What I learned today - Preaching My Way to Faith: Sermon

All Saints’ Sunday – 2014 Revelation 7:9-17, 1 John 3:1-3, Matthew 5:1-12

Today we celebrate All Saints’ Day, the same as billions of Christians who have come before us. In the second century, the Church started remembering people who had died. It was a violent and dangerous time for the followers of Jesus. The government and the world did not approve of the influence that Christians were having in the world, so while most held firm in their faith, some did it at the cost of their own lives.

In the Roman Catholic tradition, it’s not easy to become a saint. Evidence is collected in an effort to convince Church officials “that the person in question in fact lived a virtuous life, had faith, and had the support and help of God. The Church also looks at miracles as evidence that God is working through that person.”[i] It takes between 10 and hundreds of years for the Church to authenticate the sainthood of those nominated. Most recently added to the list of Roman Catholic saints were Popes John Paul II and John XXIII, canonized in April of this year (2014).

Even we Protestants recognize the names of some saints: Saint Francis of Assisi – 13th century monastic and founder of the Franciscan order of monks; Saint Anthony – 17th century preacher and teacher who is known as the patron saint of lost items and people; Saint Christopher – 3rd century martyr and patron saint of travelers; Saint Patrick – 4th century founder of the Church in Ireland; and let’s not forget Saint Joan of Arc, Saint Theresa of Avila, Saint Valentine, Saint Nikolas and Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American born saint to be canonized by the church.

Many of these early Christians lived out their faith in the line of fire and were killed in the line of duty. All of this gives us the feeling that in order to be considered a saint, you have to live a supernatural faith. And I know that this doesn’t give me much hope of every being considered a saint myself.

But what if this narrow view of sainthood undermines what the early church intended when they set aside a day to celebrate the lives of faithful people? The first three centuries of the church were often violent and chaotic, but I’m guessing the majority of these early saints were just ordinary folks who were scared to their core, but hung in there because they believed so much in Jesus.[ii]

A few years ago, Shawn and I made a trip to Greece. I was relatively unfamiliar with Orthodox worship, but intrigued at the small icons that we found in churches, shops and museums. I eventually purchased an icon of Jesus, but there were so many more to choose from. Some of them were of saints I mentioned earlier, but there were more – people I have never thought of as saints, but who are exactly the people that I want to be like as I make this journey of faith. Saints like Dorothy Day, an American Catholic who stood up for the working poor… Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German pastor killed by the Nazis for preaching the gospel of Jesus, not the one appropriated by the national mood of the day… and C.S. Lewis, who began life as an atheist, but became a Christian in adulthood, and penned some of the most accessible and honest writings on the struggle that comes with a life of faith.

In preparation this week, I have also remembered some of the saints of my life, people like Charlie, a retired man in my first church. He was loud and joyful, a traditionalist in every sense of the word. When I went there as the first woman minister, he let me know that I had a limited amount of time to prove that I was up to the job. But gradually, we become friends and over the next five years, I watch Charlie pour his whole life into loving his wife and family, and to opening a homeless shelter in our town. He became a real pest to many of the businesses in town, gathering donations for beds and linens and kitchen supplies to furnish a house that he persuaded the ministerial association to buy. People were known to duck into a doorway when they saw him coming, because they knew that they wouldn’t be able to say no to whatever he was going to ask them to do.

When he died unexpectedly, we wondered if all of his dreams would come true. But people took on his dream as their dream and a new kind of ministry with the homeless came true. And again I was reminded that saints come in all shapes and sizes, and we never know when we might be in their presence. My guess is that you all have a Mr. Charlie somewhere in your life. And this person taught you much more that you realized about what it means to be a person of faith. This person was or is a Christian who you want to be like someday. He or she is your saint.

The lessons for today can often confuse us, because we think of these blessings as something we earn for good – even exemplary – behavior. But the Beatitudes are not about rewards. They are about God’s acknowledgement of the sacrifices we are willing to make in order to usher God’s Kingdom just one day closer. At the time, our actions might not seem like much, or they might feel like we are crossing a wide chasm with no net or bridge or rescue in sight. But we do them because someone else showed us how, and because we have been told, and then we believe, that God’s grace extends far beyond our wildest imagination. In his book, Revival, Methodist author Adam Hamilton speaks of grace as the embodiment of our faith.

It is an act of kindness, an expression of selfless love that is completely undeserved and is given without any expectation of repayment. We are never more like God than when we are giving selflessly to others. Because God created us to live in this way, we seldom feel more alive and joyful than when we are serving, blessing, and helping someone else. That is charis. This is grace. [iii]

Sainthood is only possible if we fully embrace this amazing gift of grace. Grace changes us, it molds and shapes us and re-creates us in the image of Christ.

When we read from the book of Revelation, we must be careful not to see within its verses a scary prediction for the end of time. Instead, it is more like an impressionist painting that offers an alternative life plan in opposition to the one offered by the ruling powers of the day. Biblical scholar John Holbert says, “John's Revelation is a great book of the promise of God to create a world where all have a place, where hierarchies disappear, where all live together in harmony and peace. Do not allow anyone to make this book into a thing of scary fear, of partisan choice, of believing rightly lest you end in fire. No! It is a book of hope, founded in love, and the gift of the lamb for all of the people of God.” [iv]

The slain lamb is the key to life for people of faith, not victory in the traditional sense of the word. The key to life is service – service to God and to others - service that may lead to suffering and giving and dying.[v] And while John’s Revelation is multi-layered and interpreted in many different ways, one thing we know for sure: God wins and evil loses. God will make “all things new,” not “all new things.” The heaven described in this biblical writing is the fulfillment of what God intended from the beginning of time – a new Eden, a place of order, structure and designed to be ruled by love.[vi]

Each Sunday after the reading of scripture and the preaching of the Word, we recite together the Apostle’s Creed. In the last stanza, we say that we believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic or universal church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.

The Holy Spirit binds us together as the church. The great wind which hovered over the world bringing life in the events of creation also brought new life to the people whom God called on the day of Pentecost. The disciples and other followers of Jesus gathered in Jerusalem after his death and resurrection and waited... they didn't really know what for... but they waited. And on that day, they were all bound together for a lifetime... for an eternity with our God.

You see, all those things go together. Without the witness of Jesus' resurrection, we would not know the joy which we know today, that Jesus Christ indeed was raised from the dead, and lives eternally with the Father. Saying that we believe in the holy catholic or universal church means that we believe that the Holy Spirit came to tear down the walls which separate us, not build new or higher ones. And because there is life everlasting with our God, the boundary between life and death is one which becomes less painful and scary to us, when we begin to understand it in light of the faith which we profess in Jesus Christ. Instead it unites us with all believers throughout time, and makes real to us this part of Christian community - "the communion of saints".

By putting all of these pieces together, we are able to expand our understanding of who "the saints" are, which we celebrate today. Yes, the saints are all those whom we name today, both aloud and in our hearts. They are those whom we have named in years past, people who have impacted our lives and our faith in a significant way. They are those who we did not know, but who lived and died faithfully, loving the Lord, giving witness to someone along the way. But the saints are also us... you and me, as we continue on our own faith journeys, and attempt to witness to the love of Jesus Christ through the example of our own lives.

Twenty years ago this month, I was invited to visit an older couple in my congregation. Erika and George had immigrated to the US in the 1960’s. George was a chemist by education, but before he went to college, he was a soldier in the German army, stationed at the Polish front during the war. He told me his saving grace was being wounded in battle. He was sent back home to recover, married his childhood sweetheart and eventually went to work for Beyer Corporation, first in South Africa, and then in the US.

They made a good home in South Carolina, raising two children and becoming American citizens and good Methodists. That afternoon, Erika sliced me my first piece of stolen, poured me a cup of very strong coffee and shared with me the story of their life in Germany and their life since. She and George saw God working in their lives through all the difficulties and all of the joys of life. One week later, George found her lying in bed in the middle of the day. She had cleaned up from lunch and gone in to take a nap, and just never woke up.

I was honored to preach at her funeral, so glad for the opportunity to know her more deeply. I was also happy to continue a growing friendship with George, hearing how he believed that losing a leg was a small price to pay for the life that he had led after the war. About a year later, another older man in our church was diagnosed with bone cancer, and decided to forgo the recommended amputation, because he could not see a life without his leg. In the middle of the night, I realized that Bill needed to talk to George, and so the next morning, I asked George if he could visit Bill in the hospital.

A few days later, I got a call to come and pray with Bill before his surgery, and I asked him what made him change his mind. He told me that George sat down in the chair, took off his prosthetic leg, handed it to him, and said, “Don’t be afraid of this… it will give you a chance at new life, if you’ll only let it.” Bill said, “When framed that way, what did I have to lose?” Saints do that – they share their joys and their struggles with others, all to help folks know that in the end, God wine.

On this All Saints’ Day, let us remember and give thanks for all who have lived, loved, and shown us the way toward making God’s new creation possible, now and in the world to come. And let us be those people, too. Amen.