In our Gospel today, we hear a story about Lazarus. At this point in. John s Gospel Lazarus has died, and has been buried in a tomb for

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1 1 The Rev. Amanda Eiman All Saints Sunday November 1, 2015 Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9, Psalm 24, Revelation 21:1-6a, John 11:32-44 Good Morning. In our Gospel today, we hear a story about Lazarus. At this point in John s Gospel Lazarus has died, and has been buried in a tomb for several days. And so understandably, Mary, in her sadness and weeping, comes to Jesus and says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Those around her were moved at her words and emotion and said in response, Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? This is not an uncommon question for those of us who know and believe in the power and merciful love of God in Jesus Christ. Just last week we heard about blind Bartimaeus, a beggar on the roadside, who cried out to Jesus to let him see, and Jesus healed him and restored his sight. So we know that Jesus performs this and many miracles. He heals the sick, he turns water into wine, he feeds five thousand people with a few loaves of bread and fish. So like Mary, we ask, if Jesus has the power to do these things, why do we and those we love have to experience pain and suffering, sickness

2 2 and death? Well we might ask these questions today on All Saints Day, a day in the Church year when we remember and celebrate all those who have gone before us, especially those who have led exemplary Christian lives, and who now dwell with God in holy and heavenly places. On this day we not only ask God to assist us to remember them, so that we might continue to learn from their lives and follow their examples, but through our worship and celebration any questions we have about our mortality and the connection between this life and the next may be answered in more ways than we might know. Because, for example, author and priest Sam Portaro describes All Saints Day as a day when we give witness to the victory of incarnate goodness in remarkable deeds and doers triumphing over darkness and devils. We proclaim the hope of a common mortality expressed in our aspirations and expectations of a shared eternity." 1 And in fact it might be interesting to note that All Saints Day is

3 3 actually related to All Hallows Eve or Halloween which we observed just yesterday. On All Hallow's Eve, Portaro reminds us, we confront the power of death. And in a way, we use the most powerful weapon in the human arsenal, the power of humor and ridicule to do so. But unfortunately, we have lost All Saints in the increased trivialization of Halloween... because it all has been reduced to toddlers dressed as Ninja turtles...and pumpkins grinning like... happy faces. 1 And this trivialization is important, he says, because it stems from two sources - our fear of death and perhaps also our uncertainty about resurrected life. "That we shall die, we cannot deny," Portaro says. We grow older. A loved one calls with a grim and terminal diagnosis. A doctor tells us of our own. But "that we shall live, however, is a matter of faith we indulge at tremendous peril. Death shall not disappoint us, we can be sure of its coming.

4 4 But maybe of life we are less sure. We want to believe that human flesh and human being is blessed, Portaro says, but we are not so sure of incarnation, so Christmas is a thing of material gifts and nostalgia. We want to believe the power of life and love will triumph over the power of death, but we are not so sure of resurrection, so Easter is a thing of fashion and fuzzy little bunnies. We want to believe that life is eternal, but we are not so sure of eternity, so this autumn season of spooks and saints and souls has become a thing of leering pumpkins and sugar candies. But it is not incarnation we fear, nor resurrection, nor eternity. It is disappointment. We do not want to hope in vain." 1 But as Christians, we have hope! Our hope friends, is Christ. Because as we hear in the Gospel story, Mary and those around her are not left in their grief surrounding the death of their friend. Instead Jesus performs perhaps the greatest of miracles he orders that the stone at the tomb be taken away, and he raises Lazarus from death to new life.

5 5 So as we hear in those words from the 8th chapter of Romans, Paul says, "I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). Nothing can separate us from the all-powerful love of God. Not even death itself. Christ loves us through death and brings us new life. So on this Feast of All Saints we remember "the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love, and those whom we hurt, who are bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer, and praise." (BCP pg. 862) We give thanks for those who have come before us, those who are with us now, and those yet to come. We give thanks for the saints known as the GREAT saints in the church - St. Mary, St. Joseph, St. Francis, St. David.

6 6 We give thanks for the saints we have known in our lives - our grandparents, our parents, our teachers, our spiritual guides. And we give thanks for the saints known to God alone - the poor in spirit, the mourning, the meek, those who hunger for righteousness, the merciful, the peacemakers, the persecuted and reviled. No saint is left out, no one is forgotten. All the saints all are loved and known and adored by God. And because Christ gives new life to each of us and to each of those who have gone before us, we are still connected with those who have gone before. We may not see them like we once did, but they are with us - in times of worship, of breaking bread, and in prayer. They are with us in times of love, and marriage, in moments of joy and passion. They are with us at the birth of a child or when we are entirely in the moment not sure where we end and the rest of the world begins. They are with us

7 7 in times of deep despair, in times when we slip off to God with our dying breath... Our saints are with us...in one holy communion... which is comforted, filled, and blessed by Christ. So maybe Mary's and our questions about death are answered by truly receiving the gift of new and resurrected life in our lives. I heard a story this week about a priest who served St. James Church in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Rev. Louis Tucker "was accustomed to having the service of Evensong every Sunday evening. It had, however, become a discouraging experience because after a while only a few people came he longed for greater participation So one night before the service began, he knelt and said a prayer that he might somehow get through the service again, that there would be some sign of hope and meaning in it all. As he knelt in the chancel, his eyes opened to an amazing sight. The church was full! The pews were all occupied. So great was the overflow that persons were standing about the nave. Then he became aware that they were angelic beings. He pinched himself to make sure he was not

8 8 dreaming. At the altar there was also a presence upon which he did not feel worthy to fix his gaze. Not only were all of these beings there but they took part in the service, making strong responses. Somehow he knew that the few who were present from the parish could not see or hear them. His simple prayer had been answered in a remarkably profound way. Thus, in the worship of the gathered church, we are surrounded by far more than pews, and walls, and people. We are in the presence of angels and archangels and all the company of heaven. This is a promise made to all members of Christ s body. That we all live in his household together, though some reside in other parts of the house where we are yet to visit. 2 It is into this household - into this vast mystical communion - that God welcomes and baptizes every Christian. It is into this household and communion that we welcome and baptize Caitlin, Posey, Patrick, and Samuel today. We and these soon to be new Christians dwell in this household together, in the one Body of Christ, not only in this kingdom but also

9 9 the next. One day, we all will be in a place where "every tear will be wiped from our eyes, death will be no more, mourning and crying and pain will be no more." (Rev. 21). This is our promise and our hope. And CHRIST IS CALLING you and I today to remember this hope. And help make it known to others. This life is not all there is. "We will see one another again. So hold on to this hope. Because this hope is a gift...just like all the saints, who, from their labors, rest" (Wolfe, Dean, sermon 11/1/2011). Amen. 1 Brightest and Best: A Companion to the Lesser Feasts and Fasts. Fr. Sam Portaro, pp , Cowlet Press, Hulstrand, Donald. The Praying Church.