Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy he gave us new life by raising Jesus Christ from death. This fills us with a living hope, and so we look forward to possessing the rich blessings that God keeps for his people. He keeps them for you in heaven, where they cannot decay or spoil or fade away. They are for you, who through faith are kept safe by God's power for the Salvation which is ready to be revealed at the end of time. (1 Peter 1:3-5)
I would like us to think for a moment of things that at the time were very important to us but have long since gone or perhaps have been relegated to the garage along with all the other unused stuff that we have accumulated. Maybe it was something that gave us a great deal of pleasure, perhaps something that had taken us a long time to save enough to buy it.
Every Spring we see garage sales all over the neighbourhood, there we see a large number of items that were once important to people but had now become just another thing that needed to be disposed of.
In the summer of 1984, I became the proud owner of Volkswagen Rabbit. It wasn’t anything out of a box, but it was my first new car. I carefully cleaned and cared for it, but it didn’t like the cold winters of Saskatchewan, salt and sand on the road got to it and soon it began to rust. That’s the way it is with the things we own. They age, wear out, break down, rust or decay, become old-fashioned and out of date, are superseded by something better.
Occasionally an old piece of furniture or an old car might be restored and it’s value renewed, but generally speaking, so many of the things we have owned over the years have been discarded. They weren’t made to last forever.
The same can be said about our bodies. No need to go into detail because this is everyone’s experience and the older we get the more we realize that our bodies need to be repaired. They demand more and more attention by doctors, chiropractors and so on. Like the things we own which grow old and break down, so also our bodies are growing older and break down more and more.
We only need to take a look at the names of people on our prayer list in the bulletin this morning. The effects of old age remind us all that our bodies are ageing and wearing out.
It can’t be denied that sickness, that causes us suffering, and pain, and robs us of our work, and isolates us in hospital from our family and friends, is scaring and depressing. Again and again we are reminded that life is ever so frail and that we are all on a steady march toward death.
We live in a society whose hope for the future consists of making life on this earth heavenly. That seems to go well until something goes wrong. Then suddenly the heavenly life we seek to create on earth falls apart. The Christian’s hope is different and far more certain. John writes: “I write these things to who believe in the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1 John 5:13)
The Bible talks about hope like this, "Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is so good, and by raising Jesus from death, he has given us new life and a hope that lives on. God has something stored up for you in heaven, where it will never decay or be ruined or disappear" (1 Peter 1:3,4 CEV).
The Apostle Peter wrote those words to Christians who were suffering and needed encouragement. He reminds them that the life, death, resurrection and the promised return of Jesus is the beginning of true hope. The trials and suffering that are endured now will strengthen their faith in Jesus as the only source of comfort and encouragement.
And even if it happens that our suffering in this life never ends, that we die as the result of some kind of illness or accident, we can be certain of the hope of eternal life to come. Then there will be no more suffering, or dying or grief.
Page after page in the Bible contains stories of people who are suffering and in a great deal of pain. And the message that comes through, there is no true hope without God. The psalmist said, "I depend on God alone; I put my hope in him. He alone protects and saves me; he is my defender" (Psalm 62:5,6).
We need hope, especially in these days of uncertainty. Thank God that we don’t have to manufacture our own hope. God is a specialist in hope. He sent his Son to reveal to us the heart of God and to remind us that God never abandons his people. We can be certain of the hope of eternal life in Christ Jesus as John writes.
This is a lasting hope that needs to be shared with our fellow Canadians and people of the world. In most cases people are caught up in the false hope of earthly pleasures and happiness as the result they miss the true hope that God gives freely to all people. God made us to have life that goes on forever.
And so today, we are here celebrating All Saints Day. Often when we think of saints, we often think of St Paul, St Peter, St Ignatius and St Margaret (of 149 Pascal St.). These and many others are the champions of Christianity who have been given the title of "saint". Some times our qualification of saints those who have already died and gone home to be with God.
But the term "saint" is much broader than the superstars of the church who are shining examples of faith in Jesus. Paul often began his letters, "to the saints…",
" to the saints at Ephesus", " to those called to be saints at Corinth" "to all the saints at Philippi" and if he was writing to us today he would say "To all the saints in at Greenfield Park…or Notre Dame de Grace".
He said this not because the people demonstrated particularly holy and godly lives (in fact, the first letter to the Corinthians indicates that the Christians there were involved in all kinds of corruption). Yet he calls them "saints" all because of what Jesus has done for them. Saints are forgiven sinners. Saints are ordinary people like you and I, we are not better than any body else. By the grace of God, we are, who we are, because of who we love, and what it is we strive to do." Saints are people who belong to God; who trust God when the going gets tough; whose sure and certain hope is life with God in this life and the life to come.
Saints are very ordinary people like you and me. They aren’t exceptionally good people, but people who have been saved by the grace of God in Christ Jesus and by their example inspire others to believe and follow Christ.
All Saints Day is also a time for remembering those saints who have left this life and are now enjoying eternal life. There are more than anyone can count, from every nation around the world, they may have been strangers in this life but in heaven, there are no strangers, living happy eternal lives and singing God's praises.
Some of those saints in heaven were once members of this congregation. Each of these people had their fair share of difficulties – but they never gave up on their faith in Jesus. Their hope was certain and sure. Beyond their dying, was a treasure stored up for them in God’s presence. Their example of faith and hope was an inspiration to all who knew them.
All Saints Day is a minder when things get us down, when life is not easy, when sickness continually plagues us, when death is drawing closer, we are reminded today to look at the big picture. We are not alone. God has not abandoned us. Yes, we will be tested for a while but just as he was faithful to those who have gone before us, God is faithful to us.
We hang on to the high hope that his love will not give up on us and that God will always be there to help us in our time of need. We have the high hope that one day we too will join the saints in eternity. I will live you with this final thought.
“I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die to find out there isn't, than live my life as if there isn't, and die to find out there is.” Amen.
Rev. Samuel King-Kabu
November 7, 2004