All Saints’ Day, Sunday 30 October 2022 - Year C

Ephesians 1.11-end

In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory.

15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason 16I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

Gospel Reading: Luke 6.20-31

20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,

   for yours is the kingdom of God.

21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,

   for you will be filled.

‘Blessed are you who weep now,

   for you will laugh.

22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

24 ‘But woe to you who are rich,

   for you have received your consolation.

25 ‘Woe to you who are full now,

   for you will be hungry.

‘Woe to you who are laughing now,

   for you will mourn and weep.

26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Post Communion

God, the source of all holiness and giver of all good things:

may we who have shared at this table

as strangers and pilgrims here on earth

be welcomed with all your saints

to the heavenly feast on the day of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

All Saints’ Day: becoming more Christ-like.  

Today we are celebrating All Saints’ Day. If you are wondering what the Saints might show us, it is how to be more Christ-like. Today we remember and celebrate the lives of the Christ-like men and women, the Saints who have gone before us – the great cloud of witnesses. On All Souls Day, 2 Nov we remember and commemorate the faithful departed.

Every year Robin and I take a short autumn break, so a few weeks ago we took off for an exploration of the Northumberland coast. What a beautiful coastline, with great expanses of white sandy beaches, green and golden fields and vast, ever-changing skies! We took our bikes and did a lot of cycling and walking. While we were there, we crossed the tidal road which links Holy Island, Lindisfarne with the main land. We walked and reflected and explored and listened to stories of when Christianity was proclaimed and established in Northumberland by St Aiden and St Cuthbert after him. St Aiden wasn’t the first missionary. Roman Christians had come before him, and King Oswald had invited another pioneer before him from Iona to spread the Good News of the Gospel of love and forgiveness, but conditions had been judged too harsh, and the people too barbarous and heathen. St Aidan saw things differently. He was an Irish Christian Missionary monk also from the Island of Iona, arriving with 12 other monks in about 635, and over many years, establishing a monastery on the Island of Lindisfarne. When the tide was high, they worshipped, worked and lived together on the island, but many a time when the tide was low, and the weather fair, they travelled across to the mainland to share the way of Christ in word and action, establishing new worshipping communities, and nurturing new faith amongst the saints.

Today, I want to take a closer look at our gospel and Epistle reading, asking the question: what does the way of Christ look like, and what can we learn from the Saints who have gone before us – this great ‘cloud of witnesses’?

Firstly, all saints are Pilgrims: travellers who are on a journey to a holy place, the ultimate Holy Place being heaven. But It is not just the destination that forms a pilgrimage, but the journey itself: it is marked by places of prayer, people of peace and times of hardship and pondering. Paul says of the Ephesian pilgrims in v15 ‘I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.’ Note that the saints in this passage are the Ephesian Christians who are still living. We don’t travel alone as saints and pilgrims, we travel with others, as Paul did. And our way of living is marked by faith and love and prayer for one another. Who is it that you are travelling with and praying for today?

Secondly, all saints are marked by the Power and Pledge of the Holy Spirit who lives and works in and through us. When we hear the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, if we respond to it by believed in Jesus, were are marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit (v13). Paul reminds the saints in Ephesus, ‘this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people’. This is quite hard to grasp. But, put simply, it means that when we are walking the way of Christ, we stand to inherit the Kingdom of God – eternal life.

Jesus, in our gospel passage, is talking to the 12 disciples who he has just chosen and called to follow him. This is Luke’s version of the Beatitudes, where he is telling his disciples who will be there in his Kingdom. And they are not the people we would expect. It is the poor, the hungry, those who weep and those who are hated and excluded for Christ’s sake, who will be blessed and receive a great reward in heaven.

v23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven!

But wait... there are also some very difficult teachings of Jesus in Luke’s version of the Beatitudes. In contrast to the four blessings, Jesus speaks of four ‘woes’: woe to the rich, woe to the full, woe to those who laugh now, and woe to those who are spoken well of in this world. It seems that they already have their reward. I’m not sure if I like this kind of teaching. Don’t all of us strive to be well off, to eat well, to laugh and to be thought well of by people on earth? It this wrong? I think Jesus is using a literary tool of opposites here to emphasise the upside down nature of the Kingdom of God. Instead of seeking things which only have value in this world, like great wealth, lavish feasts, parties and laughter, and being in the ‘popular’ crowd, Jesus emphasises seeking after God’s kingdom, and living a life which is  counter cultural: doing good to those who hate us, loving our enemies, being generous, which can all be summed up by what we know to be the ‘Golden rule’: v31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.

Finally, all saints are prophetic people. Saints proclaim hope where things seem hopeless, and light when things feel very dark. St Aiden did. The Ephesian saints did. We are called to do so too. Sometimes we all feel overwhelmed by the mess which our world is in - bleak news about the cost of living and rising energy costs; a Government which has not been making wise decisions; ongoing reports of the effect of climate change resulting in floods and drought around the world; wars. We can’t solve all these problems . Maybe we are not meant to. But we can live lives which point towards Christ’s light and love, not just in what we do, but in who we are: the way we listen to people; the way we travel through our lives loving one another, even our enemies; the way we treasure the earth we live on. All Saints show us how to be more Christ-like. That is what the Saints do: they hold up a light and show us something of the way of Christ in action and in words.

Tomorrow evening, Hallowe’en, Church Without Walls with St Albright’s will be out and about in our community bringing small but prophetic gifts of blessing. We will have two gazebo’s serving hot chocolate to children and adults who are out dressed for Halloween; two of us priests, dressed as priests, will be handing out little packs of ‘light bulbs’ – daffodil bulbs, which, though looking dead, when planted will resurrect, bringing light and joy in the spring. Inside the bag is a card proclaiming this truth: Jesus said, ‘I am the Light of the world. Whoever follow me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’

All saints are Pilgrims, they are marked by the Pledge of the Holy Spirit, and they are Prophetic people bringing Christ’s hope and Christ’s light to all people.  

God of holiness, your glory is proclaimed in every age:

as we rejoice in the faith of your saints, inspire us to follow their example with boldness and joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord.