Revelation 7.9-17 Psalm 34:1-10, 22 1 John 3.1-3 Matthew 5.1-12
Last night we had ‘All Hallows Eve’ from which we derive Hallowe’en. Today we have All Hallows Day, or All Saints Day, and tomorrow is All Souls Day. And each of these days are days of vigil and remembering the dead. Today we pray for and commemorate the martyrs and saints of the faith, tomorrow we pray for those in our churches and families who have died. And these three days form a rich tapestry of faithful practice in which we confront death and the victory of the cross.
All Saints Day is a time when we can set our hearts on the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in the faith, who have modelled for us that the Christian life really is possible. And we remember that these saints were ordinary people, like you and me, through whom God’s extraordinary grace worked miracles. And we can be comforted to know that God’s grace is sufficient for you and me too.
So one of the questions which often poses itself for me when I think about the Beatitudes is, are there saints here with us today, and what do they look like. Our Gospel reading gives us some hints.
Saints can be found among the poor in spirit
Saints can be found with those who mourn
Saints can be found among the meek
Saints can be found with those who hunger and thirst for righteousness
Saints can be found with the merciful
Saints can be found among the pure in heart
Saints can be found with the peacemakers
Saints can be found with those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.
Jesus tells us ‘blessed’ are the poor, the mournful, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure-hearted, the peacemakers, the persecuted, for they will be the ones to enter heaven, experience comfort, inherit the earth, be filled, receive mercy, see God and be called the children of God. These words bridge the present and the future, the now and the not-yet, the kingdom that is and the kingdom that is coming. The blessing is here, God’s favour is now, but fulfillment, its perfection, is yet to come.
And the question all this asks me is, am I one of the saints. Do I put myself in those shoes. Am I, can I be, one of the poor, the mournful, the meek, the hungry, the merciful, the pure-hearted, the peacemaker, the persecuted. And if not, what is it that is stopping me from being one of them because I think Jesus is inviting us all, he is telling me, to let go of my worldly privilege and start to see the world as it really is. It is not always, or even most of the time, the comfortable, well appointed, well fed, place in which I live and exist. The Beatitudes are not ‘prosperity theology’, this is not ‘blessing’ as health, wealth and happiness. This is so costly, so soul-rattling, so unpalatable, that most of us will do all we can to domesticate it or ignore it.
We do the word blessed a disservice when we only see it as evidence of no hardship or pain or difficulty. Blessed does not mean I am guaranteed a good and easy life, blessed reveals a sense of fullness, of contentment, of joy that is like, and also transcends, ordinary happiness. And, like love and hope, it cannot be ‘engineered’ into existence, it is responsive, it arrives as a response to the love and promises of another. God knows your grief, God sees all that is on your heart, God sees you and the challenges you face, and God honours them, blesses them and accompanies them. You may not feel particularly blessed, loved or capable, but Jesus still calls you blessed, he calls you loved and he calls you capable. The world needs you, and you are blessed and beloved by God even if the world, or you , don’t see you that way. You are blessed, just as those who have gone before us are blessed, and God’s kingdom is not just something that is in our future, it exists now, influences us now, and transforms our reality now.
Today we remember those who have gone before us and we celebrate the unbreakable communion between past, present and future. We can be comforted in the knowledge that countless others have mourned, hungered, wept, thirsted, grieved in the past and have gone on from their struggles to the fullness of life in the presence of God. As one religious scholar said, “the saints provide a glimpse of God’s already in the midst of our not-yet”.
In two weeks’ time, you will be asked to offer yourself in ministry to this parish. There is a letter for you today which asks you to prayerfully consider what role you will take on, in the ongoing life of this parish. This parish needs you, God needs you, and even if you don’t think you are able to do anything, by partnering with someone else you may find yourself able to offer in some area. You will not be left on your own, there are many who can, and will, assist you in your endeavours. But without your efforts, without others who can help you, ministry in this community will be the poorer because our outreach into the community relies on all of us. Our outreach within this church relies on all of us. So please prayerfully consider how you can help, which area or areas are calling to you this year. It might be time for some to ‘leave behind’ those things they have ‘always done’ so that others may step into that area. But that does not mean you stop doing things altogether, it simply offers you new opportunities to learn new skills or offer your skills in other areas. You can bless as you are blessed. God has blessed you with many talents and abilities, and God asks you to use them to bless the ministries of God’s church.
I close today with a prayer from the Book of Common Prayer.
We give thanks to you, O Lord our God, for all your servants and witnesses of time past: for Abraham, the father of believers, and Sarah his wife; for Moses, the lawgiver, and Aaron, the priest; for Miriam and Joshua, Deborah and Gideon, and Samuel with Hannah his mother; for Isaiah and all the prophets; for Mary, the mother of our Lord; for Peter and Paul and all the apostles; for Mary and Martha, and Mary Magdalene; for Stephen, the first martyr, and all the martyrs and saints in every age and in every land. In your mercy, O Lord our God, give us, as you gave to them, the hope of salvation and the promise of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, the first-born of many from the dead. Amen. (BCP, p. 838)