All Saints Sunday: are you a saint?

Sermon for All Saints Sunday, 2026, delivered at St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Louisville KY
Text: Revelation 7:9-17, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12

This is one of those rare Sundays when All Saints falls on a Sunday. The last time this happened was in 2020, and before that, 2009. So, this Sunday provides an opportunity to think about the saints in our lives, to remember them, and look for the saints around us. At first glance, the readings for today seem to be a mish-mash from Revelation, the first letter of John, and the Beatitudes in Matthew. But there is a theme that I have encountered as I have offered reflections on several All Souls Day celebrations with the St. Joseph of Arimathea Society.

In Revelation, the great ordeal that John mentions (in John’s time, persecution of Jesus’ followers) led to death. Contrary to popular belief, Revelation is not a prophecy of what would happen in the future, but instead a strongly-worded, image-filled recounting of what had already happened to Christians in the early years of the Church. The important point was that their lives and deaths were not in vain, and in death, the dead had been purified from denigration and no longer suffered as they did in life when they were persecuted. Despite suffering misfortune, John writes that they are with God, free from the troubles of life in this world. This is comforting to us who have witnessed the suffering and perhaps the death of our loved ones, that life beyond death can be seen as a redemption from suffering. This is important to us because we believe in a compassionate, merciful God who would relieve misery and suffering when we cannot. As I say that, I have to acknowledge the tension between believing in a merciful God and undeserved suffering, and why God would allow it to happen. I have not found a satisfactory way of reconciling that vision of God with suffering, if there is even a way of doing that. So, I will instead think about my reaction to the death of my family members and what I will do with that reaction. Will I let it break me down, or will I build something with it? Within that contemplation is hope for continued life that comes from resurrection, and that the meaning and importance of someone’s life is not torn apart by their absence or by the circumstances of their death. Death does not win. Death does not have the last word.

In the first letter of John, a different John who wrote Revelation, we hear that we are children of God. This is not the first time we hear this, as Paul wrote much earlier to the Roman and Galatian churches about us being the children of God. This is another source of comfort for us, that although we may suffer in death or from grief, we are not alone. God does not abandon us in death, even though it is hard to find God in the darkness of loss and grief. God knows of our suffering because Jesus, the Son of God, suffered on the cross. The hope from Jesus’ resurrection is in part finding God’s glory and love to share with each other and with the world. That hope purifies us, and we are transformed into new people, lifted up out of the ashes of loss. To us is given a new purpose, a new life after death after we have experienced and worked through grief.

The Gospel reading is the Beatitudes, the blessedness of the poor, the meek, the merciful and for today, those who mourn. The Beatitudes may seem out of place, but they reinforce the continued relationship we have with God, even when we are angry and turn our backs to God in the depths of sadness and loss. We are blessed despite our feelings toward God. The Beatitudes are important because Jesus tells us that the least, the last, and those who have lost are seen and heard, and continue to receive God’s love. They are also the beginning of a call to us to recognize that blessing in how we treat and speak to the people he named as blessed. Jesus refers to the blessedness of the living, but I think it can be extended to the dead, too. A passage in the letter to the Hebrews mentions the cloud of witnesses, those who came before us, living a life of faith. And then we read in several of Paul’s letters where he refers to the saints, the living members of the churches he wrote to. These were ordinary people, living ordinary lives, people just like us who were faithful to God by continuing Jesus’ life of love and fellowship. So, there is no one beyond God’s reach who cannot be redeemed, resurrected, or live in God’s presence. 

All of these things, the deaths of loved ones, being children of God, and the blessed people of the church come together for us to understand that there are saints among us, in life and in death, saints visible and invisible. That gives me great comfort in difficult times, when I am not sure where to go or what to do because they have gone before me, and have gone through the same things I am experiencing. They are the ones I look up to because they have gained wisdom from making it through their ordeal. They simply, and humbly bring love to the world and invite the world into the kingdom, things I aspire to do. In life and in life after death, they are witnesses to our experiences, surrounding us and encouraging us.

If we believe that living saints are among us, then we, too, can be a saint. There is no application or requirements beyond striving for a life shaped by faith and focused on building the kingdom. If you set out thinking that you are going to be a saint someday, you will fail. But, if you make space in your life for people who are hurting, or in need, or without a community, you are starting to live the life of a saint. If you share with the world your hurt, your need, or being an outsider, you will be surrounded by saints here and beyond, and you will know what it means to do the same for someone else. Becoming a saint is not about how often you pray, or how often you open the bible, or how saved you are. You become one by experiencing life: the joy of birth, the fulfillment of purpose, and the sadness of death, among many other things, and all with the grace of God and Jesus’ love. As saints, we mourn and rejoice, we give and receive, and our lives and gifts are a testament to God’s glory and to the saints surrounding us. Let us celebrate the lives of the saints, here and beyond here, lives that have been lived, lives among us now, and lives to be lived.