All Saints' Sunday
Anna Lou and I just returned from the 229th Diocesan Convention for the Diocese of Virginia. We learned a few things - one is that we now have a new logo for our diocese, - we will no longer have the three ships, that were on the bottom of the logo for the Diocese of Virginia, depicting the three English ships — the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery — that arrived off the coast of Virginia in 1607, but rather we have mountains and a river, depicting the geographically boundaries of our diocese, from the bay to the Blue Ridge, water reminding us of the waters of our baptism, along with the geographical boundary of the James River.
We heard about the work of reparations that is going to be done - reparations being a form of repentance from sin, an acknowledgement of the Dioceses’ complicity in acts of segregation and slavery. We were reminded of our baptismal covenant and our commitment to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being. Much work and many questions remain to be done and to be answered, but we gathered together as one people, one Diocese, of many voices, but knit together in the family of God.
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints, one of the principal feasts in the life of the church. All Saints’ Day is officially November 1st to remember all saints and martyrs during Christian history, and it is followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2nd which commemorates those who have passed within the faith.
All Saints Feast day is a day when we recall the faithful, both living and departed, and when we profess that somehow, we are mysteriously bound together with all saints, the living and the dead, across time and space, by virtue of our common spiritual heritage.
We think upon the reality of being “knit together” with the whole company of the faithful, even those who worship God on another shore, those who have died whom we have known and those whom we have not known, including those who are described in Revelation, those who have suffered for their faith. The people described here in Revelation are not just “regular dead," these are martyrs, those who have suffered and died for their faith. The Revelation text points to the reality that we are going to be with those who we do not know, those we have never met. A multitude of people who are gathered together before the Lamb.
The importance of thinking on these things lies in this — we are community. We are a community of the living and the dead.
All of our hearts are heavy as we watch the horrors that are happening in the Middle East and Ukraine at this time. People on both sides of both conflicts contain God’s people, Christians who are our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering and may be experiencing terror. And even those who do not profess Christ as Lord are still made in the image and likeness of God and should not be viewed as just a sort of collateral damage in this conflict. We need to be reminded of our connection to them.
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’”
The Beautitudes take on a different meaning and feeling today as we reflect and read them on this All Saints Day.
Blessed are God’s children.
Blessed are God’s children who continue to believe and hope, even against all evidence; blessed are those who believe and know that their hope is not misplaced.
Most of you are aware that we hold a Grief Support group here. It is full of God’s children who have all suffered some sort of loss and grief; some losses may be described as “seemingly normal losses” that we will all experience one day — the death of a parent or spouse and the life-altering consequences of that, some of children, which is just as life altering, but also unnatural and it comes with a different kind of pain and anguish. What we all share in common is the desire to feel different, to feel better, grasping for some form of hope in a life that sometimes can feel hopeless.
Most who attend are people of deep faith, but when death comes it is a thief that robs us of a life that was secure and known and in its place comes a life that is unknown to us and new and frightening in its uncertainty.
Death unsteadies us. Our stable world becomes unstable.
Our reading from 1 John today is beautiful. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” That is what we are.
The reason we are blessed, the reason that we have hope, the reason that All Saints Day even exists, is because we are a people of HOPE - the children of God. We have a God who has made promises — promises that we believe in.
Promises that we are God’s children! And “…what we will be has not yet been revealed. 1 John 3:2. And what we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
We will see him.
On All Saints’ we remember those that have died this past year, and we remember those saints who went before and made our faith possible. Who believed and taught the hope, resurrection and grace of Jesus.
Those who kept hope alive for one more cycle of history, that real peace is possible. The church stands on the edge of the dream of peace and reconciliation for all people. Only God can bring this about. But we remember and give thanks for those who have suffered and gone before every year. Some of the saints have names to us, and some we do not know. Today we list and will read the names of those we know and we offer a prayer to God in thanks for them and remembrance.
But I also want you to think about the saints who you do not know, people who have died that aren’t on our list, who may have died with no one knowing. Hold those in your heart as well, for they are also children of God.
People aren’t perfect. Those listed were not perfect, but they are saints who were with us, who lived among us, people who shaped us and the church through their lives.
“I will bless the Lord at all times," says Psalm 34:1. “I will bless the lord at all times; and his praise shall ever be in my mouth.”
It is hard sometimes to think about blessing the Lord when your heart hurts.
But, it is because of who Jesus is, who God is, that we can bless the Lord. Jesus is a promise keeper. Our tears will be wiped away, because God keeps His promises, Revelation 7:17, “…and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
In the midst of this day when we are reminded of loss, in the midst of societal suffering, and in the midst of our deepest grief, we can still bless the Lord, because Jesus lives. Because we have a God who has promised to wipe every tear from our eye. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow — but one day. One day.
The author of the Psalm tells us that, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror.” Psalm 34: 4.
The author sought the Lord. Seek the Lord. And verse 8…“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8a
Seeking, and calling and tasting — the Psalm is full of active verbs — speaking to our part in our healing, our mutuality in our relationship with God.
We have a part in this life. We have responsibility. And we, who have been blessed, and who have been promised to be blessed, how do we carry on the blessing and share this blessing with others?
We aren’t in this world alone. We are connected to all of those around us. Those who have gone before and those who are with us today. We are all God’s children.
Our lives should be reflections of knowledge of our blessings. And we should bless others, seeking ways to make an active difference to those in need around us.
So that everyone can taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen.
We heard about the work of reparations that is going to be done - reparations being a form of repentance from sin, an acknowledgement of the Dioceses’ complicity in acts of segregation and slavery. We were reminded of our baptismal covenant and our commitment to strive for justice and peace among all people and to respect the dignity of every human being. Much work and many questions remain to be done and to be answered, but we gathered together as one people, one Diocese, of many voices, but knit together in the family of God.
Today we celebrate the Feast of All Saints, one of the principal feasts in the life of the church. All Saints’ Day is officially November 1st to remember all saints and martyrs during Christian history, and it is followed by All Souls’ Day on November 2nd which commemorates those who have passed within the faith.
All Saints Feast day is a day when we recall the faithful, both living and departed, and when we profess that somehow, we are mysteriously bound together with all saints, the living and the dead, across time and space, by virtue of our common spiritual heritage.
We think upon the reality of being “knit together” with the whole company of the faithful, even those who worship God on another shore, those who have died whom we have known and those whom we have not known, including those who are described in Revelation, those who have suffered for their faith. The people described here in Revelation are not just “regular dead," these are martyrs, those who have suffered and died for their faith. The Revelation text points to the reality that we are going to be with those who we do not know, those we have never met. A multitude of people who are gathered together before the Lamb.
The importance of thinking on these things lies in this — we are community. We are a community of the living and the dead.
All of our hearts are heavy as we watch the horrors that are happening in the Middle East and Ukraine at this time. People on both sides of both conflicts contain God’s people, Christians who are our brothers and sisters in Christ who are suffering and may be experiencing terror. And even those who do not profess Christ as Lord are still made in the image and likeness of God and should not be viewed as just a sort of collateral damage in this conflict. We need to be reminded of our connection to them.
“When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.’”
The Beautitudes take on a different meaning and feeling today as we reflect and read them on this All Saints Day.
Blessed are God’s children.
Blessed are God’s children who continue to believe and hope, even against all evidence; blessed are those who believe and know that their hope is not misplaced.
Most of you are aware that we hold a Grief Support group here. It is full of God’s children who have all suffered some sort of loss and grief; some losses may be described as “seemingly normal losses” that we will all experience one day — the death of a parent or spouse and the life-altering consequences of that, some of children, which is just as life altering, but also unnatural and it comes with a different kind of pain and anguish. What we all share in common is the desire to feel different, to feel better, grasping for some form of hope in a life that sometimes can feel hopeless.
Most who attend are people of deep faith, but when death comes it is a thief that robs us of a life that was secure and known and in its place comes a life that is unknown to us and new and frightening in its uncertainty.
Death unsteadies us. Our stable world becomes unstable.
Our reading from 1 John today is beautiful. “See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.” That is what we are.
The reason we are blessed, the reason that we have hope, the reason that All Saints Day even exists, is because we are a people of HOPE - the children of God. We have a God who has made promises — promises that we believe in.
Promises that we are God’s children! And “…what we will be has not yet been revealed. 1 John 3:2. And what we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
We will see him.
On All Saints’ we remember those that have died this past year, and we remember those saints who went before and made our faith possible. Who believed and taught the hope, resurrection and grace of Jesus.
Those who kept hope alive for one more cycle of history, that real peace is possible. The church stands on the edge of the dream of peace and reconciliation for all people. Only God can bring this about. But we remember and give thanks for those who have suffered and gone before every year. Some of the saints have names to us, and some we do not know. Today we list and will read the names of those we know and we offer a prayer to God in thanks for them and remembrance.
But I also want you to think about the saints who you do not know, people who have died that aren’t on our list, who may have died with no one knowing. Hold those in your heart as well, for they are also children of God.
People aren’t perfect. Those listed were not perfect, but they are saints who were with us, who lived among us, people who shaped us and the church through their lives.
“I will bless the Lord at all times," says Psalm 34:1. “I will bless the lord at all times; and his praise shall ever be in my mouth.”
It is hard sometimes to think about blessing the Lord when your heart hurts.
But, it is because of who Jesus is, who God is, that we can bless the Lord. Jesus is a promise keeper. Our tears will be wiped away, because God keeps His promises, Revelation 7:17, “…and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
In the midst of this day when we are reminded of loss, in the midst of societal suffering, and in the midst of our deepest grief, we can still bless the Lord, because Jesus lives. Because we have a God who has promised to wipe every tear from our eye. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow — but one day. One day.
The author of the Psalm tells us that, “I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me out of all my terror.” Psalm 34: 4.
The author sought the Lord. Seek the Lord. And verse 8…“Taste and see that the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8a
Seeking, and calling and tasting — the Psalm is full of active verbs — speaking to our part in our healing, our mutuality in our relationship with God.
We have a part in this life. We have responsibility. And we, who have been blessed, and who have been promised to be blessed, how do we carry on the blessing and share this blessing with others?
We aren’t in this world alone. We are connected to all of those around us. Those who have gone before and those who are with us today. We are all God’s children.
Our lives should be reflections of knowledge of our blessings. And we should bless others, seeking ways to make an active difference to those in need around us.
So that everyone can taste and see that the Lord is good. Amen.