Sunday of All Saints ---- 5 November 2017

1 John 3:1-3

1 See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.

Beloved, we are God's children now

·       When we come to this point in the year, the weather has turned a bit colder, the leaves have fallen, the harvest is in or is being taken in, and chocolate and all sorts of candy is on sale in the big stores.

·       The festival of All Saints is melancholy one. For most of us, it has two meanings. Some of us remember the multitude of un-named saints, those faithful folks who will never have a festival of their own on the church calendar. Look through the beginning of the hymnal or service book sometime and you’ll see quite a few names listed there with a day of celebration.

·       We could even say After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.

·       This time of year also reminds us of those we have lost, who have passed beyond the veil as my Irish ancestors might have said. Of them we might say Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. The accent in that statement is on the words “will be”, for when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. When the fog finally lifts and we see our Saviour and the revelation is complete, we will be changed. Really, how could we not be changed?

·       We live now in an odd, in-between time. The burden of loss is often fresh and the memories thick. We wait to see what the future will bring and we live by faith because we don’t know what is to come.

·       What is our comfort now, here, today? What can we learn from the saints on the Church’s list and saints un-named? What might we take from the sadness of the loss we feel?

·       Here the words of one who called himself John: Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. In the middle of our sadness, in the middle of our change of seasons, in the middle of remembering so many who are gone, the Word of God tells us of our real identity, the identity we share with those we call saints and those we call beloved. We remain God’s children and we can rejoice – loudly or quietly or even sadly – that we have the lessons and the example of the ones who have walked with us for so much of our lives. They ARE God’s children… and so ARE we.

·       John’s letter is clear; there is no pussy-footing around: Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. The words are a reminder we need now and again… and maybe daily. As a congregation we don’t have to look off into the distance for a “someday” when we have enough people, enough resources, or enough of whatever we might name in order to be a church that better reflect what we think we should be.

·       In truth, it is today that we can know and believe that we already are what God has called us to be – children of God. We are not perfect at being God’s children; we all know that. There is always room to grow and become more of what we already are. To become what God wishes us to be, it pays to see and remember what we already are: Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.

·       What has been is remembered, whether that past is the inspiration and example of the great saints of our church, the love we’ve known with those who have left us but have not left our memory, or the sacrifice of those who have stood Between their loved homes and the war's desolation. (These are not my words; I’m quoting a later verse of the national anthem of the United States.) What will come will come. Today, despite fears, uncertainty, or troubles, we are children of God. Already… today… right now.

·       See what love the Father has given us that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. … Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed.