All Saints Day St Andrew’s Milngavie 2025
Today we celebrated the Feast of All Saints.
This evening 5pm we are all invited to Evensong at All Saints to celebrate their Patronal Festival.
This Week
10am – Prayer Group in the Garden Room
Thursday 10am – Said Holy Communion followed by coffee in Friendship House.
Readings for next Sunday – Remembrance Sunday – Psalm 46 Micah 4:1-4 John 15:12-17
Today’s Readings – Daniel 7:1-3,15-18, Ephesians 1:11-15, Luke 6:20-31
Today is All Saints Day, the day we remember those who in their earthly ministries were particularly shining examples of Christ and had the courage to proclaim the gospel, no matter the cost.
Apostles like Simon Peter, Andrew, and Thomas.
Martyrs like Stephen, Justin, Sebastian, and Agnes.
Evangelists like Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
More recent Christians like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Edith Cavell.
But we do not look back only to recount the lives the Saints lived on earth, but also to be reminded of the lives they live now in the kingdom of heaven, resting in the light of our Lord who we still strive to serve. And so, we are reminded of the hope that encourages us, God’s promise of eternal life. And eternal life is the foundation of Christian hope and because of it, we have nothing to fear this side of the resurrection as we also are called to follow the saints’ example of steadfast devotion to Jesus, and when the time comes, to join them in their eternal rest.
Today’s collect puts it well. “Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you.”
There is a lot of hope and encouragement in those words. But it’s not merely hope for a distant future. It is a hope which is offered with the love God gives us now.
This Sunday also offers us a time to remember all the faithful departed who have gone before us to glory, especially those members of our church and community who have died in the past year or so. This is likely to be more difficult and poignant than commemorating the saints of old. The absence of those near and dear to us can be painful.
In St John’s gospel in the story of the raising of Lazarus we read of the distress of Mary as she mourns the death of her brother. Like Mary, in grief and loss, we may struggle with similar questions and emotions as Mary did as she asks couldn’t God have kept this from happening? “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:32
In answer to this question, the Feast of All Saints reminds us what Jesus taught Mary on the day he stood with her outside her brother’s tomb. As Jesus stands with Mary and begins to weep, he embodies at once what he will soon embody for all time: his solidarity with our suffering. While this grief alone may not bring our loved ones back, through the power of his death on the cross, he grants all of us life forever.
One of our most well-known All Saints hymns expresses well, “O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine, yet all are one in thee for all are thine.”
It’s a wonderfully poetic depiction. Some above, some below. Some at rest, some at work. Yet all are one in Jesus.
We must remember that through our baptism we become children of God, joint heirs with Christ. We are adopted into the family of God and because we are joint heirs with Christ, we also share in the resurrection. In this way, the family of God extends beyond faithful Christians on earth, but also to the blessed in heaven. This is what makes the communion of the saints truly universal: it spans history, geography, nationality, race, and all other temporal barriers we might erect.
St John The Divine describes this in his vision,
“After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” Revelation 7:9-10
In a minute we will celebrate the Eucharist. As we celebrate this holy mystery, we recall the sacrifice of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. And when we do, all the saints and souls in this life and in the next gather with us to give thanks. At that moment, time bends to unite us with the entire company of heaven—those on whose shoulders we stand and those who will one day stand on ours.
This blessed communion is no less real today than it is any other day, but it is worth looking back to remember, so that we might recall the promise of the joy yet to come, in this life and the next
May we live in the light and hope of Christ as the saints we are called to be. Amen.