All Saint's Day

Today's Saying

God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them, but to cleanse them. ~John Aughey

Today the liturgical churches will celebrate All Saints Day.
In some sense it is special this year as it falls on a Sunday so even those churches that would never celebrate it during the week get to celebrate it. In most years they celebrate the Sunday after All Saints that is closest to the day as All Saints Sunday.
Because of the nature of the day there are a variety of texts available including two possible Gospels : John 11:32-44 and Matthew 5:1-12
All of the texts , including the one’s for the Old Testament are filled with promises for the faithful people of God at the end of time.
I love All Saints Day. Today we will sing for all the Saints one of my very favorite hymns.. But I expect that because we don’t seem to have the stamina of the Saints of years gone by we won’t sing all the verses.
This is the Sunday to lift up those special people who have gone before us.
Their stories are exciting.
Stories of standing for the faith even when it cost them their lives.
Stories of living with lepers and caring for them.
Stories of the creation of the first hospitals and orphanages.
Stories of unbelievable acts of love.
Stories of fighting to let the Word of God speak to everyone.
Stories of those Saints who have gone before us and now are part of that unnumbered multitude that stands around the throne of God.
On All Saints I like to come to Communion with the Orthodox image in my mind. We communion not just with the one’s we see but the one’s that have gone before.
I love All Saints.
An exciting meaningful All Saints to you all.

That which was now is not.

That which never was is now.

Pastor Joan Looked out the window and saw Last Lutheran. The beautiful stone building was gone. In its place an old wood frame Church. It had twenty steps up to the front door. It had an entrance to the fellowship hall next to the steps with four steps down just inside the entrance. It was not handicapped accessible .
Today she would climb the twenty steps to the worship center and then the twelve steps up into the pulpit. There would be no loud speaker system but the Church was made to carry her voice. From her high pulpit she would send God’s Word down to the people.
She would tell them that she didn’t understand any better than anyone else how they got there..She wasn’t even sure where there was. This is part of her sermon:
“ I am as confused as you are.
I don’t know how we traveled back in time or even if that is what happened.
I don’t know if we will ever get back to 2009 and our Pigeon Falls again.
But I do know this for sure– The Lord is my Shepherd. God has not left go of us,
The God of our baptism is as real here as He was in 2009.
He loves us as much here as He did there.
We can hang on to that.
This is All Saints Day.
Before us were the heroes of the faith who trusted God.
They trusted when the persecutions came.
They trusted when the illness came.
They trusted when they stood against Kings and leaders.
As they were thrown to the lions they trusted.
As they were burned at the stake they trusted.
As the got leprosy from the people they served they trusted.
When the famine came they trusted.
That trust allowed them to lift high the faith.
That trust gave them courage.
Today on this All Saints Day we need to join them in trusting.
Let God give us the courage to go on whatever happens.
The Lord is our Shepherd.