All Souls’ Sunday
Sunday 1st November 2020
Although we have been able to resume public worship not everyone is able to attend so the service was recorded and made available online as well as being played in church for those who chose to attend. That can be found here.
Service of Memorial and Thanksgiving for All Souls’ Sunday
Lamentations 3.17-26,31-33
John 6 37-40
Revd Preb Maureen Hobbs
Address for All Souls 2020
“Happy heavenly birthday!” – that’s become a bit of a thing this year on social media. People wanting to recognise the birthdays of their loved one even though they may have died many years previously and it’s something that has hit home to me this year above all because this year, on 4th September, my father would have been 100 years old. Just recently a number of us went to help celebrate the 100Th birthday of a member of the community and congregation. And inevitably it brought it all to mind.
It’s a very normal human instinct for us to want to celebrate anniversaries, and in a way that’s what we’re all doing here today. Celebrating, or at least marking, the anniversary of our loss or losses and this year we’ve all lost so much. Not every death is attributable to the Coronavirus of course, in fact here in Pattingham very few people died directly as a result of Covid 19. There are many causes of loss and bereavement – mostly natural – sometimes, maybe too often, we feel that people die before their time and that’s difficult, but as Christians we also want to affirm that whatever our sense of loss, God both understands and shares in that with us. And the reason that God can do this of course is that he too has lost a son.
Whether we can understand it or not, God loves us without beginning or end and whether or not we are deserving of that love. Jesus died on the cross in order that we should know we are forever beloved by God and when Jesus rose from the dead, he opened a way for us that can never be closed. We were granted a glimpse of the reality that there is life beyond death and that those of us who love God can look forward to a time when we will be united with him in heaven. Death is real (and personally I don’t find it helpful to pretend that it is nothing), but it is never the end, only a transition, a portal to a new and changed life. Jesus promises that he has prepared a place for us in that new existence; a place where we can know peace as we are loved and held by God. Therefore, we have hope for our loved ones who have died, and for ourselves – our future is secure in Christ. And because nothing can separate us from God’s eternal love, we can let go of our loved ones, knowing that they too are safe with God.
That doesn’t mean of course that we are not wounded by our grief and sorrow. Our tears and pain are signs and proof of our love for those who have died.
When Jesus rose from the dead, he still bore the scars of his crucifixion and his disciples saw and even touched them. Why, you might ask, were they not wiped away? Surely if God can resurrect his beloved Son, he could make good the damage? But maybe those marks are nothing to be ashamed of, because they represent the breadth and depth of God’s love for us? You never fully recover from deep grief – there are always some scars left, and sometimes grief gets worse before it gets better. The pain doesn’t just vanish, although in time it does lessen. The marks on your wounded heart remain, though they will hurt less as you move on.
Faith helps that process of moving on and letting go. The Christian faith teaches us that our loved ones are never lost, or dead and gone, but alive and safe with God – in a place beyond our understanding.
Jesus calls us to be filled with peace, at peace with ourselves, with each other and with God. Doubt will still trouble us from time to time and is nothing to be feared, rather to be explored and embraced – for faith cannot exist without doubt. Don’t be afraid to show your wounds – your grief and pain. Don’t be afraid to hold on to the God who loves you more than you could ever know. Trust that – in Jesus Christ – all is held and made one – life beyond this life is assured. Trust that, in God, all things will be well.
And will we celebrate birthdays in heaven? Well, I am not so sure about that, but then again – all things are possible with God. Amen.