READING John Ch 11 v 1 – 7 and 32 – 44

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

SERMON

Dogs must be the most optimistic animals in the world. Have you noticed that whenever the doorbell rings, they’re the first to the door, and it’s never for them. But it doesn’t stop them going back time after time after time.

So tonight will probably be a very busy and tiring night for them! Because there may well be a lot of ringing of the doorbell from children who are visiting houses on ‘All Hallows Eve’ or better known as Halloween night and saying, ‘Trick or Treat?’

After the first one or two people ringing the bell or knocking on the door and we’ve worked out what’s going on, the question will probably become ‘Do I ignore the bell or do I go to the door and answer the bell in case it’s someone who really does want to speak to me?’

Did you ever go trick or treating when you was a child? Do you encourage your own children / grandchildren to go trick or treating and have any of you bought in any sweets just in case you do have any trick or treaters?

Trick or Treating probably started on the West Coast of the US around the 1920’s and slowly moved East, with a brief break dung the war and the sugar shortage. It’s been around in the UK for a number of years but not to the commercial extent that it does now which really began to take effect in the 1980’s.

Whilst we may think it’s relatively new to the UK, strangely enough, it’s similar to a Medieval practice called ‘Souling’ where the poor people of the neighbourhood would knock on the doors of the richer people and offer to say prayers for the dead in exchange for food

It’s an interesting link, because as we think of All Souls and All Saints in our service today, and of all those who have died in the faith, at All Hallows time what if we have to decide whether Jesus Himself was a Trick or a Treat?

So how about this for a question, is our faith just a delusion propagated over the centuries by other self-deluded and misguided individuals?

Is Jesus, perhaps, just some cruel trick of the theologians, historians and the church, to keep the establishment going as they claim Him to be the Son of God and the Saviour of the world? Or is He really the Son of God who gives us access to a better life through a relationship with God, and therefore the biggest treat God could ever offer the world?

Logically, He has to be one of the two options, there is no in between. Either He is who He says he is or He is not.

When we look at all the information we have about Jesus, not just from the bible but from lots of other sources such as the Dead Sea Scrolls, secular historians of the time and lots of other documentary fragments of information, it’s clear that someone called Jesus did indeed exist at the time that the bible claims He did.

So, is the trick perhaps who He claimed to be… the Son of God? Was he really that unique? There were lots of so-called miracle workers and prophets around at the time, so what made Jesus special?

What makes Him unique is that from what we read in the bible, and in other places, He really did transform peoples’ lives, He healed people, He taught in an authoritative manner, He challenged the authorities and above all He showed an uncompromising love for everyone in the world and the whole of creation which would ultimately lead to his death. In short, He claimed that He was the Son of God Himself made manifest on earth.

He was crucified, rose from the dead, went out of from a tomb that was guarded by Roman soldiers who would probably have been killed themselves if they let anyone take the body of Jesus.

In fact, if He’d been a can of baked beans, we’d say He did exactly what it said on the tin. What He said He would do, He did, what He said would happen, really did.

So again, if we look at the evidence, at the lives He transformed, the people who have been healed, at the church itself, which would stand no chance of survival if it wasn’t for a loving God, it’s clear that Jesus is who He claims to be.

He transformed lives then and He’s transformed lives through the ages and he continues to transform lives now. He continues to show the world His love through those that follow Him, through His saints, through His church, and through that love He continues to transform individuals, society and the world.

So rather than being a trick, He is the biggest Treat God could ever offer the world, transforming lives, transforming society and transforming the world.

And whilst we and the world might not be perfect because we’re not the finished article yet. Even though we are still sinners, all who believe in Jesus are His Saints.

And so just like the Trick or Treater’s, Jesus stands at the door of our lives and rings the bell.

And just as when the Trick or Treaters come around, we have a choice to make, do we respond to the ring at the door? Or do we ignore it? Do we open the door, perhaps for the first time, or for the umpteenth time and let God in a little bit further into out lives.

What do we do? Do we let Jesus, the biggest treat that God gave the world, a little more into our lives day be day, or do we hope He will go away if we don’t respond?

Do we want to enjoy more of the treat of God, or do we want to collude with the world, perhaps believe the trick that many people would like us to believe, that Jesus was not who He said He was, that religion is a con.

Or do we let ourselves be treated by God?

Trick or Treat – it’s your choice.

PRAYERS

God of infinite grace, thank you for scattering saints all over the Church; saints in heaven, saints on earth, saints in our lives, saints who never try to be anything other than themselves but to us are dipped in grace. Thank you for a world of saints, some of whom we have revered in history, and some of whom we have known ourselves and name in our hearts.

For all the saints, we give our thanks and praise

God of deep memory, we look back in gratitude to the saints of old who trod these paths and hallowed them, setting their lives over the template of Christ. Heaven is bursting with these saints and we often wonder whether men and women are made like that anymore. But St Paul says that all Christians are called to be saints, set apart for faithful living. We pray, then, for ourselves and those around us. Humbly we pray that you will mould us into the likeness of Christ, the true goal of our lives.

For all the saints, we give our thanks and praise

God of huge abundance, thank you for saints whose laughter lights up a meeting, for saints whose joy makes us smile just to think of them, for saints whose sacrifice makes us humble, for saints whose lives make us search our consciences, for saints whose prayer helps sustain the world. We know that saints have been in the making all their lives, as have those who have grumbled their way to the present. So make us a church that practises wisdom and honours prayer, so that all who worship may know themselves to belong to a school of sinners who are training to be saints. Thank you for a world of saints, please make more of them.

For all the saints, we give our thanks and praise

God of the nations, we pray for saints across the world living on the edge of safety but practising their faith with fierce love and deep commitment. We are humbled by their sincerity and dedication, and are honoured to pray for them, especially with any Christians we know in other countries and have links with. Make them strong in faith and love and protect them on every side.

For all the saints, we give our thanks and praise

For saints across the ages, and for saints of today, we give our thanks and praise.

Merciful Father, accept these prayers for the sake of your Son, our saviour Jesus Christ. Amen

And so we bind our prayers together in the words that Jesus taught his disciples…

Our Father, who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done; on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,
For ever and ever.
Amen

Revd Kevin.
Associate Priest at St.Wilfrid and St.Thomas