Sermon on November 1, 2026
“All Saints”
By: Rev. Maggie Rutherford
May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be favorable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer. Amen.
Good morning! Happy belated Halloween! I hope that your weekend has been filled with spooky fun, I know mine has been. I got to dress up as both a pirate and a vampire! Recently, I learned about the roots of Halloween, both the etymology and holiday. Hallow comes from the Old English hawin and is synonymously used with ‘saint’. So, Halloween, or Hallow’s Eve as it is sometimes referred to is also referred to as Saint’s Eve. There are similar celebrations in several cultures, from the Celtic Samhain to the Mexican Día de los Muertos, and many countries around the world share in the festivities. It is a time when the veil between this one and the next is at its thinnest, making connection with our loved ones who have died a little bit easier.
We set aside this time as sacred, as time to connect with the departed. Maybe we make their favorite food or perhaps visit their grave and spend a couple hours catching them up on our lives, maybe you brought your photos here to the ofrenda at St. Martin’s.
Though these celebrations then are not unique to the Christian faith, they share a countercultural element in that they center conversations about death and grief. Instead, we ritualize it. We draw on centuries old practices and prayers to help us make some kind of sense, or find some kind of peace, or to just have a place to sit with our pain, about the finality of death. For the Christian faith it transcends any single feast day instead, the center of this is the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus. Every week, we gather together to remember and be changed by the reading of scripture, praying together, singing together, and sharing of the Holy Eucharist.
God sent his only son, Jesus, to be among us on this earth. To share life with us. Not only to teach us something, but to be a part of creation. To breath as we breath. To feel the warmth of the sun on his face. To be loved by his parents and friends. To be taught by his mother. To mourn his father. To know fully what it is to be alive. Including, death, on the cross no less.
Part of our understanding of death is that while death is a permanent facet of earthly life, through our baptism into Christ’s death, there is the promise of eternal life. Of the kingdom of heaven. So when we engage in the rituals of Halloween, Dia de los Muertos, saimhan, All Saints, we are living into our belief in what comes after death. At least to the extent that we know our loved ones are still present in our lives even though we cannot see them any longer.
In the selection from Matthew’s gospel today, Jesus gives the beatitudes, the opening for his sermon on the mount. The first half of each phrase drawing our attention to the saintly in our midst, to be found in the most unlikely of places blessed for being who they are. Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the peacemakers, the pure in heart. Former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams writes in his book ‘Being Christian’, that ‘if being baptized is being led to where Jesus is, then being baptized is being led towards the chaos and the neediness of humanity that has forgotten its own destiny’.
Taking it one step further, Willaims points us to the chaos of our own muddled humanity. As we mourn, when we are poor in spirit, when we hunger for righteousness in this broken world. This is where Jesus invites us to linger, to bear witness to the work God is doing amidst that chaos, the brokenness of the world that is reflected in our creaturely existence. The same parts of us that would have us shy away from conversations of death, are the parts that shy away from acknowledging our mourning, our poor spirit. The beatitudes are often associated with looking outside ourselves for those on the margins, but they also invite us to look for the margins in our own hearts that we push aside in an effort to convince ourselves and others that we are fine, perfect even for the perfectionists in the room. *point at me*
But there is a flip side. Jesus says 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. God is already seeking us, loving us, as we are. No perfection required. We work towards the kingdom of heaven on earth, knowing that once we meet Sister Death, our expectations of the kingdom of Heaven will be upended. Try as we might to imagine God’s kingdom, our human imagination is miniscule in the eyes of God. And thank God for that!
We are not the gatekeepers of heaven, though some like to pretend. In the death of others we come face to face with our own mortality which can be a scary thing. There are so many things competing for our time, mentally, physically, and emotionally. The rituals of the church year help us focus our attention, so when we are inclined to let an aspect of our creaturely life slip, the life and love of God in Christ draws us back. To linger in the chaotic parts of our hearts.
Remembrances of loved ones are naturally bittersweet. Bitter for we love and miss them so. Sweet for the joy it is to have known them, and to remember.
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