to control, to attempt to determine what happened to departed loved ones after death. But we can’t determine that. We each have one life, here on earth. We have our chances, here, to hear the gospel, to experience God’s love, and to respond in faith. When we die, we are in God’s hands. And that’s the best news of all!
Once we leave this earthly existence, we are in God’s hands. In death and after death, we are in God’s hands, saints and sinners, alike. And that is enough. We know that God is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. We know that God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, not to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. We cannot and we dare not say anything more than that after death, it’s all up to God. And for that we say, thank God! Because now we are free to live our lives, here and now, fully. Because now we need not spend our time worrying about our departed loved ones. We need not spend our short time on earth trying to finagle our loved ones or ourselves into heaven. It is for us, the living, to live! It is for us, the living, not to be consumed, obsessed with death, but to be fully engaged in life, here and now.
That’s what St. John says in our second lesson, when he writes, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are… Beloved, we are God’s children now…” Because God loves us, we are His children. And we are to live as God’s children now! Though we will at times be, as Jesus says in the Beatitudes, poor in spirit, mourning, reviled, persecuted, we rejoice, now! We rejoice and are glad, for our reward is great in heaven! Though life in this world is sometimes, as we read in Revelation, a great tribulation, with illness, suffering and trial, we have the promise of life in the heavenly city, New Jerusalem, when there will be no more hunger or thirst, where the sun shall not strike us or any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be our Shepherd, and He will guide us to springs of living water,
and God Himself will wipe away every tear from our eyes!
It is that promise and that assurance of eternal life with our Lord and with our loved ones who have died in Him, that gives us the courage and the strength to live without fear of death, to live without worry or anxiety about the future, to live fully and faithfully NOW; to live with joy and gladness, as God’s children NOW, because “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” Because our robes, soiled by sin and the cares of this world, will be washed white in the blood of the Lamb! Because the Lamb is our Shepherd, with us, leading us, every day, whether it’s All Saints’ Day or All Souls’ Day! Our lives NOW and our lives to come, are in His hands! And because of that, we truly, as Jesus says, “blessed.” Blessed and blessed and blessed, because the kingdom is ours, and our reward is great, in heaven!
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
—
©David M. Wendel
Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church
Westerville, Ohio USA