ALL SAINTS DAY Revelation 21:1-6; John 11:32-44 First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas Dr. Michael A. Roberts November 1, 2015

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1 1 ALL SAINTS DAY Revelation 21:1-6; John 11:32-44 First Presbyterian Church of Georgetown, Texas Dr. Michael A. Roberts November 1, 2015 Revelation 21:1-6 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, See, the home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them as their God; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away. 5 And the one who was seated on the throne said, See, I am making all things new. Also he said, Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true. 6 Then he said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give water as a gift from the spring of the water of life. John 11: When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, See how he loved him! 37 But some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? 38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days. 40 Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me. 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him, and let him go. Today is All Saints Day! Christians have celebrated All Saints Day on November 1 st since the ninth century. The day before this day was called All Hallows Eve from which we get the word Halloween. The secular Druid observances influenced the Christian festival of All Hallows Eve. Immigrants to the United States particularly the Irish introduced Halloween observances to America which became popular in the late 19th century. Mischief-making was popular in those times. Property damage was sometimes severe. Thus the name trick or treat.

2 2 We know about Halloween but know little about All Saint's Day. In the early years of the church, they remembered the day when a Christian was martyred for their faith. The Christians would gather for a communion service at the martyr s tomb, remembering that person's life and faith in Christ. Eventually the calendar began to fill up so that every day had numerous martyrs for Christ. One day for all the saints was celebrated as early as the fourth century. The day was originally on May 13 but then switched to November 1st in 835 A.D. All Saints Day has not always been celebrated by Presbyterians. Only in the last generation has it been recognized by us. All Saints Day has also not occurred on a Sunday in six years. Our church did host an All Saints Day service at our Presbyterian Cemetery in four different years in the last five. All Saints is an ancient, historic day for the Christian church. It is a day when the church has focused on their belief in the communion of saints. Just as Christmas focuses on Jesus' birth, Lent on Jesus' sufferings, Easter on Jesus' resurrection, and Pentecost on the gift of the Spirit so too does All Saints focus on the communion of saints. All Saints Day has been a festival of the church for at least 1,500 years. Today, what I would like to focus on are the historic teachings of this day. What essential teachings has the church emphasized on this special day? On All Saints Day, first of all, we recover the true meaning of being a saint. In the history of the church, there have been various approaches to saints. One approach is to develop an elaborate system that leads to sainthood. A saint is someone we look back on with reverence. These are the heroes of the faith. We name churches after these saints: St. John's, St. Helen, St. Andrew's. These saints are people to appreciate and respect. We will want to lift up the example of past saints in the universal church and in this congregation. Another approach, which is more common in our circles, is to equate sainthood with goodness. We express it this way: "Aunt Francis never raises her voice and is always patient- she s such a saint." When someone is good, perhaps better than we are, we claim they're a saint. Now both of those approaches have value. But they both fall short from what the Bible has to say about saints. For this reason: being a saint in the New Testament church was never reserved for a select few. It was never just Aunt Francis or Uncle George. To be in the church, by definition, meant you were a saint.

3 3 Saint means someone who is holy or holy ones. Essentially holy means reserved or set apart for God. Holy means to be different from ordinary things, to be set apart, to be God s own people. We are set apart because of our distinctive commitment to Jesus Christ. We are set apart to be Christ's distinctive people in the world. The church is holy but it is not perfect. Christians are holy ones but they are not perfect. When the apostle Paul addresses the churches in his epistles, he includes all Christians as saints. For by definition to be part of the church, to be Christian, is to be set apart for God, to be a saint. Everyone in those churches of Corinth, Philippi, or Ephesus that Paul addresses was a saint. Was that because they were all perfect or totally good? No, far from it. It was simply because they were God's people. Every believer, every Christian was a saint- set apart for God. When we say we believe in the communion of saints we are referring to the whole church- not just a select few. A saint is a Christian- one who believes and trusts in God. You are a saint. That is the true meaning of being a saint. On All Saints Day, we also emphasize that the communion of saints exists in two places: on earth and in heaven. Just because a Christian has died, they do not cease being part of the church, the communion of saints. Jesus said I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. The personal existence of people who believe in him will continue on beyond this life. When we die physically, it is not the end. Even though we die physically, we will live on eternally with God. We believe, as we affirm in the Apostle s Creed in the communion of saints, the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. I think we all wish we knew more about the specifics of all this. We wish perhaps we had more details about what happens at death. What we do know is that God is with us, nothing can separate us from God s love- not even death, and as the apostle Paul adds- to leave this life is to be present with Christ. If we believe in Christ, our personal existence will continue beyond our physical death. Theologians have referred to the church in two forms- the church militant and the church triumphant. Or another way to say this is- the church at work and the church at rest. The church militant strives to work and love in this present world. That's us. Then there is the church triumphant or the church at rest- those Christians who have gone to be with the Lord. The communion of saints includes those who have died and those who are alive. The communion of saints includes the whole company of God s people- past and present. The

4 4 third verse of the hymn, For All the Saints says it well: "O Blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are in one in thee, for all are thine. One day we will be the church triumphant but of course we are not there yet. We do not live in a perfect world. This is not heaven. We remain to carry on. We are the church at work. We are here to heal wounds and care for souls. We are here to love in practical ways. We make plans, strategize, and fulfill the ministry God has given to us. We are the church at work. Thirdly, on All Saints Day we remember those saints who have gone before us. On this day we remember all the saints in the church who are now the church at rest. We remember all those who have followed Christ who are no longer part of the church on earth. We have a deep appreciation for the saints who have gone before us in the church. We have an appreciation for the heritage of the church. We learn from those who have gone before us. We consider their voices and their message. We believe God was at work in the first century and in our own individual lives. We also believe God was truly at work in the 6th century and the 12th and the 19 th. We appreciate the church s history and heritage because of our belief in the communion of saints. Whenever I am studying a particular passage of scripture or thinking about a particular belief of the church, I find it most enriching to consult saints of past generations as well as saints who write and speak in our time. We can learn from them all. It is arrogant to think that our generation knows it all. We benefit from the saints who have gone before us in the church. All Saint s Day is a time to rejoice in all who through the ages have faithfully served the Lord. The day reminds us that we are part of one continuing, living communion of saints. It is a time to claim our kinship with the glorious company of apostles the noble fellowship of prophets the white-robed army of martyrs. It is a time to express our gratitude for all who in ages of darkness kept the faith, for those who have taken the gospel to the ends of the earth, for prophetic voices who have called the church to be faithful in life and service, for all who have witnessed to God s justice and peace in every nation. To rejoice with all the faithful of every generation expands our awareness that there is a great company of witnesses above and around us like a cloud (Hebrews 12). It lifts us out of a preoccupation with our own immediate situation and the discouragements of the present. In the knowledge that others have persevered, we are encouraged to endure against all odds. Reminded that God was with the faithful of the past, we are reassured that God is with us today. (Liturgical Year PCUSA p. 53). We remember those saints who have gone before us.

5 5 Another essential teaching flows from this one- on All Saints Day we grieve for those saints who are no longer with us. We will remember and grieve for those who have gone before us. We remember husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, children and close friends. We remember fellow church members who are no longer with us, those who have joined the Church Triumphant. In our gospel reading today, Jesus models for us the appropriate response to loss. Verse 33 tells us that when Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. One commentator (Robert Kyser) puts it this way Jesus tears and tortured emotions reflect God s agony and anger and tears at the ravaging of humanity by pain and death. As they begin the journey to the tomb, it was too much for Jesus. Jesus began to weep. In traditional language Jesus wept. These words give humanity to Jesus. Words that demonstrate the importance of grieving. Words that affirm all of us who have ever cried over a loss. The powerful Son of God who would soon say Lazarus, come out wept. The word who became flesh and dwelt among us, cried. When he reached the tomb, he was once more deeply moved and disturbed. Jesus grieved. He felt loss. A man of sorrows, as Isaiah 53 says, acquainted with grief. This is not the only place Jesus grieved. In Luke s gospel we are told that as he approached Jerusalem, he wept over it. He had lost a city. In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus also experiences grief about the loss of his own life. God, in the person of Jesus, was acquainted with grief. Perhaps that s why Jesus could say Blessed are those who mourn, for you shall be comforted. Jesus ministry declares clearly that it is a good thing to grieve, to mourn, to feel loss. We are not Stoics who don t show emotion, we are Christians who follow a savior who grieved. Jesus wept. Let s acknowledge that grieving is a slow process that takes time. Let s embrace grieving as God s gift that enables us to cope with the losses of our lives. On All Saints Day, we recover the true meaning of being a saint; we emphasize that the communion of saints exists in two places: on earth and in heaven; we remember those saints who have gone before us; we grieve for those saints who are no longer with us. There is one final truth I wish to lift up today- on All Saints Day we rejoice in the hope of the resurrection.

6 6 The apostle Paul once told the early church that we do not grieve as others do who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). What sets us apart, what makes us distinctive as Christian people is that we grieve, yes, but we grieve with hope. At funerals and memorial services that I officiate at we begin with these words: we have gathered together today to give witness to the resurrection of Jesus Christ which provides us such hope and comfort on days like these. The resurrection of Jesus assures us of a life beyond this life. It sure seemed on Good Friday that death was the end for Jesus. The resurrection, though, demonstrated that death was not the end. It was not the end of the story. In the resurrection, Jesus had conquered death. Jesus was the first to be raised and transformed into a spiritual body but he will not be the last. Jesus was the first fruits of those who died. He is the first, we will follow. Death is no longer the end of the road. Since that first Easter, death is more a transition than it is an end. Over the years, I have seen many people gain comfort from the risen Jesus. They see in him the promise of a new and hopeful future. They see in him the promise of resurrected life. In the midst of their grief, they still have hope. The resurrection points to a future world where: God himself will be with them; 4 he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away (Rev. 21:3-4). It is always fitting on All Saints Day to celebrate the sacrament of Communion. We commune with God and one another in this worship space. We also commune with saints around the world and saints who have lived in every time. We remember all the saints who have shared communion in this church and are now the church at rest. We rejoice that one day God will call us all together- to form one communion. We remember that we are right now a community of God s people. We are grateful to Christ who makes us a communion of saints. Amen.

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