October 31, 2021 – (Eve of) All Saints Day
Celebrating everything that has made us as a community, and opening ourselves to God’s guidance, judgement and illumination to what we need to become – in order to be a blessing for others.
Let us pray. Almighty God, we have heard your words to us in holy scripture, and know your call to each of us. In every age you have spoken through the voices of prophets, pastors, and teachers. We give you thanks that over the years we have heard you speak to us through the preaching of your word in this place. Grant that those who preach in this place may proclaim the crucified and risen Christ and interpret your word with sensitivity and insight, that we may hear that word inwardly and respond to it in all our life. This we ask in the name of Jesus Christ, your living Word. Amen.
Well – here we are – celebrating our Patronal Festival – giving thanks for this parish in 2021. And what a change from last year! You might remember that last year we did have some limited in-person worship at this time. We had a choir of four persons only, and even that was stretching the limit. There was no congregational singing. There was no 9 o’clock Eucharist in the Chapel. But now, it is beginning to feel like All Saints parish in its fullness. Everything is polished up. We had the great choral procession at this service. We’re finally able to pick up the traditions that we’re used to – and it’s lovely.
The Collect Prayer for today captures that well. We’re giving thanks for everything we’ve grown to love and to cherish about this place and our experiences here over the years – even over the decades. In the Collect we prayed, giving thanks for this place – praising God’s name, asking God’s forgiveness, knowing God’s healing power, hearing God’s Word, being nourished by the Body and Blood of Christ – together, with each other.
So let’s, in the next few minutes, open up that “hearing God’s Word” part. Today’s three readings span the entire temporal spectrum of history, you might say. In the First Reading, from the Wisdom of Solomon – it looks back and considers those who have gone before us. And it reassures us that those whose lives have ended here on earth are not gone! They have not ceased to be. As the writer says, “In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.” Then the passage goes on to reassure us that they, too, will be part of this future. He says, “They will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever.
Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love …”
Then, the Second Reading, from the Book of Revelation, comes from the final chapter of the final book in the Bible. It shows us a glimpse of this final consummation and purpose of God’s will, of God’s design – a whole new heaven, a whole new earth. This is what it will be like, as the writer states, “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; he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, …” This is where we’re headed, but it’s important to notice, in that final consummation – the vision we see in the Revelation – that a whole new heaven and a whole new earth will be part of this final consummation. This is what it will be like – this is where we’re headed. God dwells with all peoples – not just Israel, not just the Church – but everybody! All of humanity will know God intimately, such that God can even wipe away tears.
So how does this happen? The writer says, “And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Everything will be made new. Life will not be as we presently know it. What we know and experience now is not an ‘end’ – it is a ‘means to an end.’ What we engage in now is only of use to the degree that it moves up further up on that journey toward the end – transports us along God’s path toward this glorious final state of life with God and each other – and all peoples! That is the picture in today’s Second reading.
Now, in the Gospel Reading, we have this little bit of a story from John, chapter 11. And if you don’t know the whole story it’s a little hard to follow. So I’m going to review it a little bit. It involves Jesus and this little family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Jesus is very close to these three. They are like family for him. You have friends, no doubt, like that as well. You love them like family. You are completely at ease with them – you share your most intimate thoughts and feelings. And if they needed anything you would be there in a flash! This is what Mary, Martha and Lazarus were like to Jesus.
Now in this story in Chapter 11, Jesus and his disciples are teaching in an area of Judea, and they’re about a day’s journey from Mary, Martha and Lazarus’ home. The message comes to Jesus, “Lazarus is seriously ill.” And for some, unknown at that point, reason Jesus delays two days before deciding to travel there.
Now before we dive into the story for today, what I want us to realize is that we’ve looked back at the First Reading and have been reassured that those who have gone before us – who have helped to pave the way for our life journey – are still with us. They’ve not “ceased to be.” And in the Second Reading (from Revelation) we’ve looked forward to the glorious climax – the conclusion of God’s loving will for us and for all of creation. But this Gospel Reading from John plops us into the reality of everyday life now! Because, for the First and Second Reading – don’t you think – they have an idealistic, almost dream-like quality to them – but not the Gospel Reading. No! This is the kind of life that we live in now! These interactions between Jesus and Mary and Martha – this is the stuff our real lives are made of. Notice the tension of making unpopular decisions. (Jesus’s decision to not go right away, but to hold back for two days, for what would become the greater good.); dealing with others’ disappointment when Jesus doesn’t respond right away. Both Martha and Mary challenge Jesus, in a sense - “If you’d have come sooner, Lazarus would not have died!” This is the world that you and I live in right now. And this is the world that we need help in – in our journey toward this glorious future that Revelation talks about.
So let’s go back to the Collect Prayer. After remembering and celebrating all of our good experiences in this place, we ask God now to do four things: to guide, to judge, to illumine, and to bless to help us move toward the final goal of the reality we heard about in the Revelation reading – of God living with us in perfect harmony. Now while this obviously applies to our personal lives, it is aimed at our corporate life as God’s People and especially for us as All Saints Church. So let us look for a moment at those four verbs. “To guide.” As we start back up as All Saints Church, emerging out of Covid, are we asking, looking for, and following God’s guidance? If the Covid pandemic has clearly been part of this journey, how is God guiding us now? What are we to bring with us in our ministry, and mission, and worship, and the way we use our building? And what are we to leave behind – as good as it was then?
The second verb – judge. What is God calling us to change in order to move further along in this journey? I don’t know for you, but in my experience, this is never fun – this idea of judgement. It’s often not obvious – it has to be pointed out for us, and hence, the term ‘judgement’. And often, I find, the words of judgement come from someone different than myself, and it’s harder to hear those words because of that. They may come from a new member, or someone we’re talking to out in the West Broadway community. But it’s very important to hear those words, because they may be, in fact, God’s corrective judgement, precisely because we’re not seeing on our own what needs to change, and this is the “voice” that is coming to us.
Thirdly – Illumine. What new and deeper understanding do we need to be equipped with to move toward this larger vision of God with humanity? This should be part of our continual discernment all of the time – that God is interested in all peoples.
And the finally – to bless. As we open ourselves to God’s guidance, God’s judgement, God’s illumination – we will be blessed and moved forward toward that glorious vision of God’s new creation.
So, while we celebrate and give thanks for all of the traditions that have formed this All Saints community over decades – basically, all of what has made us who we are – all of it is not an end, but a means – a means and a jumping-off point for the future call of God on this community.
So, let us rejoice with everything we love about this place – this community – but let us leave complacency behind and constantly be seeking, and being open to, the God who guides us, judges us, and illumines us, so that we might continue to be blessed – and to be a blessing to others!
Amen.
