Feast of All Saints

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It is very meet and right on this feast of all the saints of GOD in the Church, to recall the names of those Saints who have preceded us into Glory, and to pray that the LORD GOD will allow us to ‘follow their good examples, so that with them, we might be partakers of Christ’s glorious Kingdom’. — But let us ask: what is ‘Christ’s Kingdom, and how are the Saints part of that Kingdom?’ — Simply put, a kingdom is ruled by a king, and the thing that the king rules is the hearts and minds of his loyal, saintly people.  

In the Holy Scriptures, we first learn that the GOD of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the GOD who revealed Himself in the Burning Bush to Moses, and the GOD who showed Himself to the people of Jacob from high, atop Mt. Sinai in smoke, flame, and voice, this GOD offered Himself to be the King over His elect people, who He called Israel. He made this offer by calling them to come out from where they dwelt and trust Him – He offered Himself as their King by delivering them from their captivity in Egypt – He presented Himself as their Sovereign by saying to them: “If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them … I will walk among you and be your GOD, and you shall be My people … if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Leviticus 26.3, 12; Ex. 19.4-6). 

And so, with one voice, the people of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob assented to GOD’s offer to be their King. Thus, He adopted for Himself the people of Israel to be His subjects – His inheritance. — And in joy of this prospect, alas, Israel cried: “You are our King, O GOD; Therefore, we pray you, command victories for Jacob” (Psalm 44.4). — This is the story of GOD’s kingdom rule in the Old Testament. — So, how does JESUS of Nazareth, come to be the King of GOD’s inheritance – the people of the promise of Abraham in the New Testament?    

Four hundred years after GOD became Israel’s King in the wilderness, one of the temporal and political rulers of Israel that He had appointed through His prophet Samuel, was named David. And in the Second book of Samuel in the Bible, GOD the King told David, “When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom … And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be established forever” (2 Samuel 7.12 & 16). — From that time forward, this covenantal promise of GOD was understood to be a framework that assured a future and heavenly appointed Jewish Messiah (Savior & King) in Israel. A promise of a Messiah who would come to establish an eternal throne on earth and rule and reign the nations – a Messiah that would bring GOD’s salvation to all faithful, godly people.  

Thus, the people, prophets, and sages of Israel began to look hopefully for this Savior and King, describing the establishment and saving character of his royal kingdom in the following ways: “There shall come forth a Rod from the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. His delight is in the fear of the LORD, and He shall not judge by the sight of His eyes, nor decide by the hearing of His ears; but with righteousness He shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. Righteousness shall be the belt of His loins, and faithfulness the belt of His waist (Isaiah 11.1-5) … “And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called, Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty GOD, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, to order it and establish it with judgment and justice from that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this” (Isaiah 9.6-7). 

Now the question becomes, how did JESUS, a child of an unassuming, newly married couple of modest means in Galilee, inherit this Messianic title that GOD promised? — Besides both of His parents meeting the requirement of lineage from King David’s line to receive the Kingdom, JESUS met a unique requirement that no other human before or since can claim – He is the unique and only begotten Son of GOD and Son of Man – born of Heaven and of earth – eternally GOD, and of the seed of Eve. This is important! 

Mind you, the Kingdom that GOD promised David, possesses the characteristic of temporality and eternality – of men and of GOD. For, GOD said to David: ‘And your house and your kingdom shall be established forever before you – of David and of GOD. — Unfortunately, any recognizable divine attributes in David’s lineage were lost as quickly as the next generation of kings in the person of Solomon. The wisest, most successful, and most prolific of Israel’s monarchs, nonetheless, only a few chapters into his legacy, Solomon showed disdain for GOD through his behavior with foreign women and their foreign gods. Thus, the LORD said to him: “Because you have done this, and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant” (1 King 11.11). — Due to Solomon’s spiritual infidelity to GOD, Israel was forced to wait for the fulfillment of the LORD’s promise of an eternal, righteous monarchy, until a future consummation.  

Yet, to give her hope of this realization, the LORD gave His people a prophecy unveiled by the seer of Israel, Isaiah. Through Isaiah, the LORD cast a vision of a time when Israel would be liberated from her oppressors, and the blessings of GOD would be recalled, and a time of refreshing would come in, foreseen by a particular and miraculous sign. — Of this sign, Isaiah writes: “Therefore, the LORD Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son and shall call His name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7.14). — This sign came to pass in the pregnancy of Mary and the conception and birth of JESUS of Nazareth, some seven hundred years after Isaiah spoke. Concerning this miraculous event foretold by Isaiah, we read: “The angel [Gabriel] said to her, ‘Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with GOD. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His name JESUS – GOD’s salvation. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Highest; and the LORD GOD will give Him the throne of His father David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there will be no end.’” (St. Luke 1.30-33). 

Having been assigned the Kingdom of GOD promised to David’s Seed, “GOD anointed JESUS of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, [and he] went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for GOD was with Him” (Acts 10.38). — This is most important, especially because a kingdom is not land, titles, and acclaim. As mentioned earlier, a king’s kingdom is the people who call the king of the kingdom their LORD and sovereign. — This is the Good News of the Gospels of Holy Scripture. GOD did not forsake His promise made to David because of the sins of men – He raised up a mighty salvation for us in the person of His Son, JESUS, the Messiah. — And because King JESUS is GOD’s Son, and ruler over all things seen and unseen, His desire is not for titles or property, but souls – not for geography but for human progeny. — His Kingdom’s mission can be summed up by this charge from GOD the Father: “Is it too small a thing that You should be My Servant, [JESUS], to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved ones of Israel. [Thus], I will also give You as a light to the Gentiles, that You should be My salvation to the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 49.6). GOD’s Kingdom, which He willed to JESUS of Nazareth, His only begotten Son, is not of earthly values and renown; instead, GOD’s Kingdom values a different treasure: the heart, souls, and minds of men, women, and children.  

The Anglican Divines who inspired the collation and crafting of the Prayer Book, called the Kingdom of GOD’s Messiah, a ‘mystical body of all of GOD’s faithful people.’ — We are given a vision of this Kingdom of GOD in Christ in today’s Epistle Lesson from Revelation. These people are not united under a political or military flag of temporal power and limited to a geographic capital, somewhere in the world. Instead, St. John the Divine receives an apocalyptic vision of the Saints of both Jacob, which he calls the 144,000, AND of the Gentiles, which he calls a great multitude that no one could number of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues. In John’s vision, both of these groups of people stand before the Throne of GOD and before the Lamb of GOD, worshipping and acclaiming glory to their King by saying: ‘Salvation belongs to our GOD which sitteth on the Throne, and unto the Lamb, ever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!’.  

These people who call on GOD and His Christ, trusting Him as their Savior – the Saints who give their whole loyalty to Him – (as our Collect says), ‘are knit together in one communion and fellowship,’ be they living on this earth or standing in GOD’s Holy Presence in Heaven. We are all, the whole company of the Church, Militant and Triumphant, bound together as the mystical Body of Christ JESUS, the blessed company of all faithful people. — We are all pursuing the ‘Beatitudes of Christ,’ seeking by the sanctifying power of His Holy Spirit, to become humble, mild, meek, desirous of righteousness, merciful, pure in heart, peacemakers, and willing to be true, manfully fighting under the banner of our King against the world, the flesh, and the devil, no matter the persecutions that come our way. — And this we do, as evidence of our citizenship as saints, in JESUS Christ’s eternal and forever Kingdom.  

Thus, brothers and sisters of St. Mark’s, if we aspire to be part of what the Prayer Book calls the mystical body of Christ, the blessed company of all faithful, godly people, let us give the ever-living GOD of Heaven, the King of Redeemed Israel and the nations, the high praise and hearty thanks that He deserves on this Feast of All Saints. — Let us pray for the continued growth of all the Saints that have gone before us, hoping that they will pray for us, too, that we might all go from grace to grace in the Light of Christ. — Let us join our brothers and sisters throughout this round world, and those who are in Heaven praying on this Feast of All Saints: GOD and Father of our King, JESUS Christ, ‘grant us the grace so to follow your blessed Saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come, with them, to those unspeakable joys which You have prepared for those who unfeignedly love you, through the same, JESUS Christ our LORD. Amen.