Swept Up Into Jesus' Story - Sermon for the Feast of All Saints (November 2, 2025)

Scripture Readings: Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 | Psalm 149 | Ephesians 1:11-23 | Luke 6:20-31

“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” (Luke 6:31).
 
What does it mean to be a saint?
 
Today, we’re celebrating the Feast of All Saints, taking time together to remember our many brothers and sisters in Christ’s family who have paved the way before us… both in the holy lives they have led, serving and striving for God’s good Kingdom here on earth… and also going on before us into death, and who are now at rest in the loving arms of the Living God… those who have finished their labours, and who now await with us Christ’s final return and the glories of His New Creation.
 
And on days like today, I think it’s good for us not simply to remember all of those well-known saints and their stories… people like St. Luke, our patron saint… or St. Peter and all of the others from the pages of Scripture… or our brothers and sisters from the early days of the Church… people like St. Augustine, St. Macrina, or St. Patrick… although their stories are certainly interesting and inspiring, and we should probably look into learning more about them… but to take time to remember what it really means to be a saint… not only as an abstract ideal, but as a reality in our own lives.
 
Does being a saint simply mean having a high set of moral standards? Or virtues like patience… hospitality… and self-control? Does being a saint mean performing some sort of amazing feat or miracle? Does it mean living a life completely set apart from the mundane rhythms of everyday existence, holed up in a monastery and hidden from the troubles faced by our world?
 
Those are the kinds of things that comes to mind when many of us think about saints. And yes, things like high virtues, and miracles, and monasteries have their place in the stories of many Christian saints. But at its root, the idea of sainthood is not about being some sort of superhuman… but about us regular humans who have been set apart in order to take part in God’s great embrace of His broken world.
 
In other words, being a saint is basically about being swept up into the Good News, the story of Jesus Christ the Risen Lord… set apart, not by our own moral achievements, or extra spiritual efforts, but by receiving and giving ourselves to the holy love of the Living God at work in and through us… the work of the Holy Spirit making us more and more like Jesus… not just someday, but right here and now.
 
In a very real sense, sainthood isn’t reserved for some sort of spiritual elite… the exceptionally gifted or pious. No, sainthood is the Christian vision for the whole Church… for everyone who has embraced Jesus Christ as the Risen Lord, and placed their faith in Him.
 
Being a saint is about belonging to Jesus. Believing in His name, listening to His voice, and walking in His ways. And every single one of us is invited to share in that reality.
 
But being a saint isn’t easy! Being made more and more like Jesus… right here and right now… is certainly not what comes naturally to us. And more often than not, being a saint will mean facing deep pain, and frustration, and rejection. We know that swimming against the current takes a lot of determination and strength, but standing up for and staying true to the Gospel day in and day out takes even more.
 
But while being a saint may not be easy, it is far better… both for us, and for those around us in the world… embodying a way of being that is in line with the purposes of our Creator… reflecting His goodness and self-giving love as a clear challenge and alternative to the way of hatred and fear and self-centeredness that we humans so easily get swept into. And so, rather than leaving us adrift to fight and devour each other like beasts, we are called to cling to Jesus, and through Him share in God’s own blessed life, and become a living sign, set apart to invite everyone to share in this blessed life too.
 
This challenging but blessed calling is reflected in Jesus’ own words to us this morning from the Gospel of Luke Chapter 6, where our Lord spells out just how counter-intuitive God’s ways can be… breaking down our old assumptions about what matters most… about how to get ahead, or treat those that we can’t stand… asking us to trust, not simply in our instincts, or even in the standards set by society… but in the holy love of God… in the forgiveness and grace that we have received at the cross, and the hope we have been given by the empty tomb that it is Christ’s Kingdom alone that will endure for all eternity.
 
And so, if it’s Him that we’re trusting in… if it’s the Risen Lord’s story we’re being swept into… if it’s Jesus’ New Life we’re clinging to, and it’s His holy ways that we’re seeking to walk in… then even when we’re poor, and hungry, and full of grief, we can still receive the blessings of belonging to our all-loving Father in Heaven, and look forward to more than just a change of circumstance… but the arrival of Christ’s Kingdom here on earth.
 
And we can respond to all of the fear and hatred and injustices thrown our way, not by throwing it back, by responding in kind… but by doing good to those who hate us… blessing those who curse us… and praying for those who abuse us. Not treating others as enemies, or objects to be used, or as obstacles to my plans… but treating them the way that I want to be treated… as someone with worth, and in need of healing… offering them the welcome, and grace, and love that I want to receive… even if they will never end up doing the same for me.
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And we can do this, not as a way to show off our own moral uprightness, but as an act of humble trust in Jesus Christ, who didn’t just talk about living this way… He did it all and more… laying His own life down at the cross to embrace a world of rebels and sinners with God’s great holy love… shedding His blood to wash away our sins… letting His body be broken to make saints even out of His enemies… and rising again to share His new and unending life with all who trust in Him.
 
Being a saint is about being swept up into the story of Jesus Christ, our world’s Risen Saviour King… clinging to Him in faith, and embracing His holy ways and love so that they become our own. And as we do so, God’s Holy Spirit will work in and through us in very surprising ways… sometimes in the dramatic or miraculous… more often than not in the simply, everyday actions and choices we make that reflect His holy love… so that bit by bit our whole lives become signs sharing the story of God’s saving love for our broken world.
 
So as we celebrate the Feast of All Saints, we are all invited to take our place among their ranks: to cling to Jesus in faith, and get swept up into His blessed story… to treat all those around us with the same compassion and self-giving love that Christ has extended to us… and to face times of suffering with patience and an enduring hope, longing and praying together for the day when Jesus Christ our Saviour King will return to set all things right, and to reign here on earth with all His saints forever. Amen.