This celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day (November 2) "stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those saints who are already in heaven (the 'Church triumphant'), and the ones living here on earth (the 'Church militant')."
Living in a predominantly Roman Catholic country, All Saints' Day is a national holiday in the Philippines. Traditionally many Christians here, especially those of the Roman Catholic background, flock the cemeteries and other burial places visiting their departed loved ones at their grave.
Many graveyards turn into a picnic ground during this time of the year. While the intention of this celebration might be noble, one does not see its Scriptural warrant in doing so.
I am convinced, however, that we should be thankful that our loved ones who died in faith in our Lord Jesus Christ are now enjoying the comforting presence of their Redeemer. They are with the Lord waiting for the day of His appearance to the world and for the resurrection of their bodies.
To visit them at their grave is fine. But to remind ourselves of the finished work of Christ on their and our behalf is even better. And while they are now in the presence of the Lord, we who are still here on this earth have a calling to fulfill.
We are called and commissioned to make disciples from every nation making Christ known through the preaching of the gospel as clearly as we can. We are called to proclaim the glories of God in the work of Christ in order to dispel the darkness of ignorance of the truth of the Holy Scripture and to overcome the blindness of many because of sin and Satan's dominion.
As James Jordan rightly says, "The Festival of All Saints reminds us that though Jesus has finished His work, we have not finished ours. He has struck the decisive blow, but we have the privilege of working in the mopping up operation. Thus, century by century the Christian faith has rolled back the demonic realm of ignorance, fear, and superstition."
The Reformation churches all over the world have commemorated the 501st anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. We thank God for His Word that gave light, life, and hope to many who were groping in ignorance and fear, unsure if they could be accepted by God or not by their own sacrificial works.
We thank the Lord for raising men like Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Bucer, Bullinger, Tyndale, Cranmer, and many others before and after them, "for paving the way for a host of new translations of the Hebrew and Greek Scripture into the language of the people." Their aim in doing so was that the people could read for themselves God's word about redemption and forgiveness of sins and "for restoring the preached Word to its central place in the life of the people of God!"
God has willed that Luther, as a perceptive and sensitive soul that he was, would understand the hopelessness and helplessness of the human race before a righteous and holy God. Thus, Luther's restlessness has providentially been used by God to ignite the fire of the Reformation.
This Reformation spread and affected many parts of Europe, and even the rest of the world, that neither disease nor death, not even sword or Satan can stop the burning passion of the Reformers to proclaim the blazing sword of the Spirit that cuts the heart of sinners, on the one hand, and brings healing and comfort to their weary souls, on the other hand.
Today, while many will congregate at the burial grounds and memorial gardens all over the Philippines and enjoy the company of family members and relatives around the grave of their dead loved ones, a few of us will gather together to thank God and to remind ourselves of His work in saving His people by His grace through the finished work of Christ.
We do this to challenge ourselves to the remaining task of bringing to the nations the good news of redemption in Christ, who is the Lord and Redeemer of mankind and the only way to the Father (John 14:6).
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