ALL Saints Sunday – Nov 3, 2024
Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 24; Revelation to John 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44
Opening Prayer: (liturgylink.net)
Eternal God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, we praise you for the saints of all times and places who have walked the road of faith before us and beside us. We praise you for all your servants who have witnessed to your truth, who have shown us your love, who have inspired us to have hope. By their example of faith, hope, and love, remind us of your calling to join in making your new creation real in this world and the next. And as we walk this pilgrim way, make our faith firm, our hope clear, and our love pure, that we might join the saints of all the ages in praise eternal, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Today, we celebrate All Saints Day… A day set aside to recall all the famous Saints who walked this earth in many years past, but still remind us today of what it means to walk in love with God and one another as Jesus has taught us and shown us…and as Br Curtis Almquist reminds us on this occasion of remembering the famous saints, that we are not called to replicate their life and ministry. Rather, it is for us to draw inspiration from their lives to encourage us in our own life and ministry.
If you ever have the opportunity to join in on the yearly Lent Madness offering, it’s a great and light-hearted way to learn all about the famous saints…and be inspired by them…
We give thanks, too, as we pause during this weekend celebration, to remember some of the modern day saints, who may not be listed on the official famous saints calendars, yet in our lifetimes, and ancestor’s lifetimes have inspired us to look to their examples of how they lived out their lives, with God’s help, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, and learning to love their neighbors as they have been so loved…and how their labors of love, striving for justice and peace among all people, and respecting the dignity of every human being…transformed the people and the communities in which they lived.
We also set aside some time this weekend, to remember and give thanks for those saints in our lives—family members, mentors and friends—who are gifts of God to us, but no longer walk among us in this earthly life. Yet we are reminded on this occasion, that we are part of the communion of saints, united to one another in life and in death, through the love of God revealed to us in Jesus, a love that binds us together, heart to heart, spirit to spirit, for always.
As we remember our loved ones gone on before us – It is no surprise to any of us, that we find ourselves shedding some tears today: tears of deep sadness, shock, anger, but perhaps some tears of joy and gratitude mixed in as we recall some of the joyful and grateful experiences, we were blessed to share with those we love, throughout our lifetimes.
In today’s readings – we get a sense of all of this…
Mary, the sister of Lazurus is weeping, the people with her are weeping, we sense their deep sadness; Jesus senses their profound sadness; he weeps himself…. not just for them, but for his good friend, Lazurus, he weeps and cries out to his Father in Heaven – giving thanks for knowing his prayers are always heard, he cries out in a compassionate plea for those who are suffering among him…he wants them to know, like he knows that God listens to their cries and hears them, and to trust that Jesus has been sent to help them see and believe that for themselves too….In the midst of all that is so difficult to comprehend, he wants them to understand, that death is not the end of our stories…and will not have the last word…
And even though, they and all of us, cry tears of sadness in this moment, many moments throughout our lives, there will be a time, when those tears will be of joy and healing and new life….He wants them and us to trust in these promises, and hold on to that hope and vision of healing to come, as it is written in the Revelation to John, And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “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 away 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.” And the one who is seated on the throne said, “See I am making all things new.” (Revelation 21:3-5a)
The first things (the tears, the pain, the suffering)… will pass away … there is still healing and new life on the horizon after death and difficult changes and endings….there is still hope for the joy to come…even in the midst of not understanding any of this or struggling to make sense of anything in our present moment of sorrow and pain…
Yet, we are not expected to hold onto this vision and hope alone. Nor were we created to live like that, all alone. Jesus reminds us that God is present now and will be always. And Jesus reminds us that the world will know this, when we set out to walk in community with one another, to love one another, and care for one another.
This is true for one another here in our church family, and it is true for the family of God, in our neighborhoods and beyond.
We are in the midst of our fall pledge campaign season…and every week, a different vestry member has been invited to share a little bit in response to the weekly Walk in love reflection that is emailed out on Wednesdays, and is included in our Friday email and in our bulletin today.
This week’s theme, entitled Village, reminds us, that our mission and purpose as the body of Christ, the church, is now and ever will be…to go about this healing work, welcoming one another, joining together with one another, sharing our gifts and talents with one another; to be instruments of God’s love, God’s peace, God’s grace, God’s healing presence, and a beacon of Christ’s light for those who are in need of being set free from oppression, from hunger, from addictions, from sorrows that see no way forward, from fears and uncertainties about all of the changes, abrupt and gradual ones, that affect our personal lives, our faith communities, and the neighborhoods we live in.
I’d like to invite Chip to share his reflection with us again this morning, calling our attention to Walking In Love with one another, as Christ has loved us…through the lens of what it takes to create this beloved community…that is…it takes love, and every one of us…
Walk in Love Reflection, by vestry member, Chip Camdem
When I moved to Alaska, I thought I would live a solitary life. Then one day shortly after arriving, I was walking by Crescent Harbor when two children from St. Peter's rolled by on their bikes, waved at me, and said "Hi, Chip!" Suddenly I knew that I belonged to a community. It turns out that "No man (sic) is an island" is never more true than when you live on one. Sitka is a tightly knit community, and St. Peter's is one of the ties that binds us together.
I see collaboration that produces community in the efforts of St. Peter's clergy, vestry. and laity to not only keep the doors of the church open, but to continue to make it a vibrant place of transformation, growth, and outreach. In cooperation with other local churches, we bring food to the hungry on Sunday afternoon Manna Meals.
We support the Sitka Homeless Coalition's meals program and the Salvation Army's food pantry. We open the See House for many community activities and programs. Our licensed lay worship leaders and other volunteers in the church take part of the load off the clergy and the budget. And we all gather together to remind ourselves that we are one body.
Working together cooperatively requires the humility and love to which Christ calls us. We must be aware of our individual limitations so that we don't try to play the hero and get burned out. We must look for opportunities to use our individual talents, not to impress, but to serve each other in love. It all comes back to love. Love binds us together in community.
This love that binds us together in community, transcends all times and all places, in this life together here on earth, and for ever with the saints in heaven…
On this All Saints weekend, we are reminded once again, that we are part of the communion of saints, united to one another in life and in death, through the love of God revealed to us in Jesus, a love that binds us together, heart to heart, spirit to spirit, for always…May it be so…
Closing Prayer/Hymn: Community (Dave Brown)
Part of a family, interconnected, this is community.
Welcoming strangers, visiting neighbors, this gives us dignity.
Care for the earth and the sea, we need to keep them free
So we care for the earth and sea
Care for the ones we meet, love is the face we see
When we care for the ones we meet.
Part of a family, interconnected, this is community.
Welcoming strangers, visiting neighbors, this gives us dignity.
Sharing our joy and our pain, praying and keeping the faith
By sharing our joy and our pain
Singing a song of rights, imaging God in life, by singing a song of rights.
Part of a family, interconnected, this is community.
Welcoming strangers, visiting neighbors, this gives us dignity.
Talk to the lonely, bind up the broken, this makes community
A glass of water shared with the thirsty, this makes for dignity
This makes for dignity
This is community.
Rev Julie Platson, Rector
St Peter’s by the Sea Episcopal Church
Sitka, AK