’ DAY November 1, 2020

Prelude: The Word of the Lord

Presider: Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. People: And blessed be God’s kingdom, now and forever. Amen.

Presider: Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen

All: Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

The Collect of the Day Presider: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you. Presider: Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

A reading from Revelation 21:1-6 Then I (John) saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the former heaven and the former earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud voice from the throne say, “Look! God’s dwelling is here with humankind. He will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples. God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more. There will be no mourning, crying, or pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” 5 Then the one seated on the throne said, “Look! I’m making all things new.” He also said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 Then he said to me, “All is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will freely give water from the life-giving spring.

Lector: The Word of the Lord People: Thanks be to God

Hymn:

The Holy Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12

Presider: The Holy Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ according to Matthew People: Glory to you, Lord Christ Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. 3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Presider: The Gospel of the Lord.. People: Praise to you, Lord Christ.

The Sermon

All Saints’ Day provides the very unique opportunity for all of us to hear our funeral sermon before we are dead. Because after all, once it comes time for our funeral we aren’t going to be around to hear it. So, kind of like Tom Sawyer, this morning you are going to get a sneak preview. But unlike Tom Sawyer it is not going to be about you, the individual. In other words, the focus is not about what you (the deceased) did in your life as much as it is about what God has done in your death. And I think that is good for us to know now, while we are still breathing, because once we are dead……..well……we are dead.

Having been in the priesthood now for forty years, there is one aspect of ministry that still eludes me despite having had considerable practice at it. And that is funerals. Even though every one of us is going to die, it is only rarely (as in almost never) do we plan our funeral service. We always leave it for our mournful loved ones who struggle to know what dad, mom or grandpa wanted. And if the truth be known, I usually end up selecting the readings, hymns and designing the liturgy. So, if you don’t want Onward Christian Soldiers sung at your funeral, you better tell me now.

One of the readings I generally select is from Revelation 21 not only because it talks about a new heaven and a new earth and that death, mourning, pain and crying will be no more, but it has God proclaiming that “I am the Alpha and the Omega----the beginning and the end.” Because remember this is about God not you.

So, in the beginning (in principio) says John in the first chapter of his gospel which although it is a poem the author is writing, we assume that he is being more than just poetic. When the author says “in the beginning,” we assume he means no less than quite literally before anything yet had been made that was to be made. We assume “in the beginning” means in a time beyond time before creation happened, before Orion and the Pleiades were flung tumbling across the sky into their places, before the Big Bang banged. It was at a time when there was no up and no down, no life and no death, no here and no there------in the beginning there was only God------“I am the Alpha,” the voice announces. I am the Creator. I started it all. And, for the most part, we believe this to be true.

But in addition, the voice also tells us that God is not only the beginning but the END. “I am the Alpha AND the Omega, the beginning AND the end.” I was there in the beginning, and I will be there at the end. I took part in your birth, and I will take part----a big part----in your death. And it is here, in our deaths, that I think the Church doesn’t do such a good job at explaining. God is not only the creator of life but also the giver of eternal life. After the credits have rolled-----at the end------God.

Trouble is, most people today seem to believe what they believe about “life after death” based on a belief about humanity rather than a belief about God. As an example, I told you that chances are I will be the one selecting your readings for your funeral service. Just about all families yield in this arena. But one area in which they insist on participating is the homily or more accurately the eulogy. A eulogy is a laudatory speech or written tribute especially praising someone who has died. A homily is an abbreviated sermon on a Biblical theme. The two are very different.

I have had grieved widows, children and spouses with no public speaking experience volunteer to give a eulogy in front of large crowds of people on behalf of their deceased loved one. They want to read poems, tell interesting anecdotes, attempt humor and provide elaborate media presentations. All wonderful stuff! Wonderful stuff because it comes from their heart and their love for the deceased. But they miss the point. A funeral is not a tribute to the deceased; it is a tribute to God. Certainly, it is about the deceased but only as a vehicle to talk about God, the Omega.

You see, funerals are opportunities for us to relate what we believe God does when each of us dies. I have tried this on several occasions only to see displeased looks on people’s faces. Funerals are opportunities to talk about resurrection and new life in God. It is not about grandpa who loved to fish, and how he is now fishing in the big lake in the sky. It is not about the immortality of the individual soul, which each of us possess. It is about new eternal life in God.

I am reminded of the story about Lazarus who died and who Jesus raised to life again but after four days. When Jesus asks to be taken to Lazarus’ grave, even Lazarus’ sister Mary questions the wisdom of this move. She comments that he has already been dead for four days, and therefore, he is going to stink pretty badly. This is such an important point because it gets to the very root of resurrection and each and every one of our deaths. In other words, when each of us dies, we DIE! Everything about us is dead…..DEAD! There is no soul which springs forth immediately from its physical embodied prison as if a free bird released from its cage. Jesus doesn’t talk about how we “cross over” or “pass on”. These are soft words we invoke to soothe the broken hearts of our loved ones and keep us from facing the cold reality of death itself.

When we die…………we DIE! When we die, there is nothingness until God takes what used to be you and me and re-creates an entirely new being who is recognizable as us but is something far more spectacular and different. God picks up that which is dead and breathes new life into it. We enter a place where there is no pain or grief but life eternal. And God does this for all of humanity!

Sometimes when I am feeling a little plucky and I have just heard for the umpteenth time how grandpa is now bowling on God’s team in the big bowling alley in the sky, I will comment to any who will listen, “Eternal life in God is wonderful. Just think it is like spending eternity in church!” I get the strangest looks sort of like the looks we give to people who walk up escalators.

Immortality is attractive because it acts as if eternalness is something that we possess as human beings. Resurrection, however, is humbling because it is a pure gift to utterly mortal human beings like us. Immortality assumes continuity in the next life with this life------if we enjoyed gardening in this life, we’ll get to garden in the next. Resurrection, as hinted at from Revelation, promises a whole new world, a radical discontinuity with the pain and frustration of life in this world. It is discontinuity that occurs because we are now near God in a healed, restored, wonderfully refashioned world. In that new creation God will wipe away every tear from every eye and there will be no more sadness, no more grief and death because God’s gift of a new heaven and a new earth.

Like Jesus calling Lazarus from the tomb, God shall call each of us forth into new life, calling us each by name. Our destiny is God’s eternal remembrance of us, each of us, in our death so that we might live.

All Saints’ Day, today, is really the only time this message can be delivered. All Saints’ Day is the only appropriate time where the living are open to hearing their own funeral sermon. And this is because funerals are not for the dead, they are for the living. And thus it is important for us to know what happens to ourselves when we die-----at least in a Christian belief system.

All Saints’ Day is not simply the day after All Hallows Eve. It is a day in which we remember those who have gone before us-----on whose shoulders we and all of society stand allowing us to see that much further into the horizon. But I will tell you that the number we remember is infinitesimal to the number who have actually lived. If you have ever had the difficult task of cleaning out a parent or grandparent’s home after their death, then you know that the hardest of the hard is the photographs. And what is hard is that you most likely don’t know anyone in them. Anyone! And yet, your parent or grandparent kept that photo for 70, 80 years. And what are you going to do with it?

If you are like me, you quit going through all the photos one by one because it is too heart breaking to then do what you are going to do------discard the ones of people whom you have no idea who they are. You quit going through each photo one by one because it reminds you on a deep level how you too will be forgotten---not remembered in a photograph even by your own progeny. And, thus, you wonder what’s life all about? You wonder: What difference does my life make?

I encourage you today during the prayers of the people to say in your heart the names of those whom you loved and have died. But also remember all those who you don’t remember or even have ever known but whose names are known to God alone. Remember them only in God and by what God has done for them. Remember the spectacular miracle of God, the same God who raised the dead Jesus, the same God who called us forth by name at our births and who will again call us by name in our deaths in raising us to new life thereby defeating the enemy death and taking us unto Himself. “Because I live,” said Jesus, “you too will live.” Just like Lazarus, we believe that when we are as dead as a doornail, Jesus shall somehow call us forth from our tomb, and we will be handed new life.

You know, some day, I am either not going to wake up or collapse while sitting at my desk or drift off in a morphine assisted haze during a terminal illness. I shall then be buried, forgotten, returned to the dust from whence I was made, and remembered for a while only by those few who knew me well. But soon, I know, I shall fade into the oblivion of the forgotten. And I know that some day someone will throw out my most cherished photos because they won’t know who the people in the photographs are. Some day I know that whatever I accomplished shall tarnish and diminish.

And yet, on the basis of what I have known of God, I believe that what may seem like a conclusion will in reality be a commencement. I fully expect to hear the God, who so sought after me in life, say to me even in my death, “Yes, the face is familiar. I remember you. Now, remind me what exactly were you doing down there? (Me) “Ministry, Lord!” “Oh, yes…..well……..I’ve got a whole new world to show you. So, rise up and be new. You, who were once dead, will now be alive.”

Out of death comes life. The hard part is to trust our death to God. If you think trusting your life to God is hard, trusting your death to God is even harder. We find by losing. We hold fast by letting go. We become something new by ceasing to be something old.

Unfortunately, I know no more now than I ever did about the far side of death as the last letting-go of all, but I have begun to know that I do not need to be afraid of not knowing. God knows, for God is the Omega. This is all that matters. Out of Nothing, God creates Something. Out of the End, God creates the Beginning.

This, I believe, is our end……or rather our beginning…….in He who is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.

Prayers of the People As we journey with Christ and celebrate the paschal mystery of his death and resurrection let us pray to God for those who seek light in the darkness.

For the holy catholic church throughout the world, sharing the death and resurrection of Christ. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord. People: God is mercy. For Michael, our Presiding Bishop, for John and Diane, our bishops, for all who minister in Christ and for all the people of God. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord People: God is mercy.

For all nations, peoples, tribes, clans, and families. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord. People: God is mercy.

For justice, mercy, and peace in all the world. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord. People: God is mercy.

For all who are tempted, oppressed, afflicted, or in need. We pray for Susan, Julia, Bill, and Ann Margaret Lorey in their ongoing fight with cancer. Pray for Wendy M. as she faces heart surgery. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord. People: God is mercy.

For the dying and the dead, and for those who mourn. We pray for Dagmar, Monica Moorman’s mother who died this past week. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord. People: God is mercy.

For our families, friends, companions, and for all those we love. Reader: We pray to you, O Lord. People: God is mercy.

Remembering Andrew and Charles and all the saints, let us offer ourselves and one another to the living God through Christ. People: To you, O God we give thanks.

Presider: The Peace of the Lord be always with you. People: And also with you.

The Announcements 1. Coffee Fellowship: 11:00 – 11:30AM each Sunday. Grab your cup of coffee and join us in our zoom Coffee Fellowship. It is a fantastic way to see and talk to folks you haven’t seen for a while. Send an email to [email protected] so you can obtain the zoom link to join in. 2. Pantry is open; Th 9:30-10:30. When you are grocery shopping, please pick up extra non-perishable food for our pantry. It will be greatly appreciated. 3. Morning Prayer: Each Thursday at 8AM via zoom. 4. Book Club November 2nd: Because of the upcoming election, the November the Book Club will be held tomorrow, Monday November 2nd. The group will be discussing the book "Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century" by Jessica Bruder. "From the beet fields of North Dakota to the campgrounds of California to Amazon's Camper Force program in Texas, employers have discovered a new, low-cost labor pool;, made up largely of transient olders adults." They have taken to the road in RV's and vans due to the Great Recession. 5. Stewardship: We started our annual Stewardship Pledge Drive for 2021. If you missed it, you still may be part of our small group gatherings. I encourage all of you to do so. The core of our stewardship program this year is to gather together because we have been and are still separated from one another. If you have not received an invitation to our Stewardship meeting, please call the church at (818)366-7541 and let us know. In addition, if you wish, you can make your pledge online, please go to our website (www.2saints.org) scroll over to our donations and pledges link. click on it and follow the instructions for making a pledge. It is fast and easy. 6. One of our favorite fundraising get togethers is our Murder Mystery Dinner. The Murder Mystery Dinner will be on November 14th 6-9 p.m. Title: “Betting on Murder” $50 per household. Make your reservations now. Email [email protected] or call 818) 625-1042 for more details and information about how to pay for your front row seats at the Murder Mystery Dinner.

Presider: Let us with gladness present our offerings and oblations of our life and labor to the Lord.

Hymn

The Holy Eucharist

Presider: God be with you. People: And also with you. Presider: Lift up your hearts. People: We lift them to the Lord. Presider: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God. People: It is right give our thanks and praise.

Presider: Jesus said, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst, but have eternal life. Therefore, on the night he was handed over to suffering and death, Jesus took bread; and when he had given thanks to you, he broke it, and gave it to his disciples, and said, “Take eat: This is my Body, which is given for you. Do this for the remembrance of me.”

Send your Holy Spirit upon this gift. Let it be for us the Body and Blood of your Son. And grant that we who eat this bread may be filled with your life and goodness.

We ask this through your Son Jesus Christ. By him, and with him, and in him, in the unity of the Holy Spirit all honor and glory is yours, Almighty Father, now and forever. Amen.

The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your Name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our sins as we forgive those who sin against us. Save us from the time of trial, and deliver us from evil. For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours, now and forever. Amen.

The Blessing

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May God give you grace not to sell yourselves short, Grace to risk something big for something good, Grace to remember that the world is now too dangerous for anything but truth, and too small for anything but love. May God take your minds and think through them. May God take your lips and speak through them. May God take your hands and work through them. May God take your hearts and set them on fire.

Dismissal

Presider: Let us go forth into the world rejoicing in the power of the Spirit. Alleluia! Alleluia! People: Thanks be to God, Alleluia! Alleluia!

Postlude

Ministration of Communion