All Saints’ Day
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The Lord be with you
All Saints' Painting by Albrecht Durer |
The Feast of All Saints is
the most comprehensive of the days of commemoration, encompassing the entire
scope of that great cloud of witnesses with which we are surrounded (Hebrews
12:1). It holds before the eyes of faith that great multitude which no man can
number: all the saints of God in Christ—from every nation, race, culture, and
language—who have come “out of the great tribulation … who have washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb” (Revelation 7:9, 14). As
such, it sets before us the full height and depth and breadth and length of our
dear Lord’s gracious salvation (Ephesians 3:17-19). It shares with Easter a celebration of the resurrection, since
all those who have died with Christ Jesus have also been raised with Him
(Romans 6:3-8). It shares with Pentecost a celebration of the ingathering of
the entire Church universal—in heaven and on earth, in all times and places—in
heaven and on earth, in all times and places—in the one Body of Christ, in the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Just as we have all been called to
the one hope that belongs to our call, “one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one
God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians
4:4-6). And the Feast of All Saints shares with the final Sundays of the Church
Year an End Times focus on the life everlasting and a confession that “the
sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is
to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). In all of these emphases, the purpose of
this feast is to fix our eyes upon Jesus, the author and perfecter of our
faith, that we might not grow weary or fainthearted (Hebrews 12:2-3).
Collect for All Saints’ Day: Almighty and everlasting God, You knit together
Your faithful people of all times and places into one holy communion, the
mystical body of Your Son, Jesus Christ. Grant us so to follow Your blessed
saints in all virtuous and godly living that, together with them, we may come
to the unspeakable joys You have prepared for those who love you; through Jesus
Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God,
now and forever. Amen.
(This post
is slightly adapted from Treasury of Daily Prayer, CPH, page 870-871.)
Blessings in Christ,
Pastor John Rickert
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