RCL All Saints A [i]
1 November 2026
Holy Trinity Anglican Church
White Rock BC
See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. [ii]
We are God’s children now.
Easter came in late April in 1981. After all the hectic activity of Holy Week, Easter Week at Nashotah House, my theological college, was a traditional ‘down’ week for the six sacristans responsible for the setting up, the training and the cleaning up all that was required for more than twenty liturgical services from Palm Sunday to Easter. As the ‘senior’ senior sacristan, I was looking forward to some quiet time to finish some papers before graduation later in May.
But then the telephone rang. Michael, the toddler son of a first-year student, had been killed in an automobile accident. The joy of the resurrection quickly became the tears of mourning the death of one of God’s children, one of our community’s little ones, well before his time. It fell to me to plan the first public liturgy, morning prayer on the day after Michael’s death. Even after three years of liturgical education and a challenging parish internship, I struggled to choose the scripture texts to be read. While I do not remember all the details of that first service, I do remember that one of the readings I chose was 1 John 3.1-3, the second reading for today’s feast.
In the midst of the sorrow, the anger, the inevitable question, ‘How could such a thing happen?’, the assurance that we were God’s children already and that we are all on a journey of becoming more Christ-like, was a small but powerful light in our darkness. God’s purpose for Michael in this life may have been thwarted, but God’s ultimate purpose for Michael was not.
The already but not yet
When the Christian community gathers to celebrate the feast of All Saints, we do so in the midst of a paradox. We profess our faith that God has raised Christ from the dead and that the resurrection of Christ is a sign that God’s purposes for creation are being achieved. We see in the lives of the saints people who have grasped hold of the risen life of Christ and lived as witnesses to the coming of God’s reign into our time and space.
But the paradox is this: we live in what has sometimes been called ‘the already but not yet’ of God’s kingdom. All around there are, to be sure, signs of God’s reign, but honesty compels us to acknowledge that there are also reasons to question. Bad things happen to good people. Bad people seem to prosper at the expense of good people. Good people seem to be blind to the evil being done in their names by elected officials, even when that evil is so blatant and shameless that it staggers belief.
But the writer of 1 John challenges his community and, centuries later, us to dare to grasp the hope of the resurrection and to respond to God’s love with perseverance and courage. One of the ways we do this is by remembering all the saints, not just the ones who have extensive biographies, but those whose stories are the ones that brought us into the life of faith and who have sustained and nurtured us in our journey towards becoming who we are truly meant to be.
Becoming who we are
It is not out of naiveté that Christians dare to face the present in a spirit of hope and determination. Despite all the forces that seek to undermine God’s purposes for us and for people, Christians dare to believe that doing justice is possible in our as yet imperfect world and is never futile. Despite all the voices that urge us to ‘take care of number one’, Christians dare to believe that loving kindness, a form of unwavering love of neighbour, is a sign of strength that resists the powers of division not a weakness. Despite the heedless and irresponsible denial of our world’s need for healing, for balance, for self-discipline, Christians dare to believe that walking humbly with God is the path of wisdom and long-sightedness rather than foolishness and myopic.
Becoming who we are means embracing that we are co-workers with God in bringing about the kingdom. I think about the times my children wanted to help me with some task or another. Even though I knew that their skills were not up to the task and that things might take a little longer, I’m grateful that my inclination was always to include them in the work. In some ways I think that this is what God is up to as well. Can God achieve God’s purposes without our participation? Yes. But does God want to do this? I think not. “The child of God is a responsible agent and is response able – enabled to respond – by (God’s love given to us in Christ).” [iii]
I sing a song of the saints of God
When I think back to that Easter Week of 1981, I am struck by the realization that Michael would now be forty-six. I should have liked to see him reach that moment. But I can give thanks for the child of God Michael was and work with God towards making this world a place where all God’s children can be free.
My friends, we are God’s children now. This reality makes a difference in the ways that we conduct our lives. The writer of 1 John, to use a more contemporary voice, might have said, “ . . . the church is a family with an open heart, not a business with a bottom line”. [iv] We are a community that will bring forward its pledges for the support of the Parish’s ministry as a grateful response for the love, the nurture and the strength we have received. We will make our pledges with the knowledge that although we live in ‘the already but not yet’ of God’s reign, our gifts of time, of talent and of treasure bring that ‘not yet’ just a tad closer.
Who we are now is God’s gift to us. How we respond and who we become is our gift to God.
