Between Sundays for Week of November 6, 2023
We are God’s children now,
what we will be has not yet been revealed.
1 John 3:2a
What is lasting about the community that God is building of us, among us, and with us? The death of loved ones reminds us that we live in hope and confidence that the lasting community that God has built is one that will welcome us into eternity at the end of our earthly life.
The lasting community God is building of us, however, is about more than our hoped for future. It is one centered on Christ’s presence is water, and word, and meal and it transcends any single time or place. This lasting community is connected to the saints in other churches in our community, or other parts of the world, and those who gather on the other side of eternity. When we feast at Christ’s table, we are connected to the tables of loved ones in every part of the world – in the churches of loved ones, in the churches of our twinned parish in Shurugwi, Zimbabwe, or in our companion synod in Zambia, and in the churches in the Holy Land where Jesus first broke bread with his friends asking them to continue to do this “in remembrance.”
When we light candles to remember our loved ones for All Saints, we remember the witness of all those who gather on the other side of eternity. We also remember that we already live as saints today, welcomed into God’s lasting community even now! And because of this, we dare to embrace God’s vision for a world described by Jesus in his Sermon on the Mount and we offer our lives to making God’s lasting community that follows Jesus more visible in our world today!
P.S. Want to listen to the readings and sermon from Sunday on this text? Click here to view Bethlehem’s All Saints Sunday service.
P.P.S. The ongoing conflict in Gaza and Israel has lead to a severe humanitarian crisis that continues in the Holy Land. The ELCA has a longstanding relationship with partners in the region, including the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land and Augusta Victoria Hospital. Lutheran Disaster Response has a history of providing support for our partners and will be prepared to answer calls for assistance when the time comes. Contribute here to send a tangible expression of our love and prayers to those who are suffering.
Abby and Amy talk about routines and rituals and traditions – and what happens when those are interrupted! We return to our grounding and try to cultivate a life that helps those we encounter know they matter – to us and to God.
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Ponderings
At this church, the altar rail was a half-circle. When Grandma came back to our pew after taking communion, I asked “What happened to the other half of the railing?”
She thought for a moment and said, “I know you can’t see it. It goes all around the altar. All those we love, and all who love Jesus with us, are kneeling at the other railing half that we can’t see. It makes a circle around Jesus.”
She didn’t have to tell me that it included Grandpa and other townspeople I had never known but whose names were chiseled on stones outside in the cemetery. I still think of all the saints gathered at the table of our Lord whenever this holy meal is celebrated and Christ stretches out his arms to us.
This message is adapted from “All Saints Day Reflection” written by Paul R. Nelson and published online on Daily Grace, a daily emailed devotional resource.
