A sermon/reflection for The Twenty First Sunday after Trinity – All Saint’s Day

The readings for this Sunday are those of Twenty First Sunday after Trinity Sunday:

• Revelation 7. 9-17

• Psalm 34. 1-10

• 1 John 3. 1-3

• Matthew 5. 1-12

You might like to use the link below to find the above readings and click on any of the reading above that you wish to use:

http://www.katapi.org.uk/CommonWorship/CWLectionarySelV.php

Collect of the day (Bible Sunday)

Let us first spend a few moments in silence to centre ourselves,
to gather ourselves in our souls, to come before the Lord just as we are with our joys and sorrows, our hopes and our fears, our loves and our pains.
Let us just focus our minds and hearts on Jesus
who is the answer for every problem.
Let us pray that the Spirit will work through our lives
to bring Christ to the world.

Silence is kept

Almighty God,
you have knit together your elect
in one communion and fellowship
      in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord:
grant us grace so to follow your blessed saints
in all virtuous and godly living
that we may come to those inexpressible joys
that you have prepared for those who truly love you;
and O God of holiness,
as your glory is proclaimed in every age:
and as we rejoice in the faith of your saints,
inspire us to follow their example
with boldness and joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen.

Prayer before the Sermon

Loving Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the words you have given us today.
We know they are words of life and salvation.
Open our hearts Father,
touch our souls,
forgive us our sins,
especially our lack of faith,
help us to respond to your word.
May we know
that you are our Lord and Saviour
who promises us the power from on high,
your Holy Spirit.
May we experience in our hearts
your love and your presence always.

Amen.

A short homily based on the readings of today is given below:w:

1. Introduction

Today we celebrate the beautiful and inspiring commemoration ‘The All Saints Day’.

All Saints’ Day, also called All Hallows’ Day, Hallowmas, or Feast of All Saints, in the Christian church, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, who have attained heaven. It is celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches.

2. The gospel reading of today (Matthew 5. 1-12)

The gospel reading of today could be considered like the manifesto of Jesus addressed to those who wished to embark with him on his great eschatological mission – The Kingdom of God. The reading of today often referred to as ‘The Beatitudes’ describes in a nutshell the secret, the mystery and the meaning of the Kingdom that Jesus came to establish. 

3. The Beatitudes

The Beatitudes are eight blessings recounted by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew. Each is a proverb-like proclamation, without narrative. Four of the blessings also appear in the Sermon on the Plain in the Gospel of Luke, followed by four woes which mirror the blessings.

Through proclaiming the ‘The Beatitudes’, Jesus is practically telling us what is this “Kingdom of God”:

• that this “Kingdom of God” is a “Kingdom of Love”,
• that Christianity is a religion of love,
• that the disciples of Christ are called to walk on the path of love,
• that Christians – real Christians – are those who have embraced this Kingdom of Love and this God of Love with all their hearts and all their minds, with all their strength.

So Jesus, as we read in the gospel, is in Galilee, teaching his disciples. He speaks about blessedness and happiness and how unexpected people enter the kingdom. In the gospel today (Matthew 5. 1-12) Jesus outlines the radical nature of the Kingdom – the blessed ones are those who are “poor”, “hungry”, “the abandoned”, “those who thirst for justice.”

4. Jesus completely overturns the values of the world.

Those who seek happiness for themselves will be abandoned to themselves.

In the similar passage in Luke 6. 27-31, Jesus puts before us the utterly radical nature of the Kingdom in another quality of a disciple of Christ, a Christian, namely the challenge of a “perfect love”, that includes a love of enemies which actually goes beyond the straightforward reciprocity of the Golden Rule.

First of all, Jesus reverses many of the world’s standards.

God does not bless those who are satisfied with themselves, but those who know their need of him and trust him unreservedly and show his love to everyone.

Secondly, those who enter and belong to this “Kingdom of Love” are those who possess a love that is wholly disinterested and unselfish.

It is that type of love that can turn a person into a child of God and a member of the Kingdom of God, “so that you may be children of your Father in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5.45), “you will be children of the Most High.” (Luke 6.35)

The love that Jesus preaches and proclaims is the kind of love that is able to forgive enemies and even to love your enemies and do good to them.

5. To conclude, the saints are those who lived this type of love following Jesus.

They are those who utterly trusted in God and not in themselves. They are those who loved God with a passionate love and loved others – whether friend or foe – with an equally passionate love that was disinterested, unconditional, uncompromising, sacrificial.

We have so many examples of such saints throughout history. we think of one in the recent times who caught the imagination of the world and who inspired everyone who met her – Mother Teresa. She by her life of loving service spread the ‘Good News’ of God’s love to the poorest and the most vulnerable in society in the streets and slums

We all cannot be Mother Teresa-s. But it is this kind of perfect love that will save our world. The saints testified to by their lives to that love illustrated by God himself when he gave us his own son to save us and to give us hope – Jesus Christ! Christianity is Love that is Giving:“God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (Jn 3.16)

The saints who have gone before us show us the way. They tell us that it is possible to live such lives of love. They remind us that love is all that matters because God is Love and Heaven is Love. Living out the ‘Beatitudes’, the gospel reading of today, is the sure path to such holiness of lives and such blessedness and happiness!

[ST Mattapallly, Rector, Springline Parish Diocese of Lincoln]

Pause to pray

A Prayer you can say now:

Lord Jesus,
I believe you are the Son of God.
Thank you for becoming one of us.
Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins.
Thank you for rising from the dead
to give me hope and the gift of eternal life. 
I repent of my sins
and invite you into heart and life
as my Lord and Saviour.
Please grant me your Holy Spirit
so that I may know you, love you
and follow you every day of my life.

Amen.                                    

 

You might like to use the intercessions given after you have listened to the worship song.