All Saints 2020

All Saints

Revelation 7:16-17: They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on them, no any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

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· This past couple of weeks I watched the TV mini-series Centennial, which is based on the book of the same name by James Michener.

o If you’ve never read the book or seen the mini-series, Centennial is about a town in Colorado names Centennial….the book tracks the history of this place from the Indians who inhabited it in the 18th century to the first trappers and then settlers that moved there over the next 200 years.

§ What Michener does in his books is weave the history of families over centuries and generations. You see people come into the picture and then how, through succeeding generations later, their descendants continue to thrive or not. Families rise and families fall. Some are good people and some are – at best – skirting the edges of legality…but they all influence the course of history for the community.

o You probably need to have a taste for Michener books. I love them for their broad historical sweep, but they can be heavy with detail. Still…they tell the history of our ancestors in ways in which we all can participate – whether your great great grandparent was a saint or a scoundrel, they were on a journey that in our time we joined, traveling from where we have been to a future we can only dream, hope and wonder about.

· We will set aside for now the impact this mass migration had on the Indians that inhabited the land – they played a key role in the story and mingled with the families that arrived….but in the book, the journey for the settlers was all about their travel from places of hunger and oppression to a new found freedom in the American frontier west. They suffered from snakes, cold, hot, draught, disease, hunger and especially from man. And yet they persevered and ultimately triumphed.

· Christians of every generation experience a journey like those early frontiersmen and settlers. As Christians, we are traveling from a place where we are spiritually starved and oppressed. Sometimes we too suffer from hunger, fear, disease, and especially fellow travelers we see along the way….and yet our travels continue; we find our Christian home – the Church – we work the land and by God’s grace build a spiritual life that is pleasing and that honors our Lord.

· “They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters.”—Revelations 7:16, 17.

· This Epistle from the Feast of All Saints reminds us to think of the joy that God offers and be comforted in the prospect of finding His land where we can live in peace.

o As the Church Militant we seek what is already enjoyed by the redeemed – the Church Triumphant. Some of those who were very dear to us on earth – family, friends, parishioners who have gone before us - whose faith we desire to follow, are even now with the Lord, and this word from Revelation is already their joyful portion—“They hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sunlight on them, nor any heat.”

· Our comfort lies in the joyful knowledge that we are journeying to this good land where the Saints already live; where Our Lord will wipe away every tear.

· This heavenly inheritance is ours: we have the seal of the Holy Spirit upon our homesteads; we have taste of the fruit of it through a Eucharistic meal set by Our Father.. We rejoice in the light and warmth of its celestial city to which, in worship and prayer, we draw near.

· When we come together in worship we are like one of those Centennial settlers following a map to her future home; she finds in it fair pictures of the scenery of the land and the architecture of the cities, and as she studies the path she must follow she says to herself, “That is where I am going! That is where I want to live. That is what I shall soon behold!”

o For believers in Christ: our faces are towards God’s promised land, the land which flows with milk and honey, and we have a portion among the blessed; a mansion is being made ready for each one of us, and we have this promise: “Go thou thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days.” (Dan 12:13)

· As we look at the map for our destination, the Christian should rejoice. We know that even if our lot on earth is filled with difficulties, if our condition in the present is sorrowful, if our trials multiply and our strength fades and leaves us, we know that it is but a short while and he that will come shall come, and we will be delivered to that final destination, where we will live with Our Lord forever.

· It is often hard to keep this final destination in mind. As we travel the trail mile by mile we are surrounding by the current land that hides from us that final destination.

· Still, if we follow the map and stay on the trail set before us, we will drink of the water which he freely gives to all who believe in him, even as he gave to the woman of Samaria.

· On the trail the settlers are bound together…helping one another in turn whenever there is a need. A Christian community does likewise.

o “I cannot see any joy,” cries one. No; but Jesus will lead you to it. You only need the Lord to speak and open your eyes and you will see rich supplies, for the living fountain is near at hand. Go you to the Saviour to-day, and say, “Lord, lead me to living fountains of water. I drank years ago, and I have been drinking all along, but Lord I want deeper draughts. I desire to know more and love more.”

o Jesus will lead you. He will do it now, and when he does so you will realize to the full how like this earth may be to heaven above. Let us commit ourselves like sheep to our great Shepherd. Come, ye wanderers, return to the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls. You that have been in him these many years and fed in his pastures, come near to him and follow him yet more closely, and your eyes shall be opened to see new rivers of delight where all seemed dry. You shall find in the valley of Baca a well, and drinking of it you shall go from strength to strength, till every one of you in Zion appeareth before God. How long will it be, O ever-blessed One, till we behold thee? Even now the day breaketh![1]

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In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

[1] Spurgeon, C. H. (1884). Heaven Below. In The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons (Vol. 30, p. 516). London: Passmore & Alabaster.