Sermon preached on 1st November 2026 at Granborough

All Saints Day

By Rev. Mark Payne

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READINGS

1 John 3.1-3
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.

 

Matthew 5.1-12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

‘Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.

‘Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.

‘Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.

‘Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

‘Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

‘Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

‘Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
 

TALK

May I speak in the name of the living God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Today we celebrate the festival of All Saints. But before we get into that, I want to start this morning with a question. Put your hand up if you are part of a club or a group.

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What do all the members have in common? What are some of the rules of the club? Who are the leaders or senior members of the club?

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Isn’t it interesting that the clubs and groups we are a part of all have similar features. All the members share something in common, perhaps an interest or a hobby. All the clubs have some sort of rules or guidelines and all the clubs have some leaders or people the other members we can look up to. Let’s try and keep that last point especially in mind as we think a little bit about All Saints.

All Saints marks the beginning of the end of the church year, the day after is All Souls and this section of the church calendar ends with the festival of Christ the King before we go into Advent and a new year starts.

As the name suggests, during All Saints we remember all those who have gone before us in the faith, right from the time the apostles first met together, huddled in a room, because they were so scared after Jesus’ death. During All Souls we remember those a bit closer to us who are no longer with us and then, when we get to Christ the King, we celebrate the head of our club of faith, Jesus Christ and through him, God and the Holy Spirit.

And that is what I would like us to think about today, as we look back on those who have gone before us as followers of Jesus, that we are all part of the Jesus club which we call the Church (with a capital C) or just Christianity.

Like the clubs we spoke about at the beginning, the members of our club all have something in common. At the most basic level, that is their belief in God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit. Also like the clubs and groups we spoke about there are some rules that we try to follow 

Finally, we could treat the saints who have gone before us as the members that we look up to and try to emulate with Jesus as the ultimate example member for us to follow.

But, I think that there is one big problem with this. "Saint" is a very big word. To me it can feel like something completely un-achievable and being more Christlike even more un-achievable. Because of this, the danger is that I just stop trying.

Imagine in your clubs or groups that there is someone, either a current or past member, who is so brilliant at everything, whose achievements have become legendary in the club and will be talked about for the rest of time. Now imagine that you want to try and be more like them. Doesn’t that sound a bit daunting?

However, I think that our two readings today suggest otherwise. I think that they might help us to see that striving to be more saintlike or, better still, more Christlike, is not impossible.

Let’s consider the Beatitudes from Matthew’s Gospel first. This reading is generally well known so it is sometimes easy to miss some features of the language that Jesus uses. He doesn’t suggest that the virtues we need to be blessed are some high and mighty ideal that we have no hope of reaching. He doesn’t suggest that, to be blessed, we need to perform miracles or make grand gestures of faith. Instead, he uses very down-to-earth descriptions to count those who will be blessed.

The poor in spirit.
Those who mourn.
The meek.
Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
The merciful.
The pure in heart.
The peacemakers.
Those who are persecuted.

That doesn’t sound like a high and mighty list that we can never hope to meet. In fact, I bet that every one of us here today can identify with at least one of those and think, yes, I am that person. Even if we don’t inhabit the one we identify with completely, I think that all of us have some, of at least one of these traits in us.

And let’s not forget that the saints who have gone before us were reading these same words (perhaps in different languages) and striving to follow God and show their love for God in the same way as we do. Doesn’t that mean that striving to be like those saints is within our grasp and worth pursuing?

In case you need more convincing, the first reading we had today from John’s first letter gives us even more encouragement. Twice in a very short reading, John reminds us that we are children of God. 

We are part of God’s family (and family is just a word for a very special and exclusive club), just like the saints were. And, as members of the family, we are bathed in that same love that God lavished on all his people. Through that love and the grace of God it is entirely within our grasp to strive to be more saintlike and, ultimately, more Christlike. As John wrote, “What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is”.

So, as we celebrate All Saints and enter into these final weeks of the Church year, I encourage you all to reflect on the wonderful family in Christ that you are a part of. Who in the family do you look up to? Who do you aspire to be more like? Perhaps you could do some research into some of the saints. Certainly, I would urge you to read your Bibles to learn more about God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In that way you might be able to identify just a few simple things to aim for. Perhaps meekness, perhaps peacemaking, perhaps purity of heart.

The best thing is, you can do that knowing that you are already a part of the same family that the saints were and that God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit lead. You are enfolded in the same love that the saints were and have the same grace available to you, so why shouldn’t saintly virtues be achievable by you too?

Let us pray:
God of Love,
We thank you for the example of all the saints and, most of all, for the example of Jesus Christ your son and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Through your love and grace, help us to embrace our membership of your family and realise that, through it, the values that you ask us to display in our lives are within our reach.
In Jesus mighty name, Amen.