Looking forward to All Saints:

As we progress through the long 'green' season after Pentecost and approach Labor Day and the 'end of Summer' we begin to look forward to the next milestone in the Church's calendar - the Feast of All Saints on November 1st. Actually this year we will celebrate this festival on Sunday 2nd and observe All Souls on Monday 3rd. Although a long way ahead at the time of this writing, there is a significant reason to look as far forward in this way. It has to do with understanding ourselves as the Church. This seasonal message is,therefore, about the Church, its community, our part in it, and above all, its reality as the Body of Christ and us as members of that Body.

After the passage in St Matthew's gospel in which Jesus exhorts his followers : 'Do not be anxious for your life as to what you shall eat or what you shall drink; nor for your body as to what you shall put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing ?....' there appear these words, '...seek first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you.' (Matthew 6:25 & 6:33)

Membership of the Body of Christ, the Church, is primarily seeking His kingdom and His righteousness. That is sometimes hard to grasp as we become increasingly preoccupied with our church 'housekeeping.' However, the simple and far- reaching goal of being baptized and incorporated into the life of the Risen Christ; of being a part of that 'blest communion' - the saints of God, of being partakers of His Body and Blood, of resisting evil and turning to Him as our Lord and Saviour, of seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbour as ourselves; is to 'seek His kingdom and His righteousness.'

The grace and love of God, which flow from our being thus incorporated, are the means by which 'all these things (our needs, our hopes, our aspirations, our joy - the food and drink of life) will be 'added to you.' As has often been said in various ways, the Church is the community in which God acts FOR US. To be a member of the Church is to 'wait on God,' to be open to His Spirit, to be ' in the right place at the right time.' His grace - His gift - is given through Word, Sacrament, Communion and Fellowship, through the prayers of the Saints, through our common prayer, through the witness of those who can articulate the experience of the Spirit of God and through our mutual and interdependent reliance on the love of our Creator. Obviously the work of a loving and 'rescuing' Creator is not confined to the community we call 'the Church.' But it is surely within the experience and discernment of that fellowship we call the Body of Christ that God's will and purpose can be understood, shared, taught and apprehended.

During the time between now - somewhere in the middle of the 'green season' - and the celebration of the 'sanctification' of the People of God - All Saints, let us revisit the meaning of membership of the Church. During the month of October opportunities will be provided to pray, think and plan for the 'Next Step' of commitment to that membership. The phrase ' Next Step' has been adopted for the 2008 Stewardship campaign at Our Saviour. But this is only part of the invitation to re-examine 'membership.' Jesus's response to the man who asked him how he could inherit eternal life was,' You know the commandments, Do not murder, do not commit adultery.......' The man's response that he had kept all these things from his youth brought the further response from Jesus, '......One thing you lack, go and sell all you possess, and give to the poor, and you shall have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' Our membership, our discipleship, our following of Jesus is no less exacting than it was for that young man, who, in the end said ' I can't do this' and went away 'grieved.' (Mark 10: 19 - 22).

How much each of us is willing to commit to 'following' Jesus in time, talent or treasure, is an individual matter. The life of the Church is based on total commitment by its members to the Head of the Church,the Lord Jesus. This is not a commitment to support an institution or a program. It is a personal act of faith based on the promise '......all these things will be added to you.' As we approach the celebration of the Communion of Saints at the beginning of November let us deeply examine what has already been 'added to us,' and whether our response is as 'risky,' 'faith-based' and anxiety-free as Jesus's invitation to seek righteousness and His kingdom.

Affection and Blessings John +
Priest-in-Charge