All Saints, All Souls, and All Sinners

All Saints, All Souls, and All Sinners

Yesterday was All Saints’ Day. Today is All Souls’ Day.  And our Scriptures deal with sin and sinners, and what to do about it.

David tells us that happiness comes through confession, and misery comes through silence.

Psalm 32 (BCP 2019)

¹ Blessed is the one whose unrighteousness is forgiven, *

and whose sin is covered.

² Blessed is the one to whom the Lord imputes no sin, *

and in whose spirit there is no guile.

³ For while I held my tongue, my bones wasted away; *

I ceased not from groaning all the day long.

⁴ For your hand was heavy upon me day and night, *

and I was dried up and withered, as in the drought of summer.

⁵ Then I acknowledged my sin unto you, *

and I did not hide my iniquity.

⁶ I said, “I will confess my sins unto the Lord”; *

and so you forgave the wickedness of my sin.

• it has always taken confession and repentance to be forgiven by God

¹⁰ Do not be like the horse and mule, which have no understanding, *

whose mouths must be held with bit and bridle, or else they will not come near you.”

⁹ “I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go, *

and I will guide you with my eye.

• Know God that well. Pay attention
• Don’t be like the people in Isaiah’s time

Isaiah 1:10–20 (ESV)

¹¹  “What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?

says the Lord;

I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams

and the fat of well-fed beasts;

I do not delight in the blood of bulls,

or of lambs, or of goats.

¹⁵  When you spread out your hands,

I will hide my eyes from you;

even though you make many prayers,

I will not listen;

your hands are full of blood.

¹⁶  Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;

remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;

cease to do evil,

• Do you know how you end up enemies of God?

Colossians 1:21 (NLT2) ²¹  This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions.

¹⁷  learn to do good;

seek justice,

correct oppression;

bring justice to the fatherless,

plead the widow’s cause.

¹⁸  “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:

though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow;

though they are red like crimson,

they shall become like wool.

¹⁹  If you are willing and obedient,

you shall eat the good of the land;

²⁰  but if you refuse and rebel,

you shall be eaten by the sword;

for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

• Obedience pays

2 Thessalonians 1:8 (MSG) Those who refuse to know God and refuse to obey the Message will pay for what they’ve done.

• Know = “respect”
• Be careful in your choices. God is love, AND God is just
• But again, Luke reminds us that in Jesus, when we confess and repent, we find freedom we haven’t known before

Luke 19:1–10 (ESV)

⁸ And Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor. And if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I restore it fourfold.”

Leviticus 6:2–5 (NIV84) ² “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the Lord by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him… ⁵ … He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.

• Theft damages more than property — it breaks trust in families and community. That’s why the repayment has to exceed the loss.

⁹ And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham.”

• Another way to say the same thing is that Deliverance has come – that he and his house were delivered from something today.
• From What was he delivered?
• Take advantage of confession – today and every day

Today is All Souls Day, Yesterday was All Saints Day

• All Saints’ Day – a day to remember the whole Church across time and space – especially those in heaven
• All Souls Day is focused on departed saints who are largely unknown in the wider fellowship of the church, especially our family members and friends.
• These are not days of mourning. We remember we share with them in the resurrection, and give thanks for their faithful lives and influence.

(Prayer #125: For the Saints and Faithful Departed BCP 2019, p. 683).

We give thanks to you, O Lord our God, for all your servants and witnesses of time past: for Abraham, the father of believers, and Sarah his wife; for Moses, the lawgiver, and Aaron, the priest; for Miriam and Joshua, Deborah and Gideon, and Samuel with Hannah his mother; for David, King over Israel; for Isaiah and all the prophets; for Mary, the mother of our Lord; for Peter and Paul and all the apostles; for Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene; for Stephen, the first martyr, and all the martyrs and saints in every age and in every land (including our family and friends who have faithfully followed Jesus even into death, and who inspire us to walk faithfully). In your mercy, O Lord our God, give us, as you gave to them, the hope of salvation and the promise of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, the first‑born of many from the dead. Amen.