Feast of All Saints

By Julie Carew, Lay Preacher

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God, we thank you today for those in this faithful community, both present now and departed from us, and for our intersecting lives and the way you move in and through them. AMEN.

We see a few descriptions in our readings today of what the kingdom of God does or will look like.
In Daniel, “..the Holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever - for ever and ever.”
Psalm 149 references a “congregation of the faithful”.
In Ephesians 1 the author is writing to those who heard, believed and “were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit… and references “the pledge of our inheritance as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory”.
In the last section of today’s Gospel from Luke, Jesus talks to “you that listen” giving guidelines for how his followers should live. 

I think most of us would agree that the communion of saints will be vast, that there will be far more people than we can possibly know in our lifetimes. And it also seems clear in these readings that it is now, and will be in the future, a community. I imagine it as a myriad of circles of people coming together, realizing a common purpose, a common belief and a common love. 

Today, on this All Saints Day, we have the opportunity to hold close the people in our own circles who are no longer with us. 
I want to take a moment first to recognize that we lose people in different ways. Some to death, some to distance, some to circumstances or boundaries that need to be set. These are all losses, they all leave spaces in our circles and I think it would be best to give ourselves the chance to remember and reflect on all of them. 

So, who do we remember today?
Those who formed us, 
Those who are part of us,
Those who shared their lives and love with us,
Those who touched our lives just briefly,
Those whose stories moved us,
ALL those we don’t want to forget.

Why do we remember? Honestly, sometimes it feels easier not to. Remembering can be a significant emotional lift, but what if we could find a way to keep our beloved ones present enough that we can easily access those memories, those lessons learned, and experiences shared, in little pieces all throughout our lives? Our lives are so much richer having known all those we want to remember- having heard their stories, experienced their presence, shared in their lives and they in ours.  

How do we remember? Giving ourselves space and time is essential. We have days for remembering- like today- also birthdays, holidays, as well as physical locations, and experiences we have shared. We can set up places for remembering- a display of photos, keepsakes, letters- or maybe visiting a special place, a physical location, where we can sit with our memories of them. 
Where do we see their footprints in our lives? Where do we feel their presence? 
Can we find a place where the gratitude for having loved them feels greater than the sorrow of having lost them?  

What about remembering them in a way that encourages us and those around us, living their legacy into our own lives and into those of others?
Can we use a memory of their resilience to build us up when things are difficult?
Can we remember how deeply and truly they knew us when we feel alone?
Can we share something they taught us in helping someone else feel known or understood?
Can we let the way they shared their lives with us challenge us to invest in someone else?

I am grateful, and I hope you are too, for the space today to think about how we remember those we have lost, and maybe discover a new way of doing so.


Let us also consider- what is the legacy that we will leave, how will we be remembered? 

We have some pretty clear guidelines about how we should live our lives given to us here in Luke: 
“Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again.” 

When I think back to the memories I have of those I have lost, the moments that stand out to me the most are those that were unexpected- a response that was the opposite of what I would have guessed- an especially tender moment with someone I hadn’t experienced that with before which made me aware of a deeper love and connection, a joke in a dark moment, an unforeseen generosity, an outburst of levity in a moment where we really needed it. These unexpected moments reveal the heart of someone, they show us that someone has let down their guard, let go of what is “supposed” to happen- of who they are “supposed” to be- and given us a window into who they are. These actions Jesus is describing are exactly that. 

Do we have (and if not, will we make) space in our lives for that freedom? Moving through life with enough openness to receive a prompting from God that is unexpected and maybe not our first reaction, but to be able to hear it and act on it? This is true generosity, to shift our focus from holding on to giving away, from reserving to giving all that we can in a moment in which it is truly needed, from worrying about the evenness, the fairness of things, to acting in a way that truly meets someone in their need in that moment. 

And that last sentence, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” 

That is the most beautiful part to me- what an awesome way God helps ensure that “others”, (meaning all of us, right?) who love in all kinds of different ways have opportunities to receive love in just as many different ways. 

In our deepest knowing of ourselves, how do we wish others would treat us? 
What is it that you wish someone would do for you?

I know I feel most loved and cared for when I feel like someone has really gotten to know me, sees me for who I am and responds to me in a way that makes me feel both of those things in a very real way. So we can do that for those we are close to, knowing that we have the gift of being a person in their life who can know and love them in the way they most need. 
And also, I am filled with a special kind of joy when the act or response of someone I hardly know is exactly what I need in that moment. That always feels to me like an unexpected gift from God. 

If each of us goes out and treats others the way that we want to be treated, surely there will be some commonalities there. And hopefully we all will recognize and embrace at least some of that love as exactly what we needed when it was given to us. What an amazing plan of allowing for all different kinds of love to be given and received in abundance!

As we go out from this All Saints Day service, let us make space throughout our lives to remember, to lift our faces to the sky and allow ourselves to be touched by the memories of those we have loved and those who have loved us. 
Let us share who we are, who God made us to be in this world, with those in our lives.
Let us share stories of our faith and God’s faithfulness with those who will listen. 
Let us be open to all possibilities and act when we can help be what is needed for someone else along this journey of life. 
Let us all help make this, our part of the congregation, the community of the faithful, be one that we value and live into in this life, for what it is to all of us now and in the hope of what it will be in the life to come. 
Amen.

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