All Saints Sunday, 2025

Text: Matthew 5:1-12

Title: Obituaries

+ INI +

I’ve read a fair number of obituaries over the years.  And there’s a pretty standard format and content to them.

They always include when a person was born and when they died. 

There’s a list of family members, both living and departed.

And there’s usually a list of accomplishments or milestones in a person’s life—perhaps their education, degrees earned, etc; perhaps military service.  There’s usually some mention of jobs held, hobbies, and various organizations they were a part of.

It’s interesting to see how someone’s entire life, 60, 70, 80 years or more can be reduced to a couple of paragraphs.

When you think of the members of our congregation whom we remember today, what sticks out to you about them?  Is it Pat’s love of singing and her gentle spirit? Is it Dolores’s service as she sewed and cared for her family?  Is it Linda’s skill on the keyboard and her many adventures with her husband and family?

What about you?  What do you hope that your family remembers about you?  When they sit down to write your obituary, what will they say about you?

What if your obituary read like the beatitudes? What if your life looked like the life described by Jesus in today’s Holy Gospel?

Notice what comes first.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”

“Poor in spirit,” means poor with regard to spiritual things.  Poor in good works.  Poor in righteousness.  Poor in holiness.

The kingdom of God is not for good people. The kingdom of God is not for people who live good lives, who always do what is right, who never make mistakes.

The kingdom of God is for those who recognize that they can’t do anything right on their own, who are aware of their failures and shortcomings, who have no claim on God.

The first four beatitudes describe our lack, what we are missing.

We are poor.  We are in mourning, not just for those who have died, but for our own sins and failures (see last Sunday’s sermon).  We are meek, with nothing to boast of.  And we hunger and thirst for the righteousness of God because we have none of our own.

Only then, only when our hands have been emptied of our diplomas, our trophies, our wallets, only when we acknowledge our poverty are we ready for the kingdom of God.

To those who have nothing, Jesus says, “I will give you everything. Come, live in My kingdom.”

When you mourn, Jesus says, “Be comforted.  You are loved.  Your sins are forgiven.  They died with me on the cross.”

When you are humbled, Jesus says, “I give you my inheritance.  All that is mine is now yours.  You will live forever in the new, perfect world I will make when I return.”

When you are hungry for righteousness, Jesus says, “I am righteous.  I am perfect. When I put my name on you in Holy Baptism, I gave you all my good deeds.  When the Father looks at you, all He sees is my holiness.”

The first four beatitudes describe what we lack. The last four beatitudes describe what we are up to as we live in this kingdom.

We show mercy, because Jesus has shown mercy to us.

We have pure hearts, because they have been washed clean by the blood of Jesus.

We make peace with one another, because Jesus has made peace between us and the Father.

We endure persecution, because Jesus suffered unto death for our salvation.

All the good that we do in this life flows from the love of Jesus towards us.

That’s what it means to live in Jesus’ kingdom, to come to Him with empty hands, admitting your poverty, to be filled with His gifts of mercy, peace, righteousness, and holiness, and then to take those gifts into your life so that they are alive and at work in your family, at school, in your community, and in your congregation.

And that’s what it means to be a saint.  Not that you’ve got a long list of good deeds. Not that you’ve been a holy person and earned a spot in heaven.  But that you’ve been made holy by the work of Jesus in your life.

What do the saints in heaven look like?  How does John describe them in the Book of Revelation?

They are clothed in white robes.  They are washed in the blood of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.  Every spot and stain has been cleansed through the sacrifice of Christ for them.

That’s the best thing that can be said about anyone- the folks we remember today, and you, too.  That’s how a Christian obituary should read.

This person was poor in spirit, but had a place in God’s kingdom.  Their sins were washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ.  They are children of God and heirs of eternal life.

+ INI +