All Saints Day – year B

Readings: Wisdom 3v1-9; Psalm 24v1-6; Revelation 21v1-6b; John 11v32-44.

Let us pray: May the words of my mouth, and the thoughts and meditations of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer.

A Word: In the gospel of John, we learn that Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died. We also hear that Jesus’ spirit was greatly disturbed, deeply moved and that Jesus cried. After this, Jesus went to the tomb, demanded that the tomb be opened and prayed to his Father before Jesus called Lazarus back to life and returned him to his sisters. Raising people back to life is an astounding miracle that occurs from time to time throughout the scriptures. However the raising of Lazarus is even more astounding because those of the Jewish faith believed that whilst the soul hovered by the body for a short while after death occurred that as Lazarus had been dead for 4 days his soul was gone.

This raises a question - where had Lazarus' soul gone. For reply, in Jesus’ time, some Jewish people believed in an afterlife, whilst others who were just as devout believed that once we die we are gone. This is the place that we hear about in the Book of the Revelation of St John the Divine. It is a place described as a new heaven and earth where there is a Holy City sent by God to receive God’s people. A city where God lives alongside his people. A city where there is no more death, no more mourning, no more pain and no more crying. A city where all things are made new. But who will be accepted into the Holy City? For reply, we hear in the reading from the Wisdom of Solomon that the souls of those who have died and are considered righteous by God are now: at peace, in the hand of God, immortal and holy. Solomon describes this righteousness as: trusting in God, faithfully sticking close to God, letting God rule over us; a people who will receive God’s clemency and mercifulness. In an echo of this, Psalm 24 tells us that those who dedicate themselves to seeking the one true God are the people that God considers as holy. For these are a people blessed by the Lord. A people who shall ascend the holy hill of the Lord. A people who will receive salvation. As Christians we believe that this City is where the saints, the great cloud of witnesses are destined for in the afterlife. A people drawn from a multitude of backgrounds. A people made righteous by God because his son Jesus died for them. A people just like you and me, a people like those we meet day by day, a people of many nationalities and faiths. All of the people seeking to find and serve the one true God. For all these are God’s holy ones, God’s saints in the making. A people God counts as righteous for the sake of his Son.

Today we give thanks for all of the Saints who have influenced us in our lives. Those who have pointed us to God, those who have walked with us on our journey to find the one true God, those who have helped us stick close to the creator of all things. For these are God’s holy people, his righteous ones, his chosen ones, his elect, the people who really are the saints.

Let us pray: Almighty God, the source of all holiness, the one who gathers your elect into one fellowship, grant us the grace we need to follow in the footsteps of your saints. Teach us how to truly love you and lead our lives for you, so that when our lives end here in earth, we may be welcomed into your heavenly feast on the day your Kingdom comes. Amen

Thank you for joining us.