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"Praise the LORD! Praise God in His sanctuary; praise Him in His mighty heavens! Praise Him for His mighty deeds; praise Him according to His excellent greatness! Praise Him with trumpet sound; praise Him with lute and harp! Praise Him with tambourine and dance; praise Him with strings and pipe! Praise Him with sounding cymbals; praise Him with loud clashing cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!" (Psalm 150).
The church has historically set aside November 1 as All Saints' Day. It is a day to remember the saints who have gone before us and give thanks to God for their lives and the work He did through them.
When we talk about saints, we’re not talking about those select few officially recognized as being "worthy" of the title. Instead, we are talking about all of God’s redeemed people, saved by Christ’s death on the cross and adopted as His children through Holy Baptism. God’s redeeming work makes all who believe in Him saints.
In 2009, the Dave Matthews Band released a song called "Funny the Way It Is," about the highs and lows that can occur simultaneously throughout life. It came to mind as I considered the seemingly opposite feelings of All Saints Day. We are thankful for those who have gone before us while also saddened that they are no longer with us.
"Funny the way it is" that on this day of remembrance, the appointed psalm is Psalm 150.
At first, this might seem like a strange choice for remembering loved ones who have died in the faith. That’s a whole lot of praise at a time when praise may not be the first thing on our minds! The world certainly wouldn’t expect much praise when remembering those who have died.
Yet we have countless reasons to praise God, even amid our grief. We praise Him for sending Jesus to redeem us, for adopting us through Baptism, for the blessings He gives us daily, and for the impact the saints have had on those around them.
Still, our focus must remain in the right place. Hebrews 12:1–2 reminds us of the "great cloud of witnesses" surrounding us, but also directs us to Jesus, “the founder and perfecter of our faith.” It is not the witnesses we exalt and praise, but the One to whom they witness: Jesus Himself.
While our loved ones may have been wonderful witnesses of the faith, our hope and comfort come not from them, but from the source of their faith: Jesus Christ. Through His suffering, death, and resurrection, He overcame sin, death, and the devil and secured everlasting life for us. Thanks be to God!
All Saints' Day also reminds us of Paul’s words in 1 Thessalonians 4. Christians certainly grieve, but not as those without hope. We mourn while clinging to the promise of the resurrection and everlasting life!
"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. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words."
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