Making All Things New

by the Rev. Dr. Paul S. Nancarrow

This sermon is based on Revelation 21:1-6a, Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9, and John 11:32-44.  

“See, I am making all things new.”

These words, heard by John the Seer spoken from the throne of God at the very climax of the Book of Revelation — these words give us, I believe, a key to open the meaning of all our readings and all our celebration on this All Saints Sunday. "See, I am making all things new" is a promise of renewal, God's promise to take up all that has been worn down by time or disfigured by decay or broken by human sin, and to transform it, to re-create it, to bring it to the fulfillment of all God really wants it to be. "See, I am making all things new" is God's promise of the New Creation that will heal the hurts of this world and bring all things to their perfection in him through whom all things were made, our Lord Jesus Christ. 

We see that promise of renewal at work in all our scripture readings today. It's there in the Wisdom of Solomon, when we are assured that those who are gone from us, those whom we thought were destroyed by death, are in fact in the hand of God, with their hope full of immortality, their being ready to shine forth and run like sparks through the stubble. We see that promise of renewal in the Gospel of John, when Jesus calls Lazarus to come forth from the tomb, when Jesus tells the others to unbind Lazarus and let him go, when Jesus restores Lazarus's body and renews Lazarus's life. And of course we see that promise of renewal in the reading from Revelation, when it is not just a single human life that is restored, not just the souls of the righteous that are renewed, but the whole of Creation, the earth and the sky, the cities and the peoples that are made new, that are re-created, that are fulfilled to be the dwelling-place of God and the perfect manifestation of God's eternal goodness and God's unfailing love. The holy ones of God, the saints of God, the righteous and living and joyful people of God, are those who have received God's promise of renewal, and who are themselves made new in living godly lives. 

And today, on this All Saints' Sunday, it is our particular privilege and humility and joy to celebrate that we also are saints, that our lives too are caught up into the vast work of the New Creation, that we are called by Christ to be instruments and agents and participants in Christ's work of making all things new. That's what it means to be a saint; that's what it means to say we are all saints: that we are all active partners in God's great mission to make all things new. 

And here at Trinity we join in Christ's work of renewal in so many ways. 

Today, for All Saints Sunday, we are marking the end of our parish stewardship pledge drive. Cottage meetings have met; budget discussions have been discussed; pledge cards have been filled out -- at least many of them have -- and today we bring those pledge cards we have to the altar. We offer them up to God, along with our bread and our wine, as material symbols of our commitment. It may seem like a stretch to say it, but I really do believe that committing to the financial support of the church is part of the work of sainthood. Our financial support is what allows Trinity to be here, to offer this beautiful building as a spiritual oasis of refreshment and peace, to serve our neighbors' needs for food and medicine and counsel and education and prayer in places both near and far, to be a center of worship and action, prayer and service, for ourselves and for so many others. Making our pledges and paying them really is one of the ways we become partners with Christ in making all things new. 

Today on All Saints Sunday we are celebrating a baptism. In a few moments Megan Elizabeth Lively will stand here at the font and will make her Baptismal Covenant. And we will all join with her and renew our own Baptismal Covenants, affirming once more our fundamental promises to continue in the apostles' teaching and fellowship, to persevere in resisting evil, to proclaim good news by word and example, to seek and serve Christ in all persons, and to strive for justice and peace among all people. We will recognize once again that we can only do these things "with God's help"; and we will pray for Megan, and for ourselves, that "all who are baptized into the death of Jesus Christ may live in the power of his resurrection." The sacrament of baptism is a gift of renewal of life, a movement of God's Spirit in us to re-create us to be more the blessed people God wants us to be. Baptism is what makes us all saints, members of the Body of Christ, partners with Christ in making all things new. 

Today on All Saints Sunday we are looking back over the path Superstorm Sandy carved in the Caribbean and up the East Coast, and we are mindful of how we can help in the rebuilding and restoration. Here in the Valley we didn't get hit anywhere near as badly as we had feared. My daughter texted me the other day to see if we were alright, and I texted back "Our mountains protected us." We've been lucky; but we've also seen the video of the damage on the Jersey shore, we've read about flooding in the subways of New York, we've received word from our partners in Haiti about the damage and death the hurricane left in its wake. With your bulletins today you received a flier from Episcopal Relief and Development about ways we can donate, and ways we can pray, for the aid of those affected by the storm. Even something so simple as donating to this cause is an act of renewal, a work of re-creation over against damage and loss. Reaching out to others in such a time of need is also a way to be partners with Christ in making all things new. 

Today on All Saints Sunday we commission ministers for Trinity Cares, a new program for connecting people in our parish one to another, so that those who are going through a hard time, or are ill, or are in some need can receive a card, or a phone call, or a meal, or a prayer, or a visit, not just from the clergy, but also from another sister or brother in Christ, someone who will help to show Christ's love in their need. Being a loving presence to help someone through a pastoral situation is another way we are partners with Christ in making all things new. 

And today on All Saints Sunday we share communion. We offer ourselves, our souls and bodies, to become living vessels for the Body and Blood of Jesus, the living presence of Jesus, to work in and with and through our daily works, to call us forth into the light of life, to unbind us and let us go out into the world and reveal Christ's gift of life in everything we do. Living for Christ in all the ordinary moments of all our ordinary days is precisely how we are saints, it is the main place we can be partners with Christ in making all things new. 

John the Seer heard the divine voice saying "See, I am making all things new." May we hear that voice speaking in our hearts -- and may we be saints, partners with Christ in the New Creation, this day and all our days. Amen.