Revelation 7:9-17; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Does knowing the ending of a book or movie make it more enjoyable? That might seem like a strange question as we often talk about not spoiling the endings of such things. We all want to experience them for the first time ourselves. We like the surprise and amazement we get when we reach the ending, seeing how all the troubles of the characters are worked out. Yet, sometimes, the endings aren’t what we imagined. Endings don’t always tie everything up in a nice neat little bow. Then all that we read (and enjoyed) before is spoiled by a potentially bad ending.

Consider the same question with life. Would knowing how your life plays out make life more enjoyable or would you be afraid to find out? That’s a much different question. If we knew that everything turned out alright, that all of our gigantic troubles now were really just a footnote, then wouldn’t we be able to relax and enjoy things more? 

Now, I’m no psychic, nor can I tell you the future. But I do know how everything will end because God has told us. This is our focus this week as we celebrate All Saints’ Day. As Christians, we know the end of our story. Even as we mourn those who have died, we remember that there is yet more to the story. Just as Revelation says, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb,” Revelation 7:14. As Christians, we know that death isn’t the end for us. The conclusion of our story is not the grave. Rather, the end of everything, the end of our lives shall be meeting Jesus Christ when he returns in glory. The end of our story is the resurrection of the dead and life in the world to come!

This is why we, as Christians, do not weep at death like the rest of the world. We mourn the loss of loved ones because we know death is evil. But we also rejoice because we know that death has been defeated! All the struggles and suffering we endure here on earth is finite. There will be an end to it all. For this is our hope even in the midst of our present struggles. As Christians who know the end of the story, we are free to enjoy life more as God intended of us. We are free to place our worries and our cares in God’s hands knowing that He will care for us and see us through to the glorious end that awaits us!

On this All Saints’ Day, we remember that those who have died did so in faith. They believed in Jesus Christ as they’re savior. They believed that Jesus’ death on the cross paid for all of their sins. And they believed above all else that though they die, yet shall Jesus return to raise them from the dead because Jesus himself was raised from the dead. Indeed, this is the end of the story for all who believe. Thus, as we live here on earth in this life, we are able to trust in God that even death shall become a footnote for us. By Jesus’ death and resurrection, He has secured for us the best ending of all, the resurrection unto life everlasting! 

Pastor Sorenson

Prayer:

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!

Revelation 14:6–7; Ps 46; Romans 3:19–28; John 8:31–36

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I think everyone has an innate desire to consider themselves generally good. We’re not completely delusional in that we know we often mess up and don’t always do the right thing. Yet, we realize that we’re all just trying our best. We work with what we are given and try to make the most of it. Thus, even when we do mess up, it might have been with all the right intentions.

This is how we often justify our actions and decisions even when we know that it wasn’t the best. This is a common human trait as well. Because we like to see ourselves as “good”, we try to justify our actions or claim that we did the right thing. We will start to rationalize actions that even hurt others because they were better for us. Or we compare ourselves to others by saying, “At least I’m not as bad as they are!” Instead of always doing good, we become satisfied by moving the goal of “goodness” just to make us feel “good” about ourselves.

In many ways, this was the reality that Martin Luther dealt with before the Reformation. The Church had been moving the goal posts of what it meant to be justified before God. The sale of indulgences, venerating the saints, pilgrimages to Rome and other such practices were given as easy and simpler ways of making someone feel better about themselves. It gave people the ability to rationalize the evil that they had done by “balancing it out” with something else good. Of course, this troubled Luther. He had been studying this very passage of Romans, “For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,” Romans 3:22–24. 

The Reformation was as much about recovering the Law as it was the Gospel. Later theologians would take a page out of Luther’s book by calling such actions of the church “cheap grace”. Luther showed us that we cannot minimize, lessen, or simplify the demands of the law if we also wish to have the full grace of God. This is why as Lutherans we’re regularly taught to stare at ourselves in the mirror of the Law. We must see just how evil and corrupt our actions are, how sinful our flesh has become. For we all have sinned and fallen short. We cannot measure up with what God requires of us in his Holy Law.

Yet, this is where the Reformation really shined. When we finally understand our place in view of the law, we can fully appreciate the Gospel! Read what else Paul writes in Romans, “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it,” Romans 3:21. The righteousness of God is manifest apart from the Law! Indeed, once the Law has come and condemned us, beaten us down, then Jesus shows up and says, “I have forgiven you by fulfilling the law on your behalf!” Jesus fulfilled the law by taking on our own flesh, fulfilling its full demands for us, and even paying the penalty for all of our sins by his own death upon the cross. For now, we are righteous apart from the law, not by our own merit or worthiness, but solely by the grace of God given to us in Christ Jesus our Lord! 

Pastor Sorenson

Almighty and gracious Lord, pour out Your Holy Spirit on Your faithful people. Keep us steadfast in Your grace and truth, protect and deliver us in times of temptation, defend us against all enemies, and grant to Your Church Your saving peace; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen!