I love All Saints’ Day! It is one of my favorite Sundays and services of the year. The imagery is beautiful. All Saints’ Day brings to the forefront something we know but may not always take time to acknowledge. We are CELEBRATING with the saints of all times, places, and peoples.
In our sermon on Sunday, there was a reference to some Scandinavian churches having a half-circle Communion rail that stops at the back of the chancel with the church cemetery being on the other side of the wall. The explanation of Bo Giertz is,
“Where the circle ends at the chancel wall, the fellowship still continues; in the
churchyard is the resting place of the dead, the Lord’s faithful, who now are partakers of
the great banquet in heaven. They are with us as a great cloud of witnesses, they
continue the small circle of people around the altar in my parish church, a circle that
widens and is extended both back in time through the centuries and forward into the
eternal world. It is a table fellowship without end. Shoulder by shoulder are they with
us: our own faithful ancestors who once received the sacrament here at this altar, saints
and martyrs elsewhere through the ages, and finally the Lord Himself and His apostles in
the glorious kingdom in heaven above where the circle comes to its conclusion. This is
‘communio sanctorum,’ the communion of saints in Christ’s kingdom of grace.
Celebrating the Lord’s Supper with my brothers and sisters in Christ, I am connected with the saints who sit at the Lord’s Table in the heavenly kingdom. I am counted as one
of God’s holy people.”
How BEAUTIFUL is that? We are partaking in the celebration of heaven. We get to join the eternal song, not one day but NOW, with all the saints! I got an extra reality check about this when our youth listened to Micah Parker speak that same night. I’ve heard Micah are the exact same talk before as a youth. However, it hit me a lot harder this time now that I’m married.
One part of Micah’s trust talk, talks about how he lost his first wife before their fifth anniversary. It was a surprise because she was in amazing health and was young. He mentions how during the grieving process he would selfishly wonder why God didn’t take him and bring her back. He points out thankfully, God doesn’t take those requests seriously. If we truly believe all believers go to heaven, why would we want to bring our loved one back from always being in God’s presence and celebrating God? Why would our loved one want to be back on this crummy earth? Would it be fair to cut in line to get there so the person you love most on this earth couldn’t be there?
Grieving is hard and I don’t want to belittle that. Grieving also isn’t rational. However, a true believer’s grief is unique. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-14 shares, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. ” Through Jesus, we have HOPE and can have joy in grief. It can still hurt to think about someone who is not physically on this earth. It’s ok to be sad and to grieve. However, those who believe in Christ aren’t gone forever. They are with God right now, in HIS presence. We can thank God that one day we’ll wake up on His side of heaven and continue to be in the cloud of witnesses that will last through eternity.