Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
“Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
“Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
“Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
(Because we have so much going on this morning, Pastor Cogan suggested I keep things brief.)
So much of All Saints’ Day is about remembering and celebrating all those who have died in faith and gone on before us to the glory of heaven – which we have done. It is a sacred, faithful thing to recall all of those who have fought the good fight – and to name some of them aloud. Those – as we heard in the book of Revelation – who have made it through “the great ordeal” that can be life in this world, too much of the time.
When I usually think about All Saints’ Day, it’s easy for me to think about those saints that some churches give special status to – like St. Francis or St. Stephen or Mother Theresa. And it’s easy to think about other figures in the church and throughout history who might be considered “saintly” – like Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or Dorothy Day, or Martin Luther King, Jr. – and that’s meaningful. It may be even easier to think about grandmothers and grandfathers and friends and family who have died and who we believe have made their way into the company of heavenly saints. I hope we all have people who we are blessed to remember as saints today because that is a beautiful thing.
All of this is why I decided that hearing these “beatitudes” like we did today can be a bit confusing and misleading on All Saints Sunday. I’m afraid they give the impression that in order to be “BLESSED” – or to be deemed a saint, you might assume – Jesus is suggesting we have to first be poor in spirit, or mourning, or meek, or hungering and thirsting for righteousness. Or that in order to be “BLESSED” – to be worthy of sainthood, perhaps – we first have to be more merciful than the average bear, or profoundly, provably pure in heart, or persecuted peacemakers of the highest order.
But All Saints’ Day is about more than that. It’s about more than just remembering. It’s about more than just looking back. It’s about more than just the martyrs or the big names or the ones given special status by the Pope. All Saints Day is about each and every one of us here, too – still living and breathing, alive and well today.
I think we’d like to believe that there are some who are more worthy of sainthood than others. I think we’d like to believe that there are some who are more worthy of special status than others. And I think sometimes, we’d like to believe that because it relieves some of the pressure – it leaves us pale by comparison – and it lets us off some kind of cosmic hook of high expectations.
Maybe we think we don’t live at a time when we can make an impact on the Church like Dietrich Bonhoeffer did. Maybe we aren’t in a position to make a stand or start a movement or change the course of history like Martin Luther King, Jr. did. Who among us can possibly find the time or the conviction or the faith to live a life of service and sacrifice and mercy like Mother Theresa? They were special people. They had a special calling. They were saints, for sure.
They did amazing, faithful, culture-shifting, world-changing things. But none of that is what made them Saints.
What makes each of them one of all the saints is the love and grace of God. And that’s the truth for each and every one of us, just the same.
It’s why, in addition to the names we read at the start of worship, the rest of what’s happening here today, is as faithful a celebration of All Saints’ Sunday, as we can manage. We are celebrating a baptism … We are welcoming a crew of new Partners in Mission into our fold … And, of course, we will share Holy Communion as a family of faith, like we always do. I’d like for us to see all of that – in addition to and in connection with all of those saints we named – mark our celebration, just the same.
We will baptize little Colette Ann Blackmon and welcome her as a child of God into the Church and into our congregation. We’ll hear again the words said to any saint who’s ever been baptized – in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – and the promises that belong to all of us because of that. We’ll get a chance to touch the water and to remember God’s call and invitation for our own lives as disciples, in response to that grace and good news.
We will also welcome 30-something new Partners in Mission into our life together at Cross of Grace. We’ll hear commitments to worship, grow, pray, share, give and tell and we’ll look forward to the mission and ministry God is calling us to as a community – together – here; in this place, in this part of God’s kingdom, for the sake of the world.
And finally, we’ll gather at the communion table where we’ll hear again about how Jesus gave his life for the sake of the world and how before he did it, he shared bread and wine with his friends and family – a motley crew of saints and sinners just like us – as a way of remembering God’s love and God’s grace, God’s forgiveness, hope and promise for all of creation.
All of this is to say that All Saints Day isn’t about what certain, special people have done to earn favor in the sight of God or in the eyes of the Church. All Saints Day is a celebration of what God does through grace to make you and me worthy of forgiveness and new life, too. All Saints Day is about the special status we each receive – connected one to another and with all those who’ve gone before us – as beloved and blessed children of God, who belong to something much bigger than ourselves.
And that’s my sermon (short and sweet, as instructed) – to simply remind you all – and myself – that these gifts are for every one of us. Today, let’s let the events of baptism and communion, the sharing of bread and wine and water – and the fellowship of other believers … saints and sinners, all – be the good news we need. Let’s let these simple gifts be reminders and vehicles of love and forgiveness and salvation for each of us and for all of creation.
So, to Colette, we say welcome to the font … to the water and to the word and to all the hope and promise they hold…
To our newest Partners in Mission, we say welcome to this family of faith … to a place we hope you’ll feel invited to experience and share the grace we proclaim with no strings attached … and to join us in that work…
And to each other we say welcome to the table … again and again and again … where we are fed and forgiven and freed to love and serve the world as the blessed saints of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Amen
