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 is often referred to as the “Communion of Saints”. This is 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.

In our church on the first Sunday of November, we read the names of those who died in the Lord over the past year. After each name is read, a bell is sounded. I call to mind each person in the few seconds of silence following the bell. I sense their presence still with us.

This past year, one of our elders reminded me that the “Common of Saints” includes not only those who have come before us but also those who will come long after us. I’m reminded of the words from the book of Hebrews 12:1: 

“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…”

Our prayer today was written by Rev. George MacLeod who was the heart and mind behind the renewal and rebuilding of the Abbey on the holy island of Iona. Let us pray:

Be thou, triune God, in the midst of us as we give thanks for those who have gone from the sight of earthly eyes. They, in thy nearer presence, still worship with us in the mystery of the one family in heaven and on earth… If it be thy holy will, tell them how we love them, and how we miss them, and how we long to be with them again. Strengthen us to go on in loving service of all thy children. Thus shall we have communion with thee and, in thee, with those who have gone before us. Thus shall we come to know within ourselves that there is no death and that only a veil divides, thin as gossamer. Amen.

Today’s message was written by Rev. Dr. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

Today I want to suggest an exciting idea – I want you to try giving yourself away. 

I once knew a man who suffered a nervous breakdown, during which he sat for months in gloom and mental darkness. One day I suggested he try to turn off his dark, depressing thoughts by practicing thanksgiving. I said, “Start thinking of people who greatly helped you in your life.”

So, he wrote an elderly school teacher, Miss Elaine Smith, who had been a positive influence on his life. A reply came, written in the shaky handwriting of an aged lady. “Dear Willy,” she wrote, “When I read your letter I was blinded by tears, for I remember you as a boy, and as I think of you now I see you as a little fellow in my class. You have warmed my old heart. I taught school for fifty years. Yours is the first letter of thanks I ever received from a student, and I shall cherish it until I die.” 

Friend of Dial Hope, writing a letter of thanks – a project like that – may involve taking a little time – but it’s an opportunity to give a little of yourself, and really that’s the best you can give. Strangely, when you give yourself, you find yourself. 

Let us pray: God of hope, we come to you when our hope is vanquished, and our faith is small. We come to you when the promise of the “good life” has been found lacking, when clothes and cuisine, cars, and cappuccinos become insufficient nourishment for the hunger of the human spirit. We come to you because we have nowhere else to go. O God, save us from ourselves; from self-indulgence, and self-idolization. Heal us from the sickness of the body but even more from the sickness of the soul. May we get caught up in the current of your compassion, the flood of your forgiveness and so lose ourselves in the wide ocean of your love. In the name of the risen Christ. Amen.

Today’s message was written by my friend, Rev. Roger Kunkel, founder of Dial Hope.

In the classical book, Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory by John Bunyan, the author tells the story of Christian and Hopeful in their encounter with Giant Despair. The two pilgrims had trespassed on the giant’s property and were thrown into Doubting Castle. There they were tortured and starved until on the brink of despair.

Suddenly, Christian exclaimed, “What a fool am I thus to lie in a stinking dungeon when I may as well walk in liberty! I have a key… called Promise that will open any door in Doubting Castle.” So with renewed hope in their hearts, the two pilgrims arose, unlocked the doors, and walked out again on the King’s Highway.

When you and I store the Word of God in our hearts, we have the key to the great resources of God. The validity of God’s promises have been passed down through the centuries by God’s people. Whatever the need, the distress, the hurt, the sorrow, they have found relief and healing in God’s redemptive, unconditional love. We, too, have the key called Promise. All we need to do is to use God’s promises for our needs.

Remember: The purpose of the Bible, the Word of God, is not information, but formation. 

The Psalmist said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105).

Let us pray: God of love, deliver us from all narrowness of mind that fears new truth. Deliver us from all laziness of mind that is satisfied with half-truth. Deliver us from all arrogance of mind that thinks it knows all the truth. Lord, keep us earnestly, honestly, and diligently seeking for the truth that alone can make us free. Now watch over those who are traveling, who drive or fly – teach us that we never journey beyond your loving care. Amen.

Something I read early on in my sabbatical really struck me. Apparently, years ago, the English scientist Rupert Sheldrake was asked what single change he would recommend for the new millennium that could make a difference to the world. His reply was that every tourist should become a pilgrim. 

Of course in some places we humans are totally overrunning and even damaging beautiful and historical locals. We are loving them to death… And so as we were preparing to travel for the sabbatical, I thought a lot about that. We were going to some well-loved spots.

In hindsight, I know I didn’t always get this right. There were plenty of times I was the obnoxious tourist with my camera, trying to get that picture, not speaking the language in France, even driving on the wrong side of the road in Scotland – once… or, maybe twice! And I wondered, are you a tourist, Joe, or a pilgrim?

But what is the difference between a tourist and a pilgrim? 

Perhaps it is that as a pilgrim we would always approach a place with reverence and respect – and not only for the place but for the people. Perhaps it is traveling with the expectation that God is going to meet us – not only in our final destination but all along the way… and not only in the places or the landscape – but that God is going to meet us in the people.

Perhaps Sheldrake’s claim is a great metaphor that applies not only when we are traveling as a tourist, but also as we travel all throughout life.  

In Colossians, chapter one, the Apostle Paul writes: Christ himself is before all things, and in him, all things hold together.” And then later in chapter 3, verse 11, he makes this bold statement: “Christ is all and in all!”

May you and I walk through this life as pilgrims rather than tourists. And, may our eyes and hearts be attuned to Christ deep within all that has being.

Let us pray: God of all creation, grant us grace that we might approach life with awe and reverence. Create in us an expectation to meet you in the wider world of culture, landscape, and people. And as we glimpse your presence, your hand at work, may we give thanks and praise. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.