Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God, our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Our text is the first reading from Revelation, the second half of the text.

On this All Saints' Sunday we will learn three surprising things about sainthood. Or to put it another way, we'll correct three misconceptions about what it means to be a saint by listening to our Lord's Word instead of conventional wisdom or popular opinion.

Surprise number 1: sainthood is a gift, not something earned by living a good life. This contradicts the popular misconception that you can recognize a saint by his or her good works done for humanity. So many times I've heard people say, "She is such a saint. If she doesn't get into heaven, then no one will." Or, "If anyone deserves to go to heaven, it's him." What nonsense. Such statements rob Christ of His glory and place false hope in human works. Even the best of our works are tainted by our sin. What we really need is forgiveness of our guilt, not praise of our works! Listen again to what the saints in heaven are shouting in our reading from Revelation: "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" In other words, saints in heaven are yelling at us, "Sainthood and salvation are by God's free grace for the sake of Christ's sacrifice on the cross, not by human works!" We should listen, since they are speaking from experience: they know that it was Christ's blood that won heaven for them.

The word saint simply means "one who is holy." In the Gloria in Excelsis we sing to the Lord, "Thou only art holy." Only the Triune God is holy, and so the only way for us to become saints or "holy ones" is for Him to make us holy. Of course it is true that God desires the earthly lives of His saints, His holy children, to be holy lives, to be free from sin and full of good works. St. Paul wrote his Epistle to the Ephesians "to the saints who are in Ephesus." This letter addressed to the saints goes on to say in the second chapter that the saints are saved by grace alone, as a free gift, and then it says that we saints "are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to walk in." These good works flow naturally from faith in Christ, but they are not what make us saints. We are saints by the forgiveness of Christ, which is received by humble faith. In heaven, the saints are those who "have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb," as we heard in the Introit. It is only by Jesus' death on the cross for our sins and pouring out of His blood to cover our sin that we can be saints. His holy blood literally makes us "holy ones" by covering our sin with His robe of righteousness. This blood is poured upon us by the Gospel—through the preaching of Christ's death for our sins, through the comforting Scriptures that testify of our salvation in Him, through the blood of Christ showered upon us in Absolution and Baptism, and even poured into our mouths in the Lord's Supper.

Christ's blood is not our work, but His gift that makes us saints. As St. John said in our Epistle, "Everyone who thus hopes in Jesus purifies himself as He is pure." The holiness of God is communicated to us by the sacrificial blood of Jesus and we receive this gift through faith. We hope in that blood alone, not in our own works. Jesus said in our Gospel reading, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." We respond, "Lord Jesus, we are poor, miserable sinners; we beg of You, grant us eternal life in your Kingdom for the sake of Your holy, precious blood, and innocent suffering and death. Make us saints by grace alone."

And He does! As many of you as have been baptized into Christ have been made "holy ones," saints, those forgiven of all of their sins and granted new life. That is the first surprising thing: sainthood is given, not earned. And now you have been made a saint in order to live holy lives, to flee from sin and to do those good works which God has prepared for you to do.

Surprisingly, one of those works the Lord has given us is to suffer. Our Lord calls His saints to endure trials and tribulations, and to remain patient and faithful in the midst of suffering. That is surprise number 2 about sainthood. This contradicts the popular misconception that becoming a Christian means that you'll be healthy, wealthy, and wise, and you will have your best life now. Rather listen to what Jesus says in the Beatitudes, "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. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

Jesus tells us of a particularly rich blessing when we suffer precisely because we are Christians. This is most clearly seen when we are scorned for confessing our faith, but it also includes the quiet witness shown by Christians as they suffer all the trials of this life and yet remain faithful. Though the devil and the world shout at us, "God is dead. If He were real, and if He really loved you, then you wouldn't be suffering the way you do. A good God would never let that happen!" When we are taunted by Satan and the unbelieving world, this is being reviled for the sake of Christ, because the world thinks that being a child of God means to have every blessing in this life. Yet we learn from the life of our Lord Jesus that being God's child—being a saint—doesn't mean cruising through life pain-free, but the opposite is the case: children of God suffer because their Lord suffered, and God conforms the lives of His saints to the life of His Son, Jesus Christ.

When St. John saw the saints in heaven, the elder told him, "These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." We are in the great tribulation right now. Our consciences plague us because of sin. Our bodies cry out for relief from pain and illness. Our spirits are broken by grief as we lose one loved one after another. Our souls cringe and whimper as they face the prospect of dying and facing God's judgment. Those tribulations are real, and Satan wants to point us to them and convince us to renounce our Lord Jesus. But find strength in this: you have washed your robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb by being baptized, absolved, and fed the body and blood of Jesus. The blood of Jesus is what turns away God's wrath against your sin, and that eliminates from your future the eternal tribulation of hell.

In the meantime, as you live in the great tribulation of this miserable world, the Lord Jesus will never leave you nor forsake you. Jesus never wavered or gave up hope in His Father even on the cross, when He was dying for the sin of the world, and He credits that perfect obedience to you. In addition, the Lord Jesus gives His Holy Spirit to those who ask Him in order to strengthen their faith in the midst of trials and temptations. Jesus gives us His own body and blood as a certain pledge that He is 100% with us to protect us from the devil's assaults. Jesus and the Spirit intercede to the Father on our behalf, uttering effective prayers that preserve you in the Christian faith even when attacked by sin, death, and hell so that your place in heaven is secure.

And that brings us to surprise number 3 about sainthood: heaven is closer to the saints on earth than you think. Listen again to the description of the saints in heaven: "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, 'Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!'"

Heaven is closer to you saints than you think, for in few minutes we will sing "with angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven"; we will sing the glorious hymn of praise that saints in heaven and on earth sing: "Holy, holy, holy Lord God of Sabaoth, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory, hosanna, hosanna, hosanna in the highest! Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest!"

The saints in heaven are clothed in robes made white by blood of the Lamb, just as you saints have been clothed in your Baptism. The saints in heaven wave the palm branches and cry out to God the Father and His Son, Jesus, the Lamb of God, and in the liturgy we likewise break out with the song that was shouted when Jesus entered Jerusalem greeted by palm branches, "Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He that comes in the name of the Lord!"

Can't you see? Every time we celebrate the Holy Communion, heaven comes down to earth. The true body and blood of Jesus are on our altar and in our mouths, given for our forgiveness and for the strengthening of our faith. We get a foretaste of eternal life with the saints in heaven because at this altar our deepest hunger is filled—the hunger for complete assurance that though our bodies die, yet shall we live. That is why all the saints on earth should be eager to receive the Lord's Supper. Because we are each in the midst of great tribulation, and this meal is the Bread that has come down from heaven that the saints may eat of it and not die; it is the very blood that washes our robes and makes them white so that we can stand before God's judgment throne confident of our salvation.

On All Saints' Day we are acutely aware of our mortality. We remember and give thanks for those who have died in the Lord, and we wonder, "When will we saints on earth become saints in heaven by passing through earthly death?" Not one of us knows. Only the Lord does, so He gives the Holy Communion to saints as a way of preparing for a blessed death, washed in the blood of the Lamb. That is why part of my calling is to take the Lord's Supper to the saints who are shut-in their homes or hospital rooms. That is why you saints should hear the voice of Jesus calling out through the Lord's Supper, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls" (Matthew 11:28-29, KJV).

Jesus says, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied." Come now, for the feast is prepared. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

And the peace of God which passes all understanding will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting. Amen.