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Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9 * Psalm 24 • Revelation 21:1-6a • John 11:32-44

First a little internet church joke that I’ll try and summarize: In a small town somewhere far away, there was a person known as the church gossip who was quite nosy and jumped quickly to certain conclusions. When a new man joined the parish, she noticed that his truck was often parked outside the town’s only bar. So, she confronted him about this, and said that everyone would know that he was an alcoholic because of that. He didn’t say much in reply, but the next evening he parked his truck in front of her home, and then got out and walked home … leaving the truck parked there overnight! … Things are not always what they seem, right?

Today, tomorrow and the next day are an important Triduum of All Hallows Eve, All Hallows or All Saints, and then All Souls Day. This is rooted in ancient Celtic and other views about this being a ‘thin’ time of year – when the veil between this world and the spiritual world grows thin. Plants and trees are dying, in the Northern Hemisphere, so this was seen as the year’s end, and November 1st as the beginning of the new year. On one level this ‘thin time of year’ sounds rather sweet and charming – perhaps Grandma’s spirit will come visit and bring some homemade cookies. But on another level, having the dead come to visit, including God-only-knows who … may not be something for which you want to lay out the welcome mat! Hence the scary jack-o’-lanterns were carved, to try and deter evil spirits from coming over. Wikipedia has a detailed and fascinating article about the origins of Halloween in many places, and how the customs evolved over time, like this excerpt:

“Today's Halloween customs are thought to have been influenced by folk customs and beliefs from the Celtic-speaking countries, some of which are believed to have pagan roots.[99] Jack Santino, a folklorist, writes that "there was throughout Ireland an uneasy truce existing between customs and beliefs associated with Christianity and those associated with religions that were Irish before Christianity arrived".[100] Historian Nicholas Rogers notes that the origins of Halloween customs are typically linked to the Gaelic festival Samhain.[101]
Samhain was one of the quarter days in the medieval Gaelic calendar and was celebrated on 31 October – 1 November[102] in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man.[103][104] A kindred festival was held … in Wales … in Cornwall and … in Brittany; a name meaning "first day of winter". For the Celts, the day ended and began at sunset; thus the festival began the evening before 1 November by modern reckoning.[105] Samhain is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature. The names have been used by historians to refer to Celtic Halloween customs up until the 19th century,[106] and are still the Gaelic and Welsh names for Halloween. Samhain marked the end of the harvest season and beginning of winter or the 'darker half' of the year. It was seen as a liminal time, when the boundary between this world and the Otherworld thinned.” From: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween

Many European countries and later Mexico and Latin America see November as the month of the dead. This was very true for my traditional Italian Catholic mother, and she was eager to pay for masses said for all the beloved dead in the family. To not do so, according to her cultural upbringing in the mountain villages of Abruzzo, was a serious sin of omission. The idea that the living had to pay for rituals to save the dead from purgatory or hell was ultimately what riled up Martin Luther in 1517 and caused him to post those 95 theses on the church door at Wittenberg on Oct 31st … so today is also Reformation Sunday. His was originally merely a call for some reforms, but instead it ended up being the hugely impactful Protestant Reformation that broke the chokehold of Roman Catholicism as the only form of European Christianity.

Out with the old, in with the new – that’s what nature is doing at this time of year – getting rid of this year’s growth to make room, after a suitable winter season of things resting underground -- for next spring’s new life. Our reading from Revelation begins with a similar thought: “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away”. And as we think of world leaders at Cop 26 in Glasgow, we pray that they will realize that old ways of living that are harmful to the earth – need to end – so that newer more life-sustaining ways can take root. Our psalm has a related message: “The earth is the Lord’s and all that is in it, the world, and those who live in it.” All living things, including the earth itself, are God’s creation and deserve our respect and efforts at preservation.

Our gospel today is the beloved story from John’s gospel of the death and return to life of Jesus’ dear friend Lazarus, including the heart-wrenching image of Jesus weeping in compassionate empathy with the grieving pain of Lazarus’ sisters and friends. Older versions say “Jesus wept” as the shortest verse in the Bible. And I believe that God still weeps today to see the earth dying while children are crying as to what will become of them if earth continues to be poisoned by human greed.

Over the years I’ve often seen our first reading from Wisdom used especially at funerals for younger people: “their departure was thought to be an affliction, and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.” Yes, they are at peace, but I think it is still our responsibility to try and avoid the sickening and the premature death of the young, so again we are called to help heal and maintain the earth, rather than participate in its ongoing destruction and degradation.

On All Saints Day we celebrate all who have brought more grace and compassion to our world – not just the official canonical saints, but rather all those who did their best to leave the world a better place -- all those who resisted this world’s temptations towards selfishness and greed. As our Canadian Anglian Book called For All the Saints explains:

“Saints are Christians who in various ways, often against great odds, showed an extraordinary love for Christ. The Holy Spirit acted in their lives so that they chose to bring aid to the needy, justice to the oppressed, hope to the sorrowful, and the divine word of forgiveness to sinners. For the sake of Christ they were servants to the people of their day; and the service they rendered in the past makes them examples to the rest of the people of God throughout history. The Church also believes that our life on earth has eternal consequences; and so our remembrance of what the saints were is directed to what they are. It is the Church’s conviction — a conviction often expressed in the Anglican tradition — that the saints continue to be our partners and fellow-servants before the face of God’s glory. We pray for our present needs, and the saints pray with us — not as if their prayers were better than our own, but because they are still bound to us in mutual service as members of the one body of Christ.” (p.328)

May we hear and reflect what many saints, including some of our ancestors we hope, have tried to model in terms of living less material and polluting lives. And may we be counted among those heroes of compassionate love who are ready to make the necessary sacrifices for the flourishing of God’s Creation for many generations to come, Amen.