Monday, November 5, 2007
Hebrews 12:1 Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.
THOSE WHO WENT BEFORE
How -- not what but who. Who was How? Or more specifically, William How. Does that name sound familiar? Does it ring a faint bell somewhere in the depths? Or perhaps it brings a simple flat nothing. If you do not know who How was, perhaps you are familiar with some of his work, like the hymn "Jesus, Name of Wondrous Love." He also wrote the hymn "For All the Saints."
For all the saints who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confest,
Thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
(The Lutheran Hymnal, 463:1)
In reading "For All the Saints," we understand that How would not have wanted to be remembered by name, but simply as another example of Jesus' power, love and eternal grace. When he sought to write about the saints of the past, he wrote not about their lives, names, times, or struggles, but about the victory that was theirs in Christ. He focused not on what they did but on what Christ did through them. In this hymn, How echoes the words of the writer of the letter to the Hebrews in chapters 11 and 12. Look and see what Christ has done through and for those who have gone before; and take heart, knowing that you have the same Lord, the same promises, and the same end!
All Saints' Day, November 1st, is a very important Christian holiday which we would do well not to forget in the midst of Reformation. Reformation is a celebration of the purity of the word, the truth of the gospel restored to the Church when it had all but disappeared. All Saints' Day is a chance to look up and see the result of that gospel -- those believers who went before shining now in glory. It is a time to remember that we do not strive in vain, for God ever has and ever will bless that work He sends us to do. It is a day to remember the day that is to come. It is a day to glory in what Christ has done for us, continues to do through us, and will bring us to.
