November 3, 2019 – All Saints Sunday: May God’s words alone be spoken, may God’s words alone be heard. Amen.
I love the music we sing today – For All the Saints, Ye Watchers and Ye Holy Ones, Ye holy Angels Bright, and of course, our Communion Hymn, I Sing A Song Of The Saints of God. They speak to what this day is all about, because today is All Saint’s (or really, it is on Nov. 1st, but we celebrate it today), and on this day, as we remember those who have gone on before us – lighting the way for us. It is a glorious day to be sure, and the words of these hymns invite us into a truth about who we are and what we are called to do, because they are all talking about saints – ALL the Saints.
Now, before we can talk about who is a saint, we need to think about what sainthood means. Many believe that being a saint is about perfection…far from it. On of our 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 that we will sing at the Communions reminds us: “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.”
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. No, what ties us together – saints then and now, isn’t perfection but purpose!
A few years ago, I told you this story, and I want to share it with you again today, because I think we need to hear it again, given the way in which so many are feeling broken and worn from the world in which we live, or from what has happened in our lives.
There was a water bearer in India who 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 cracks, 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.
That is what Jesus was trying to tell us in the gospel too. Now, when most folks hear the verses that begin with “Blessed are the…” we immediately think of this as the Sermon on the _____ – Mount, right? Well, and also “Blessed are the Cheesemakers?” for all you Monty Python fans. But in fact this is NOT the Sermon on the Mount. That is in Matthew. In the verses just before the ones we heard today, the gospel of Luke says that Jesus “came down with them and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon. They had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases; and those who were troubled with unclean spirits were cured. And all in the crowd were trying to touch him, for power came out from him and healed all of them.” And today it said that “Jesus looked UP at his disciples and said…” This is the Sermon on the Plain. And in this sermon, Jesus is not talking about the poor in spirit, but the poor. He isn’t talking about those that hunger and thirst for righteousness, he speaks of those who are hungry.
In this gospel, Jesus is not only talking about the marginalized, the oppressed, the vulnerable – he is meeting them where they are, in the low places, and there he is offering his healing love and grace. Now, just to be clear, when he says they are blessed, it should NOT be thought of as “happy,” but it is more akin to saying they are closer to God’s heart. They are the cracked pots of humanity, broken by life, and God meets them where they are, loving and healing them in Christ’s redeeming love.
God will always meet us where we are too, and give us the strength, courage, and hope to be Christ out in the plains of the world today, offering his healing grace and love to the other cracked pots of our lives. For that is the life to which we are called. That is the life of a saint. That is our life.
You see, sainthood isn’t about the dead, or at least not only about them. It is about the living too. 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. We are called, even in our brokenness, or perhaps most especially so (hence the being blessed part), to a life of deep purpose and meaning. Our baptismal covenant, which we all renew today, 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 while on earth. 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.” Still others ensured through their stewardship that we have this church in which to worship, to renew ourselves in Christ, to be strengthened in Him for our work in the world – the Arnots & Matinaks, and so many others, who through their pledging and estate planning created the endowments that sustain us today, not because they felt a building was important, but because they knew that out of this place, the gospel of God’s all inclusive love could be spread far and wide. And now it is your turn to do the same.
And if we are to live into who we are called to be, we must remember that those of our past did not live their saintly lives on their own, nor do we 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,”…
“Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress, and their Might; Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well-fought fight; Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.”
With God’s help, we need to claim our humble role as saints today – healers of creation in 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.
In this time of Stewardship, the gift you will receive today is not one to take home, but one to take into your heart. Today, as we baptize Nailah and Aaron, the newest saints of the church, open your heart to what is happening in that moment – the sights, the sounds, the emotion – for as they will be sealed by the Holy Spirit and marked as Christ’s own forever – so too are you. And afterwards, place your hands into the baptismal waters, and allow the oil of baptism to soak into your skin, and the breathe in the aroma of the chrism. Let it remind you that you are also God’s beloved child, called, through your own cracks, to water all of creation with Christ’s love, that all may grow and be the beautiful and diverse garden God dreams for us.
And as we celebrate the Eucharist, look around you when we come to that part just before the Sanctus when I say “Therefore with Angels and Archangels and with all the company of heaven, we lift our voices as we sing…” Because, while the saints who have gone on before are always with us, in that moment it is as though heaven itself breaks through the din of our everyday, to join with us in the full communion of saints. As we sang earlier:
“O blest communion, fellowship divine! We feebly struggle, they in glory shine; Yet all are one in Thee, for all are Thine.”
That moment in the service is a gift you want to receive, so put your bulletins down, if only for a bit, and pay attention. You just may see and experience something you never have before.
Today is All Saints – and that communion hymn is right:
“The world is bright with the joyous saints. Who love to do Jesus’ will…”
And that, my friends, means you!
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.
For the audio from the 10:30am service, click below, or subscribe to our iTunes Sermon Podcast by clicking here:
The Rev. Diana L. Wilcox
Christ Church in Bloomfield & Glen Ridge
November 3, 2019
Pentecost 26 – Year C – All Saints Sunday
1st Reading – Daniel 7:1-3,15-18
Psalm 149
2nd Reading – Ephesians 1:11-23
Gospel – Luke 6:20-31
