All Saints' Day
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series III
All Saints' Day is one of those days in the church year calendar that many Protestant congregations ignore, simply because they don't know what to do with it. It began and developed naturally out of the commemoration of the annual deaths of individual martyrs, beginning with the Apostles. Saints' days found their way into the worship of the church before the church year took much shape. Many saints' days were in place by A.D. 200, preceding most elements of the church year, except Easter and the fifty-day Pasch, plus Sunday as a weekly celebration of the death and resurrection of the Lord. In time, there were so many martyrs whose names had not been remembered that it became necessary to establish a single festival day for them. November 1 became All Saints' Day to remember and honor these unnamed martyrs of the Lord. It is quite appropriate, in the United States, that All Saints' Day falls in November and is followed by Veterans' Day, when special services are held at the grave of the Unknown Soldier, in Arlington Cemetery, to commemorate all who have died in all the wars of America. All Souls' Day was later added (on November 2) to pray for "ordinary" saints, that is, those "saints" who have died in the faith, but were not martyrs. Most non-Roman denominations have, officially, combined All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day into a single festival; practically, the same thing has happened in the Roman Catholic communion. For most churches today, All Saints' Day, is set aside for remembering and commemorating all those people who have died in the faith during the past year, as well as all the other saints who lived and died before them. There is no separation of saints and martyrs from all other Christians who have died in the faith; together they combine to make up the Church Triumphant.
William How's hymn, "For All the Saints who from their Labor Rest," is really the "text" for the celebration in many of the churches where All Saints' Day is observed. Instead of keeping the feast on November 1st, many churches will place All Saints' Day on the first Sunday in November, making it All Saints' Sunday. The day, as currently structured, is really the celebration of the reality and totality of the Church Triumphant and the Church Miii-tant. The observation of All Saints' Day, therefore, needs to go beyond the bounds of the local congregation and this time, and even of any cemetery, to take in all saints and martyrs of the past, as well as the present. From this perspective, All Saints' Sunday is a day of thanksgiving for all who have been made members of the body of Christ, the church, in baptism, and of hope - and anticipation - for all who have departed this life in the faith, as well as for the living who hope, in time, to move from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW)
The language of an olden collect for All Saints' Day has been altered linguistically and theologically. The intention of the verb in the first sentence remains much the same as it was ("Almighty God, whose people are knit together in one holy church, the body of Christ our Lord," from "O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son, Christ our Lord."), but neither specifically mentions baptism as the action of God which knits together all people and gives them hope of heaven. The older collect has God as the subject who does the "knitting," which is more evangelical and theologically stronger than "whose people are knit together [by works on by faith] in one holy Church." The eschatological intention of the new prayer ("Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you have prepared for those who love you ...") highlights the totality of the church as the body of Christ in much the same manner as the older collect. It is a prayer for the living as well as for those who have died in the Lord.
The Psalm for the Day
Psalm 24:1-65 (R) - Whether this psalm was composed to give thanks and praise to God after the return of the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines in the days of Eli is a moot question. Nor is the familiar opening of the psalm ("The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all that dwell there") intended to place it on Thanksgiving Day. Rather, it is from verse three onward that the psalm addresses All Saints' Day, and does it quite effectively: "Who can ascend to the hill of the Lord and who can stand in his holy place?" The psalmist answers his own question this way: "Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud. They shall receive a blessing from the Lord and a just reward from the God of their salvation."
Psalm 149 (E) - One of many psalms that could have been chosen to respond to the first reading, this psalm does encourage the living saints: "For the Lord takes pleasure in his people and adorns the poor with victory." It continues: "Let the praises of God be in their throat," which certainly is proper for All Saints' Day. From verse 6b through verse 9, the psalm takes on an unseemly tone: "(Let) a two-edged sword (be) in their hand; to wreak vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings in chains and their nobles with links of iron; to inflict on them the judgement degreed; this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallejujah!" The business of the saints is to live out the Gospel in true faith and proclaim it to all the nations, not judge them and utterly destroy them.
Psalm 34:1-10 (L) - Numerous psalms could have been selected for this occasion, but this one was chosen because it speaks so perfectly to the situation of the saints of God in verse 9: "Fear the Lord, you that are his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing." The opening verses - "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth. I will glory in the Lord; let the humble hear and rejoice. Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord" - direct the people to the gracious and powerful actions of God, which have not only delivered his people from sin, but also from the relentless grip of death. The psalm is so attuned to All Saints' Day worship that it would be fitting to use the whole psalm as a responsory to the first reading.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord, graciously hear us, for we seek you alone. Calm our bodies and minds with the peace which passes understanding, and makes us radiant with joy; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R)
When this vision was set down by the apocalyptic writer, it was as much for the encouragement of those who might soon suffer martyrdom as it was to assure them that those who had already died as martyrs had been "washed" in the blood of the Lamb." Martyrdom, to "John," was not simply dying for the Lord; it was a participation in the redeeming act of Christ on the cross, joining him in his obedient sacrifice at Calvary. Christians experience a type of martyrdom in baptism, when they die with the Lord at the cross. Martyrdom carried with it the assurance that those who were executed for the faith would soon experience all the joys of heaven itself. This chapter and other parts of "the Book of Revelation" continue to give encouragement to Christians, not because they have died as martyrs, but because they have been washed clean in baptism and have received the Sign of the Holy Cross upon their foreheads. Used as a first reading in the Roman Catholic Ordo, it is also, with the addition of verses 13-17, the second reading in the Book of Common Prayer lectionary.
Ecclesiastics 44:1-10, 13-14 (E)
Selected for its use on the "combination" All Saints'/All Souls' Day, this makes a beautiful and fitting tribute to all of the saints, those whose names have been set down in the records of the church as worthy of remembrance and praise, and for those whose names have been entirely forgotton. It reminds the church that God receives all of the faithful on his own terms, and his way of judging may be entirely different than ours. But it remains for the church to celebrate all people who have died in the faith - at least on one day in the year - and not simply to single out special persons for remembrance and thanksgiving without acknowledging the continuing existence in the community of faith of those who were "little saints" or appeared not to be saints at all.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L)
Portions of the apocalypse of Isaiah, which was probably written a century later than his prophecies, look to a day when "thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" Truly, as the prophet sings, "We have a strong city," and [as the RSV has it] "Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee." This first reading surely is in harmony with All Saints' Day, speaking to it some six-and-a-half centuries before Christ's words, death, and resurrection gave new meaning to the life, death, and resurrection of the dead.
Revelation 7:9-17 (C)
The above comments, with the omission of verses 2-4, apply for this first reading.
1 John 3:1-3 (R, C)
The writer of this "catholic" epistle continues to speak to the church today, and especially on All Saints' Day. He does not give us a picture of what heaven will be like, but assures Christians that they are "children of God" and that, in the kingdom of heaven, they will be "like him, because we shall see him as he really is." All he knows is that eternal life is a certainty for those who believe in Jesus Christ, and that this means that the children of God will be united with him some how, some time in the future. This reading, therefore, encourages the church to be faithful, as were the saints of all ages, and to know that God will see them through life's trials and tribulations, and even conquer death itself. That is all we have to live by, and it is enough.
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-17 (E)
See the comments on this second reading, which are printed above.
Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27 (22:1-5) (L)
In this apocalyptic writing, which was written some seven-and-a-half centuries after Isaiah's apocalypse for Christians who were suffering under severe persecutions, the writer renews the image of the "strong city," in which an apocalyptic feast would take place. It is a city without a temple, because its "temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb." God's glory will fill it with continual light; there will be no night in this city, but it has no need of sun and moon. Its gates shall always be open, but nothing unclean shall enter to enjoy the feast, "but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." The longer reading, which tells of the river of life and the tree of life, also announces that "his servants shall worship him," and makes the promise that "they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." God will truly be the light of all people, and he shall reign forever and the feast will have no end.
Matthew 5:1-12
There can be little doubt that Jesus was addressing the beatitudes to his disciples, who, at his call and direction, had left everything - homes, families, friends, work - in order to follow him. His "blessed are's" assures them that he knows their sacrifices and devotion, and that they will be recompensed in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, after enumerating the "blessed's" and the promise, he declares, "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." The first part of each beatitude is descriptive of the situations of the disciples, while the second part spells out the blessings that will come to them - and the faithful of every age - in the kingdom of heaven.
A Sermon on the Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12 - "Blessed Are the Saints."
There are two churches in particular that I think of on All Saints Day. One of them is in the Camp Verano, outside of Rome, where St. Lawrence is buried. It is the only "active" cemetery for Rome. (I wrote about this cemetery last year on All Saints' Day, as well as on the Church of St. Lawrence Outside-the-Walls, which serves the cemetery as a kind of common tombstone.) The other church building is about thirty miles from my home. It is a rural church building, set back quite a distance from the road, and is completely surrounded by its cemetery. While the people who have loved ones buried in the Campo Verano may visit the cemetery and the graves of their loved ones on All Saints'/All Souls' Day(s), the people of this Minnesota church see the graves of their relatives and friends every time they "go to church." They have to walk past the graves of their parents, siblings, ancestors and other relatives, friends and neighbors. Every Sunday is All Saints' Sunday for the people who worship in that building. And every Sunday - weather permitting - various people in the congregation can be seen standing before tombstones, usually after the worship service has been concluded. Every Christian church needs a cemetery, and a cemetery that is arranged around the church building like a wheel; the church should be the hub and the graves should be plotted completely around it. Such a building would serve as the gathering place for the Church Militant and a fitting tombstone - with its steeple and cross - for all of the people buried there. That's the way the church in Carver County, Minnesota, is laid out, and that's why I think of it on November 1st, or the first Sunday in November every year.
But one thing more is needed; photographs of all the people who ever belonged to the congregation. It was Campo Venano Cemetery that gave me the idea that the nave of the church ought to be filled with the photos of the people who belonged to it while they were alive and now make up the unseen membership - the Church Triumphant - according to the promises of Jesus Christ. On one Sunday of the church year, it would be well to place the pictures of all of the saints, who have gone to their rest, inside the church building to give visual expression to the nature of the celebration of the day. The church is two-dimensional; it has members who are still alive in the Church Militant, and it also has membens who have died and now belong to the Church Triumphant. The first group of saints live in hope; the second group have died in that hope of eternal life.
1. All of the saints have been promised blessings by Jesus Christ in the age that is to come. Burdens will be lifted, pain and suffering will be banished, mourning will turn into joy, hunger and thirst - physical or spiritual - will be satisfied.
2. The riches of the kingdom of heaven - mercy, peace, comfort, and joy - will be given to those who have been numbered among the saints by their faith and their response to the grace of God. That's what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount - and he meant it.
3. And so, the promises of Jesus Christ give assurance to people who believe and are attempting to be disciples of the Lord. Jesus "feeds" those who are spiritually hungry now on his blessed word - and that, with the Holy Spirit and the sacraments, sustains the Church Militant right now.
4. He's got the whole church - militant and triumphant - in his hands and he won't let go of any part of it. The church and his people, dead or alive, are his forever. You can depend on that and thank him for those who have gone before us in the church and into heaven itself.
(Note: Some of the following sermon suggestions represent revisions of the ones made in Cycle A.)
A Sermon on the First Lesson, Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R); 7:2-4, 9-17 (E); 7:9-17 (C) - "Marked for Time and Eternity."
1. A population explosion is happening in heaven. All sorts of people will be there, of that we can be certain. Jesus has made this possible by sealing us into the kingdom through the Holy Spirit.
2. The sign of the cross is, and will be, on every forehead, because that mark - invisible now - was put there in baptism and God the Father will be able to see it and receive his people in his kingdom. "John" tells us, in his own way, that the sign of the cross is the means of admission to God's Kingdom.
3. Eternal life will really be heavenly. All of the trials and tribulations of earth will be eliminated, for "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes," by delivering his people from the bondage of sin and death and giving them the life of the age to come.
4. Heaven, the abode of the saints, is worth waiting for. Sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked by the cross of Christ forever, we can wait - with a degree of expectation and hope - for that day and for the life in God's everlasting kingdom.
(Note: This sermon suggestion was not included in the materials for Cycle A, and is, therefore, new.)
Ecclesiastics 44:1-10, 13-14 (E) - "In Loving Memory ..."
1. Some people will be remembered by most of the world, either by the good they have done for people or, sometimes, for the evil and pain they have caused. (Time Magazine carried the story of Adolf Hitler's career, which led to the death of more than fifty million people in World War II; Dr. Jonas Salk may have saved more lives than that through the development of his polio vaccine.)
2. Other people will not be remembered. Some people just seem to vanish from the earth, because they have made no lasting mark upon it. Granted that there are some people who seem to be best forgotten, but there are others who should be remembered, but aren't - "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" - and they are gone for good.
3. All Saints' Day is an exercise in remembrance of all of God's' faithful people - and in giving thanks for them, whoever they are and whatever they did in life. "Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight" - and they ought to be in ours - today.
4. This much we should know: God knows and remembers his own - and we, who call ourselves the people of God, can do no less than remember the dead, appreciate that they have passed on the faith, through the word, to us, and give thanks this day and always for them. We do this "in loving memory" of all the saints.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L) - "The Eternal City of God."
1. A city for the living. That is how "Isaiah" saw the everlasting city of God in his vision. Heaven is the city of God and the city of hope for those who live in faith and for the Lord. They are the people who are really living here on earth, for they have been released from the fear of death.
2. A city for the dead. Heaven is the abode of the dead, the city where they will live in the Lord and enjoy the reality of Jesus' resurrection - "because he lives, they, too, shall live" - forever! He made the same promise to all believers that he made to the penitent, "Today you shall be with me in paradise."
3. A city with an open gate. Cecil Alexander understood that the city of God has an open gate, and that Jesus was the one who opened it: "There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, he only could unlock the gate of heaven, and let us in."
4. "Come in! Come in! Eternal glory you shall win." That's the chant that John Bunyan put in the mouths of those inside the gates of heaven, which carried out to those on their pilgrimage to heaven, encouraging them - and us - to keep the faith in this life and with hope for the life to come - and to remember that baptism has assured us that eternal life is really ours.
A Sermon on the Second Lesson, 1 John 3:1-3 (R, C) - "What We Can Know about Death."
1. We know right now that we are children of God. This blessed assurance is ours through holy baptism. God really loves us; Jesus' cross shows us how much.
2. We know very little about heaven itself. Not even Jesus had much information about heaven, except that "in God's house are many rooms.... I go to prepare a place for you,that where I am, you may also be."
3. We know enough, all we need to know about heaven - and how to get there - through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus has told us that we will see God face to face and that is something to look forward to!
4. We live, therefore, by faith, not by insight or special knowledge. Jesus has taught us that. Through his word, he has told us all we need to know about death and the life to come - and he has given us the grace to believe what he says and to live triumphantly and expectantly.
Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27 (22:1-5) (L) - "The City Without A Temple."
1. There is no temple in the city of God. One of the things that struck me about "Main Street, USA," in Disney World, is that one building, which is on every main street in this country, is missing - a church building. "Main Street, USA," which probably did not in-dude a church so as not to offend anyone, has inadvertently created a representation of the city of God in heaven.
2. God, Father and Son, will be present, reigning oven the city. That city is the abode of the Father and Son, and both will be there, visible to those who accept the grace he gives and the faith that gets them to heaven. Then and there, the people of God will be able, at least, really to worship him in spirit and in truth.
3. The Lord God will be light and life for the inhabitants of his city. His reign will go on forever and ever - there will be no end to it. And that will mean eternal life for those who are the "blessed of the Lord."
William How's hymn, "For All the Saints who from their Labor Rest," is really the "text" for the celebration in many of the churches where All Saints' Day is observed. Instead of keeping the feast on November 1st, many churches will place All Saints' Day on the first Sunday in November, making it All Saints' Sunday. The day, as currently structured, is really the celebration of the reality and totality of the Church Triumphant and the Church Miii-tant. The observation of All Saints' Day, therefore, needs to go beyond the bounds of the local congregation and this time, and even of any cemetery, to take in all saints and martyrs of the past, as well as the present. From this perspective, All Saints' Sunday is a day of thanksgiving for all who have been made members of the body of Christ, the church, in baptism, and of hope - and anticipation - for all who have departed this life in the faith, as well as for the living who hope, in time, to move from the Church Militant to the Church Triumphant.
The Prayer of the Day (LBW)
The language of an olden collect for All Saints' Day has been altered linguistically and theologically. The intention of the verb in the first sentence remains much the same as it was ("Almighty God, whose people are knit together in one holy church, the body of Christ our Lord," from "O Almighty God, who hast knit together thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of thy Son, Christ our Lord."), but neither specifically mentions baptism as the action of God which knits together all people and gives them hope of heaven. The older collect has God as the subject who does the "knitting," which is more evangelical and theologically stronger than "whose people are knit together [by works on by faith] in one holy Church." The eschatological intention of the new prayer ("Grant us grace to follow your blessed saints in lives of faith and commitment, and to know the inexpressible joys you have prepared for those who love you ...") highlights the totality of the church as the body of Christ in much the same manner as the older collect. It is a prayer for the living as well as for those who have died in the Lord.
The Psalm for the Day
Psalm 24:1-65 (R) - Whether this psalm was composed to give thanks and praise to God after the return of the Ark of the Covenant from the Philistines in the days of Eli is a moot question. Nor is the familiar opening of the psalm ("The earth is the Lord's and all that is in it, the world and all that dwell there") intended to place it on Thanksgiving Day. Rather, it is from verse three onward that the psalm addresses All Saints' Day, and does it quite effectively: "Who can ascend to the hill of the Lord and who can stand in his holy place?" The psalmist answers his own question this way: "Those who have clean hands and a pure heart, who have not pledged themselves to falsehood, nor sworn by what is a fraud. They shall receive a blessing from the Lord and a just reward from the God of their salvation."
Psalm 149 (E) - One of many psalms that could have been chosen to respond to the first reading, this psalm does encourage the living saints: "For the Lord takes pleasure in his people and adorns the poor with victory." It continues: "Let the praises of God be in their throat," which certainly is proper for All Saints' Day. From verse 6b through verse 9, the psalm takes on an unseemly tone: "(Let) a two-edged sword (be) in their hand; to wreak vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; to bind their kings in chains and their nobles with links of iron; to inflict on them the judgement degreed; this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallejujah!" The business of the saints is to live out the Gospel in true faith and proclaim it to all the nations, not judge them and utterly destroy them.
Psalm 34:1-10 (L) - Numerous psalms could have been selected for this occasion, but this one was chosen because it speaks so perfectly to the situation of the saints of God in verse 9: "Fear the Lord, you that are his saints, for those who fear him lack nothing." The opening verses - "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall ever be in my mouth. I will glory in the Lord; let the humble hear and rejoice. Proclaim with me the greatness of the Lord" - direct the people to the gracious and powerful actions of God, which have not only delivered his people from sin, but also from the relentless grip of death. The psalm is so attuned to All Saints' Day worship that it would be fitting to use the whole psalm as a responsory to the first reading.
The Psalm Prayer (LBW)
Lord, graciously hear us, for we seek you alone. Calm our bodies and minds with the peace which passes understanding, and makes us radiant with joy; through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
The readings:
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R)
When this vision was set down by the apocalyptic writer, it was as much for the encouragement of those who might soon suffer martyrdom as it was to assure them that those who had already died as martyrs had been "washed" in the blood of the Lamb." Martyrdom, to "John," was not simply dying for the Lord; it was a participation in the redeeming act of Christ on the cross, joining him in his obedient sacrifice at Calvary. Christians experience a type of martyrdom in baptism, when they die with the Lord at the cross. Martyrdom carried with it the assurance that those who were executed for the faith would soon experience all the joys of heaven itself. This chapter and other parts of "the Book of Revelation" continue to give encouragement to Christians, not because they have died as martyrs, but because they have been washed clean in baptism and have received the Sign of the Holy Cross upon their foreheads. Used as a first reading in the Roman Catholic Ordo, it is also, with the addition of verses 13-17, the second reading in the Book of Common Prayer lectionary.
Ecclesiastics 44:1-10, 13-14 (E)
Selected for its use on the "combination" All Saints'/All Souls' Day, this makes a beautiful and fitting tribute to all of the saints, those whose names have been set down in the records of the church as worthy of remembrance and praise, and for those whose names have been entirely forgotton. It reminds the church that God receives all of the faithful on his own terms, and his way of judging may be entirely different than ours. But it remains for the church to celebrate all people who have died in the faith - at least on one day in the year - and not simply to single out special persons for remembrance and thanksgiving without acknowledging the continuing existence in the community of faith of those who were "little saints" or appeared not to be saints at all.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L)
Portions of the apocalypse of Isaiah, which was probably written a century later than his prophecies, look to a day when "thy dead shall live, their bodies shall rise. O dwellers in the dust, awake and sing for joy!" Truly, as the prophet sings, "We have a strong city," and [as the RSV has it] "Thou dost keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusts in thee." This first reading surely is in harmony with All Saints' Day, speaking to it some six-and-a-half centuries before Christ's words, death, and resurrection gave new meaning to the life, death, and resurrection of the dead.
Revelation 7:9-17 (C)
The above comments, with the omission of verses 2-4, apply for this first reading.
1 John 3:1-3 (R, C)
The writer of this "catholic" epistle continues to speak to the church today, and especially on All Saints' Day. He does not give us a picture of what heaven will be like, but assures Christians that they are "children of God" and that, in the kingdom of heaven, they will be "like him, because we shall see him as he really is." All he knows is that eternal life is a certainty for those who believe in Jesus Christ, and that this means that the children of God will be united with him some how, some time in the future. This reading, therefore, encourages the church to be faithful, as were the saints of all ages, and to know that God will see them through life's trials and tribulations, and even conquer death itself. That is all we have to live by, and it is enough.
Revelation 7:2-4, 9-17 (E)
See the comments on this second reading, which are printed above.
Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27 (22:1-5) (L)
In this apocalyptic writing, which was written some seven-and-a-half centuries after Isaiah's apocalypse for Christians who were suffering under severe persecutions, the writer renews the image of the "strong city," in which an apocalyptic feast would take place. It is a city without a temple, because its "temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb." God's glory will fill it with continual light; there will be no night in this city, but it has no need of sun and moon. Its gates shall always be open, but nothing unclean shall enter to enjoy the feast, "but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life." The longer reading, which tells of the river of life and the tree of life, also announces that "his servants shall worship him," and makes the promise that "they shall see his face, and his name shall be on their foreheads." God will truly be the light of all people, and he shall reign forever and the feast will have no end.
Matthew 5:1-12
There can be little doubt that Jesus was addressing the beatitudes to his disciples, who, at his call and direction, had left everything - homes, families, friends, work - in order to follow him. His "blessed are's" assures them that he knows their sacrifices and devotion, and that they will be recompensed in the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, after enumerating the "blessed's" and the promise, he declares, "Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you." The first part of each beatitude is descriptive of the situations of the disciples, while the second part spells out the blessings that will come to them - and the faithful of every age - in the kingdom of heaven.
A Sermon on the Gospel, Matthew 5:1-12 - "Blessed Are the Saints."
There are two churches in particular that I think of on All Saints Day. One of them is in the Camp Verano, outside of Rome, where St. Lawrence is buried. It is the only "active" cemetery for Rome. (I wrote about this cemetery last year on All Saints' Day, as well as on the Church of St. Lawrence Outside-the-Walls, which serves the cemetery as a kind of common tombstone.) The other church building is about thirty miles from my home. It is a rural church building, set back quite a distance from the road, and is completely surrounded by its cemetery. While the people who have loved ones buried in the Campo Verano may visit the cemetery and the graves of their loved ones on All Saints'/All Souls' Day(s), the people of this Minnesota church see the graves of their relatives and friends every time they "go to church." They have to walk past the graves of their parents, siblings, ancestors and other relatives, friends and neighbors. Every Sunday is All Saints' Sunday for the people who worship in that building. And every Sunday - weather permitting - various people in the congregation can be seen standing before tombstones, usually after the worship service has been concluded. Every Christian church needs a cemetery, and a cemetery that is arranged around the church building like a wheel; the church should be the hub and the graves should be plotted completely around it. Such a building would serve as the gathering place for the Church Militant and a fitting tombstone - with its steeple and cross - for all of the people buried there. That's the way the church in Carver County, Minnesota, is laid out, and that's why I think of it on November 1st, or the first Sunday in November every year.
But one thing more is needed; photographs of all the people who ever belonged to the congregation. It was Campo Venano Cemetery that gave me the idea that the nave of the church ought to be filled with the photos of the people who belonged to it while they were alive and now make up the unseen membership - the Church Triumphant - according to the promises of Jesus Christ. On one Sunday of the church year, it would be well to place the pictures of all of the saints, who have gone to their rest, inside the church building to give visual expression to the nature of the celebration of the day. The church is two-dimensional; it has members who are still alive in the Church Militant, and it also has membens who have died and now belong to the Church Triumphant. The first group of saints live in hope; the second group have died in that hope of eternal life.
1. All of the saints have been promised blessings by Jesus Christ in the age that is to come. Burdens will be lifted, pain and suffering will be banished, mourning will turn into joy, hunger and thirst - physical or spiritual - will be satisfied.
2. The riches of the kingdom of heaven - mercy, peace, comfort, and joy - will be given to those who have been numbered among the saints by their faith and their response to the grace of God. That's what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount - and he meant it.
3. And so, the promises of Jesus Christ give assurance to people who believe and are attempting to be disciples of the Lord. Jesus "feeds" those who are spiritually hungry now on his blessed word - and that, with the Holy Spirit and the sacraments, sustains the Church Militant right now.
4. He's got the whole church - militant and triumphant - in his hands and he won't let go of any part of it. The church and his people, dead or alive, are his forever. You can depend on that and thank him for those who have gone before us in the church and into heaven itself.
(Note: Some of the following sermon suggestions represent revisions of the ones made in Cycle A.)
A Sermon on the First Lesson, Revelation 7:2-4, 9-12 (R); 7:2-4, 9-17 (E); 7:9-17 (C) - "Marked for Time and Eternity."
1. A population explosion is happening in heaven. All sorts of people will be there, of that we can be certain. Jesus has made this possible by sealing us into the kingdom through the Holy Spirit.
2. The sign of the cross is, and will be, on every forehead, because that mark - invisible now - was put there in baptism and God the Father will be able to see it and receive his people in his kingdom. "John" tells us, in his own way, that the sign of the cross is the means of admission to God's Kingdom.
3. Eternal life will really be heavenly. All of the trials and tribulations of earth will be eliminated, for "God will wipe away all tears from their eyes," by delivering his people from the bondage of sin and death and giving them the life of the age to come.
4. Heaven, the abode of the saints, is worth waiting for. Sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked by the cross of Christ forever, we can wait - with a degree of expectation and hope - for that day and for the life in God's everlasting kingdom.
(Note: This sermon suggestion was not included in the materials for Cycle A, and is, therefore, new.)
Ecclesiastics 44:1-10, 13-14 (E) - "In Loving Memory ..."
1. Some people will be remembered by most of the world, either by the good they have done for people or, sometimes, for the evil and pain they have caused. (Time Magazine carried the story of Adolf Hitler's career, which led to the death of more than fifty million people in World War II; Dr. Jonas Salk may have saved more lives than that through the development of his polio vaccine.)
2. Other people will not be remembered. Some people just seem to vanish from the earth, because they have made no lasting mark upon it. Granted that there are some people who seem to be best forgotten, but there are others who should be remembered, but aren't - "earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust" - and they are gone for good.
3. All Saints' Day is an exercise in remembrance of all of God's' faithful people - and in giving thanks for them, whoever they are and whatever they did in life. "Red and yellow, black and white, all are precious in his sight" - and they ought to be in ours - today.
4. This much we should know: God knows and remembers his own - and we, who call ourselves the people of God, can do no less than remember the dead, appreciate that they have passed on the faith, through the word, to us, and give thanks this day and always for them. We do this "in loving memory" of all the saints.
Isaiah 26:1-4, 8-9, 12-13, 19-21 (L) - "The Eternal City of God."
1. A city for the living. That is how "Isaiah" saw the everlasting city of God in his vision. Heaven is the city of God and the city of hope for those who live in faith and for the Lord. They are the people who are really living here on earth, for they have been released from the fear of death.
2. A city for the dead. Heaven is the abode of the dead, the city where they will live in the Lord and enjoy the reality of Jesus' resurrection - "because he lives, they, too, shall live" - forever! He made the same promise to all believers that he made to the penitent, "Today you shall be with me in paradise."
3. A city with an open gate. Cecil Alexander understood that the city of God has an open gate, and that Jesus was the one who opened it: "There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin, he only could unlock the gate of heaven, and let us in."
4. "Come in! Come in! Eternal glory you shall win." That's the chant that John Bunyan put in the mouths of those inside the gates of heaven, which carried out to those on their pilgrimage to heaven, encouraging them - and us - to keep the faith in this life and with hope for the life to come - and to remember that baptism has assured us that eternal life is really ours.
A Sermon on the Second Lesson, 1 John 3:1-3 (R, C) - "What We Can Know about Death."
1. We know right now that we are children of God. This blessed assurance is ours through holy baptism. God really loves us; Jesus' cross shows us how much.
2. We know very little about heaven itself. Not even Jesus had much information about heaven, except that "in God's house are many rooms.... I go to prepare a place for you,that where I am, you may also be."
3. We know enough, all we need to know about heaven - and how to get there - through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus has told us that we will see God face to face and that is something to look forward to!
4. We live, therefore, by faith, not by insight or special knowledge. Jesus has taught us that. Through his word, he has told us all we need to know about death and the life to come - and he has given us the grace to believe what he says and to live triumphantly and expectantly.
Revelation 21:9-11, 22-27 (22:1-5) (L) - "The City Without A Temple."
1. There is no temple in the city of God. One of the things that struck me about "Main Street, USA," in Disney World, is that one building, which is on every main street in this country, is missing - a church building. "Main Street, USA," which probably did not in-dude a church so as not to offend anyone, has inadvertently created a representation of the city of God in heaven.
2. God, Father and Son, will be present, reigning oven the city. That city is the abode of the Father and Son, and both will be there, visible to those who accept the grace he gives and the faith that gets them to heaven. Then and there, the people of God will be able, at least, really to worship him in spirit and in truth.
3. The Lord God will be light and life for the inhabitants of his city. His reign will go on forever and ever - there will be no end to it. And that will mean eternal life for those who are the "blessed of the Lord."
