All Saints Sunday Sermon/Year B
Nov 7, 2021
Isaiah 25:6-9, Psalm 24, Revelation 21:1-6a, John 11:32-44
I know I’ve said this before…but it’s worth repeating again...All Saints Sunday is my favorite special day on the church calendar…There are so many things to love about this day…
I love that we can set aside this day to remember our connection to those who have gone on before us…yet are still so alive in our hearts now and who still move us and inspire us to keep on going…to keep on living…to keep on hoping….to keep on loving one another…
Officially, November 1st is All Saints Day – the day we remember the famous saints, who have been the movers and shakers in the history of the church in ages past… Nov 2nd is All Souls Day - the day we remember the everyday saints who have died, the ones we call mom, dad, grandma, grandpa…the ones we know as teacher, firefighter, fisherwoman, nurse, artist, musician…the list of names could go on and on and on…
Many churches, merge them both together, All Saints and All Souls, and celebrate ALL the saints on the closest Sunday after November 1st…So here we are…celebrating ALL Saints Sunday, here at St Peter’s…in communion with many churches nationwide today…
All Saints Sunday has been especially meaningful in my mind and heart these past couple of years, in this time of the pandemic…There have been so many losses, so many deaths; so many tears, seen and unseen…yet, in the midst of such sorrows, we have been reminded over and over again of the hope and the love that abides in us, and among us, in the selfless examples of love and kindness that have been poured out for our neighbors near and far…
We have been witness to these saints of God in action in this time of the pandemic…in so many inspiring and uplifting ways…
All Saints Sunday is a good time to remember that we don’t navigate this world alone…by our baptisms into the household of God, we are always in the company of those saints who have gone on before us…those beloveds who still manage to inspire us, encourage us to keep on going…to keep on living…to keep on hoping….to keep on loving one another…
On All Saints Sunday, our scriptures give us incredible words of hope to hold fast to: that death does not have the final say….that tears and sorrows will be transformed into ineffable joys… that the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces …
We are given a vision of a new heaven and earth to behold:
"See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them as their God;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away."
In our gospel reading today, Jesus shows up to be present with those who were grieving, he loves them, he wept with those who were weeping, he cried out to God with those who were crying out to God, longing for answers. He wiped every tear from their eyes. He raised Lazarus to new life…he invited the others to unbind him and let him go…
Jesus set an example for us to follow…he gave us a glimpse of what love can do in a time of such sorrow….what abiding in hope with one another can lead to next…
That’s one of the beautiful gifts the saints of God have given to us…they have showed us what it means to walk in the way of love that Jesus has revealed to them in times of grief and sorrow…we have seen on their faces the tears of sorrow transformed into tears of joy…
Now more than ever….we need to look to the inspiration of the saints of God to help us navigate these changing times in our world…to inspire us to keep on going…to keep on living…to keep on hoping….to keep on loving one another…
AND….Now more than ever….the world needs each one of us to step up into the long line of saints being called to follow Jesus NOW in the way of love that heals and reconciles us to one another…so that all may come to know the ineffable joys, of being united to one another in the family of God….
From the words of Steven Charleston: Your song will not end. The kindness you have shown. The wisdom you have shared. The love you have given. None of that will end. It will go on and on, passed like an heirloom of faith from person to person, not only of your own family, but between the countless others you have known, cared for, worked with, prayed for and respected. You have made music with your life. You have made a witness. The harmony you have embodied and the hope you have embraced will sing on after you, sing on into generations yet to come. Your vision will live in many hearts until one joyous day it joins the chorus of life that began when Spirit first started to sing.
For all the saints, we pray and give thanks!
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK
Hymn after the sermon: The Hymnal 1982 - #279 For thy dear saints, O Lord
1 For thy dear saints, O Lord,
who strove in thee to live,
who followed thee, obeyed, adored,
our grateful hymn receive.
2 They all in life and death,
with thee their Lord in view,
learned from thy Holy Spirit’s breath
to suffer and to do.
3 Thine earthly members fit
to join thy saints above,
in one communion ever knit,
one fellowship of love.
4 Jesus, thy Name we bless,
and humbly pray that we
may follow them in holiness,
who lived and died for thee.