Mission Moment

Dear Covenant Families, 

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints. Psalm 116:15 (ESV).

All Saints Day is observed on November 1 in the Western Church and on the first Sunday after Pentecost by Orthodox believers (typically placing it in the month of June). For many, the day is focused on celebrating the lives of canonized or beatified Saints, particularly those who have no designated saint day.

For many more, throughout Christendom, it is a day (or a season) to celebrate the lives of faithful believers who have preceded us in glory (i.e. in their heavenly reward), especially those whom we knew and loved in this temporal life. In many European nations, All Saints is a national holiday. And in some places, businesses close for several days around All Saints.

As best I can tell, the word “saint” occurs 77 times in the ESV version of the Bible; 16 times in the Old Testament, and 61 times in the New Testament. In the majority of these citations, the reference is to living faithful believers in Yahweh and living faithful followers of Jesus. In fact, Saint Paul addresses seven of his epistles “to the Saints” in the first or within the first few verses of the epistle. The Greek words he uses - Pistós (singular) and Pistoi (plural) - could generally be translated “the faithful” or “believers.” In other words, if you are a faithful believer in Jesus, you are a saint, and Paul is writing to you. Congratulations!

For years, I loved to celebrate All Saints because it was a sweet time of remembering my dear grandmothers, both of whom loved the Lord and modeled faithfully following Jesus to me as a child and young adult. With the passing of my dad in 2014, the reminder in the celebration of All Saints that our fellowship in Christ transcends physical death made the observance even more precious in my life as a believer. 

We often remember our loved ones who have gone before us on their birthdays or on the anniversary of their passing. All Saints grants another opportunity to remember and celebrate them, together with other friends, family, spiritual mentors, and other saints who have gone on before us, having impacted our lives to God’s glory along the way. With my mother’s passing last November, tomorrow will be my first All Saints Day to celebrate her on this day, a distinction I share with several families in our Covenant community who have lost loved ones over the past year. Thank you for remembering, with thanksgiving, our dear recently passed saints with us!

I am particularly grateful, not so much to mourn my mother’s passing anew, as to consciously celebrate her life in Jesus and her now enjoying closer fellowship with Him than I can yet have, as one still planted here in this transitory life. In the words of the great hymn For All the Saints, “I feebly struggle, she in glory shines.” Yet, despite our temporary physical separation, we are still one in Christ because we both are His. 

Finally, All Saints can be an important reminder of what we are about as parents and educators. The greatest calling of everyone at The Covenant School is to shepherd our “flock” of children and young adults to grow ever closer to Jesus as they develop and grow in mind, body, and spirit. In other words, our highest calling is to form our children spiritually into saints, relying on the Holy Spirit to accomplish His generative work of grace in each of their lives. We want them to be celebrated with “all the saints” many years from now when they precede their loved ones in their heavenly reward.

As we celebrate All Saints Day this year, I want to thank all of our Covenant families for the opportunity to partner with you in this high calling of discipleship; “saint-making,” if you will. And, I leave you with these words from that great All Saints Day hymn by William Walsham How, which acknowledges the unity of the Church Militant (saints still here on earth) and the Church Triumphant (saints already in heaven):

1 For all the saints who from their labors rest, who thee by faith before the world confessed, thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!

2 Thou wast their rock, their fortress, and their might; thou, Lord, their captain in the well-fought fight; thou, in the darkness dread, their one true light. Alleluia! Alleluia!

3 Oh, may thy soldiers, faithful, true, and bold fight as the saints who nobly fought of old and win with them the victor's crown of gold. Alleluia! Alleluia!

4 Oh, blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia! Alleluia!

5 And when the fight is fierce, the warfare long, steals on the ear the distant triumph song, and hearts are brave again and arms are strong. Alleluia! Alleluia!

6 The golden evening brightens in the west; soon, soon to faithful warriors cometh rest; sweet is the calm of paradise the blest. Alleluia! Alleluia!

7 But, lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day; the saints triumphant rise in bright array; the King of glory passes on his way. Alleluia! Alleluia!

8 From earth's wide bounds, from ocean's farthest coast, through gates of pearl streams in the countless host, singing to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Alleluia! Alleluia!

Happy All Saints Day!

Robert Littlejohn, Ph.D.
Head of School