2026-11-01 Rv 21 01-06a Mt 05 01-12
All Saints and All Ain'ts
**Revelation 21:1-6**
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying,
“See, the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them and be their God;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
And the one who was seated on the throne said, “See, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.” Then he said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End.
**Matthew 5:1-12**
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain, and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. And he began to speak and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
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Today is the day after Halloween. I won’t ask you to raise your hand if you went to a Halloween party last night, because if you did – you probably aren’t here.
And you might say, “Oh my. This satanic night filled with zombies and Disney Princesses is encroaching on Christian decency.”
Fret not. Because even though Halloween spending is in the billions, and that’s just the cost of candy, Christmas spending is now into the trillions. So, praise the Lord, he’s still Number One. In the War on Halloween, Jesus is way ahead of the costumed devils.
Fret even less because Halloween is actually a religious holiday. The name, Halloween, is a contraction of its original name, All Hallow’s Eve. All Hallow’s Eve is the night whose celebration was, originally, to prepare us for the more sober - and I mean that literally - more sober holiday this morning, today, All Saints’ Day.
Here at Trinity, and there in churches all around the world, we emerge from the darkness of Hallow’s Eve to celebrate the dawning light of All Saints’.
Today we turn from the spooky mirth of Trunk or Treats – which, by the way, was a marvelous parking lot celebration, thank you Fellowship Committee – we turn our eyes toward heaven, remembering the hallowed saints of our lives. All Saints’ Day lifts our spirits, literally. It lifts our spirits to hold tight to the everlasting light of the men and women and children who were with us, who were nearly with us, who have mysteriously disappeared from us, and those who, by the grace of God are still with us – absent, present, or in the haze in between. These are OUR saints. This day is for honoring OUR personal saints. The people who have made our lives more hallowed, more holy. The people who, like God, have mercifully restored our spirits within us. They’ve given us meaning. Given us purpose. Given us love. They’ve directed us, prayed for us, watched over us like guardian angels. And if we’re lucky, we can name a few of them who are still living now, and will be with us for a brief while longer.
That’s not spooky. That’s holy. That’s hallowed. And thank God, we have this sacred day to focus our minds on the blessings on THIS side of the grave. We can name our saints, and we will be naming some of them aloud in a few minutes. But you don’t have to wait for the choir to sing and the bells to ring. You can start naming them now. In your head, in your heart, in your whispers. I’m certain some of you have already started.
This is not to say that all our saints are perfect. Some of them, honestly, are far less than human perfection. That’s the thing about saints. Some of them ain’t. Some aren’t so saintly. They may be saints, but they’re also sinners. Like us. Saints and ain’ts. That’s just the way we’re all made. But God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – loves us anyway. God says it’s OK to love our saints in spite of themselves. To love them warts and all. Because warts and scars give them, and give us, beautiful oddity, lovely distinction, visible marks of honesty and truth that remind us. Remind us that though we may be far less than perfection, we’re all redeemable, we’re all worthy of saving, we’re all worth keeping alive a few days more, worthy of being named and claimed – in our hearts and in our minds, and in our souls.
And so, a blessed All Saints’ Day for all of us, and for all of our saints, and even for some of our ain’ts.
—
Every All Saints’ Day we start with a reading from Revelation. Revelation is – in my opinion – intentionally impossible to understand. Not because it’s supposed to be confusing, and it is. Mission accomplished. But because it speaks of things that are simply beyond human understanding. We can’t see the future. We can’t know the mind of God. Because that’s above our biology and our pay grade.
What Revelation does give us is a mystical, spooky vision of what the future holds. And what does this wild dream of the future hold for us?
It speaks of a new heaven and a new earth. Can you imagine? A new cosmos. A new reality. Our current reality is pretty far beyond my pitiful brain. And I’ll bet it’s beyond yours, too.
We don’t know how the new heaven and the new earth will be, or look, or when it’ll land. But the Bible’s dream, God’s promise, is whenever and whatever it is, it will be a realm where:
the home of God is among mortals.
He will dwell with them;
they will be his peoples,
and God himself will be with them and be their God;
he will wipe every tear from their eyes.
Death will be no more;
mourning and crying and pain will be no more,
for the first things have passed away.”
I think what that means is that this world – haunted and enchanted as it may be – is version 1.0. God has a new version in the works. And it will be a place where even if there are tears, God’s fingers will touch our cheeks and wipe them away. It will be a place where death, and mourning, and crying, and pain are – literally – out of this world. Erased. Deleted. Forgotten.
What a wonderful world that will be. Whatever else that means, it means hope. As we say at funerals, it means hope for things yet to come. Hope for glad reunion. Hope for an everlasting Lord’s Supper at a table that has no edges.
It means that even though the saints, our saints, may no longer be with us – it means we, in the reality of hope, will surely and certainly be with them. Together. In this new heaven. This new earth. This promised reunion of love.
So, later today, in our service and in our hearts, when we name our saints, they can and they will – in a blessed instant of heavenly vision – become alive within us. Alive within us. Alive within God. God Emmanuel, who is with us always, today, and every day.
This is true in church. And it’s true in ghosted graveyards. In the memorial gardens. In the seas rolling with sprinkled dust of that which remains. In the holy neonatal units. In the hospice rooms. In all the places where the breath of those who were becomes the shared gentle breeze of heartfelt hope. These saints still fill our lungs and lift our aching hearts. They whisper to us, saying, hope. Saying, life. Saying hold on. Hold on. Because this is not the end.
—
The other scripture we always read on All Saints’ is from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes. The blessings of beauty upon this broken and imperfect world. Remember, it’s just the first version. You can’t expect it to be one hundred percent.
Blessed are the poor.
Blessed are the mourners.
Blessed are the meek, the frightened, the afraid.
Blessed are the ones whose voices have been taken from them by the world’s sharp edges.
Blessed are the ones who are hungering, who are thirsting, who are begging for righteousness. The ones who dream of a fair break. The ones who taste only the burnt, crusted ends of the supposed feast of life.
In other words, not only all the saints, but also all the “ain’ts.” The ones who ain’t got the good stuff. The ones who for whatever reason, steal the good stuff out of the hands of the meek, the hungry, the suffering.
Blessed are the ain’ts. Not because they deserve a break. But because they simply don’t understand how good the goodness can be.
Sometimes you’ll go to a funeral, and when you’re leaving, you’ll wonder, “Did I go to the right place?” “Was the preacher really describing the person I thought I knew?” “Did I miss all the flowery good stuff?”
As a preacher, I have to say that sometimes we’re among the ain’ts. We ain’t got the honesty, or the courage, to say what everybody’s thinking. So we throw a blanket over the darkness. The blanket covers the shape that doesn’t need to be named. The darkness is still there. The ain’ts are gone.
What I think Jesus is saying in his sermon is that in the end, as it says in the Gospel According to John, “the light shines.” “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness will not overcome it.” What I think Jesus is saying is that even though this life can be ghastly, can be cruel, can be downright evil – even though all of this may be true, God’s blessings are just as true. God’s blessings upon the wounds of life will turn them into scars. God’s blessings upon the scars of life will make them stronger. The scars will make us stronger. Strong enough to forgive even if we can’t forget. Strong enough to walk away from whatever ain’t. To walk toward that which is.
Jesus says, “Blessed are.” “Blessed are.” “Blessed are.” Blessed are the ones without the blessings they deserve, the empty pockets of the blessings they should have shared. Because in Jesus’s new earth, they’ll get it. They’ll get not what they deserve. Instead, they’ll get what they don’t deserve. They’ll get blessings. And the strength of these blessings are stronger than any scars. The blessings get the final say. God’s blessings get the final say in this life as well as the next.
—
The darkness of All Hallows Eve slowly dawns into the hallowing light of All Saints’. As you hear the music of this day, don’t just look. Close your eyes and listen for the light.
As you hear the names of our church’s saints read aloud, as you hear the bells chime, don’t be afraid to whisper the names of your saints. Speak the names of the saints that you’re missing today. Maybe death has taken them from you. Maybe the world, maybe stubbornness, maybe anger, maybe the distance of time has separated you from them. Name your saints, the ones you wish were with you. Because, by mysteries of God beyond our understanding, I believe, they can hear you. Forgive them for their absence if you can. But even if you can’t forgive them, forgive yourself, forgive your debts, your trespasses, your oughts, your mistakes. Whatever sins you may have done, whatever things you’ve left undone.
And then, give thanks. Give thanks for the lives of the saints who have loved you, ain’ts who have hurt you. Give thanks for All the Saints who can finally and forever shine this new day, this preview of a new heaven and a new earth. Give thanks for the hope of the time when, as scripture promises, we all can shine,
And there will be no more night; they need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever.
Amen, and amen.
[eos]
