“For All the Saints - Past & Present”

All Saints Sunday 2005

1 John 3:1-3

Dear Christian Saints, grace, peace, and comfort be with you this day from our living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

              For many of us who have come to worship today, it is a bitter sweet day.  It is bitter because of the grief we are experiencing.  Death has come to our loved ones.  I, too, share in this experience as my mother died just over one month ago. It is sweet because of the faith we have in our Lord Jesus Christ and the victory he has given to us and our loved ones through his death and resurrection.  Because of Jesus, we can give thanks in the midst of our grief for the life our loved ones lived on this earth, but more so for the life they now live in the presence of their Lord and Savior.  Today is a day for all the saints – past and present.

              The death of a loved one is always sad and difficult.  Whether your loved one died suddenly without any warning, or after a prolonged illness, it hurts when death comes and that special person is no longer with you.  It is as if a large part of yourselves dies with him or her.  Death comes like a thief in the night, taking away that which you treasure most in life, loving relationships.  It leaves you feeling empty and alone.  The power of death is that it is so final.  No one can escape it.  No one can postpone it.  No one can alleviate its fearsome grip upon us.  It is the one thing other than birth that all of us has in common.  Death comes to all.  That is why in the Bible it says that the last great enemy to be destroyed is death.

              But that is why in the Bible it also says that God sent Jesus into this world, to do battle with sin and death by giving his life over to it.  What seemed to be a victory for the power of death really became an opportunity for the power of life as God raised Jesus from the dead, breaking its fearsome grip upon us.  Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, we are given hope in the midst of death, because we know that death does not have the last word in our lives or the lives of our loved ones.  No, God has the last word, and it is a word of life.  For God so loved the world, so loved each of you and each of your loved ones, that he gave his only Son Jesus, so that whoever believes in him shall be a saint and not perish, but live in the promise of life everlasting.  That is the power of God, our God, to create life out of death.  It is God’s promise for all the saints.

              As you come together to remember your loved ones and light a candle in their remembrance, you are filled with many memories, with many emotions, with grief and sadness over their loss, but also with joy and thanksgiving for the lives they lived and what they meant to you and your families.  Nothing is harder than to lose a loved one to death.  But as the Bible tells us, “we do not grieve as those who have no hope,” for our hope and faith is in our loving God who has raised Jesus from the dead.  Nothing will ever replace them.  They are all one of a kind.  But God can and does provide comfort and consolation through his Holy Spirit who keeps us in the hope and promise of eternal life with our Lord Jesus.

              I encourage you today to remember these saints who have gone on before us, the good times and the happy stories.  Continue to share them with one another, especially with your children.  I also encourage you to let go of those things that are not so happy, the trials and hardships and difficulties you may have had.  Remember, with God there is always forgiveness and newness of life.  Give thanks to God for the life your loved one lived on this earth, but more so, for the gift of eternal life that our Lord provides for all who have faith.  Because of Jesus, they are saints in heaven.

              But today is not just about those who have died.  It is also about us, the living, those who are left behind and remain here.  As people of faith, we are part of the communion of saints here and now.  To be a saint is nothing more than being called “children of God; and that is what we are.”  By virtue of our baptism into the death and resurrection of Jesus, we become children of God.  As his children, we grow in faith all our days, trusting and believing in his salvation.  Through his holy Word, we are convicted of our sin and set free by his forgiveness.  By eating and drinking his body and blood in Holy Communion, we are nourished and strengthened in our lives of faith.  Through the fellowship we share with one another in the community of faith called the church, we receive encouragement and support to live out our faith in word and deed.  All this we receive as a gift from our Heavenly Father so that we may be living saints until that day we are called by God to our heavenly home to join with all the saints in eternity in praise of God and his Son Jesus Christ.  We pass this faith on from one generation to the next so that the communion of the saints is never broken.   I long for that day when I will be reunited with my mom and dad, my grandparents and aunts and uncles, for then I will receive the same promise that they received, “we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”  What a great and glorious day that will be.  But until that day, I along with you will continue to live a godly life as we worship together, live and work and serve the needs of others, strive for justice and peace in all the world, and share the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ.  This is a day for all the saints – past and present.  Let us rejoice and be glad.  Amen. 

As we sing our next song #764 in the blue With One Voice, you are invited, if you wish, to come forward and light a candle in remembrance of a loved one.