Celebrate Holiday

There are holidays to celebrate all throughout the year. I hope that we have not decided to replace a holiday that is all about the celebration of God's love to a celebration of things that are secular. Halloween can be a fun to dress up and be something that you are not, but it is good to make sure that we are not leaving behind the most important thing and giving ourselves an excuse to be worldly.

•  Printable Word Document of this Devotional

Virtual Chapel 11-01-2005

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. Revelation 21:1-6a

The scripture before us this week is commonly used to celebrate All Saints Day, November 1, the day after Halloween. All Saints has a long-standing tradition in the church. Its premise is to honor and celebrate those Christians that have gone before us and are now part of the heavenly banquet. On this day we celebrate Christ’s saving works through His death and resurrection and rejoice in the promise of life everlasting.

All Saints Day does not simply celebrate the “Big” saints that the church officially recognizes. It opens up our understanding of saints to people like you and me. Saints are Christians in every time and place. In order to be a saint, one doesn’t have to be on the list recognized officially by the church, nor does one have to an exceptional Christian who has passed away. Saints are people through which we are able to see God more clearly. Saints bring us closer to the divine; they give us a foretaste of the heavenly banquet.

In Revelation 21:5-6, we find the central theme to the message of Revelation. God says, "I am making everything new…It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.” John Wesley, in a sermon titled “The New Creation,” wrote about the promise found here in Rev. 21:5 about God making all things new. He begins by admitting that we will never be able to comprehend the depths of this promise. When God says that God is going to make all things new, then God will go beyond our ideas of newness. The new creation that God will bring forth is a reality where God will eliminate all pain and suffering in this world and will bring us to an existence where we will be “equal to angels” and our every need will be met. Wesley posits, “For all the earth shall then be a more beautiful Paradise than Adam ever saw.” Humans will live in constant communion with God forever more.

When we read this text for an occasion such as All Saints, we are reminded of the promise when the pangs of death will be no more. This gives comfort to those suffering. This scripture also leads us to a greater understanding of what it means to be a saint. Yes, saints too will be relieved from suffering, but before this new world is fully known, saints work in our broken world now. In responding to the cries of the needy, saints like you and me work as agents to bring this new creation closer than it ever has been. As you go through this week, remember those saints that have allowed you to see God more clearly.

For more information

• Rev. Leigh Martin
  (770)720-5634 
  LSM@reinhardt.edu