ALL SAINTS’ SUNDAY/ Year A - November 5, 2023
Fall stewardship kick off: Called to be an “Outpost of Hope”
Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10,22; Matthew 5:1-12
*Opening Prayer: A Prayer for All Saints/All Souls Day (Order of Saint Helena)
Gracious God, You stand us among the saints so that we can hear the Word of truth and love in a variety of voices, so that we can live with hope and courage as others lift us up and cheer us on. You surround us with saints so that we can know wisdom and revelation in the sharing of word and experience; so that we can sing in glory and stand in the fullness of the body of Christ. We’re grateful for those saints who have gone before us and for those living at our sides today. Raise us up with the faith of the saints, for the glory of your holy name. Amen.
You’ve heard me say it many times…but I begin this morning by repeating it 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 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 and blessing one another…
I love that on All Saints’ Sunday, we can be reminded that we don’t navigate this world alone…because by our baptisms into the household of God, we are always in the company of those famous and every day saints we call family and friends, 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 and blessing one another…
And I love that on this All Saints’ Sunday, we get to listen to the gospel reading from Matthew…and imagine ourselves on the mountaintop with the disciples gathering at the feet of Jesus to be encouraged and uplifted by his words of blessing: “Blessed are you, the poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are humble, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness…Blessed are you, the merciful, the pure in heart and the peacemakers…for you will be called children of God.”
And I love that on this All Saints’ Sunday, we get to prayerfully consider how this vision of being blessed as Jesus teaches us in this sermon on the mount…is a relevant teaching to us today, just as it was over two thousand years ago.
We are kicking off our fall pledge drive this weekend…and this year’s theme, is based upon Bishop Mark’s invitation to the people of the Episcopal Diocese of Alaska to renew and strengthen our call as the church to be an “Outpost of Hope” in our community.
I think of that time and place on the mountaintop with Jesus, as an example of an “outpost of hope”…a church gathering space…a place where people can gather to be encouraged, be inspired, to be fed by the word of God, and to be renewed and strengthened through the prayers and fellowship with one another, to go out into one’s community to love and bless one another…
I think of Jesus being an “outpost of hope” himself…using his presence and words to encourage and uplift those who perhaps have struggled to see how and where God is present in their lives or blessing them now…I imagine him looking directly at those who are in need of hearing it… “Blessed are YOU!”
And I think of all the saints, past and present, who have been an “outpost of hope” to others…
Can you recall a time when someone has been an “outpost of hope” for you…when you were weary, afraid, overwhelmed by the cares and concerns of the world and its people, when you felt powerless to change any of the difficult circumstances that you find yourselves or your loved ones in, or when you had moments of doubt when your faith and your hopes had been dimmed?
And I wonder…where you see yourself, and St Peter’s church as an “outpost of hope” today…and as we look forward to the new year…
Will you strive to be an outpost of hope to others…by sharing your compassion-filled words and kind actions to help offload that sense of being overwhelmed by the cares and concerns that are weighing heavily on someone’s heart?
Will you strive to be an “outpost of hope” to others… by being present to them and sharing encouraging words to help them see some new possibilities before them when they feel powerless to take just one step forward?
Will you strive to be an “outpost of hope” to others…by sharing words of love and blessing directly with others, “Blessed are you”…words of love and blessing to help rekindle the light of their faith and hopes just in the moment they need to hear them most?
And finally…Will you strive to help the church…the physical spaces that we use to gather people together, and the church as the body of Christ in the world… to serve as an “outpost of hope” to all in our community?
In the renewal of our baptismal covenant in a few minutes, we will be reminded that indeed we can answer with a bold Yes to all of this…Yes…We will, with God’s help…
And yes, we can and we will… because by our baptisms into the household of God, we are always in the company of those famous and every day saints we call family and friends, 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 and blessing one another… those beloved saints of God who have already shown us, how the church can serve as an “outpost of hope” in our communities…
Thanks be to God for those saints who have gone before us and for those living at our sides today…
*Prayer/Hymn after sermon: We sing of the saints - My Heart Sings Out, #118
We sing of the saints filled with Spirit and grace,
blest women and men through all time, from each place.
God chose them, the holy, the humble the wise
to spread the Good News of salvation in Christ.
All Saints (November 1)
There are many saints whom we don’t know by name,
for God works through people who never find fame;
but, gathered together, they now sing God’s might,
with martyrs and prophets, in heavenly light.
All Faithful Departed (November 2)
We honor the mem’ry of those now at rest,
who followed the Gospel, whose lives were so blest;
from fam’lies and friendships, they make heaven seem
more home-like for us, in our prayers and our dreams.
We, too, have been chosen to follow the way
of goodness and truth in our study and play,
we raise up our song, living saints here below,
with heavenly saints, as our praise ever flows.
Rev Julie Platson
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK