All Saints 2025

(Ephesians 1: 11 to end, Luke 6: 20-31)

“In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance” says Paul to the Ephesians.

I wonder what it might have felt like to have heard those words when they were first written. Imagine being one of those early Christians in Ephesus. There probably weren’t more than a handful of you, but you’d have been a mixed bunch. Some of you might have been wealthy – but many of you wouldn’t be – the Christian faith seems to have appealed most strongly to the poor, to women and to slaves in its early days. Many of you would probably never have dreamed you’d inherit anything – if you were poor or a slave what would anyone have to leave to you?  Yet Paul is telling you that you have a “glorious inheritance among the saints”. He talks of riches and of the “immeasurable greatness of God’s power”.

All our readings today speak of inheritance in one form or another. Jesus in the Gospel also promises that those who suffer now, those who seem poor now, will be rewarded, while those who have wealth that leaves others in poverty will find that they have received all they are going to get.

Today is All Saints’ day, so all this talk of inheritance is very appropriate. Today we are celebrating the inheritance of faith which the saints have handed down to us, the message of the Gospel which they have taught and lived. We are reminded too, that we have the task of handing on that inheritance to others in our turn; we are the saints for future generations. But what is this inheritance? Why does it matter? What do we need to do to get it? What should we do with it once we have got it? 

Inheritance can be a very fraught business. Families often fall out over who gets what when someone dies. Nations descend into civil war over who should inherit the power to rule. People squabble over who are the true inheritors of the legacy of a great leader – who is carrying on their vision most faithfully. Sometimes, though, by the time the matter is settled the inheritance has been worn away to nothing by the struggles of those trying to get their hands on it or so spoiled that it isn’t worth having.

The kind of inheritance that the Biblical writers are talking about is not one of land or titles or material wealth, of course, but it can be just as fraught and divisive, especially when we bring to it the baggage of insecurity and greed which so often poisons our disputes over material inheritance.

Whatever form it takes, inheritance is usually as much about belonging as it is about belongings. When families fall out over who gets the property of someone who has died, it is usually not because they want the cash they could raise by selling it, but because it symbolises how much they think that person valued them.

Someone who felt overlooked in life may well feel slighted in death too if they don’t get what they expect in the will. The “glorious inheritance” Paul wrote to the Ephesians about, is also, at its heart, an assurance that we are loved, that God is with us and for us, that we belong to him, that we have a secure place in his heart and in his family. That sense of belonging was something which the Jewish people of Paul’s time held very dear. It had been promised to them through Abraham and restored to them through Moses after their slavery in Egypt. Again and again in the Old Testament God says that his dream was simply that “I will be their God and they will be my people.” Again and again he laments when that relationship is broken.

Again and again, his people learn the hard way that, like all relationships, this one needs working at, it needs commitment from them to make it real. Again and again, when they turn back to God they find him ready and waiting to forgive. There is a strong strand of thought in the Bible that this relationship is not meant exclusively for them; they are meant to share it. But that view kept being pushed aside in favour of a narrow nationalistic view of themselves as the sole inheritors of God’s love.

The good news that Paul discovered on the Damascus road, though, was that this love was for everyone, that there was more than enough to go round, that however much of it was poured out, there was always an infinite amount left. His narrow vision of faith – so narrow that he was intent on physically destroying anyone who challenged it - was blown open by the voice of the risen Christ calling to him, and by the love of the Christian community that welcomed him with joy when he would have expected them to hate him. His good news was that the “dividing walls of hostility” as he puts it later in this letter had been broken down (Ephesians 2.14). God’s peace was for those who were “far off” as well as those who were “near” (2.17)

In today’s Gospel Jesus reminds us also that we can’t tell who is “in” or “out” by external appearances and circumstances either. Being poor, broken hearted, reviled, is not a sign that you have done something wrong or are less loved by God. Conversely, being rich, popular and successful might tell you that you have made it in the world’s eyes, but it isn’t a sign of God’s blessing, and may in fact get in the way of it.

But the most precious inheritance of all, and the one which is most easily lost, is that we belong to God, all of us, whoever we are and whatever we’ve done. Whether we are new through the doors, or cradle Christians, whether we think we deserve it or whether we know we don’t. It is an inheritance made all the more precious because it is for everyone. It is something we can afford to share with the same generosity as it was given to us, because it is endless and eternal. Today, whatever else we celebrate as our Christian inheritance, let us make sure we celebrate that inclusive love – a glorious inheritance indeed.

Amen

The Gift of Memories - Sermon for All Souls' Service

One of the greatest gifts that God has given us is the Gift of Memories, and whether our loved one died recently or in years gone by, we now treasure the memory of those times that we have had together. Times of joy, times of sorrow, times of sadness and times of fun, and the memory of how they enriched our lives continues in our remembrance.

It’s also fair to say that The Bible is a book of memories. Memories of God and how he nurtured his chosen people in the good and bad times in their lives. Our reading from Ecclesiastes spoke about the different times and seasons they encountered, and how these experiences would have shaped their lives.

For some of you here it will still be very much a time to mourn, where some of you gathered will want to weep as an expression of your sorrow, and this is perfectly right and natural to do and you are welcome to do so in this space this afternoon.

For others of you it may be a time of healing as you have begun to pass through the initial grief, and are now beginning to come to terms with the loss, and although we know that our loss will never fully leave us, in time many of us will come to a time of laughter, where recalling the happy memories brings us joy and happiness rather than the feeling of total loss which can at times feel all consuming.

Three years ago, when we lost our little granddaughter I found it hard for a time to believe that life could be happy or joyful again, and the feeling of loss was so raw that to do anything else but mourn would have felt wrong. So often my voice would catch or the tears flow, as reminders of Olivia would pop up out of nowhere in any time or any place.

Over the last few years though, my view of loss and death has altered considerably, and much of this has been through the privilege I have had of walking with many families, like yourselves, as they have prepared for their loved one’s funeral. Every time I meet a family, I don’t know what to expect, sometimes they are overcome by the grief of loss, and at other times there can be a feeling of peace. I sometimes meet a family who are able to laugh because of the character of the person who has died, but more often than not I see the tears of love and sadness in families eyes as they begin to come to terms with their loss.

It is through all of these experiences I have learnt the healing power of the happy memories that are held within a family. It doesn’t diminish the loss in any way, instead it allows the family to cherish their loved one in a way which can feel unexpected.

The pain of death, and the grief that comes with it, affects each of us in different ways, and we each have to walk through it in our own way and in our own time. There will be days when the burden is light, and others when it’s heavy, but whatever day today is for you, for me, we also know that we have a God who walks with us, brings comfort to us in our sadness and shares the joy that we have in recalling the happy memories and times we shared.

As we gather here today, we bring the whole person that we have lost from sight, and I encourage us all not to just focus on respecting them through our sadness, but to begin to draw on all the memories we cherish, and then perhaps over time smile, and even laugh as we recall the way they enriched our lives.

Today we remember them all - and will acknowledge and light a candle for - and as we move forward, let us always know and be assured of God’s love, care and comfort for us throughout our lives, until that time when he calls us home and we are reunited with our loved ones.

Amen.