Greetings from St. Mark’s on All Saints’ Sunday, a time where we celebrate those who have witnessed, who are witnesses, and who will be witnesses of God’s grace.
We were gathered with a reminder that all humans are knit together by God and that we have the strength to continue to follow those saints who have come before us. Our first lesson from the Revelation to John shares a picture of the elect and an unnumbered multitude standing before God on the throne. The Psalmist reminds us to always give thanks to and for God and to actively share God’s grace in the world. The reading from the first letter of John reminds us of the love of God given to us that help us assist our world to see God’s presence, grace, and mercy. Matthew’s gospel offers the opening of the Beatitudes and the reminder that God’s blessedness may not look like the world’s blessedness.
On All Saints’ Sunday we specifically remember the saints of our lives: past, present, and future. Our scripture includes an atypical group of readings including little read texts in worship from the first letter of John and the Revelation to John. While is comforting to reflect on a tried-and-true proclamation of a blessing as in Matthew, the real-life struggles in the uncomfortable imagery of the Revelation to John. John describes the discontinuity between the promises of old and the worldly application of human power on God’s realm. Sitting with the discomfort invites us to look for signs of God in the middle of the mess and to remember that God doesn’t abandon us, even when we feel like it. Our job is to bear witness to the true nature of God and shine the light of God on the ways of the world.
How does the unsettling nature of life in the breach help us pause and look for God’s grace? How can we share the promises of the saints with others who are feeling overwhelmed by the world? I invite your comments,
Les+
Lessons: Revelation 7:9-17; Psalm 34:1-10, 22; 1 John 3:1-3; Matthew 5:1-12
Sermon link: http://audiomack.com/fatherles-2/song/all-saints-sunday-sermon-2
