All Saints Sunday

All Saints Sunday

Simultaneously Saints and Sinners

Simultaneously Saints and Sinners: Celebrating All Saints Sunday

Every November, congregations around the world pause to observe one of the most visually poignant festivals of the church year: All Saints Day (November 1st) or All Saints Sunday (the Sunday closest to November 1st). For Lutherans, this day is not about praying to canonized historical figures or asking them for favor. Instead, it is a deeply comforting celebration of the gospel promise that binds every ordinary believer to the eternal church.

Here is a look at what All Saints Day means within a biblical, Christ-centered theology.

Simul Justus et Peccator — The Ordinary Saint

In many Christian traditions, a “saint” is an elite believer who achieved an extraordinary level of holiness. Lutheran theology flips this on its head by returning to the New Testament definition of a saint. In the scriptures, the apostle Paul regularly addresses ordinary, deeply flawed church members as “saints” — not because of their personal perfection, but because they have been set apart and made holy by the blood of Jesus Christ. Paradoxically, this makes Christians saints and sinners at the same time.

Martin Luther famously described believers as simul justus et peccator — simultaneously saint and sinner. On All Saints Sunday, we at St. Paul’s  celebrate that our status as saints relies entirely on Christ’s righteousness imputed to us through faith alone. The people sitting in the pews — the children, mechanics, teachers, parents, and retirees — are the true saints of God.

Remembering Those Who Rest from Their Labors

While All Saints Sunday celebrates the living, it also holds space for holy grief. A core component of the service is remembering the “church triumphant” — those believers who have died in the faith over the past year. At St. Paul’s we observe this with a few distinct liturgical traditions:

• The Reading of the Necrology: The names of members who have passed away since the last All Saints Sunday are read aloud to the congregation.

• The Tolling of the Bell: A bell is rung after each name is read, serving as a solemn, auditory punctuation of a life lived in Christ.

• Lighting of Candles: A candle is lit in memory of their loved ones, transforming the altar into a sanctuary of warmth and remembrance.

The Great Cloud of Witnesses

All Saints Sunday serves as a reminder of our shared heritage with the whole church. It connects our congregation to the 1,053 congregations worldwide who make up the LCMC. Furthermore, it reminds us that we are also connected through Christ Jesus to other Lutheran bodies and for that matter, to Christian congregations who do not consider themeslves Lutheran in the least. Further, our remembrance of those saints who who have passed on to glory connects us with the vast, historical “great cloud of witnesses” mentioned in Hebrews 12:1.

The songs sung on this Sunday — such as the classic hymn "For All the Saints” — remind us that we do not labor in isolation. The same gospel that sustained the generations before us is the gospel that empowers St. Paul’s today to go out and make disciples. It is a day of profound comfort, reminding us that even in the face of death, the church remains unbroken, anchored firmly in the promise of the resurrection.

For All the Saints

Author: William Walsham How (1864)

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed;
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
and hearts are brave again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

But then there breaks a still more glorious day:
the saints triumphant rise in bright array;
the King of Glory passes on his way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast,
through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
in praise of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

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