The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.
In Greek mythology, Mount Olympus was the home of the gods. The Greeks imagined their gods and goddesses as super-humans.
They engaged in all the usual human activities like war, bloodshed, romance, and lust. They suffered from the same condition that humans do. They themselves were sinful. They were the collective result of collective imaginations, not real, but yet projecting real human qualities. The gods were an envious and jealous lot. They hated and they betrayed. They killed and stole. They committed the same sins human beings commit, but did so on a grander scale.
In Greek mythology, the gods and goddesses would often come down from Mount Olympus to interact with humans. Most of the time, they enjoyed life up in Olympus, lounging around and enjoying nectar and gorging on ambrosia. Life was good for the gods up on Mount Olympus. And the Greeks longed for such a life.
One more thing you need to know about the Greeks. Greeks like Socrates and Plato and Aristotle and the lesser philosophical lights of the ancient world believed that the fundamental purpose for existence was to seek and to secure happiness, the ideal life, the happy life. All human thinking and activity was directed toward that goal. This idea is reflected, by the way, in our Declaration of Independence where we read, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
So, how does one achieve happiness? According to the ancient Greeks, they pursue the good life, the good things, the valuable things, the things of quality and beauty. Keeping that in mind, let's turn our attention to Christian theology, and from the mythology of the ancient world to the life of Christian saints and the celebration thereof, aka All Saints' Day.
The Gospel lesson for All Saints' Day is always the Beatitudes. They mark the beginning of Jesus's Sermon on the Mount, where Jesus saw the multitudes. Then He went up onto the mountain, and after He sat down, His disciples came to Him, and opening His mouth He began to teach them.
The disciples and the multitude that had gathered might have thought that this was the beginning of their own version of Mount Olympus, with Jesus as the miracle worker and Messiah. They'd soon be enjoying the good life, the good and happy life. I'm sure some of that was in the minds and hearts of those who gathered on that mountain. Jesus the Messiah was seated at the top of the mount, surrounded by His disciples and a great throng of saints. They were listening to Him teach. Some probably thought the nectar and ambrosia would soon follow. There on the mount they could leave their messy lives behind and be cared for by the promised Messiah, who would ultimately fulfill all of their happy needs.
Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes, and what does He say? He reminded them of their lives in this world. He reminded them that they were to be a people poor in spirit. They were a people who mourn, for the disciples of Jesus mourn the sin they see in themselves, and they mourn the damage that sin has done in the world around us. They are supposed to be the meek. They are to be a people who are reviled and persecuted as Christ their Lord was. They were a people that didn't look saintly, or blessed, or happy.
As for the Beatitudes themselves, they have a structure to them. Jesus is very intentional in the way He is teaching here about what it means to be a child of God, a saint by virtue of faith alone in Jesus Christ.
So for example, verses 3–6 address the internal qualities of those who are patiently waiting for something to happen. What kind of people are they who wait on the Lord? They are the blessed. Verse 3: "Blessed are the poor in spirit." Verse 4: "Blessed are those who mourn." Verse 5: "Blessed are the gentle." Verse 6: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness." Nothing powerful or glorious here. Jesus is saying here what He gave St. Paul to write in 1 Corinthians 1:26–27: "Consider your calling, brothers and sisters, that there are not many of you wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame that which is wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things that are strong."
Verses 7 through 9 take up the qualities that Christians are to manifest when they're dealing with their neighbors: "Blessed are the merciful." "Blessed are the pure in heart." "Blessed are the peacemakers." Jesus would say in Matthew 20:25–26, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles domineer over them, and those in high positions exercise authority over them. It is not this way to be among you, but whoever wants to become prominent among you shall become your servant."
Verses 10 and 11 address those who suffer in this world on account of their faith in Christ and their love for their neighbor: "Blessed are those who have been persecuted for righteousness' sake," and "Blessed are you when men cast insults at you, and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely, on account of Me. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great."
Jesus, you see, isn't a classical ancient philosopher. He's the Messiah of a humble people whose divinity is hidden in their humanity. As He sat atop that mountain, He was not surrounded by the ruling elite or the rich or the powerful of His day. He was surrounded by something much greater than the elite of His day. He was surrounded by His saints. He was sitting in the midst of His Church, which consists of the humble and the suffering folks who live in a terribly fallen world.
The multitude on the mount didn't look like much. They certainly didn't look like saints, but then you don't either. But when the Sermon on the Mount and the Beatitudes were given, they weren't given as a list of demands that we had to meet in order to be called a hagios, a saint. No, it's a description of who we are in Christ Jesus. They are a description of what Jesus did in our stead. Though He was God, He was humble, meek, and seemingly weak. He hungered for righteousness, He was pure in heart. He was insulted and persecuted, the One who was also murdered. All this He was and did so that by faith we would be counted righteous, that is, holy. In a word, we would be counted as saints, clothed with His righteousness while He wrapped Himself with our sinfulness.
The New Testament uses the word hagios 229 times. The literal translation is "holy one" or "holy ones," and it is not applied to a few select of the kingdom's finest, but rather to the whole company of believers. You and I are saints because we are blessed.
The Apology of the Augsburg Confession says this about saints and the blessed: "Wherefore we hold, according to the Scriptures, that the Church, properly so called, is the congregation of saints, of those here and there in the world, who truly believe the Gospel of Christ, and who have the Holy Ghost."
The word "blessed" — some translations translate the Greek word makarios as "happy." The idea is included in the word, but in the language of the New Testament, to be blessed, makarios, is to have been received into God's kingdom. It is a state of being forgiven, adopted into God's family, and being in possession of all the blessings of the Gospel, even when everything in this world says that you're not living the good life. You, in fact, are living the happy life.
The Concordia Self-Study Bible puts it this way: "The word 'blessed' indicates that God has acted or is acting or will act for man's good." In Matthew, "blessed" is associated with God's action in Jesus Christ Himself.
The true meaning of each Beatitude comes from the word "for." It's called a hoti clause. It links that which comes before to that which follows after. It is used in the Beatitudes as a conjunction. In this case, it shows that our blessed condition is connected to and because of Christ. For example, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted." These are future promises. There is no promise of the good and happy life in this world as sinners think of such things. Compared to our future glory, life in this world is filled with sadness.
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus describes a group of people for whom things don't appear to be going well. Yet, while they may not find the good life, the happy life, as the ancient philosophers describe, the saints will be rewarded because they are already blessed.
All Saints' Day is about remembering and honoring the saints who came before us, including and especially those related to us or those who touched our lives, even ancestors who set in motion events that helped bring Christ to us and us to Christ. Thus, we remember and honor them as examples to follow.
The Church is hidden under the cross, but God reveals Himself in earthly things, things that are lowly, in the offices of the Church that He fills with sinful human beings, in human things. This is how it was with Christ's earthly life, His preaching, teaching, healing, and feeding those in need. This is how it was in His suffering and death on the cross. The same is true of the Church here on earth. It is a Church Militant that struggles, suffers, and is subject to persecution.
Yet, 1 John 3:1–3, we read, "See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact, we are. For this reason, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure."
So we sing:
For all Thy saints, O Lord, who strove in Thee to live, who followed Thee, obeyed, adored, our grateful hymn receive.
For Thy dear saints, O Lord, who strove in Thee to die, who counted Thee their great reward, accept our thankful cry.
They all in life and death, with Thee, their Lord, in view, learned from Thy Holy Spirit's breath to suffer and to do.
For this Thy name we bless and humbly pray that we may follow them in holiness and live and die in Thee.
You are a saint, though you don't act like it sometimes. You are a saint, though you don't look like it at times. But in Christ Jesus, all of His glory is your glory. All of His honor is your honor. Live as saints. Amen.