All Saints' Day

Many people love to think of Jesus as a great moral teacher, but they fail to see that his teachings often make no sense according to human understanding. Jesus’ words offend our ideas of morality and common sense. For example, proverbial wisdom tells us that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. So then, what kind of shepherd would abandon ninety-nine sheep in the wilderness to go look for one that was lost? Or what farmer would scatter his precious seeds on rocks? What businessman would pay all his employees equally – whether they had worked all day or merely an hour? Not only is this a dumb business practice, it’s unfair to the ones who worked all day! And yet, these stories describe the kingdom of heaven. It’s a crazy place, where all our ideas of what is fair and just are turned up-side-down. In the kingdom of heaven, the rich are sent away empty, and really wicked folks—tax collectors and prostitutes—go to the front of the line. Jesus’ most famous sermon, from which our Gospel lesson is taken, is no different. Here in the Beatitudes, Jesus describes his saints. He tells us what blessed people look like – and it’s not what we would think. Nothing about the saints of God matches what the world expects to see. According to our worldly ideas of spirituality, Jesus appears to have everything wrong. It’s all backwards.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Mt 5:3). We’ve heard this so many times that it has lost its shock value, but consider what this means. Everybody wants to be “spiritual.” Many atheists like to say, “I’m not religious; I’m spiritual.” Every other religion offers a path to become more and more spiritual. And we Christians often fall right in step with the rest of the world. We have our own self-help programs that are guaranteed to make you spiritually strong. Our bookstores are filled with books that promise to make you a spiritual giant, to give you spiritual success: Become a Better You, A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment, or Spiritual Growth: Being Your Higher Self. And if these books worked, if you actually succeeded in becoming spiritually rich, what would you gain? Nothing. You would succeed only in proving that the kingdom of heaven does not belong to you. For Jesus tells us, “The kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor in spirit.”

To be poor in spirit means to have no spirituality of your own. It means to be spiritually destitute, spiritually bankrupt. It means that God’s description of you is accurate: You were dead in your sins and trespasses, separated from God, and incapable of desiring reconciliation. You were, in fact, a self-declared enemy of God. And if this description fits you, if you are able, by the working of the Holy Spirit, to admit this truth about your spiritual bankruptcy, Jesus says to you, “The kingdom of heaven is yours!” Many people think that a saint is a very holy person with a super-abundance of good works, and if you pray to this saint, their extra merit may spill over onto you. The whole world is trying to climb the spiritual ladder, but Jesus says, “Blessed are the ones at the bottom.” Can you see how backwards this is? It’s no wonder that the world can’t recognize the saints of God. The world’s looking in the wrong direction. There are no saints at the top of the ladder.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Mt 5:4). Christians mourn because of sin. We mourn our own sins. We sorrow over our spiritual bankruptcy. And we grieve over the effects of sin – violence, poverty, broken families and marriages, sickness and death. But we do not grieve as those who have no hope, for Christ has declared that we who mourn are blessed. We find comfort in the forgiveness of sins. We cling to the promise of the Resurrection. And we trust His Word that sin, death, and the devil have been defeated. It’s no wonder that the world can’t recognize the saints of God. It looks at the church expecting to see successful and happy saints and instead finds poor, miserable sinners. We may not look blessed, yet our Lord declares that we are, and his Word makes it so.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Mt 5:5). To be meek is to be “deficient in spirit and courage.” We have no good apart from Christ. We are beggars, fully dependent on His grace. We trust in God’s loving care as dear children trust in their dear father. Yet the world despises meekness. It mocks humility. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong (1 Cor 1:28). It’s no wonder that the world can’t recognize the saints of God. It didn’t recognize God Himself when He hung on the cross in ultimate meekness and humility.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied (Mt 5:6). No one hungers when he is full. You don’t thirst when you have just drunk. To hunger and thirst for righteousness means that you lack righteousness and you need it. As it is written, “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one” (Ro 3:11-12). If God’s Word describes you, then you are blessed indeed. For to those who thirst Jesus gives the Water of Life. To those who hunger He gives his own body, the Bread of Life. It’s no wonder that the world can’t recognize the saints of God. The world despises the precious gift of baptism. It calls our Lord’s body and blood a mere symbol. Sinful man fills his belly with the husks of his own empty works. But the full will be sent away empty. Jesus did not come for the righteous. Only sinners with no righteousness of their own are clothed with the righteousness of Christ.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God (Mt 5:7-9). As a Christian, according to the Spirit of God who now lives within you, you can’t help but be merciful. You love much because you were forgiven much. Your sins were washed away by the blood of Jesus. You have been given a new heart, a pure heart. You have Christ’s promise: Even when I close my eyes in death, though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh, I will see God (Job 19:26). My eyes will behold Him, not as a condemning judge, but as our merciful and loving Savior. And so, we Christians, as sons of God, announce the peace of Christ to this dark world. We proclaim the death and resurrection of our Lord until He comes again. And we endure the scorn and hatred of this passing world with patience and all long-suffering. For this is the final blessing that Jesus gives to his saints:

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account (Mt 5:10-11). It’s no wonder that the world can’t recognize the saints of God. In fact, Jesus promises that the world will hate you. You will be reviled and persecuted because you believe and confess the Word of God. All manner of evil things will be spoken about you, but rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you (Mt 5:11). Count it a great joy to be in that number of blessed saints who will stand before the throne of God for eternity. Rejoice and be glad, for the kingdom of heaven is yours. Amen.

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