All Saint's Day
Text: Matthew 5:1-12
Vicar Roy Askins
Beloved in the Lord, grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate All Saint’s Day. We remember the saints who have entered their eternal dwellings. We remember the saints who are beneath the altar in Revelation, crying out for God to take vengeance for their blood which was shed in persecution. We remember those clothed in white robes (Rev. 7:9), the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev. 7:14) These we remember.
Yet today, our text is the beatitudes. These are often used to describe people in our world today and throughout history. But I have to wonder, is this appropriate?
For instance today, we remember St. Peter and St. Paul who suffered for the Gospel. St. Peter, it has been rumored was crucified upside-down on an X-shaped cross. What greater suffering can one imagine for the sake of the cross? This must count as suffering for righteousness. What a wonderful example of those whom Jesus says will inherit the earth. But on the other hand, we’ve got to wonder, can Peter who denied Jesus Christ three times really inherit the kingdom of heaven? Jesus also says, “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33)
St. Paul was once almost stoned to death. He explained all the suffering he endured on the behalf of the Gospel in second Corinthians saying, “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;” (2 Corinthians 11:25) An heir of the kingdom indeed. Yet, despite all the suffering Paul endured for the Gospel, we must still wonder, does he who persecuted the church, participating in the stoning of Stephen the first martyr, deserve to inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Let’s keep moving through history. Many more saints have lived who purportedly fulfilled the beatitudes. Consider Saint Boniface, the missionary to the barbarians. Taking no consideration for his own life, he went to the barbarians, preaching against their gods of earth and stone and about the God who became man, Christ Jesus. He certainly had mercy on those who don’t deserve mercy. Will not he be shown mercy? Yet a man he remains, a sinful man.
Don’t the beatitudes describe Dr. Martin Luther? Martin Luther certainly qualified for the first beatitude, being poor in spirit. He recognized he had no claim before God in the matter of righteousness. He tortured himself over his sin attempting to make himself worthy before God. Luther mourned for the church as well. Certainly he deserved to be comforted. Well, I suppose Luther only makes it so far. He wasn’t very meek you know. Kind of bold and brash, he certainly doesn’t deserve to inherit the earth on the basis of his meekness.
Amongst us we have the poor in spirit, the mourning and meek, the ones hungering and thirsting for righteousness and so on, do we not? Do you fit into one of those categories? I’ve tried to fit myself into these categories just like you have. I’ve said to myself, “I’m poor in spirit, just look at me.” Then I realize I’m not being meek. I then say, “Oh how I hunger and thirst for righteousness,” only to realize my prideful heart.
Every time you try to fit your name into one of the beatitudes you find that is the one you fail the most in being. The moment you say, “I am poor in spirit,” you are the least poor in spirit on earth. Arrogance has taken its place. The moment you claim to be a peacemaker, at that moment you realize the horrifying gorge between you and God. The moment you take pride in being persecuted, you realize the persecution you are enduring is not persecution, but the worst kind of self-chosen suffering so that you don’t have to endure God-sent suffering. The moment you say, “I am being reviled for the Lord,” you look closely into the mirror of the law and realize that you are not reviled falsely on account of the Gospel, but suffering rightly on account of your own sin.
The glaring law throws back at us every attempt to claim the beatitudes as our own, as descriptions of ourselves and our loved ones. These beautiful sayings darken our lives with the truth of the law. The beatitudes have often been used for decorative purposes on mirror or cross-stitch patterns and so forth. But seen through the light of the law, they don’t appear all that beautiful anymore. What once was beautiful becomes frightening and ugly without Christ.
After seeing them in this light, we often end up standing with Luther, whipping ourselves and crying out, “Why can these describe the saints, but not me?” We whip ourselves saying, why can everyone else be pure but me, as St. John writes. “Why can’t these describe us the way they describe the saints?” we ask.
But, even though we think the beatitudes describe the saints, we see that the saints end up missing the boat also. Even though Peter and Paul suffered for the Gospel, they do not truly deserve the title of blessed. Through Martin Luther, God revealed the Gospel once again, but Martin Luther does not deserve to be called blessed. Saint Boniface, though he took the Gospel to the barbarian nations does not deserve to be called a son of God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) writes St. Paul.
When we look at the beatitudes, we realize they cannot describe any human being born naturally of Adam’s seed. The beatitudes cannot describe a sinful human being. Yet, when the beatitudes are given to whom they belong, to the one born out of the Holy Spirit through the womb of the virgin Mary, then the beatitudes begin to make sense.
The beatitudes belong to Christ. What does this mean? This means two things: first the beatitudes describe who Christ is, secondly they are His to give to whom He desires. First off, the beatitudes describe Christ. Christ was poor in spirit. What does it mean to be poor in spirit. It means to claim no standing before God, especially in terms of righteousness. It means that no matter what, we do not make any claim to have done any work which in any way contributes to our salvation. Christ was poor in spirit because He was the one “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself be becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) The kingdom of heaven belongs to Christ.
Who is it who mourns? Christ mourns for Jerusalem and her apostasy from the faith when He says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matthew 23:37) He is the one who mourns. What about the meek? Christ. The merciful? Only one is capable of truly having mercy, Christ. Christ hungered and thirsted for righteousness so greatly, He gave His body to be eaten and His blood to be drunk. Only the pure in heart shall see God, and so St. John testifies of Christ in his Gospel when he writes, “the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14b) Jesus is the one who has seen the Father face to face. Christ is the only peacemaker the world has known, for only in the blood of Christ can peace be made for sins.
Unless the beatitudes are seen as descriptions of Jesus, they hold no hope. They depress us, unless they describe Christ to us. While they describe Christ, they belong to Christ. And when they belong to Christ, then He can to give them out to whomever He desires.
What does this mean? Christ gives out the beatitudes as His gifts to His saints. So the beatitudes describe the saints, since they have been born of water and the Spirit. The beatitudes describe you. You have been shown mercy through Christ. You have been comforted, though you mourn for your sins. You have been filled with the body and blood of Christ in order to assuage your hunger and thirst for righteousness. You have received mercy and have become a son of God.
Christ gives these beatitudes as descriptions of you, beloved saints. These beautiful descriptions of you occur only because of Christ’s work on the cross. There on the cross with blood pouring from His side He redeemed you. When the waters of Baptism were sprinkled over your head, He made you into the saints described in the beatitudes. Certainly you still live with sin; you are not perfect within yourself. In heaven, these beatitudes will perfectly describe you forever. In heaven, you will be one of “the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.” (Rev. 7:14) You belong to Jesus; you are saints. In heaven, you will be perfected by the blood of Christ.
And how does the rest of the world react to this description of you? They “revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on [Christ’s] account.” (Matthew 5:11) When this happens, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) These also become descriptions of you, persecuted and rejected. Rejoice when this is the description of you, because you are blessed in that persecution. Though you shed tears of sorrow now, “God will wipe away every tear” from your eyes.” (Rev. 7:17) Though your loved ones at times wept because of their suffering, God has already wiped away every tear from their eyes. They have been freed from every form of suffering. No longer do they hunger or thirst for “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.” (Rev. 7:16) These are they who have gone through the tribulation of suffering and death, of existence in this world. And you also have been promised this same comfort from God. You will be freed from all pain and suffering, to live forever before the Lamb in His kingdom.
Beloved Saints of the Lord, “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:12). Amen.
Vicar Roy Askins
Beloved in the Lord, grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
Today we celebrate All Saint’s Day. We remember the saints who have entered their eternal dwellings. We remember the saints who are beneath the altar in Revelation, crying out for God to take vengeance for their blood which was shed in persecution. We remember those clothed in white robes (Rev. 7:9), the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Rev. 7:14) These we remember.
Yet today, our text is the beatitudes. These are often used to describe people in our world today and throughout history. But I have to wonder, is this appropriate?
For instance today, we remember St. Peter and St. Paul who suffered for the Gospel. St. Peter, it has been rumored was crucified upside-down on an X-shaped cross. What greater suffering can one imagine for the sake of the cross? This must count as suffering for righteousness. What a wonderful example of those whom Jesus says will inherit the earth. But on the other hand, we’ve got to wonder, can Peter who denied Jesus Christ three times really inherit the kingdom of heaven? Jesus also says, “but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 10:33)
St. Paul was once almost stoned to death. He explained all the suffering he endured on the behalf of the Gospel in second Corinthians saying, “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;” (2 Corinthians 11:25) An heir of the kingdom indeed. Yet, despite all the suffering Paul endured for the Gospel, we must still wonder, does he who persecuted the church, participating in the stoning of Stephen the first martyr, deserve to inherit the kingdom of heaven?
Let’s keep moving through history. Many more saints have lived who purportedly fulfilled the beatitudes. Consider Saint Boniface, the missionary to the barbarians. Taking no consideration for his own life, he went to the barbarians, preaching against their gods of earth and stone and about the God who became man, Christ Jesus. He certainly had mercy on those who don’t deserve mercy. Will not he be shown mercy? Yet a man he remains, a sinful man.
Don’t the beatitudes describe Dr. Martin Luther? Martin Luther certainly qualified for the first beatitude, being poor in spirit. He recognized he had no claim before God in the matter of righteousness. He tortured himself over his sin attempting to make himself worthy before God. Luther mourned for the church as well. Certainly he deserved to be comforted. Well, I suppose Luther only makes it so far. He wasn’t very meek you know. Kind of bold and brash, he certainly doesn’t deserve to inherit the earth on the basis of his meekness.
Amongst us we have the poor in spirit, the mourning and meek, the ones hungering and thirsting for righteousness and so on, do we not? Do you fit into one of those categories? I’ve tried to fit myself into these categories just like you have. I’ve said to myself, “I’m poor in spirit, just look at me.” Then I realize I’m not being meek. I then say, “Oh how I hunger and thirst for righteousness,” only to realize my prideful heart.
Every time you try to fit your name into one of the beatitudes you find that is the one you fail the most in being. The moment you say, “I am poor in spirit,” you are the least poor in spirit on earth. Arrogance has taken its place. The moment you claim to be a peacemaker, at that moment you realize the horrifying gorge between you and God. The moment you take pride in being persecuted, you realize the persecution you are enduring is not persecution, but the worst kind of self-chosen suffering so that you don’t have to endure God-sent suffering. The moment you say, “I am being reviled for the Lord,” you look closely into the mirror of the law and realize that you are not reviled falsely on account of the Gospel, but suffering rightly on account of your own sin.
The glaring law throws back at us every attempt to claim the beatitudes as our own, as descriptions of ourselves and our loved ones. These beautiful sayings darken our lives with the truth of the law. The beatitudes have often been used for decorative purposes on mirror or cross-stitch patterns and so forth. But seen through the light of the law, they don’t appear all that beautiful anymore. What once was beautiful becomes frightening and ugly without Christ.
After seeing them in this light, we often end up standing with Luther, whipping ourselves and crying out, “Why can these describe the saints, but not me?” We whip ourselves saying, why can everyone else be pure but me, as St. John writes. “Why can’t these describe us the way they describe the saints?” we ask.
But, even though we think the beatitudes describe the saints, we see that the saints end up missing the boat also. Even though Peter and Paul suffered for the Gospel, they do not truly deserve the title of blessed. Through Martin Luther, God revealed the Gospel once again, but Martin Luther does not deserve to be called blessed. Saint Boniface, though he took the Gospel to the barbarian nations does not deserve to be called a son of God. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) writes St. Paul.
When we look at the beatitudes, we realize they cannot describe any human being born naturally of Adam’s seed. The beatitudes cannot describe a sinful human being. Yet, when the beatitudes are given to whom they belong, to the one born out of the Holy Spirit through the womb of the virgin Mary, then the beatitudes begin to make sense.
The beatitudes belong to Christ. What does this mean? This means two things: first the beatitudes describe who Christ is, secondly they are His to give to whom He desires. First off, the beatitudes describe Christ. Christ was poor in spirit. What does it mean to be poor in spirit. It means to claim no standing before God, especially in terms of righteousness. It means that no matter what, we do not make any claim to have done any work which in any way contributes to our salvation. Christ was poor in spirit because He was the one “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself be becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:6-8) The kingdom of heaven belongs to Christ.
Who is it who mourns? Christ mourns for Jerusalem and her apostasy from the faith when He says, “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not!” (Matthew 23:37) He is the one who mourns. What about the meek? Christ. The merciful? Only one is capable of truly having mercy, Christ. Christ hungered and thirsted for righteousness so greatly, He gave His body to be eaten and His blood to be drunk. Only the pure in heart shall see God, and so St. John testifies of Christ in his Gospel when he writes, “the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14b) Jesus is the one who has seen the Father face to face. Christ is the only peacemaker the world has known, for only in the blood of Christ can peace be made for sins.
Unless the beatitudes are seen as descriptions of Jesus, they hold no hope. They depress us, unless they describe Christ to us. While they describe Christ, they belong to Christ. And when they belong to Christ, then He can to give them out to whomever He desires.
What does this mean? Christ gives out the beatitudes as His gifts to His saints. So the beatitudes describe the saints, since they have been born of water and the Spirit. The beatitudes describe you. You have been shown mercy through Christ. You have been comforted, though you mourn for your sins. You have been filled with the body and blood of Christ in order to assuage your hunger and thirst for righteousness. You have received mercy and have become a son of God.
Christ gives these beatitudes as descriptions of you, beloved saints. These beautiful descriptions of you occur only because of Christ’s work on the cross. There on the cross with blood pouring from His side He redeemed you. When the waters of Baptism were sprinkled over your head, He made you into the saints described in the beatitudes. Certainly you still live with sin; you are not perfect within yourself. In heaven, these beatitudes will perfectly describe you forever. In heaven, you will be one of “the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb.” (Rev. 7:14) You belong to Jesus; you are saints. In heaven, you will be perfected by the blood of Christ.
And how does the rest of the world react to this description of you? They “revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on [Christ’s] account.” (Matthew 5:11) When this happens, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:12) These also become descriptions of you, persecuted and rejected. Rejoice when this is the description of you, because you are blessed in that persecution. Though you shed tears of sorrow now, “God will wipe away every tear” from your eyes.” (Rev. 7:17) Though your loved ones at times wept because of their suffering, God has already wiped away every tear from their eyes. They have been freed from every form of suffering. No longer do they hunger or thirst for “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat.” (Rev. 7:16) These are they who have gone through the tribulation of suffering and death, of existence in this world. And you also have been promised this same comfort from God. You will be freed from all pain and suffering, to live forever before the Lamb in His kingdom.
Beloved Saints of the Lord, “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven.” (Matthew 5:12). Amen.
posted by Luther Memorial Chapel at
11/07/2007
