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We Who are Left Behind (A Reflection for All Saints Sunday)

We Who are Left Behind (A Reflection for All Saints Sunday)

Last updated on: November 1, 2026 at 3:13 pm by Rob Giannamore

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We Who are Left Behind (A Reflection for All Saints Sunday) 2026-11-01T15:13:21-05:00 Rob Giannamore

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Miller’s Station UMC | 11/1/2026| Anchor Verse: 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13

Church, you have probably heard someone look at the chaos in our world and say, “This is the worst it has ever been.” Perhaps you have said it yourself. But is it true? Today we pause to remember those who came before us and ask how their faithful witness can guide us through the uncertainty of the present and into the future God is calling us to share.

Each time I drive to this church, founded in 1835, I drive by and cross over the railroad tracks running from Cambridge Springs into this community. Those tracks remind me that history is not far away. Imagine the trains that once passed here carrying soldiers and military equipment. Imagine the sermons preached and the newspaper stories read as families faced war, grief, fear, and uncertainty. Our saints also lived through troubled times. So, friends, when we are tempted to believe that our moment is uniquely hopeless, their witness challenges us: this is not the worst it has ever been, and God has not abandoned us.

All Saints

Our saints teach us hope. (here open the floor for the reflection of that saint) – offer these reflecting questions:

Whose life first showed you what faithful love looks like?

What did that saint teach through ordinary choices, especially in seasons of grief, injustice, or uncertainty?

Where did you see God’s grace embodied in that person rather than merely explained? Which practice, conviction, or act of courage from their life does the church need to recover today?

How does remembering them call us beyond nostalgia and into faithful action?

Scripture and the Early Church

As Wesleyans, we do not experience God’s will through Scripture alone, nor through our feelings alone. We listen through what John Wesley’s tradition has taught us to call Scripture, tradition, reason, and experience. We have just shared our experiences—the stories of saints whose lives revealed God’s grace to us. Now let us bring those stories into conversation with Scripture. As a small congregation, we would do well to remember the church described in Acts 2 – a community facing real social and political pressures, yet learning to live faithfully together.

I know that many of you worry about the size of our church and the number of people in these pews. Some remember when this sanctuary was fuller and wonder what the future holds. But the movement of Jesus did not begin with a large institution, an impressive building, or abundant resources – Rather it began with a small community gathered by the Holy Spirit. They shared meals, prayed, learned together, gave generously, and cared for their neighbors. In a fearful world, they answered fear with love and isolation with fellowship.

We should not romanticize the early church or minimize the dangers those believers faced. We should learn from their witness and seek to embody their courage, generosity, and trust in God. Paul’s words to the Thessalonians offer a similar picture: believers laboring among one another, living with integrity, and receiving God’s word not merely as human speech, but as a living word at work within them. Acts 2 and 1 Thessalonians remind us that faithfulness is not measured by attendance figures. It is revealed in how a community loves, serves, perseveres, and bears witness together. So I invite you to consider what might God accomplish through this congregation—not when we become larger, but when we become more deeply faithful? And here, I want you to reflect on the lessons our “saints” taught us.

Wesleyan Tradition and Social Witness

In the Methodist tradition, we speak of personal and social holiness. These are interconnected because true holiness cannot be pursued in isolation. It is formed in community through shared worship, accountability, and acts of love. This reflects John Wesley’s conviction that genuine faith produces both inward transformation and outward expressions of love and justice in the world. The early Methodists, seeing that society was failing people who were poor, exploited, and excluded, organized practical aid through the Foundry and local societies—providing food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and small loans. They taught that holiness required loving God and neighbor through works of mercy and solidarity with the poor. Wesley also organized Methodists into small groups for accountability and encouragement in living the Christian life. The purpose was not simply to create church members, but to form disciples who lived out their love of God and neighbor.

That same calling speaks to us today. The Social Principles call us to care for people who are poor, migrants, children, and widows by honoring the God-given dignity and rights of every person, seeking justice in our social policies, and refusing to look away when vulnerable neighbors are harmed. They call the church not only to offer immediate help, but also to become an active presence in the community—building relationships, creating belonging, and supporting those too often pushed aside. They also call us to speak against laws and policies that dehumanize or criminalize vulnerable people, so that their dignity, safety, and rights are protected.

And so we must ask ourselves – Where are we tempted to offer charity without confronting the conditions that create suffering? – What faithful action is possible for this congregation, in this community, right now?

Discernment and Response

I want to close our time together to consider that the qualities the saints teach us to recognize in trustworthy leaders – humility, truthfulness, compassion, courage, accountability, and service. In a couple of days we will choose who will lead our country and our community in the time between the next general election. Our loved ones who went before us did this in 1862 and 1886; 1918, 1942 and 1946; 1950 and 1954; and 1966. They were all there and they all had to sit with the discomfort, fear and uncertainty that some in this congregation and many in our country are facing today.

Christians are called to serve Jesus and we must reflect on his example of how he evaluated leadership – which he did not by evaluating if they were Sadducee or Pharisee, he did so by evaluating how they treated his community and stood by the scriptures. So in closing, what decision is God asking each of us to make after remember the saints today?

As we go forth this week, I ask you to pray on how we can let scripture, tradition, reason and experience shape our decision on who leads our country. Whose well being is being protected by a leader’s decisions, and whose are ignored.

Benediction

Beloved, receive this good news: you are children of God, united as family with the saints of every tribe, nation, language, and generation. Go forth now in the company of the multitude who have put on the life of the Lamb that you may love and live after the imitation of Christ, our Savior.

Now may you go – May you be happy, may you be healthy and may you be in ease in your journey this week. Amen

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