Reality

Charlotte Collins Reed
Christ Church Episcopal
November 5, 2023

All Saints Sunday 

          My dad was something of an amateur photographer and he kept meticulous photo albums.  Those photo albums chronicle all of our birthdays, family events, trips, holidays, and even childhood illnesses like chickpox.  Those are some very flattering photos!  When he died and we cleaned out the house, we discovered that he had kept every photo he ever took.  Every.  Single.  Photo.  I wonder if that was Dad’s way of feeling connected to those who had gone before him.  The photos certainly help me feel connected with those who, in the words of the prayer book, I love but see no longer.  My siblings and I can go back in time and remember people who shaped our lives when we were children and young adults, feel their love, and hope that we have lived up to their expectations.  In their eyes, we could do little wrong and whatever we did do wrong was quickly forgiven.  In their love, we experienced something of God’s love, and I believe that in our times together we got a small taste of the kingdom of God. 

          All Saints Sunday feels a bit like looking through a giant photo album.  On this day we remember those who have gone before us and left a mark on our lives.  We remember those throughout history who have called us to be our very best selves.  We sing some of the greatest hymns of the church.  We light candles and hear the names of our loved ones spoken aloud as a reminder that those who have gone before join us when we pray.  On All Saints’ Sunday, we experience the communion of saints in our song, in our prayers, in the candles and flowers, and in our memories and we get a small taste of the kingdom of God.

          But our celebration of All Saints’ is about so much more than looking back to get a taste of the Kingdom of God, as powerful as that taste may be.  Our All Saints’ scripture readings call us forward, into being our very best selves and making the coming Kingdom of God a more present reality now.  The reading from Revelation gives us a vision of the Kingdom of God in which people from all tribes and peoples and languages will be one multitude despite their differences.  The passage points us to the day when there will be no more hunger or thirst, or any scorching heat, and God will wipe away the tear from every eye.  The reading from 1 John reminds us that what we are now, even as children of God, is not all that we will ever be.  What we will be has not yet been revealed and is even more than we already are as children of God, which is hard to imagine.  And the gospel reading from Matthew tells us that those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness, are merciful, pure in heart, are peacemakers, or are persecuted for righteousness sake are blessed.  That does not mean that they are happy.  They are blessed because something of the Kingdom of God shines through them.

          What I believe we experience in the beatitudes are people who know their dependence on God and others.  Those who mourn rely on God and others to be comforted.  Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness shall be filled-by God and other people.  Peacemakers rely on God and others in their quest for peace. They cannot do that work alone.  And on and on.  In the Kingdom of God there are no lone rangers.

          On this particular All Saints’ Day, with the world in turmoil, a contentious election day ahead of us on Tuesday, in the aftermath of yet another mass shooting, we gather, not just to remember, but to ground ourselves so that we can do gospel work in the present.  All Saints’ calls us to ground ourselves in three things.  First, as the body of Christ, and as the human race, we are one body despite our differences.  The one multitude in the reading from Revelation has people from all tribes, people, languages, which means all political parties, theological persuasions, faiths, colors, gender orientation and anything else we let divide us.  When we recognize that we are one body, we realize that what we do affects everyone else, and their hurt or suffering affects us.  Secondly, All Saints’ calls us into being our very best selves.  As Christians who identify as Episcopalians, we are our best selves when we keep the promises we make in our baptismal covenant which we will renew in just a few minutes as we baptize Wyatt Dodson.  We will renew our promise to seek and serve Christ in all people, to work for justice and peace, and to respect the dignity of every human being.  1 John tells us that we are God’s children now and that what we will be has not yet been revealed, which is beyond our imaginations.  We are called to be those people.  And thirdly, All Saints’ and the beatitudes call us to remember our dependence on God and each other.  There is nothing we are called to do alone.

On this All Saints Sunday, dwell in the memories.  Feel the love.  Remember the stories.  Then embrace the challenge.  There are hungry people to feed, homeless people to shelter, Jewish and Islamic brothers and sisters to protect, justice and peace to work for, and divisions to heal.    The saints of God point us to a reality rooted in peace and justice, love and life, and call us forward to work for that reality.  But we can only get there together.  An old African proverb says “Alone we can go faster, but together we can go further.”  When there is a long way to go, when a lot of healing needs to happen, and there is a lot of work that needs to be done, we at Christ Church know we need to go together.  The saints of God call us forward to be our very best selves and to work as one body across our differences to make the coming Kingdom of God a more present reality now.    

                                                          Amen.