This week’s Readings and Sermon for All Saints Sunday
The Collect for This Week
God of holiness, your glory is proclaimed in every age: as we rejoice in the faith of your saints, inspire us to follow their example with boldness and joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
The Post Communion Prayer for this week
God, the source of all holiness and giver of all good things: may we who have shared at this table as strangers and pilgrims here on earth be welcomed with all your saints to the heavenly feast on the day of your kingdom; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
Psalm 149
1 Alleluia. O sing to the Lord a new song; sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful. 2 Let Israel rejoice in their maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their king. 3 Let them praise his name in the dance; let them sing praise to him with timbrel and lyre. 4 For the Lord has pleasure in his people and adorns the poor with salvation. 5 Let the faithful be joyful in glory; let them rejoice in their ranks, 6 With the praises of God in their mouths and a two-edged sword in their hands; 7 To execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; 8 To bind their kings in chains and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9 To execute on them the judgement decreed: such honour have all his faithful servants. Alleluia.
Glory to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning is now and shall be forever. Amen
The Old Testament Reading for this Sunday is taken from the Book of the prophet Daniel, Chapter 7, verses 1 to 3 and 15 to 18
7 In the first year of King Belshazzar of Babylon, Daniel had a dream and visions of his head as he lay in bed. Then he wrote down the dream: 2 I, Daniel, saw in my vision by night the four winds of heaven stirring up the great sea, 3 and four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. 15 As for me, Daniel, my spirit was troubled within me, and the visions of my head terrified me. 16 I approached one of the attendants to ask him the truth concerning all this. So he said that he would disclose to me the interpretation of the matter: 17‘As for these four great beasts, four kings shall arise out of the earth. 18 But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom for ever—for ever and ever.’
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The New Testament reading for this Sunday is taken from the Letter of St Paul to the Ephesians, Chapter 1 verses 11 to 23
11 In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, 12 so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. 13 In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit; 14 this is the pledge of our inheritance towards redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory. 15 I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love towards all the saints, and for this reason 16 I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, 18 so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, 19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power. 20 God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come. 22 And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
This is the Word of the Lord Thanks be to God
The Gospel reading for this Sunday is taken from the Gospel of St Luke, Chapter 6, verses 20 to 31
Hear the Gospel of our Lord, Jesus Christ, according to Luke Glory to You, o Lord !
20 Then he looked up at his disciples and said: ‘Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 ‘Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. ‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh. 22 ‘Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23 Rejoice on that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets. 24 ‘But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. 25 ‘Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. ‘Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 ‘Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets. 27 ‘But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30 Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31 Do to others as you would have them do to you.
This is the Gospel of the Lord. Praise to You, o Christ !
Note :All readings are shared from the Church of England Lectionary App and are subject to copyright . © The Archbishop’s Council
The sermon this week is delivered by Rev. Laura Brinicombe
I wonder if you’ve ever drawn out a timeline of your life?
Where do you start and who or what do you include? It can be tricky to decide which events count as significant, can’t it?
Maybe have a think about your faith journey now. What events led to you being here for worship today? Which of these are significant?
I think it can be even harder to know where to start on our faith timeline because, of course, we’re all in the extraordinary position of sitting here 2000 years after Jesus died and rose again. So, you have to go a long, long, long way back to reach ‘in the beginning!’
On All Saints’ Day, we remember that unbroken chain of Christians that stretches out behind us, all the way back to Jesus’ first followers. We’re reminded that, although our faith journey may sometimes feel lonely, we are surrounded and supported by a great cloud of witnesses - we are never alone. Generations of believers have experienced the joy of the Lord and they’ve also faced challenges, set-backs, disappointments, moments of doubt and confusion. Within that long chain or web of believers will be those who built this church, those who translated this Bible into English, those who prayed, worshipped and lived out their faith as an example to the people around them.
These people are the saints - and they connect us right the way back to our gospel reading today.
Looking Back:
So let’s look back. Our gospel passage from Luke takes place very early in Jesus’ ministry. After a night of prayer on the mountain, Jesus has returned and chosen the twelve apostles from amongst his followers.
He then begins healing the crowds, but our passage is addressed to His disciples. This is the first piece of teaching in Luke that is directed specifically towards the twelve and the rest of Jesus’ followers. I think this is striking for us because those early followers are the ones at the other end of our chain of saints that stretches across all those years and miles.
So where does Jesus start with them - with us?
Well, He begins by teaching about who the blessed ones are.
Luke reads slightly differently to Matthew. In Matthew’s gospel, we have eight beatitudes or blessings but in Luke we have four blessings, paired with four woes, and each one is flipped to give its opposite.
The blessed are the poor, those who hunger now, those who weep and those who are alienated for Jesus’ sake. Woe is promised to those who are rich, full, those who laugh and are spoken well of.
I wonder which groups Jesus’ first followers identified with the most? I wonder, as we sit here all these years later, which groups we identify with the most? Is today a day of weeping or laughter for you? Do you feel hungry or full?
The pairings in Luke are very neat but you’ll notice that Jesus really uses them to cover a full spectrum of human experience. The journey of faith has seasons and I’m sure there are times when we’ve found in deep sorrow and lack, and in times plenty - when we are full to bursting with joy! We’re not usually permanently sat in one group or the other and Jesus doesn’t suggest that the woes are some kind of punishment from God because we enjoy our blessings – God is not looking to curse us with weeping because we have moments of laughter.
Rather than dividing people by their experiences, Jesus is warning His disciples about a cycle that has played out over the generations. From the time Jesus began teaching His first disciples, right up to today, people have repeated the same error. When we feel satisfied by the things of life – the things of this world - we tend to rely less on God and we stop seeking His transformative power.
Luke’s pairings are there to remind us that following Christ is all about change – each group is contrasted with another but none will remain the same once Jesus brings His kingdom into being. The hungry will be fed, the tears of the weeping will be dried – our world will not remain as it is - we will not remain as we are.
Change is not easy. Walking with Jesus and asking Him to transform us into His likeness probably won’t feel like a blessing most of the time! If we follow Him, Jesus asks us to look at the brokenness inside us and in the world around us, to stare poverty, pain and grief in the face and not look away – but it is from within this place of struggle and sorrow for our world, that God promises to remain close to us and reveal Himself and His power at work.
So, in the Beatitudes, Jesus encourages his followers to always look forward towards this change and transformation. They are to learn to live as people who no-longer rely on the things of this world because they can see something so much better is on offer - an eternity in relationship God. They are freed to approach life in a different way because they can hope in Jesus, who is making all things new and will bless them with everlasting life.
Looking Forward:
When we think about that long line of believers behind us on All Saints Day, we always do so with the way forward in mind.
Those millions of ordinary faithful Christians, and the ones with a capital S, were always ready to take the next step on their faith journey – they had their eyes fixed on the coming kingdom and a future with God. Their stories, the stories that inspire us, are not stories of material riches, fame or worldly success – they’re stories about people who endured difficulties, persecution and suffering but found God’s deepest blessings in the depths and lived their lives differently in the light of that incredible hope.
Those voices down the generations urge us on, encouraging us to look forward to the next link in the chain – what will new believers inherit from us – what are we leaving behind?
I think there are two incredibly important things we can bless the next generation of believers with.
We can show them how to be a people of hope. The saints that we remember rarely got a glimpse of the goodness of God’s coming kingdom, many of those early followers who listened to Jesus speak the Beatitudes were martyred for their faith. They are remembered because of their absolute trust that God would, one day, turn their weeping to laughter, that God would heal all things, that in Jesus, God has defeated sin and death.
Sadly, so many people (especially young people) today, are fed a narrative of hopelessness. They are told to be afraid, that there is no place for them and that they have no future. As Christians, we have a radically different story to tell – a story of unconditional love, of forgiveness, of transformative power – of a God who brings life out of death.
Jesus ends His lesson to the disciples with some examples of how we can live as people of hope – as those who show they believe in a future of healing and reconciliation and peace. We show our faith in that incredible future every time we love our enemies, give generously to others and pray for those who cause us problems.
I’m sure all of us can think of somebody who has helped us to see the kingdom of God – not because they did anything spectacular - but because they lived every ordinary day with hope, instead of hate.
The second thing we can do is simple – it’s exactly what was done for us! We can proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ afresh. I think that word ‘afresh’ is very important. Those who come after us will need help to find ways to express their faith and these ways will not be the same as ours. The journey is still going on, the next link in the chain is being forged and I have no doubt that when Sarah is older and she thinks of church, she will imagine something quite different than I do. How might we connect those loops into the chain? How might we help the next person in line to pray, to worship, to hear God’s word for themselves?
Maybe you have a favourite Saint? Or perhaps there’s a person in your life who stands out as a hero or heroine of the faith? I hope today we can all be encouraged by their example. But most importantly, let’s remember that that chain of faith includes us – we are saints! In Westminster Abbey, right at the front, there’s a list of 21st century saints – I think it’s good to be reminded that acts of great faith are still changing the world right now - Jesus is performing them through ordinary people like you and me. Saints are not special, they are ordinary men and women transformed by the hope they had in Jesus. Today, is our chance to show that hope to others.
Amen.