This Sunday we mark several very important events in the life of our church. Our Sunday School children are having a funday, celebrating the love and joy that comes along with learning about and growing into a life of faith and service. We remember those who have gone on before us in the faith in our All Souls observance during the Holy Eucharist. And this Sunday is Stewardship Celebration Sunday.

It seems to me that as Christians, we are always looking to the future, while still recalling the past, but still living in the present. This is something that we do every Sunday when we celebrate the Eucharist. Our community gathers together to celebrate the remembrance of Christ's life and death, but we don't stop there. We also recall Jesus' Resurrection, and we look in hope to the future when Jesus will return in glory. And today we have even more reminders of the past and the opportunity to look to the future with hope and excitement.

In our reading from the Psalms this morning, we see the psalmist doing that exact same thing. The opening lines recall the Israelites' joy at the time of the return from the Babylonian exile. "Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy."¹ We hear the sheer joy that the Israelites must have felt in returning to their homeland. Even the foreign nations acknowledge God's marvelous intervention to save Israel.² Israel is remembering how good it felt to come home, yet still recalling the painful experience that was exile. Israel did not choose to be exiled; by its very definition exile is something that happens to you. Israel was sent away from their homeland which was plundered and decimated by the Babylonians. And they were sent away with heavy hearts, because they knew that they had brought it upon themselves. They did not listen to Jeremiah and return to God, and as they are being sent away they realize that they have to live with the consequences. So even though they remember the joy of coming back home, they still live with the memory of their failure, and no doubt this would have been hard for them.

When we look back at our own lives, we can remember times that we have let ourselves or others down; or when we have knowingly sinned against God and our neighbor. This can be tough for us to live with. No one likes to remember the difficult times in their life. But just as God called the Israelites time and time again, we too are called back to a life in Christ. After they return from exile, God restores the broken relationship with the Israelites with a new, deeper covenant where they are forgiven, and they enter into a new relationship with God. That same covenant is renewed again for us in the Passion of our Lord, which we will remember in a few moments time in the Eucharist. We know that we are forgiven of our past transgressions, and we know that our bond with God, our baptism, is indissoluble. God is always there for us, even when we turn our backs, waiting and ready to welcome us with open arms.

And we remember our past today by remembering those who have gone on before us in the faith. Some theologians have said that All Souls is the day that really links the whole church together: both the living and the dead together awaiting the fullness of eternal life with God.³ We pray for the departed because we still hold them in love, and because we trust that in God's presence those who have chosen to serve him will grow in his love, until they see him as he is.⁴ But this can be bitter sweet for us as well, especially if we have lost loved ones to tragedy. Death is never easy to deal with. We miss our loved ones, but we look with confidence in God's gift of heaven.⁵ And All Souls also confronts us with the fact that one day we too will die. We cannot hold death at arm's length and we are forced to look at our own mortality on this day. But as Christians, we believe that we have been redeemed through the life, death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and while that does not offer us an escape from death or the death of a loved one, it does offer us hope and the promise of life everlasting.⁶

We live in the present, but we also look to the future with hope. Christian Hope is that we live with confidence in newness and fullness of life, awaiting the coming of Christ in glory, and the completion of God's purpose for the world.⁷ We live in the here and now, and we have things to do. As our own Book of Common Prayer puts it "the duty of all Christians is to follow Christ; to come together week by week for corporate worship; and to work, pray, and give for the spread of the kingdom of God." And we do this, not out of fear, but rather as a response to the love that God shows us. We spread the Gospel of Christ because it has touched our lives, and we hope that through our witness in word and deed, others will come to know Christ. The Church's mission is to help each one of us as we strive to allow God to draw us into a closer relationship with our Creator, and each one of us should be deeply committed to this mission.

Stewardship is grateful and responsible use of God's gifts in the light of God's purpose as revealed in Jesus Christ. Stewardship is about much more than simply giving money to the church. Stewardship is lived out in: living and telling the Good News, hearing God in seeking justice, peace and the integrity of creation, wisely employing God-given human resources, abilities, and relationships, sharing the material resources we hold and giving them in service, justice, and compassion; providing for future generations, sharing in the life, worship, and responsible stewardship of the Church and of its mission. Stewardship should be a joyful act for the sake of God's world both for us individually, and as the whole faith community of Saint James Episcopal Church. We give out of our sense of responsibility, and sense of "this is what we are called to do." Pledging your time, talents, and treasures makes it possible for us to do the work of God with the gifts that God has given us.⁸

And we have good examples of this at St. James. Our Sunday School children have raised nearly $50 dollars this month for Episcopal Relief and Development, the worldwide relief agency of the Episcopal Church. Last week, our Youth Group volunteered their time and talents at Can Too, sorting and gathering clothing and linens for those less fortunate. In a few weeks time, a group from this church will volunteer their time serving dinners during Thanksgiving. We have knitting ministries that let people know we are thinking and praying for them. We cook, clean, sing, acolyte, visit, welcome, fix, entertain, play music, support food banks, teach, preach, listen, and pray. We do stewardship very well here. I heard a quote from Bishop Clifton Daniels of East Carolina describing the Episcopal Church that I thought sums up who we are at St. James very well. "We are not a perfect church, but we are alive, we are well, and we are vital. We are pursuing the mission of God faithfully, lively, and confidently. We are working on carrying out the mission God has laid before us in ways that are faithful and lively."⁹

And we must always be open to how God may be calling us to do more. It may mean pledging more. It may mean seeking out more and new opportunities for ministry both within our community and outside these walls. We look to the future with hope that God can and will present us with new opportunities for the spreading of the kingdom of God.

May we continue to honor the past, enable the present, and have hope for the future. Amen.

¹ Psalm 126:1
² The New Interpreter's Study Bible: NRSV, page 874
³ New Proclamation: Commentary on Feasts, Holy Days, and Other Celebrations: All Souls Day/ Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed: Gail Ramshaw (Fortress Press: Minneapolis, 2007), 216
⁴ Book of Common Prayer, 862
⁵ Ramshaw, 215
⁶ James Turrell, sermon given April 1, 2009 at All Saints' Chapel
⁷ Book of Common Prayer, 861
⁸ From the Episcopal Church website on Stewardship found at : http://www.episcopalchurch.org/stewardship_3272_ENG_HTM.htm?menu=undefined
⁹ Interview with The Rt. Rev. Clifton Daniels found at http://www.episcopal-life.org/81231_ENG_HTM.htm#global_top accessed 10/24/09