Sermon for St Edward’s / All Saints and All Souls Nov 2024. Readings: Psalm 24:1-6, John 11:32-44, Revelation 21:1-6.
As most of you know I love a good walk or a hike – last week we were in the Peak District, getting out in creation every day for a good hike. And something that often inspires me when I am out in nature is dead trees. That might sound a bit random but sometimes you see them when they are dead but still standing, and they are so stark against the sky as the leaves are all gone, the bark usually too, just a central core. They kind of stand out.
Or you might see them fallen to the ground, roots splayed, perhaps freshly fallen after a storm and there are bits of broken and shattered branches and twigs around the place.
Or if they’ve fallen a while ago, they have maybe started to grow moss, or begin to break down, or be eaten by insects and other wildlife.
We might see a dead tree whether standing or fallen and think it’s just a dead tree, or we might think it’s sad that it’s died, or wonder what caused it. But there is actually so much life left in it.
Did you know for example that even living trees are dead in the core, as the tree grows the central part of the trunk is dead wood only the outer layers are really alive as it continues to grow outwards. So when you count the rings of a stump you need to count from the inside out – the inside is the earliest and oldest.
And that is why you sometimes find trees living when there is no centre to the trunk, they can be completely hollow. Although the centre doesn’t usually decay, a really old tree or one that has been damaged can cause the centre, the heart wood, to start to break down. On our way to the Peaks we saw a tree like this where I could literally get inside it and stand up, that’s how hollow it was, but still living and healthy.
Or sometimes you see fallen trees or those that have been cut down, and they grow shoots from the base or stump. If you’ve heard of the famous tree at Sycamore Gap you will know it was felled last year in an act of violence, but new shoots are growing from its stump.
And even when a tree is fully dead, woodpeckers, bats and other small nesting birds make their homes in them. And when the dead tree falls to the ground it is still full of life as it provides for the eco system around it. Mycellium, tiny fungi which live in the soil – and are super fascinating – not time to tell you about them today but read up on them!
These tiny fungi help to break down the tree releasing nutrients into the soil. Insects feed on the dead wood and make homes in it. Other wildlife feeds on the insects. And so on
Even in death there is so much life. It is all part of one gigantic eco system.
Now you might wonder where I am going but just hold on to that thought for a few mins.
This week we mark All Saints and the commemoration of the faithful departed – often known as All Souls. Today we are marking both as the dates fell during the week. Both these feasts give us the opportunity to remember the ‘faithful departed’. Traditionally the focus on All Saints is around the wider church, and people in whom God has been seen at work powerfully, the canonised usually. It’s an opportunity to be inspired by their holiness and sanctity in their experiences. All Souls gives a focus more relationally – those we knew and loved personally, those we have lost, who inspired us in our faith. It is a chance to give thanks for those who have nurtured us in our own lives.
Many of us are inspired by the actual Saints who have gone before us. Those who were canonised by the church – Mary for example, St Edward our patron saint, perhaps St Anthony – patron saint of lost things, or perhaps we have our own favourite? There are some more unusual patron saints too, such as St Drogo, patron saint of a rather random mix – unattractive people, coffee and shepherds. St Polycarp of Smyrna, patron saint of dysentery, St Cornelius, patron saint of twitching – he was beheaded with an axe… St Barbara, patron saint of thunderstorms, artillery fire and miners – basically anything that goes bang. She was forced to marry and refused so she was beheaded by her father, who was not long after struck by lightning. I think perhaps she should be the patron saint of revenge.
Sometimes people find Saints a bit difficult, a bit too catholic, but actually they are good reminders to us of people who lived amazingly faithful lives and who God worked through, often very powerfully. They can inspire us in our own walk of faith. We might find a particular saint that we have an affinity with – as we have seen there is a saint for everything you can imagine! St Francis is a personal favourite of mine, and as a paddleboarder, St Brendan, patron of saint of sailors, kayakers and those on the sea. We might be inspired by their stories, their actions, their life of faith, and connect with them. There are some really deep and profound reasons why men and women have been canonised over the centuries.
They can help us in prayer too, I know some of us like to pray through the saints – and we must remember we are not praying to them in the way we pray to Jesus, as Paul says, Jesus is our only mediator, but we are praying through them – so we are asking them to intercede for us. In the same way we might ask a friend to pray for us in the here and now.
And there are all those, the souls of the faithful departed who are known to us personally. Loved ones and relatives who have been part of our personal journey of faith. Those who have had an impact on us because of their presence in our lives. Those who may only be known to us or to a handful of people around them but who are also people of amazing faith.
AND God is at work in us all. I love this quote from Christian artist and mystic Caryll Houselander. She wrote:
If we look for Christ only in the saints, we shall miss him. If we look for him only in those people who seem to have the sort of character we personally consider to be Christian, that which we call our “ideal,” we shall miss the whole meaning of his abiding in us. If we look for him in ourselves, and what we imagine to be the good in us, we shall begin in presumption and end in despair. Our search through faith and courage and love is a great going out into darkness, a reaching out to others in darkness, believing that Christ is there in each one; but not in the way that we expect, not in the way that we think he should be, not in the way that we already understand, but in the way that he chooses to be, who is himself the way.
Caryll Houselander (from The Reed of God)
Someone I know once shared a story with me. They were on retreat and stayed in a place of prayer overseen by some nuns. One nun kept asking if he could see Christ in the people around him yet. He was struggling to answer this until one day the nun suggested he visit the local chippy to get his dinner. And he was struck by the owner, simply serving chips behind the counter. But he said that he felt Christ was shining out of this man, who was not a Christian, as he served him his fish and chips. When he came back to the retreat house he said to the nun, I’ve seen Christ in the chip shop. She simply replied with a knowing smile.
Christ can be at work in all, after all God is the creator of all, including humanity. In Matt 25 Jesus is teaching in parables:
Then the righteous will answer him, “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?” And the king will answer them, “Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me
Matthew 25:37-40 (NRSV)
Let us be people who look for the sanctity and presence of Christ in all people. Let us see all as the saints of God.
And in the end the faithful followers of Christ will be united. All of us, Saints, faithful friends, us, we are all The Saints of the church. The church of Christ united across the ages. As we read in Revelation earlier in the year, the Saints who have gone before us, the faithful martyrs wait around the throne of God for the day when we all shall be gathered in the end. As Charles Wesley wrote in his hymn, Let saints on earth in concert ring:
One family, we dwell in him, one Church, above, beneath;
though now divided by the stream, the narrow stream of death.
Charles Wesley ‘Let Saints on Earth in Concert Ring’
Although as we read in our John passage, we feel grief in death of course, because we know we will no longer see and be with those we love in this life, even Jesus felt that at the death of his friend. So we hold our grief in tension with the hope of the future we have promised for us. But more than that, Saints, faithful departed, us – we all have a legacy we leave behind where God remains at work.
Think about that dead tree again for a moment. It is as we have seen, still full of life. It provides sustenance for the wildlife around it, feeds an eco system with itself, shares of its very being. So do those who have gone before us – the Saints continue to give life by inspiring us, teaching us, interceding for us. Their lives give sustenance, and nourish us in our walk of faith. Our memories of those who have been at work in our lives continue to remind us to walk in faith. Even in death they bring us life.
So, the Saints we remember with good reason, they have lived amazing lives for God, they inspire us.
But let’s also remember we are all part of the family of God with them, with those gone before, the faithful departed. We are not less worthy because we have not performed a miracle or given up our lives to serve the poor, or gone to some far flung country to share the gospel. We are simply called to serve the Lord in our own way. Even the outcasts who love the Lord are gathered in, and so will we be.
So let’s be inspired, let’s remember those great acts of God, let’s remember to look for Christ in all, and let’s serve Christ in who we have been made to be.
Amen
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