All Saints Day

Today is All Saint’s Day. It is a day we remember that we are a part of a much larger family. A family that not only stretches around the globe here and now today, but also a family that includes people of every time and place who have placed their faith in Christ. And it includes those who will come long after us.

Today, I remember and give thanks for my grandparents. I remember Herb Meza and Dick Fernstrum, and Ray Woody and Roger Kunkel… and so many others across the years who were instrumental in my faith and who are no longer with us. I give thanks to God for them, and for all of those who were instrumental in their faith. I can almost picture each of them as children in the arms of an adult who passed the faith on to them. And I think about my own children and reflect on the possibility that one day they will have children. And I think about the generations to come and the church that will one day be.

In the book of Hebrews 12:1 it is written, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses… let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus…”

I pray that you would see clearly your own place within and alongside this “great cloud of witnesses,” a community that is embraced by the deep and abiding love of God.

Let us pray: Eternal God, today we remember and give thanks for all your children – those who answered when you called, those who walked with you, who served, who loved, who proclaimed your good news with their words, their deeds, and their very lives. We give you thanks that having lived this life in faith, they now rest eternally with you.

As we celebrate the faithful, may we be sustained by the promise of the resurrection and the promise that while now we see in a mirror dimly, one day we will see face to face, with all the saints of every time and place, through Jesus Christ. Amen.