All Saints Day – Pr. Anderson sermon
St. Matthew 5:1-12 “Remembering the Blessings From our God”
November 2, 2025 | Christ Lutheran Church
In Nomine Iesu
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O almighty and everlasting God, through Your only-begotten and beloved Son, Jesus Christ, You will sanctify all Your elect and beloved: Give us grace to follow their faith, hope, and love, that we together with all Your saints may obtain eternal life; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one true God, now and forever. Amen. (Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary, by Veit Dietrich, p. 165-166)
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (Rom. 1:7, etc.)
The sermon text for today is taken from the 5th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Matthew. We read selected verses in Jesus’ name:
Seeing the crowds, [Jesus] went up on the mountain, and when He sat down, His disciples came to Him. And He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
These are Your words, heavenly Father. Sanctify us by Your truth, Your Word is truth. Amen. (Joh. 17:17)
In Christ Jesus, who reminds you because of His death and Resurrection, He has removed the sting of death, and will reunite you with the saints who have gone before you in heaven forever, dear fellow redeemed:
We have arrived at the last few Sundays of the church year. As we prepare for the holidays, I have had to remind that before we get to the beautiful holiday of Christmas, I have to talk about the end of the world first. As we transition to what will come in the time period of forever, we first acknowledge why we can be happy for when that great day of judgment comes. It is because of this Sunday, or what we celebrated yesterday on November first. We are celebrating that we will get to see our loved ones who are in heaven again. For the world around us, they wonder why we would even consider talking about death. For all people, death is not a happy subject. Either we have lost someone close to us, or maybe we are closer to our own death date. While we don’t know how we will be taken from this world, today we look at the blessings that come from being taken out of this world in a violent way. This does not sound promising, especially to those who aren’t Christians. Is this faith worth our life? As we made this promise on our confirmation date, we know that anything could happen on the side of Christ. So, we remember the blessings of God and see that even if it is bad here on earth, we will have a blessed beginning in the life of the world to come.
To see the great blessing of heaven, we must admit to ourselves that we could see persecutions in our life and it will not be easy. Many feel that it should be easy to follow Jesus, but Jesus tells us that it is simply the opposite. In His great sermon, these are the very Words that He starts it with. He wants those who believe in Him to see the blessings they have in times of trial because of the powerful Gospel. This is comforting to hear as it is always comforting when we hear the sweet Words of the Gospel. Being blessed in our trials, hearing how Jesus is with us, is refreshing. In this great sermon, the lesson begins by hearing how a believer is to live. If you live like this, you will certainly be blessed. And Jesus is teaching is nothing new as the Psalmist writes about this event, “I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us” (Psalm 78:2-3).
The Word made flesh points out these very old and great blessings for following Him. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Now as we see these blessings, we must look at what they are attached too. The word “blessed” does not mean happy. The people of Jesus’ day are well aware of this. They have endured much hardship. Jesus is pointing out that this hardship is not going to get any better, in fact, more is going to be asked of them. More in a world that is full of pain and suffering. Pain and suffering that we feel deep within us. As Jesus teaches the foundation of being His and with this foundation, His people are to use it for observing the law that comes in the rest of the sermon as it says in the law, “It is the LORD your God you shall fear. Him you shall serve and by his name you shall swear” (Deuteronomy 6:13).
To fear God, is to listen to all He has asked of us and when we look at the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, we see that we have failed miserably. So not only do we fail God’s law, we now hear the remaining beatitudes with the suffering that comes with them. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account.” To follow Jesus means to have mercy, be pure in heart, be a peacemaker, and while those sound doable, then He says to be persecuted. And this isn’t about your immediate surroundings like with family or friends. He would later tell His followers, “Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and Kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles” (Matthew 10:17).
If we take everything Jesus is teaching us on an even level, God blesses those who follow His will. If we look at each blessing and what requires to have that blessing, we now see where we fall short. While we may think we fall into some categories, we know when it comes to being merciful and being peaceful, we have had our struggles. Then if we take all of this and look at the rest of the Sermon on the Mount, we are to not lose our saltiness, we are not to burn with anger, have lust, get divorces, take sinful oaths, retaliate, and we are to love our enemies. We definitely are going to struggle with being happy following Jesus, and when we factor it all in, it certainly doesn’t look like we are numbered with the saints. So, what do we take from Jesus’ sermon. He starts out listing how His people are blessed so we remember it is only through Him we have these great blessings from our God. It is then we can confess and ask the question, “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?” (Psalm 42:1-2)
You have come here today to be before your God in repentance and in doing so have received His holy absolution and the blessings of being His own. Blessings that are your very foundation. Life has revealed to you that it is not easy to be here in this building today. You have watched as those who have gone before you had many struggles. You see in Scripture that those in Jesus’ day struggled and Jesus even points to how the men before them had also endured many struggles. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” Jesus tells them to rejoice and be glad. It doesn’t seem possible, and even His disciples would feel great pain and loss, and yet they would go out anyway. Were they stronger than anyone else? No. As they watched Jesus, they would see with their own eyes that they could only follow Him because like those who had gone before them, they would remember and hold onto blessings only God could provide.
These blessings found in the beatitudes were there for the people to hold, reminding them of how God keeps His promises. The promise they were searching for was the one where He would send them a Savior. The time had come, the Savior was with them, teaching them these blessings. Blessings they would receive because of His good and gracious work. Jesus is the great blessing to His people as He is helping all who have these struggles as He embodies them, and they will not last. Isaiah prophesied, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind” (Isaiah 65:17).
Did you hear that from a saint of old? “The former things shall not be remembered or come into mind.” It is hard to think that, living in the present. The law has failed at being followed. The blessings from God seem out of reach. Like the people in Jesus’ day, you see God keep His promise. It is easy to remember His blessings for you when you see where you are in the church year and what is coming towards you. You will soon hear, for to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6). In this promise that is fulfilled you see He becomes poor, He mourns, He is meek, He hungered and thirsted for righteousness, He has mercy, a pure heart, is the Prince of Peace, and was persecuted to death on the cross for you. You will remember these blessings from your God as in these blessings, Jesus is your sure foundation.
This foundation holds firm in all your trials and hardships. A blessed foundation that has been passed down to you by many saints. And on this day where we remember them and you miss them, the blessings you remember are because the foundation that is firm for you was firm for them. He was with them in their trials and hardships until He said it was time for the former things of their lives to not be remembered or come into mind. When those who have gone before you were called home, Isaiah’s prophecy stands firm, in that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel (Isaiah 17:7). And because of the foundation they passed down to you, you come here to be united with them in Spirit and like them hear and see your God. The firm foundation where you hear Him tell you how you are blessed because of His perfect life in His Holy Word. Where you come, see, and receive Him in taking His body and blood at the altar which was shed on the cross for the forgiveness of all your sins.
As another church year comes to a close, you begin the end on All Saints Day, remembering your loved ones. You remember the blessings of God they received, blessings they passed down to you through the firm foundation. While the world runs from death, you know that it is through death you will have life and see your loved ones again. An eternal life that you have because of the blessings of your Savior draped over you. And with these blessings, you are beloved as St. John writes, Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2). You will see Him in your risen and glorified body because of His death and resurrection. Your sure foundation. And because God keeps His promises and you remember His great blessings given to you, when He unites you with Him and the saints, He answers your prayer when you pray, for thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever and ever. Amen.
Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, forevermore. Amen.
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