November 2, 2014: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.
“I sing a song of the saints of God…and that’s why I am not in the choir!”I love the music of All Saints. And this Anglican children’s classic, which we will sing as our Communion Hymn, speaks to the heart of what this day is all about. And if you can believe it, it was almost removed from our hymnal (that would be the dusty blue book next to the dusty red one in your pews) was when it was updated in 1982. Apparently, there were some who felt it lack theological depth. Really. Thankfully, a letter writing campaign ensued, and here we sing it today.
Lacked theological depth…I have to wonder if those folks really ever read the words of Christ, or about his life, or about the lives of those we call saints.
One of the verses we will sing says it all:
“The world is filled with living saints, who choose to do God’s will, You can meet them in school, on the road, or at sea; In church, in a train, in a shop, or at tea; for the saints are folk like you and like me, and I mean to be one, too.”
Today, All Saint’s, we remember those who have gone on before us – lighting the way for us, and we welcome into the body of Christ the newest saint in baptism, little Tristan Iverson. It is a glorious day to be sure, and the words of this song invite us into a truth about who we are and what we are called to do. It may not use big words, but it is deeply rooted in who we are as Christians.
Now, one of the things I enjoy about life here at Christ Church is our Wednesday Healing service – because there, we celebrate the saint of the day. Every week at that service I read the story of the saint prior to our discussion of the day’s texts, and I am always astounded at the lives of those we honor as saints – not for what is extraordinary about them, but for what is rather ordinary about them. See, I think many believe that being a saint is about perfection…but far from it. Our own book of saints – “Holy Women, Holy Men,”make clear that perfection is not the qualifier for wearing the Big S on our chest – in this case it stands for Saint, not Superman…In the preface it says, “In these saints we encounter not models of absolute perfection but men and women whose lives, with all their diversity of gifts and graces, were reshaped by God’s redemptive activity. May we take heart as we realize that, in spite of their failings and ours, we are all alike, redeemed sinners called to be saints…”
All Saints’ isn’t about perfect people who have died, it is about recognizing that God asks ordinary people do extraordinary things: As that children’s hymn reminds us: “The world is filled with living saints, who choose to do God’s will…”All Saints is a celebration of the sainthood to which all of us are united – one to another – the living saints and the dead – knit together into the communion of saints.
And what ties us together isn’t perfection…which is a good thing if one looks just at churches sometimes – we can often be the very definition of chaos and imperfection…even as we seek to be otherwise. Like these little gems – examples of various Church bulletin announcements to be found on the internet:
For those of you who have children and don’t know it, we have a nursery downstairs.
Next Thursday there will be tryouts for the choir. They need all the help they can get.
This evening at 7 PM there will be a hymn singing in the park across from the Church. Bring a blanket and come prepared to sin.
And I love this one, given that today we will bring forward our pledges of time, talent and treasure…
Our Minister unveiled the church’s new tithing campaign slogan last Sunday: “I Upped My Pledge–Up Yours”
No, what ties us together – saints then and now, isn’t perfection but purpose!
I am reminded of a story about two clay pots.
A water bearer in India had two large pots, each hung on either end of a pole which he carried across his neck. One of the pots had a crack in it, and while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water at the end of the long walk from the stream to the master’s house, the cracked pot arrived only half full. For two years this went on daily, with the bearer delivering only one and a half pots full of water in his master’s house. The poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it was able to accomplish only half of what it had been made to do. The water bearer felt sorry for the old cracked pot, and in his compassion he said, ‘As we return to the master’s house, I want you to notice the beautiful flowers along the path. The bearer said to the pot, ‘Did you notice that there were flowers only on your side of the path, but not on the other pot’s side? That’s because I have always known about your flaw, and I took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back from the stream, you’ve watered them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate my master’s table. Without you being just the way you are, he would not have this beauty to grace his house, and this path would be so empty and without life.’
Like that pot, in our own brokenness we are still claimed by God as a saint, because saints are the people the light of Christ shines through. I suppose in some ways you can say it is a good thing to be a crack pot! It is through the very cracks in our own lives that the love of God is known, to us, and to others. “Saints are folk like you, and like me”- they are the ones that serve as windows to God’s grace, and doors through which we journey out into the world to be the body of Christ. They are the cracked vessel by which a dreary world is given new beauty and life.
“The incredible truth of All Saints Day is that every one baptized into Christ is a saint of the church. We do not have to pass some sanctification test to be a saint, as the Holy Spirit sanctifies us when we are baptized. God chooses us, God claims us, to be vessels through whom the light of Christ shines in this darkened world.”1
We are all a part of the communion of saints. As saints today, as the body of Christ alive, we are called to be in the same places Jesus was. We are called not to hide away from the messiness of life, but to dive head first into it, knowing we are sustained by the Holy Spirit. Because God is in that messiness, or as a speaker at a Clergy Conference once said, God is in the crap! Jesus didn’t hang out with the temple elite, but with those who were despised by them. He didn’t dine with the rich who had plenty, but with those who were cast aside.
Our baptismal covenant reminds us that we are called to “proclaim by word and example the good news of God in Christ, seeking and serving Christ in all persons, and striving for justice and peace among all people, respecting the dignity of every human being.”
“On All Saints’, we give thanks for those whose faith has transformed the world, who lived out their baptismal covenant. Faithful to Christ, they brought healing to the sick, justice to the oppressed, welcome to the outcast, and compassion to the vulnerable. Others courageously sought justice and loved mercy. They sacrificed their comfort and lives for God’s vision of Shalom. And today, we are given glimpses of the lives of saints here at Christ Church – caring for the poor, homeless and the marginalized, but also in the way we care for each other – look out for one another by checking in if someone isn’t here, or driving someone to and from church, or helping those who need a little support emotionally or physically to get by. Those who do these things are not doing it from a place of perfection, but from a call of Christ to love and to serve. This is how we all Walk the Way of Christ! That is the title of our Stewardship Campaign, and today, as we have been, we will give out something blessed at the altar to take home – this time, it is a small bottle of water. Let it be a reminder to you of your baptismal covenant, and the way in which your thirst is quenched in Christ, and in this parish.
Another important thing to remember is that saints of old did not do their work by themselves or on their own, nor do saints today. We answer our baptismal covenant with “We will with God’s help.” We do not walk this journey alone, but with God, led by the Holy Spirit, restored and renewed within this community, and with the body and blood of Christ. As we heard in our other hymn today, the processional “For All the Saints,”…
You [O God] were their rock, their refuge and their might;
you, Christ, their Hope that put their fears to flight; ‘mid gloom and doubt, you were their one True light.
The courage and wisdom of the saints before us and with us still, their strength and sacrifice, create an energy that joins the living and dead, in the Communion of Saints. As the hymn continues:
“Ringed by this cloud of witnesses divine, we feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet in your love our faithful lives entwine.”
We need to claim our humble role as saints, healers of the earth, for our time and place. Grateful for the example of courage we have been given by those who have gone before us, we are called to make a commitment to transform our world – to make real the kingdom of God that Jesus implored us to see and live into. To love and serve those Christ calls the blessed ones…the poor, the hungry, the marginalized and the downtrodden.
“All Saints is a celebration of miracles. The first miracle of All Saints Day is about God whose holy reign is still at work in the lives of the likes of us – imperfect, but perfectly loved. And, the second miracle of All Saints Day is about us and how our lives are transformed by Christ and our call to love and serve. We are forgiven and renewed – called and sent to be ordinary saints in God’s world, enacting God’s love and justice!”2
“The world is bright with the joyous saints. Who love to do Jesus’ will…
What kind of saint is God calling you to be?
What light will shine for others through the broken places in your lives?
Because “…the saints are folk like you and like me, let’s commit to being one, too.”Amen.
[The sermon as written may not be as delivered on any given Sunday]The Rev. Diana Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
November 2, 2014
All Saints Sunday and Baptism – Year A
1st Reading – Revelation 7:9-17
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
2nd Reading – 1 John 3:1-3
Gospel – Matthew 5:1-12
