All Saints & All Souls
In our readings this morning we hear a lot about the dead. First, in our reading from the book of Wisdom, which is a book found in the Septuagint. The Septuagint was a highly regarded Greek translation of the Old Testament from nearly 300 years before Jesus was born. It may very well have been the Old Testament that our New Testament authors were most familiar with. Some of those books didn’t make it into our Old Testament because some of the folks who were translating into vernacular languages during the reformation wanted to translate from Hebrew, rather than a Greek translation of the Hebrew. They couldn’t find Hebrew versions of some of those books, so they sometimes included them in a separate section called the Apocrypha and were considered to be beneficial to read, but didn’t have the same authority as the rest of Scripture. This reading today from Wisdom includes the lines,
“the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them. In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace” (Wis 3:1-9).
Wisdom speaks about those who seem to have died, but then goes on to imply that there is an existence for them beyond death.
The book of Revelation mentions a time when there is a new heaven and a new earth. A new Jerusalem descends out of heaven to be on earth. It is the destined home for all of God’s people. It is a city where people and God with live in perfect harmony and intimacy. Every tear will be wiped away and death will be no more. The people who are present in this city have already passed through death and have participated in Christ’s victory over death.
And in our Gospel reading from John, Jesus meets with his friends Mary and Martha whose brother, Lazarus, has died. We see Jesus weeps with those who are grieving their brother’s death. We see his great compassion for those who mourn. And amazingly, we see Jesus call his friend Lazarus out of the grave and back from death, showing his power over death.
During the next 3 days we have 3 festivals that that have to do with those who have died. On October 31st we have the feast of the Saints of the Reformation Era. On October 31st , 1517 the Augustinian monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenburg. It was a challenge to some of the excesses of the church in his day. This started a chain reaction that resulted in the Protestant Reformation. We celebrate the courage of people like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas Cranmer who were willing to risk their lives for what they believed to be true biblical and historic Christianity. It comes with pain as well because it resulted in the division of the church’s unity.
Oct 31st is also All Hallows Eve, the Eve of All Saints, which is November 1st. This is a feast that, in the 4th century, originally was a feast to recognize all the martyrs, all those who died rather than turn their back on Christ. It was eventually broadened to include all the saints, not just the martyrs.
The word “saint” can be used in a couple of different ways. In one way, the Saints are those who have reflected Christ into the world in a particularly powerful way. They stand as examples to us. In their devotion to Christ, they stood against great oppressive powers, and as bearers of extraordinary love. They show the courage God can give us to stand up against impossible odds, even when faced with death. They have been those who have brought aid and care to those in need, and worked for justice for the oppressed, and provided profound wisdom to the spiritual seeker. They have been bearers of hope and forgiveness for sinners. God has sometimes used them to perform miracles in the world. The saints show us mystical experiences of God that can be experienced in prayer. The saints show us self-sacrificial love as they pick up their cross and follow Jesus. They show us examples of ways God can use us to transform the world. They have been God’s servants in the world. And the church believes that they now are with God and continuing their service through their prayers.
The word “saint” was also used by people like Paul to refer to Christians. It is to recognize that we have been made holy, we have been set apart, by Christ for his purposes in this world. If Paul was writing us a letter, he might very well address it “to the saints in Red Deer”. We don’t want to lose this biblical sense of the word either.
And November 2nd is recognized as the Feast of All Souls. It is a time to recognize all the faithful who have died, especially those who have touched our own lives. We might not see them all as official “saints”, but we believe them to be with God. This has been a feast since the 11th century.
Originally it had to do with praying for those who were in purgatory, but that is a doctrine that was rejected by protestant churches, including the Anglican church. Perhaps there is some kind of purification that happens to us when we die. Perhaps it is an eternal process that as we stand before our infinite God we are infinitely purged as we draw closer and deeper into God’s own self. And maybe that is a beautiful and healing process. Maybe this is God perfecting the good that was begun in us by the Holy Spirit.
So, for the next few days we consider those who have died and have gone on to stand before God. It is a time when we recognize Christ’s power over death, and that is a victory that we are invited to participate in. Death no longer has to be something that frightens us. It is also the church’s conviction that the saints continue to be partners with us, as members of the body of Christ. Death does not ultimately destroy our unity with them, so we talk about the communion of the saints- we continue to be joined with them through Christ- we are bound to each other. They continue to pray for us and for the world. The saints are those who have received the victory of Christ. They have faced the darkness of the world and they have faced death, and they have come out of those confrontations victorious.
That is primarily the way that I see Halloween. Yes, it originally had its roots in ancient paganism. There were spirits of all kinds that could more easily pass into our world as the time of summer transitioned into the time of winter. For that reason it could be a time of fear. Christians often baptized these Pagan festivals and reinterpreted them. So, I see Halloween as a time to make fun of all those spirits that our ancient ancestors were so afraid of. I don’t see it as a time to celebrate evil or fear. And that is a side of Halloween that I don’t agree with as a Christian. Rather, I see it as a time to stand in Christ’s victory over death and all the dark powers that attempt to destroy humanity. To look at the saints in their victory in Christ is to thumb our nose at those principalities and powers that wish harm upon humanity.
As John Donne wrote,
If anyone can make light of death- if anyone can smile at a skeleton- it is the saints of God, which includes you, by God’s grace. And at Halloween we laugh at the plastic monster, we laugh with the saints at the powers and principalities of this world, and ultimately we can laugh even at death itself. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
The book of Revelation mentions a time when there is a new heaven and a new earth. A new Jerusalem descends out of heaven to be on earth. It is the destined home for all of God’s people. It is a city where people and God with live in perfect harmony and intimacy. Every tear will be wiped away and death will be no more. The people who are present in this city have already passed through death and have participated in Christ’s victory over death.
And in our Gospel reading from John, Jesus meets with his friends Mary and Martha whose brother, Lazarus, has died. We see Jesus weeps with those who are grieving their brother’s death. We see his great compassion for those who mourn. And amazingly, we see Jesus call his friend Lazarus out of the grave and back from death, showing his power over death.
During the next 3 days we have 3 festivals that that have to do with those who have died. On October 31st we have the feast of the Saints of the Reformation Era. On October 31st , 1517 the Augustinian monk Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door of the church at Wittenburg. It was a challenge to some of the excesses of the church in his day. This started a chain reaction that resulted in the Protestant Reformation. We celebrate the courage of people like Martin Luther, John Calvin, and Thomas Cranmer who were willing to risk their lives for what they believed to be true biblical and historic Christianity. It comes with pain as well because it resulted in the division of the church’s unity.
Oct 31st is also All Hallows Eve, the Eve of All Saints, which is November 1st. This is a feast that, in the 4th century, originally was a feast to recognize all the martyrs, all those who died rather than turn their back on Christ. It was eventually broadened to include all the saints, not just the martyrs.
The word “saint” can be used in a couple of different ways. In one way, the Saints are those who have reflected Christ into the world in a particularly powerful way. They stand as examples to us. In their devotion to Christ, they stood against great oppressive powers, and as bearers of extraordinary love. They show the courage God can give us to stand up against impossible odds, even when faced with death. They have been those who have brought aid and care to those in need, and worked for justice for the oppressed, and provided profound wisdom to the spiritual seeker. They have been bearers of hope and forgiveness for sinners. God has sometimes used them to perform miracles in the world. The saints show us mystical experiences of God that can be experienced in prayer. The saints show us self-sacrificial love as they pick up their cross and follow Jesus. They show us examples of ways God can use us to transform the world. They have been God’s servants in the world. And the church believes that they now are with God and continuing their service through their prayers.
The word “saint” was also used by people like Paul to refer to Christians. It is to recognize that we have been made holy, we have been set apart, by Christ for his purposes in this world. If Paul was writing us a letter, he might very well address it “to the saints in Red Deer”. We don’t want to lose this biblical sense of the word either.
And November 2nd is recognized as the Feast of All Souls. It is a time to recognize all the faithful who have died, especially those who have touched our own lives. We might not see them all as official “saints”, but we believe them to be with God. This has been a feast since the 11th century.
Originally it had to do with praying for those who were in purgatory, but that is a doctrine that was rejected by protestant churches, including the Anglican church. Perhaps there is some kind of purification that happens to us when we die. Perhaps it is an eternal process that as we stand before our infinite God we are infinitely purged as we draw closer and deeper into God’s own self. And maybe that is a beautiful and healing process. Maybe this is God perfecting the good that was begun in us by the Holy Spirit.
So, for the next few days we consider those who have died and have gone on to stand before God. It is a time when we recognize Christ’s power over death, and that is a victory that we are invited to participate in. Death no longer has to be something that frightens us. It is also the church’s conviction that the saints continue to be partners with us, as members of the body of Christ. Death does not ultimately destroy our unity with them, so we talk about the communion of the saints- we continue to be joined with them through Christ- we are bound to each other. They continue to pray for us and for the world. The saints are those who have received the victory of Christ. They have faced the darkness of the world and they have faced death, and they have come out of those confrontations victorious.
That is primarily the way that I see Halloween. Yes, it originally had its roots in ancient paganism. There were spirits of all kinds that could more easily pass into our world as the time of summer transitioned into the time of winter. For that reason it could be a time of fear. Christians often baptized these Pagan festivals and reinterpreted them. So, I see Halloween as a time to make fun of all those spirits that our ancient ancestors were so afraid of. I don’t see it as a time to celebrate evil or fear. And that is a side of Halloween that I don’t agree with as a Christian. Rather, I see it as a time to stand in Christ’s victory over death and all the dark powers that attempt to destroy humanity. To look at the saints in their victory in Christ is to thumb our nose at those principalities and powers that wish harm upon humanity.
As John Donne wrote,
DEATH be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadfull, for, thou art not so,
For, those, whom thou think'st, thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
…
Thou art slave to Fate, Chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better then thy stroke; why swell'st thou then;
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And death shall be no more; death, thou shalt die.
(John Donne- “death be not proud”)
If anyone can make light of death- if anyone can smile at a skeleton- it is the saints of God, which includes you, by God’s grace. And at Halloween we laugh at the plastic monster, we laugh with the saints at the powers and principalities of this world, and ultimately we can laugh even at death itself. Thanks be to God. AMEN.
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