All Saints Day (Observed) November 7, 2021
All Saints
Matthew 5:1-12
November 7, 2021
In the name of the Father and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Everybody around here pretty much writes their obituaries the same way. Once in a while somebody does something different, but usually it’s when they died, then their family such as birthday, parents, spouse, then all surviving relatives. Then a few things about the person’s character or what they did in their life including where they went to Church. And that’s okay simply because it’s the common way around here.
However, for a Christian, when we set up our obituary that way we’re unintentionally misleading others about the real place of the Church and Christ in our lives. If you’re reading an obituary and it lists all the family and so forth and then after all that it’s listing things like “was a member of Kiwanis and the Garden Club and was a member at Trinity Lutheran Church”—then what does the Church sound like? Doesn’t it sound like just one other club you can be a part of? Doesn’t it sound like something you volunteered for in your spare time? Or like a simple “add-on” to life?
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