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All Saints Sunday • Year C
November 2, 2025
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Historical Collect
Almighty God, you have knit together your people in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son, Christ, our Lord. Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys which you have prepared for those who love you; through your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, 1549)
Thematic Collect
Beloved God, in Christ you have drawn all your people into one, holy communion. Grant that as we remember the saints who have gone before us, we are strengthened for lives of faithful service to you so that the world will know your blessed presence. Bring us all at the last to the feast which has no end where all will be one; through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.
The Common Thread
The great multitude of Revelation 7 are the promised numberless offspring of Abraham. To them is given victory over their true enemies: sin, death, and the devil. The Beatitudes are also seen fulfilled in this reading. Hunger, thirst, and mourning are wiped away by the faithful God. Therefore, the humble and meek—those who hunger and thirst for that righteousness that comes from God—are enabled to cry out with praise to the Lord. They are the ones with the true two-edged sword—the Word of God (Heb 4:12)—in their hands and hearts, that sword by which the vengeance of God is both promised and delivered. The “poor in spirit” know their need of the Savior, that they are not able to be righteous in their own strength. They hunger and thirst for an alien righteousness—that which comes from beyond self. Through faith in Christ they become the children of God. For if they look for righteousness in religion in themselves, they are undone. If their hope is in God by faith, they are made pure by his grace. God’s purity is given to them so that they may have real and certain hope.
First Reading • Revelation 7:2-8, 9-17
We so often hear about the mark of the beast. What about the mark of the Lamb? This is similar to the mark of Ezekiel 9:4-5, by which those who hate evil are spared. Even more, it is the mark by which those are sealed who love the Lamb and his salvation. The 144,000 baptized—not a specific number but all the elect of God—are marked upon the forehead with the sign of the cross, and spared eternal death. Clothed in white robes, the catechumens awaiting baptism know that salvation only comes from the Lord. As they exit the water, their robes, even their very souls, are made clean for Christ’s sake—by the blood of Lamb though whom we are marked and sealed.
Psalm • Psalm 149:1-9
Many a war has been waged because people do not know how to read, or worse, will not allow Scripture to interpret Scripture. The two-edged sword of the Lord’s people is the Word of God. It cuts so deeply as to even separate the soul and the spirit (Heb 4:12). Lutherans understand this double-edged sword as the Law and Gospel hermeneutic. The humble, those who are cut to the quick by the law, yet receive the promise of the gospel, are graced with salvation.
Second Reading • 1 John 3:1-3
Through faith in Christ, we are brought into the family of God. Baptism is the sign of God’s promise of salvation for those who believe. This is our hope, and our hope is sure since our hope is in Christ. We do not hope in ourselves—in our religious devotion, in our love, or in anything other than what Christ has accomplished. Even as Christ was changed in the resurrection, we too will be changed—in the twinkling of an eye (1Cor 15:52). It is not clear yet all that this glorious makeover will entail, but this much is clear: we will be made like him—righteous and immortal.
Gospel • Matthew 5:1-12
This is what it means to be called to follow Jesus; this is the Christian life: confession of spiritual impoverishment, grief over sin, humility, deep desire for the things of God, gracious and merciful character, a heart for God alone, being part of a family who brings peace to the world through him who is the Prince of Peace, persecution for heralding his peace—and great joy in the midst of it all.
Resources
Links to Worship Resources for this Service
