All Saints Day is one of the great feasts or celebrations of the Church. Although it was not established as a universal feast in the Western Church until the 800's, it reflects a long development from the early years of Christian history. From the days of Christ's earthly life and the time of the Apostles, there was a strong sense of community and communion among believers. Christians shared with one another, interceded for one another, gave thanks for one another and honored the witness and example of those who had gone before. They had the sense of being surrounded by a great "cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1); they also knew that they must continue to "contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" (Jude 3). So All Saints Day is a celebration of the continuity of the Christian faith from Biblical times to the present and beyond.
Of course, the evangelical Lutheran perspective on this celebration and on the general theme of the saints is special. Like some other traditions, Lutherans have a sense of continuity with the best from the Church of all ages. We incorporate the witness of the saints of the past through Scripture, the calendar, the liturgy, and the historic creeds. At the same time, Lutherans have deliberately avoided the excesses of the medieval cult of the saints, and it is no accident that Reformation Day is the Eve of All Saints. Lutherans clearly reject ideas about a treasury of merits from the saints and popular medieval practices about relics. Luther stressed that a person is a saint or holy one only because of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. All true believers, even those who are not always very "saintly," have been made holy through Christian baptism and faith in Christ. So it is appropriate to set aside a day to remember all those- great and small, famous and forgotten- who have gone before us in Christian faith. We give thanks for all the saints and pray for grace to be and remain part of that fellowship.
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