DAILY READING
REFLECTION
“Precious in the Sight of the Lord is the Death of His Saints.”
(Psalm 116:15)
by Diane Ward
All Saints' Day is the feast of known and unknown believers who are redeemed and now in heaven. It has been celebrated for centuries on November 1. Those who have gone before us cheer us on and encourage us to live faithfully. We will meet again!
"He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth. The Lord has spoken. (Isaiah 25:8)
The festival of All Saints' Day originally honored who were considered especially holy, heroic figures from the scriptures, and martyrs who had given their lives in witness to the faith. It is a
Lutheran accent for the feast to honor not only those who lived exemplary lives, but all who have been baptized into Christ’s death. We remember that it is God’s grace, apart from our works, which makes us saints. We believe Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
On All Saints' Sunday we name in worship our loved ones who have died. Many of us with broken hearts have stood at the grave of our loved ones. We the redeemed are sealed in the Lord forever. With his foot planted on the Serpent’s head, Jesus speaks loudly enough that his words echo off the canyon walls. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me will live, even though they die; and whoever believes in me will never die.” He asks Mary and Martha, “do you believe this?”
“Come now live in us. Let us stay in You, since if we be all in You, we cannot be far from one another, though some may be in heaven and some upon earth.”
PRAYER
Comfort those of us who mourn as we remember our own Saints who have gone before us. Give us a glimpse of the joy they are experiencing in your presence.
