Decisions, Decisions, or a Tale of Two Sundays

[A reflection on both the Gospel for All Saints' Day and for the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, November 2, 2025. All Saint's proper readings can be found at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/all-saints-day-c/ and likewise at https://www.episcopalchurch.org/lectionary/proper-26c/ can be found the proper readings for this Sunday.]

While All Saint's is major enough a Festival of the Church Year to be considered "obligatory", the wise in pastoral care realize that this is more honoured in breach than in practice. Still, while some transfer and celebrate the Feast today, some observe the Sunday (All Soul's having to move to Monday as it doesn't have the rank to supercede Sunday), which means we have a potential treat on our hands. In other words, why decide? Have both!

The Gospel for the Sunday is Luke's narration of Jesus meeting Zacchaeus, the region's chief tax collector, a/k/a Judea's most hated official. The All Saints' Gospel is Luke's narration of Our Lord's Sermon on the Plain, a discourse reading much like the Sermon on the Mount. In the Sermon on the Plain Jesus tells everyone who has honour in God's eyes and who does not, which to many people's surprise is the exact opposite of what the culture of that time...and of this time...held to be true. Greater honour does not belong to the rich, to the powerful, to the well-fed and sumptuously housed. Instead, God's honour is bestowed on the lowly, the meek, the poor, the poor-in-heart, the humble, people whom certain others in power today call, "Losers," but in the eyes of God has won His favour (if that's losing, sign me up!). What we see in the Zacchaeus story is one of the dishonourable who has heard Our Lord's message and took it to heart and chose the path of God's honour, disavowing the path that won him honour in the eyes of the rich and powerful (or so he thought, history has shown that sort of honour evaporates very quickly with little provocation).

Zacchaeus embodied the self-emptying that characterizes someone who has found and entered the Kingdom of God. He saw his Lord coming down the street and humiliated himself to be able to catch even a small glimpse of Him. He received the invitation to join the Kingdom (the offer to host the Lord at dinner was just that, an invitation to enter the Kingdom) and accepted joyfully. He not only pledged no longer to gouge and defraud, but to make restitution above and beyond the original damages he caused, significantly impacting his wealth and his standing in the eyes of the powerful. He took the lessons of the Sermon on the Plain to heart, and in doing so salvation came to his house.

So remember, when we celebrate All Saints' Day, we celebrate all those who have heard Our Lord's Word and took them to heart and done them, Zacchaeus included.

Zacchaeus, pray for us.