Sermon Tone Analysis

Lord, may we clearly see you and the glory that you have redeemed for us through those that you have chosen as your saints.

Amen

 

If your house is anything like my house then this morning is… The morning after Halloween

            But in fact the tradition of Halloween came second to what today actually is

                        All Saints Day – Halloween is short for *All Hallows' Eve* or *All Saints' Eve*

There are many possible sources to our modern day Halloween traditions, however it probably has roots in the Celtic festival of Samhain (pronounced /sow-an/ or /sow-in/)"

The name is derived from Old Irish and means roughly "summer's end"

The festival of /sow-an/ celebrates the end of the "lighter half" of the year and beginning of the "darker half", and is sometime regarded as the "Celtic New Year"

The ancient Celts believed that the border between this world and the Otherworld became thin on /sow-an/, allowing spirits (both harmless and harmful) to pass through.

The family's ancestors were honored and invited home whilst harmful spirits were warded off.

It was believed that the need to ward off harmful spirits led to the wearing of costumes and masks.

Their purpose was to disguise oneself as a harmful spirit and thus avoid harm.

Although the Celtic festival brings us interesting insights to the tradition, for us Christians

Today, we celebrate “All Saints day”.

The tradition of “All Saints Day” started out reasonable enough with Christians in the early days that were in the practice of solemnizing the anniversary of a martyr's death.

A death that was suffered in the name and faith for Christ.

Later under the persecution of Emperor Diocletian, with many martyrs suffering for their faith at the same time, there developed a joint commemoration.

Over the years it was adapted and changed to the point in the 8th century when Pope Gregory III consecrated a chapel in the Basilica of St. Peter - ‘to all the saints’ and fixed the anniversary to November 1st.

We find our heritage from our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters – saints that have gone before us

 

For some Saints are whose people whose life is so abundant that it transcends death

Their joy of God’s gift of abundant life fills them beyond which they can contain it and they share God’s blessing to others

Simply - Saints are those that have learned to give and receive God’s love

 

For others, saints are understood as models of virtue signaled by elaborate canonization ceremonies, what one might understand from Roman Catholic Church

We keep days in their honor and frequently recognize them with the honorific title "saint": St. Peter, St. Andrew and so on.

In fact two weeks ago was St. Luke’s day

And, while it is helpful, even inspirational to think of these exemplary lives as models that have powerfully witnessed to God’s Love – it might not be the only way in which we can benefit and celebrate the notion of “All Saints Day”

 

One could define saints as simply those that went before us to tell us the message of God’s love

A saint in the simplest definition is one that tells that ‘in Jesus there is the promise of life abundant’

In the midst of the confusion of this world - in God - we take shelter from the storm

And it is the Saints that have gone before and passed this message on

In fact, now we are getting closer to the Biblical understanding of a saint

In Acts and the writings of St. Paul – The term ‘saint’ is used *as* virtual synonym for members of the Christian community

You might be surprised to read that in the New Testament there are 62 references to "saints" and that St. Paul used the term 44 times to refer to the Church on earth

and that the word even appeared in the Old Testament.

I think St. Paul would say Baptism is a mark of sainthood.

In the Revelation to John that we had read today we hear of his heavenly vision /"I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "See, the home of God is among mortals.

/

/He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them;"/

 

It has been said that one way we can understand what a saint is - we only need to look at the stained glass windows of a church

            And a saint is someone in which THE light shines through

 

It is important to know that we are called saints because of God's continuing incarnate presence among his people;

It is God who is intimately and fully holy,

It is a God who came in the flesh, who still dwells in the midst of His people.

That presence permeates the entire community of faith.

What makes God's people holy is His presence not our behavior that is often less than perfect.

As we all know too well, humanity has far from reached perfection.

Former slave ship captain John Newton's famous hymn "Amazing Grace" brings home the reality that it is God's gracious presence in the midst of His humanity that makes this kind of sainthood possible.

"Amazing grace!

how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost but now am found, was blind but now I see."

Left to our own devices, we will eventually disappoint at least our own selves.

But with God's loving grace we can grow to the heights of human expression.

From the bible readings today we have powerful messages for all of God’s saints

Powerful messages of God’s promises

 

We are told from the Apocrypha reading - the Wisdom of Solomon

A reading incidentally that is often chosen for funerals – an all too familiar celebration of the saints that have gone on before us

                        We hear this promise – [That - /the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, …/

/                                                In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, but they are at peace./

/                                    /And also

/Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his          elect/

 

We are promised to be /in the hands of God/ – we the righteous – we, the believers in God

Righteousness being Jesus Christ - Christ-ians - those that strive to follow His ways – His Righteousness – and made righteous only by His loving grace

                        We trust in THE truth – that God will abide, literally meaning ‘dwell with us’, in love

                                    We are promised grace and mercy and perpetual oversight

 

From our reading from Revelations, we are promised

            That - /he will wipe every tear from their eyes.

Death will be no more/…

                        From the only words spoken by Christ in Revelations, we are promised –

/“See, I am making all things new.”

/

/                                    …“It is done!

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end/.”

Christ is promising for those that believe - a new creation - a new heaven and new earth

            It is the dwelling place of the saints – this new creation – this New Jerusalem

 

Rev Barbara Brown Taylor – one of my favorite sermon writers wrote from an All Saints Day sermon of a few years ago this:

/A Christian is one that has Faith in believing in the "New" Jerusalem when the one we see on the TV news is so Old /

The vision of the New Jerusalem, the fulfilling of time, is not Zionist goal to recapture modern day Jerusalem for the Jews – to build a giant wall around the city and live in armed naivety

The New Jerusalem is not a place, but is potential anywhere and everywhere as the saints live out the way of Jesus

            The New Jerusalem is the dwelling place of the Lord

                        And it starts within each one of us – in our hearts

                                    And it extends out to wherever that is realized

 

Our quick look at the readings today can not exclude the powerful and image rich message from the gospel reading of St. John

Here among the many things to learn there is the message for the saints of some of God’s promises

Where we have the “compassionate God” that weeps with Martha and Mary and the mourners gathered

                                    The “God of promise” that tells Martha

                        /“Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”/

And the triumphant God - triumphant over all things including death

                                                            That calls out to decomposing dead

/                                                                        “Lazarus, come out!”/

/ /

We need to know that Jesus still weeps for us if we allow grief, despair, or disappointment to hold its sway in the midst of life.

We need to hear him say to all forms of death that are at work in us in our lives, “Come out!”

Each day as you may die a little under the worldly burdens.

Remember the promise that Jesus says “Come out.”

/Come out… /and/ see the glory of God…/

 

Trust in Jesus, the victor over death – trust that Jesus abides with us – weeps along side us

Calls us to follow in His ways – Calls each one of us to be a saint of THE light

 

Today on this festival of All Saints God calls us again to be the clay in the hands of the potter,

To enable God's holy presence in our midst to continue to shape our lives and our faith as his saints here on earth.

As Christian saints on earth we are called to live life inside out.

Isn't that what the Incarnation is all about.

With God there is always more than you can see.

But let’s not end there, looking outward to God and inward to our response