Orthodox Christian Sermons

Sermon #12 - Sunday of All Saints

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

On this first Sunday after Pentecost, the Sunday of All Saints, we have entered what the West calls "ordinary time". This refers to the numbering of the Sundays after Pentecost ( 1St, 2nd, 3rd, etc., the ORDINAL numbers which count the ORDER in which things come). And this numbering continues for us Orthodox until the start of Great Lent next year.

But there is nothing "ordinary" about this season in the sense of that which is usual or commonplace. For during the Paschal-Pentecostal Season which is now come to a close, we have been crucified with Christ, buried with him, raised up with him and, ascended with him, and have been seated together with him in heavenly places, being made "citizens of heaven" (Phil 3:20), and "fellow-citizens with the saints and of the household of God" (Eph 2:19), having "come unto mount Sion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and an innumerable company of angels...and the spirits of just men made perfect" (Heb 12:22-24). It this reality which ought to mold and shape our life in this world. For having received the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost, we are exhorted to "walk in the Spirit"; to "walk by faith, not by sight": to have as our focus the unseen and eternal things of the Kingdom of God. As the Apostle writes:

"If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col. 3:1-3)

But, oh, how easily does the consciousness of this reality slip from our minds! "Ye are yet carnal," laments Paul to the Corinthians, "and walk as mere men." Likewise, the Lord in the 81st Psalm bemoans how mankind has failed to live up to their high heavenly calling: "I have said ye are gods, and all of you are children of the most High, but ye shall die like men, and fall as one of the princes." Indeed, if we allow the things of this world to shape our reality, then, sadly, we do live in "ordinary" time.

That is why the Church ever "stirs up our pure minds by way of remembrance". The cycles of prayer, the Divine services, the calendar which daily turns our gaze to the saints-- those burning and shining lights which illumine the spiritual firmament and serve as pole stars to guide us through the dark night of this world. Likewise, the icons of Christ and the Theotokos and saints, and even the architecture of the church itself, all proclaim this reality which is ours. Therefore, the more we immerse ourselves in the life of the Church, the more our faith will be strengthened in the unseen realities of the kingdom of God, and the things of this world will more and more lose their grip on us.

And so in the icon for the Sunday of All Saints, we are afforded a glimpse of the Kingdom of God, this glorious new reality which the saints in heaven now enjoy--and according to which we are called even now to walk. In it we see Jesus seated upon his throne, surrounded by saints of every rank, that "great cloud of witnesses" which compass us about in spirit--even those who have held fast the profession of their faith without wavering, and having run the race and fought the good fight and won the crown. May the Holy Spirit burn this vision into our consciousness!

It depicts what Jesus promised to the Disciples before his Passion:

"Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel." Luke 22: 28-30

And that promise was not to the 12 only, but to all of us who name the name of Christ. But, you may say, I'm not a very good Christian. I fail God in so many ways. My prayer life is irregular. I don't keep the fasts very well. I keep repeating the same sins over and over, etc., etc...but who was Jesus talking to when he made this glorious promise of sitting on thrones and ruling and reigning with him for all eternity? Peter who denied him. The others who slept while he agonized in the Garden, and who ran for their lives when the soldiers came to arrest him. Nevertheless, it was his good pleasure to give them the kingdom. For he is good and the lover of mankind, and always seeks out some goodness--some God-likeness-- in us, so he can bless us, as we heard at Pascha:

"And He shows mercy upon the last, and cares for the first; and to the one He gives, and upon the other He bestows gifts. And He both accepts the deeds, and welcomes the intention."

This is not an excuse for our lukewarmness--God forbid!--but where we have been lax, may his goodness and kindness and love for us spur us on to repentance! As we were exhorted in our Epistle reading, "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Looking unto Jesus...that is the key. As we chant in the 33rd Psalm, "Come unto Him, and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed." And as we have noted previously, when we gaze upon the Light which emanates from the countenance of Christ, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor. 3:18). The words of the old hymn ring true:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

So looking unto Jesus is the key to victory. And patience. As the saints tell us, we cannot conquer the passions all at once, but only by long struggle. St. Tikhon of Zadonsk observed that The path to the Heavenly Kingdom is not one of victory after victory; it is one of fall after fall." So let us not lose heart when we fall—not IF, but WHEN we fall-- but keep getting up every time we fall, and by God's grace, like the saints who have gone before us, we shall conquer at last!
Amen.

Glory to Jesus Christ!