Infinite life, love, peace

All Saint’s Day November 1, 2020 Revelation 7:7-19 Year A Opening Song Welcome Opening Prayer Let us begin our lament here, O God, in an act of memory for all that has happened, in all that we could not believe was possible as good people, as people who had never known how far and wide a virus could actually reach , as people who that we had enough faith. Show us what we do not want to remember and what we cannot bear to remember. After so much has been lost in a few short months. O God, let us begin here in all full lament. By Elsa Cook Lighting of the Christ Candle Stewardship Moment November 1, 2020 – Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost (All Saints’ Day Observed) Loving Father, we humbly dedicate these tithes and offerings to your use. Like the saints who have gone before us, we are comforted by the knowledge that you will multiply these gifts. Allow this money to become a resource that lifts the shadows of despair from the recesses of people’s lives. We recognize that only you can restore faith to the faithless, hope to the hopeless, and love to the loveless. May your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven! Amen. I Thessalonians 2:9-13 Scripture Revelation 7:9-17 Common English Bible The great crowd and seventh seal 9 After this I looked, and there was a great crowd that no one could number. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language. They were standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They wore white robes and held palm branches in their hands. 10 They cried out with a loud voice: “Victory belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” 11 All the angels stood in a circle around the throne, and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell facedown before the throne and worshipped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and always. Amen.” 13 Then one of the elders said to me, “Who are these people wearing white robes, and where did they come from?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” Then he said to me, “These people have come out of great hardship. They have washed their robes and made them white in the Lamb’s blood. 15 This is the reason they are before God’s throne. They worship him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. 16 They won’t hunger or thirst anymore. No sun or scorching heat will beat down on them, 17 because the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them. He will lead them to the springs of life-giving water,[a] and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” Sermon Infinite life, love and Peace – Rev. Harriette Cross Infinity is an ancient concept that life, time, God, energy, are all quantities that are too deep for us to number. I learned a while ago, way before seminary that in the Jewish world view, the past, the present, and the future are all happening at the same time on different levels. It just depends on where you are on the infinity circle. It’s moments like today when we remember, that it seems that we are looking back at the past, feeling the present, and wondering what the future holds all at the same time. I think that every moment in life has a little bit of the past, the present and future in it. John writes the book of Revelation through the lense of infinity. Revelation is full of symbolism that is a little creepy to the modern mind. He is trying to give his congregation hope, but he speaks in such a round about way. We can’t help but to wonder why he needs to be so outrageous to explain his present situation. Lately, as I study and read the bible, through my own lense – the pandemic. I have been fascinated about how much the bible both old and new testament have to say about a pandemic. First let me explain through comparison what a pandemic is. An outbreak is something that effects a group of people. It is serious, but it only affects certain people and it can be contained to that particular group. An epidemic is something that affect a larger group of people, even a whole nation but it can still be contained. A pandemic is something that is universal and affects all people and cannot be contained to a certain area. The World Health Organization declared our present situation a pandemic on March 11, 2020. I remember that announcement like it was yesterday. Back then we all had no idea of what that meant. Life was so different back then. As a pastor, I never thought I would have to deal with such heaviness in life, such grief. Not only are we mourning the loss of loved ones, we are mourning the loss of a lifestyle. My greatest fear as a pastor is that the suffering, the grief has just gotten started. I have had to do a lot of praying, asking for answers, and depending on God for direction. Only when I experienced a pandemic myself, can I understand why John would dig so deeply to find answers for his congregation. The book of Revelation is the story of the great tribulation. What else would you call a great tribulation – but a pandemic? A pandemic that not only threatens your life, but also your faith? The scripture for today takes place in heaven. God is on the glory throne, and people dressed in white surround him. Scripture even asks, who are these people who are dressed in white, waving palms praising God day and night. The answer – these are the people who have survived the great tribulation. White robes were a symbol of victory. They were the overcomers, the survivors, the faithful, those who made it through the tribulation. Scripture says that it was a number that couldn’t be counted – an infinite number. And they were from every nation, tribe, language. Maybe sometimes it takes a pandemic to help us to put aside our differences and to come together as one. In this case it was God who united them. Not only is God infinite, but love is infinite also. When we come together to praise God, there is no limit to what we can do, no limit to what we can overcome. The good news for the faithful is that God helps us to overcome our grief. John Wesley – the founder of methodism loved All Saint’s Day. As a matter of fact, he had a fascination with death. He would ask if he could be in the hospital with those who were dying to pray with them. He would then pray with this church members, to help them to learn to dye well. To die at peace, preparing with certainty to the time that they would die and be in the presence of God. Methodist got a reputation for knowing how to die well. Wesley believed that the key to dying well, was to live well. As a matter of fact, the book of Discipline talks about Wesley’s beliefs on death. For those who think that death will get you out of serving on a church committee – nope. Wesley believed that those who passed on worked just as hard as the living in the building of God’s Kingdom. Besides, they can’t say no, because they don’t have anything else to do. That is what the faithful do – spend day and night at the throne of God – working for the kingdom. There is nothing that separates us from the presence of God – not death, no suffering, not pain. I know that is a lot to process – but a pandemic sermon has to be short. The last lesson for us, is that hope is infinite also. Hope promises that pain and suffering will end. A mother lost her two year old daughter – and had to return to her home in Georgia to bury her. It was a pleasure to return to the peach trees, the blossoms, the smell. She remembered that her friends told her as a child that if you hold onto a peace stone in your hand long enough, it will sprout. Of course she never had the patience to hold onto the peach stone long enough to see if it would sprout. Until her daughter died, and she yearned for the day when she would be reunited. When she would see for herself that her daughter was okay. She has been holding onto that peach stone for ten years. Holding on to that peace stone helped her to understand the meaning of infinite hope. In this moment, in the midst of a pandemic, in the midst of our grief – as we remember the past, live in the present, look to thr future – May we be filled with the infinite love, peace, and hope of the lamb of God. Amen. Prayer Almighty God, your saints are one with you in the mystical body of Christ: give us grace to follow them in all virtue and holiness until we come to those inexpressible joys which you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who is alive with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God now and forever. Amen. Song for Reflection For all the Saints UMH 711 All Saints Day Ceremony After this I looked and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and people and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. Robed in white with palm branches in their hands. They cried out in a loud voice, saying, Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb. Let us give thanks for these brothers and sisters in Christ to whom God has granted rest from their labors. Almighty God, we give you thanks for these your servants whom we remember today. Grant us grace to follow them as they followed Christ. Bring us, with them, to those things no eye has seen, nor ear heard, which you have prepared for those who love you. Give us faith to look beyond touch and sight, and seeing that we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, enable us to run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. Bring us at last to your eternal peace, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Communion Invitation to Communion Siblings in Christ, join me today at this table to a feast belonging to Jesus the Christ. Siblings in Christ, join me today for a feast which will comfort our souls. Siblings in Christ, join me in this sacrament knowing that we will grow close to God, neighbor, and self at this table. Prayer of Communion Friends, we come to this bittersweet ritual today filled with a bundle of emotions. While our gratitude for this family of faith is plentiful, our spiritual pain still may be suffocating us at five weeks or four months or three years or even two decades after the death of our beloved. Our pews are a little lighter. Our homes are a quieter. And our hearts know well of the gaping hole resulting from our loss. Even as this void still consumes this day-to-day living, we come here looking for hope that we can find only in you. Through this meal, we connect the past and present together, knowing that generation after generation has come to this table in their joy and grief. God, we pray that this feast be one that fills our souls with comfort. Even as winter is growing close and nighttime arrives early, this meal will kindle warmth and light inside our spirits. May your Holy Spirit bless this bread and cup. May the Spirit bless us as we celebrate at the peaks of life and as we abide in the shadow-filled valleys. May the Spirit bring us the peace that will permeate our grief-coated hearts. And may the Spirit use this time and space to remind us that we are never alone in our difficult spaces. REPORT THIS AD With his friends, Jesus shared his last communion before death. The group recognized the sacred in their gathering and celebrated their friendship and their community of faith. One more time, Jesus took the bread and blessed it. In his breaking of the bread, Jesus yearned for them to remember his teachings and their times together. “Whenever you eat this bread, remember me.” One more time, after supper, Jesus took the cup and blessed it as well. In his grasping of the cup, Jesus yearned for his followers to recall their times together. “Whenever you drink of this cup, remember me.” As we join together for this meal, let us remember with gratitude our loved ones who once ate at this table and many other tables with us. While they no longer abide with us here today, help us to recognize that they are a part of the great cloud of witnesses, celebrating eternity with our Creator. May this meal be a gift to each of our souls today. Unison prayer of Thanksgiving We express our gratitude for this meal, Divine Host. We give thanks for the times we spent with our loved ones here at this table, and we thank you that this table is a reminder of our love for you, God. Accompany us into the world with peace in our hearts and strength in the days to come. Amen. By Rev. Michelle L. Torrigan Announcements Benediction 1 Community Time Benediction 2 BENEDICTION (based on Revelation 7: 12, 16-17) Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen! We go out to be God’s people. Go in strength to be the saints of God for you will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike you, nor any scorching heat. We go out to be God’s people. Live the way of God with confidence for God is your shepherd, and will guide you to the spring of life. We go out to be God’s people.