Jesus, Remember Me
with Rev. Laura Sherwood
November 3, 2024
On All Saints Sunday, we honor those whose lives have shown us glimpses of God’s kingdom on earth and hold on to the hope of an eternal home, where love and life continue beyond all bounds. At both services, we will observe the Sacrament of Communion and candle lighting in honor of loved ones who know live in the eternal fullness of Christ.
The Scripture
Revelation 21:1-6A
Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.
Luke 23:39-43
39 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him: “Aren’t you the Messiah? Save yourself and us!”
40 But the other criminal rebuked him. “Don’t you fear God,” he said, “since you are under the same sentence? 41 We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong.”
42 Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.”
43 Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”
Read the Full Text
On All Saints Sunday, we remember one of the foundational beliefs of the Church that our faith is in a God who exists beyond time and in whom time and place have a completely different meaning. We also remember our belief that as God’s people we are part of that existence called eternity that was begun long before any of us were born and which continues long after our earthly death. Jesus points us to that eternal existence – that breaks through the boundaries of time to give us hope in the present.
Jesus, Remember me, when you come into your kingdom. The man on the cross next to him turned to Jesus in that hopeless situation. When the only thing still waiting for him was death, he spoke to Jesus as someone with hope in what he could not see; hope that there might just be something beyond the limits of this life.
Finish reading
Jesus answers him, “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” In this passage from Luke’s gospel, Jesus speaks of the promise of fullness of life, life that is more than what we see, life that has been created by and will always belong to God.
The verses from Revelation introduce the last major section of the book of Revelation and describe what the author calls the new heavens and the new earth. In this short passage, he employs vivid imagery to describe the glory of the age to come when the kingdom of God is realized in full and ushers in a new reality for all of creation which will be made complete in Christ. What Jesus on the cross referred to as the Paradise that was waiting, both for him and for the one who turned to him, after death.
This hope in a future time when God will permanently correct all injustices and inequalities, heal all brokenness and reunite all those who are separated by death has been a central part of Christian belief since the beginning. Hope for a time when, as Revelation says, God himself will be with them; 4he will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.”
These inspiring words keep that hope alive as they point us to all that will be because of Christ. But hope for the future is only half of the message for we also believe that in Christ God’s kingdom has already been created. For us, both the future and the present hope are true, for Christ not only pointed the way to the glory of what Revelation terms God’s new heaven, but also made it a present reality on earth – through his loving actions toward all people, in his tireless works of compassion and justice, in his defeat over the power of death for all time.
When God’s people follow Christ in their actions toward others, in the way they support one another, bear each other’s sorrows and share in each other’s joys, God’s kingdom is again made into a present reality. The people who follow God in Christ in this way are called saints – in other words they are all the people who make up Christ’s Body – the Church. They are the people sitting to your right and your left, the people who are watching this service online, they are the people who throughout our lives have helped us to see that there is love and hope in this life and beyond.
The words of the man on the cross are our own. Jesus, remember me…as if I were someone who has been known, not someone who has been forgotten, or worse, never known at all. Remember me as if I were someone who mattered on this earth and whose life will continue to have meaning after my physical life is over.
On All Saints Sunday – we give thanks to God for All the Saints and take time to especially remember those whose lives have help make the fullness of God’s kingdom a present reality for us. We acknowledge that the influence and participation of these saints in our lives of faith has not ended because of death. We give thanks and praise that their witness and the countless ways they touched the lives of others will live on through our memories, in the way we live and through the on-going testimony of our faith community.
The late Cardinal Joseph Bernadin of Chicago released his memoir after his terminal cancer diagnosis had been made public. In that memoir, The Gift of Peace, he acknowledges that many people had been asking him what he thought about heaven and the afterlife. His answer takes the form of a simple example.
Cardinal Bernadin was a second-generation Italian American. Both his parents emigrated to the U.S. from a small Italian town. Throughout his childhood, Bernadin enjoyed looking through his parents’ photo albums at pictures of their old home. When he later traveled to Italy for the first time, it all seemed surprisingly familiar. In his own words:
“After years of looking through my mother’s photo albums, I knew the mountains, the land, the houses, the people. As soon as we entered the valley, I said, ‘My God, I know this place. I am home.’ Somehow I think crossing from this life into life eternal will be similar. I will be home.”
As we celebrate communion today we are gathering around the table in our eternal home – where time and place cease to exist and where we are brought together with those who have gone before in a new kind of existence. It is in this sacrament that we are reunited in the timelessness of God, joined forever through the Communion of Saints and where each one of us is Remembered by Jesus Christ, our Lord.
In the name of our Creator, Christ, and Holy Spirit. Amen