Revelation 7:9-17
1 John 3:1-3
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
REFLECTION:
Our world has changed so much over the last 8 months or so. I don’t think anyone anticipated the impact of the COVID 19 virus. Our whole way of living our daily lives has changed. Work, school, recreation, travel, socialising, gathering as a family or with friends, freedom to go where we want and do what we like or need to – every part of our lives has been disrupted. And we don’t know when or whether, the world as we have known and experienced it, will ever be the same. Our world is a broken one and it groans with the struggles of its people and the weariness of its natural resources and other life forms.
Creation is heavy with the ordeals of humanity and this started a long time before COVID 19. So much struggle and pain in our world. We have strayed far from the ideals of justice, good stewardship and love for the neighbour, shown to us by Jesus. We live in a world racked by social, economic and environmental problems that with all our knowledge and experience, we can’t seem to resolve. We live with pain and unhappiness and inequality. There is poverty, wars, populations devastated by infectious diseases and hunger, child sexual abuse, bullying, young people self harming, suicide, addictions, the detrimental effects of climate change, racism, discrimination, senseless violence, gross political corruption, torture, … I could go on and on about the troubles in our world. There is so much suffering experienced by so many and often for no apparent reason. Why is it that some people have a lot, some enough and some have nothing? Why do children and young people die before they have even lived? Why do some people suffer daily with excruciating mental and / or physical pain due to illness or disability?
I don’t know. The ‘why’ question has been a big one for me over the years. I have come to accept that I will never know the answer. Some things are beyond our capacity to understand. For me, having faith means I can bear this lack of understanding, by trusting in the vastness of God’s divine nature and love.
We hear in the first letter of John, that we are greatly loved by God, beloved as God’s children, and that what we will be has yet to be revealed. This ‘agape’ love is a love that is determined by the quality of the one who does the loving. So we are loved deeply by a divine, and infinitely powerful Creator who loves as we are. We are also told that there is more to come, more to be revealed to us about our lives and about meaning and this is found in Jesus. It is in Jesus that we place our hope.
Because that is what we can hold onto, what matters … today and every day … having hope in something greater than ourselves. It is what counter balances the brokenness and the suffering of human life – hope in Christ is what we aspire to, it is where we are destined.
God knows us and loves us in a deep and intimate way. Through Christ, we are saved and we are told that we will be like him, like brothers and sisters; we will follow the path he has taken. It is like running in a race where it doesn’t matter whether you are coming last or how tough the going is, in the end you will always win. The final outcome is assured. In our pilgrim lives, not everything has been revealed yet but we are assured of what lies ahead, because we too, are God’s children.
Revelation is an apocalyptic vision of God’s kingdom where we see the saints that have gone before – the martyrs of old and the ordinary faithful followers, all together free from earthly struggles. The faithful gather around God’s throne and serve him day and night, with worship and song. This mass of people is vast and diverse, representing all nations, all cultures, all people, yet they speak the same language. This is an inclusive community that encompasses all God’s children – an example to us of the love and inclusiveness that God expects us to show as well, recognising that we are a family of all humanity, each equal in God’s eyes. The kingdom doesn’t have the divisions between people that we like to think are relevant. To God, our worldly differences and judgements are meaningless. People are connected in fellowship as one glorious, joy filled community, a communion of souls that transcends death. This is what it means to be born into new life. All who have been through ordeals and suffering are made white in the blood of the lamb, are made clean and are healed, renewed through Christ. There will be no more struggle, no more tears. There is comfort, safety and we will drink from the springs of life. It is a pretty wonderful image. This is the hope we have as disciples of Christ. And we really need to hold onto that hope in our present times when we may get disillusioned or distracted by challenges we face or negative images we see portrayed by people or in the media. This time is temporal – it will pass. Know that we are not alone, we are cheered on by those heavenly hosts seen in Revelations and we are held in the constant and holy deep love of God. Look to the God within you and be compassionate and supportive of your brothers and sisters in Christ. Hold onto hope.
There are saints that have gone before you and there are saints in your midst. Jesus went ahead of us to prepare the way and when we see him again, we will understand that we are blessed as children of God. We are loved by God who promises us new life where we will be comforted, renewed and connected to a new community in God, in glory and in peace.
Keep running the good race ….it is not over yet and when it is, we will all share being the winner. Amen.
Remembering:
We are celebrating All Saints day – remembering the faithful of the past, those known to us, who have shaped our lives and our faith. There are also those who we may not have known personally but have shaped the faith of the church and the world we belong to.
I invite you to name those saints that you recall, now at home. We affirm even though we no longer see their faces, we know they are present.
You are invited to light a candle and pray in memory of those who have shaped your life and faith. You may also like to pray for people or situations which need care, love, healing, compassion or justice.
I will light some candles and as I do so, I will name some saints from our church community.