November 4, 2007

31^st Sunday in Ordinary Time         All Saints' Sunday

Preparation for Worship

For look, I am going to create

new heavens and a new earth.

Isaiah 65:17

Before they call I will answer, while they are yet speaking I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord.

Isaiah 65:24-25

 In worship today, we observe All Saints Day. While this festival of remembrance has its roots in the Roman Catholic Church, the early Reformed Church eliminated all celebrations for saints since these observances encouraged the idea of praying to saints for intercession with God. This stood in opposition to the Reformed belief that Christ's sacrifice was sufficient intercession. However, in recent years, many Protestant denominations have included observances of All Saints Day as a way to recognize and offer thanksgiving for God's work in and through the saints who have gone before us. The liturgical color for today is white.

     The central text we have chosen is the vision of Isaiah 65 in which a new heaven and a new earth come into being. We have chosen this image to expand our understanding of All Saints Day as a day in which we celebrate not only the lives of the saints but their vision of the future. The opening hymn expresses our hope in Jerusalem the Golden, a representation of the new heavens and new a new earth. The closing hymn reflects our appreciation "For all the saints who from whom their labors rest."

     During the Litany of Remembrance, from Isaiah 65, we lift up by name those members who have gone on to be with God since last All Saints Day. We also include others in the world who yearn for the new heavens and the new earth. Each time we take a light from the Christ Candle and light a candle in remembrance. Then a bell is tolled and we sing together the words of the thief dying on the cross next to Jesus. These candles remain lit through the sacrament of communion to remind us of the cloud of witnesses who are with us always.