All Saints Sunday
Preaching
Lectionary Preaching Workbook
Series VII, Cycle A
Object:
Seasonal Theme
See theme for this day, below.
Theme For The Day
We have a holy parent who loves us anyway and living as family brings joy to us and to others around us.
The First Lesson
Revelation 7:9-17
John's Second Vision
Exiled to the Island of Patmos, Pastor John describes his second vision of the risen Christ with him. The symbolism is profound:
1. Verse 9 -- The large crowd symbolizes the church in heaven. They are those who remain loyal despite persecution and threats. The white robes and palm branches are symbols of thanksgiving and victory (see John 12:13). Their theme (v. 10) is salvation which the New English Bible calls victory.
2. Verse 12 -- Those around the throne make a sevenfold antiphon (response) of praise.
3. Verses 13-14 -- An angel interprets the vision.
4. Verse 14b -- The great suffering is a reference of all that is to come, the washed robes asserts deliverance and victory because of Christ.
5. Verse 15 -- Here all Christians are priest! There will be the direct presence of God with us.
6. Verses 16-17 -- Based on Isaiah 49:10 and may also refer to the shepherd of Psalm 23. Then the wonderful promise that "God will wipe all tears from their eyes" probably was prompted by Isaiah 25:8.
New Testament Lesson
1 John 3:1-3
God's Children
This little book may actually be a sermon or the introduction to the Gospel of John. It was written against a heresy which claimed Jesus was not a real man but only appeared to be so. Whatever the circumstances this portion was selected because of its beautiful two-fold claim that God loves us and we are God's children (v. 1). This connects with the passage of Revelation 7:17b as the heavenly parent wipes tears from the eyes of God's children.
The Gospel
Matthew 5:1-12
The Blessings Of Being A Christian
One scholar called this an ordination address to the twelve. Typical of Matthew, he organizes his material by subject matter. Here we have a bit of the sermon themes Jesus instructed his disciples to take out to the world. They were probably not given all at once. It is the core of Jesus' preaching. And how it is translated is so crucial. For here are not promises of how it shall be one day for Christians. Here are congratulations on how it is now for us who follow the Christ.
Verse 5:1 is a clue it was a time of teaching. William Barclay says they could be interpreted as "O, the joy of following Christ." The Greek word for "blessed" is makarios which describes the gods. Thus these describe God-like joy.
The Beatitudes, according to Barclay, are "triumphant shouts of bliss for a permanent joy that nothing in the world can ever take away." "The Blessed are this..." and "God blesses those people who..." in The Contemporary English Version. But Barclay does it best when he translates these words as: "O the joy of..." Or "O the bliss of the..." "Happy are they..." doesn't work because happy is a fickle state dependent on too many external effects in our lives. It's joy which is the opposite of unbelief which best works for me. One could say then:
1. O the joy of those who put their whole trust in God.
2. O the joy of those who hurt for all the world's hurts.
3. O the joy of those who have all passions under control.
4. O the joy of those who long for total righteousness.
5. O the joy of those who feel what others feel and are sorry.
6. O the joy of those whose motives are pure.
7. O the joy of those who bring peace.
8. O the joy of those who suffer because of their faith.
They do not suffer alone. Christ still needs our witness and willingness to live for him.
Preaching Possibilities
A. If we want to connect these three readings of scripture perhaps the best theme would be to preach about us as God's children. We have in the Revelation passage a loving parent wiping away the tears of his children. In the 1 John reading is the claim God loves us so much God lets us be children, and in Matthew we have the congratulations of how it is to be children of God and like the Christ.
B. Sermon possibilities abound if we want to concentrate on just one of the lessons also. The Revelation account gives us a grand vision of what the church will be
1. Inclusive (v. 9),
2. Saved (v. 10),
3. God worshiping (v. 12),
4. Victorious (v. 14),
5. Shepherded (v. 17),
6. Comforted (v. 17b).
C. The 1 John passage lends itself to stories and sermon points about love of parent for a child and what it means to be a member of the family of God. A kicker to this can be verse 3 and how does one keep oneself holy?
D. Then there are the beatitudes which are probably better done as a series. But you could center on what the joys of being a follower of Christ really are, not omitting the suffering, which is also part of our life as a disciple. Now what is the "so what?" to these blessings? As a congregation what do these mean to our ministry together? In the same order we could say:
1. We are to trust God as we do God's business here.
2. We must show compassion to the unfortunate.
3. We must help each other live disciplined lives.
4. We must find ways to grow in our spiritual lives.
5. We must stand firm under criticism of being bleeding hearts.
6. We must challenge each other as to our reasons for our actions.
7. We must learn to develop peaceful relationships.
8. We must give each other courage to do the right thing, no matter the personal cost to us.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. Introduction: Begin with a story of a parent loving an unruly child or how nothing can break the love a parent has for their child.
2. Revelation 7:17. Our heavenly parent loves us so much that we are like a shepherd who cares for the sheep, who protects them and when thirsty gives them drink. We are loved like a parent who scolds the child because of concern for the child and then wipes away the ensuing tears caused.
3. In a sermon, the writer of Revelation tells his people more about God's parental love for us, 1 John 3:1. We are loved so much we can call God our own parent. This means we must work at being holy for our parent is holy (v. 3).
4. And here is how our life as a child of God shall be (vv. 5:3-10). This kind of life may cause us to receive some ugly treatment. But God makes it all worthwhile.
5. Now frame your sermon by listing your moves in reverse order:
a. There are joys in being God's own.
b. We must work at being holy as our parent is holy.
c. We have a shepherd who watches over us and wipes tears from our eyes.
Prayer Of The Day
Holy Parent who loves us anyway and knows our hurts and suffering, we thank you for the privilege of being in your family and being a child of yours. Teach us how to celebrate the joys of following you and send your spirit upon us that we too might be a holy people. In the name of our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Possible Stories
In September 1997, the world lost one of its living saints. The prayer written by Mother Teresa that every Missionary of Charity says before leaving for his or her apostate, and is also used as the Physician's Prayer in Shishu Bhavan, the children's home that Mother Teresa oversaw in Calcutta, follows:
"Dear Lord, the Great Healer, I kneel before you, since every perfect gift must come from you. I pray, give skill to my hands, clear vision to my mind, kindness and meekness to my heart. Give me singleness of purpose, strength to lift up a part of the burden of my suffering fellow men, and a true realization of the suffering that is mine. Take from my heart all guile and worldliness that with the simple faith of a child, I may rely on you."1
At the airport, there was a limousine driver holding up a sign: "Katz." Others recognized family right away. They hugged and kissed and some even brought flowers to welcome home. When we come home to God we will be known. And the family of God will recognize us and welcome us there.
A little sign on my desk says, "Joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God." The great preacher George A. Buttrick used to say, "Joy is what we are chosen for and joy is what we have to offer to all who will come. It is a deep sense of joy not dependent on the number of things we got done in a day -- for this is not the opposite of unhappiness but the opposite of unbelief."
____________
1. A Simple Heart, by Mother Teresa, Ballantine Books, 1995.
See theme for this day, below.
Theme For The Day
We have a holy parent who loves us anyway and living as family brings joy to us and to others around us.
The First Lesson
Revelation 7:9-17
John's Second Vision
Exiled to the Island of Patmos, Pastor John describes his second vision of the risen Christ with him. The symbolism is profound:
1. Verse 9 -- The large crowd symbolizes the church in heaven. They are those who remain loyal despite persecution and threats. The white robes and palm branches are symbols of thanksgiving and victory (see John 12:13). Their theme (v. 10) is salvation which the New English Bible calls victory.
2. Verse 12 -- Those around the throne make a sevenfold antiphon (response) of praise.
3. Verses 13-14 -- An angel interprets the vision.
4. Verse 14b -- The great suffering is a reference of all that is to come, the washed robes asserts deliverance and victory because of Christ.
5. Verse 15 -- Here all Christians are priest! There will be the direct presence of God with us.
6. Verses 16-17 -- Based on Isaiah 49:10 and may also refer to the shepherd of Psalm 23. Then the wonderful promise that "God will wipe all tears from their eyes" probably was prompted by Isaiah 25:8.
New Testament Lesson
1 John 3:1-3
God's Children
This little book may actually be a sermon or the introduction to the Gospel of John. It was written against a heresy which claimed Jesus was not a real man but only appeared to be so. Whatever the circumstances this portion was selected because of its beautiful two-fold claim that God loves us and we are God's children (v. 1). This connects with the passage of Revelation 7:17b as the heavenly parent wipes tears from the eyes of God's children.
The Gospel
Matthew 5:1-12
The Blessings Of Being A Christian
One scholar called this an ordination address to the twelve. Typical of Matthew, he organizes his material by subject matter. Here we have a bit of the sermon themes Jesus instructed his disciples to take out to the world. They were probably not given all at once. It is the core of Jesus' preaching. And how it is translated is so crucial. For here are not promises of how it shall be one day for Christians. Here are congratulations on how it is now for us who follow the Christ.
Verse 5:1 is a clue it was a time of teaching. William Barclay says they could be interpreted as "O, the joy of following Christ." The Greek word for "blessed" is makarios which describes the gods. Thus these describe God-like joy.
The Beatitudes, according to Barclay, are "triumphant shouts of bliss for a permanent joy that nothing in the world can ever take away." "The Blessed are this..." and "God blesses those people who..." in The Contemporary English Version. But Barclay does it best when he translates these words as: "O the joy of..." Or "O the bliss of the..." "Happy are they..." doesn't work because happy is a fickle state dependent on too many external effects in our lives. It's joy which is the opposite of unbelief which best works for me. One could say then:
1. O the joy of those who put their whole trust in God.
2. O the joy of those who hurt for all the world's hurts.
3. O the joy of those who have all passions under control.
4. O the joy of those who long for total righteousness.
5. O the joy of those who feel what others feel and are sorry.
6. O the joy of those whose motives are pure.
7. O the joy of those who bring peace.
8. O the joy of those who suffer because of their faith.
They do not suffer alone. Christ still needs our witness and willingness to live for him.
Preaching Possibilities
A. If we want to connect these three readings of scripture perhaps the best theme would be to preach about us as God's children. We have in the Revelation passage a loving parent wiping away the tears of his children. In the 1 John reading is the claim God loves us so much God lets us be children, and in Matthew we have the congratulations of how it is to be children of God and like the Christ.
B. Sermon possibilities abound if we want to concentrate on just one of the lessons also. The Revelation account gives us a grand vision of what the church will be
1. Inclusive (v. 9),
2. Saved (v. 10),
3. God worshiping (v. 12),
4. Victorious (v. 14),
5. Shepherded (v. 17),
6. Comforted (v. 17b).
C. The 1 John passage lends itself to stories and sermon points about love of parent for a child and what it means to be a member of the family of God. A kicker to this can be verse 3 and how does one keep oneself holy?
D. Then there are the beatitudes which are probably better done as a series. But you could center on what the joys of being a follower of Christ really are, not omitting the suffering, which is also part of our life as a disciple. Now what is the "so what?" to these blessings? As a congregation what do these mean to our ministry together? In the same order we could say:
1. We are to trust God as we do God's business here.
2. We must show compassion to the unfortunate.
3. We must help each other live disciplined lives.
4. We must find ways to grow in our spiritual lives.
5. We must stand firm under criticism of being bleeding hearts.
6. We must challenge each other as to our reasons for our actions.
7. We must learn to develop peaceful relationships.
8. We must give each other courage to do the right thing, no matter the personal cost to us.
Possible Outline Of Sermon Moves
1. Introduction: Begin with a story of a parent loving an unruly child or how nothing can break the love a parent has for their child.
2. Revelation 7:17. Our heavenly parent loves us so much that we are like a shepherd who cares for the sheep, who protects them and when thirsty gives them drink. We are loved like a parent who scolds the child because of concern for the child and then wipes away the ensuing tears caused.
3. In a sermon, the writer of Revelation tells his people more about God's parental love for us, 1 John 3:1. We are loved so much we can call God our own parent. This means we must work at being holy for our parent is holy (v. 3).
4. And here is how our life as a child of God shall be (vv. 5:3-10). This kind of life may cause us to receive some ugly treatment. But God makes it all worthwhile.
5. Now frame your sermon by listing your moves in reverse order:
a. There are joys in being God's own.
b. We must work at being holy as our parent is holy.
c. We have a shepherd who watches over us and wipes tears from our eyes.
Prayer Of The Day
Holy Parent who loves us anyway and knows our hurts and suffering, we thank you for the privilege of being in your family and being a child of yours. Teach us how to celebrate the joys of following you and send your spirit upon us that we too might be a holy people. In the name of our Savior, Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Possible Stories
In September 1997, the world lost one of its living saints. The prayer written by Mother Teresa that every Missionary of Charity says before leaving for his or her apostate, and is also used as the Physician's Prayer in Shishu Bhavan, the children's home that Mother Teresa oversaw in Calcutta, follows:
"Dear Lord, the Great Healer, I kneel before you, since every perfect gift must come from you. I pray, give skill to my hands, clear vision to my mind, kindness and meekness to my heart. Give me singleness of purpose, strength to lift up a part of the burden of my suffering fellow men, and a true realization of the suffering that is mine. Take from my heart all guile and worldliness that with the simple faith of a child, I may rely on you."1
At the airport, there was a limousine driver holding up a sign: "Katz." Others recognized family right away. They hugged and kissed and some even brought flowers to welcome home. When we come home to God we will be known. And the family of God will recognize us and welcome us there.
A little sign on my desk says, "Joy is not the absence of trouble, but the presence of God." The great preacher George A. Buttrick used to say, "Joy is what we are chosen for and joy is what we have to offer to all who will come. It is a deep sense of joy not dependent on the number of things we got done in a day -- for this is not the opposite of unhappiness but the opposite of unbelief."
____________
1. A Simple Heart, by Mother Teresa, Ballantine Books, 1995.
