A Sermon for All Saints and All Souls at
The Anglican Church of St. Thomas the Apostle, Kefalas, Crete
transferred from November 1 and 2
and preached on 5 November 2023 11:00 am.

The Readings were: Revelation 7:9-17, Psalm 34:1-10, 22, 1 John 3:1-3, and Matthew 5:1-12.   

Stop for a moment and imagine yourself in the Beatitudes.

Where are you?
Who are you?
Are you blessed?
Do you feel like you fall short of qualifying for a blessing?

Some people hear the Beatitudes and think that these are descriptions of what a Christian should be. Certainly, St Francis of Assisi heard them that way: he sought to be poor, meek, to hunger and thirst for righteousness, to be merciful, pure in heart, a peacemaker, and for this he was persecuted, and reviled. And it’s not just Franciscans and Catholics who hear it this way, this is also a common attitude in Evangelical circles.

But I recently read an author, Dallas Willard, an American philosopher and Baptist layman who also taught about the Christian faith, who argued that what this is actually is Jesus declaring blessed those whom the world sees as hopeless. Jesus brings the good news to those who are suffering the most.

Now, in the First Century, as in the Twenty-First Century, the world sees those blessed and fortunate

• those who are rich, and rich in confidence,  
• those who are avoid vulnerability and suffering, and focus on the good times and having fun
• those who are arrogant and control the earth
• those whose power and might means they get to define what is right
• those who are savage and cruel, because people will fear them and their revenge
• those who don’t give a damn about what’s in their heart, because they are self-contained narcissist
• those who get revenge on their enemies
• those who persecute others
• those who are honoured for their awesome and frightful power.

Now, when put like that, this set of counter-beatitudes may not be what you want, but these days it seems like an awful lot of people believe that it is better to be powerful than it is to be like what Jesus describes. Machiavelli is the man of the moment, not Jesus, despite the lip-service given to him.

That’s the importance of All Saints and All Souls. In the Saints of the past twenty centuries we see the ideals of Christianity lived out – never perfectly, but still, rather impressively. In commemorating All Souls we hold up the fact that God is merciful and accepts even the most miserable of sinners – yes, even you, even me. God will transform us, and is transforming us. God collapses time and space and together we all with all the people of ages past present and future gather at the Banquet of the Lamb.

So, for us,

• the kingdom of heaven is ours, not just in the future, but also now.
• we will be comforted, and are comforted now
• we will inherit the earth, and we are stewards of creation this very day
• we will be filled with righteousness, and taste it even now.
• we see mercy
• we see God
• as children of God, we see the possibility of peace even in the depths of violence and war
• despite persecution among some of us, we reign in heaven with the apostles and Jesus
• despite being reviled and mocked, we will receive our reward, and already have it in Jesus.

We are a people of hope, hope in the face of despair. We are a people who challenge the worst aspects of our culture and our nations. So let us rejoice and be glad, for we are the Body of Christ, and we are blessed.