All Saints Sunday falls on the first Sunday of November each year. Exploring and explaining the relationship that exists between the world we live in and the world to come is always an adventure. The communion of saints exists as a promise and reality for the Christian community. Every Sunday of our church year stands as a testament to the resurrection of Jesus Christ, so much so, that even in Lent the Sundays of the season are celebrated as Resurrection days.
All Saints Sunday stands in witness of the resurrection and in confidence in God’s promise of eternal life for those who have died in the faith and now rest with God. My favorite example of this living in two worlds, or two kingdoms as Luther explained, stems from the Hawaiian tradition of the hula dance. Seldom will you hear that the hula is danced for those who are present—it is instead danced for the ancestors who stand behind the dancer. It is true for us as well that our worship is not as much for ourselves as it is to and for God. And surrounding God at all times are the saints who have gone before us.
The Communion of saints is the understanding that the saints of God are not only the people who have died and now rest in God but all of us, of every age, who gather in the presence of God. Our interconnectedness from this life to the life to come centers on this community that finds life through the presence and promise of God.
The Apostles’ Creed speaks of the “communion of saints.” In the third article of the Creed, we hear: “I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic church, the communion of saints.” Luther offers this explanation: “I believe that I cannot by my own understanding or effort believe in Jesus Christ or come to him. But the Holy Spirit has called me through the Gospel, enlightened me with his gifts, and sanctified and kept me in true faith. In the same way he calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian church on earth, and keeps it united with Jesus Christ in the one true faith. In this Christian church day after day he fully forgives my sins and the sins of all believers. On the last day he will raise me and all the dead and give me and all believers in Christ eternal life. This is most certainly true.”
All Saints Sunday allows us a moment to remember those who have gone before us—their names, their lives — and to light a candle to their memory and in symbolism of all the people who have left this life for the life to come in the Kingdom of God. From the front of the church, the light of their lives is rekindled in the flames of candles and we spend our time of worship in the glow of their memory and in the warmth of their lives once again.
See you in church.
Pastor Chris
Excerpt from the November 2018 newsletter.
