All Saints Sunday
Luke 6:20-31; Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18; Ephesians 1:11-23
Politics. There is just no getting away from it. Last weekend Pastor Chris and I were in Minnesota for my oldest niece's wedding. We spent Friday night in Minneapolis. Saturday around noon we headed south towards Mankato for the 3 o'clock wedding. The traffic northbound on I-35 into the city was almost bumper to bumper. The reason was politics. At one the radio reported that Air Force One had just landed at the Twin Cities airport and the President would soon be on his way to the Target Center in Minneapolis, only three blocks from where we had spent the night. Politics. As we drove south through the rural country side around Mankato there seemed to be a campaign sign on almost every other farm. The colors of fall were already fading but the colors of the campaign were vivid and bright. Minnesota being a swing state meant the air waves were filled with radio and television ads, each party striving to make their message the one remembered. As you might expect the feeling at the wedding reception was not so much politic as "this campaign can't end soon enough". I suspect that was true for many.
So here we are on the Sunday after the election and some would say it is time to set politics aside and get on with the business of governing. Unfortunately this morning is considered by many in the church to be the most political Sunday of the church year. The reason, quite simply, is that our Gospel lesson for today is the definitive stump speech of all the speeches Jesus gave. Here is the speech of the Son of God that most concisely presents his vision of the heavenly kingdom to which he would bring all people. Here is the speech that presents the arguments for following him, choosing His way. Reading from the Gospel of Luke we find what is often called the Sermon on the Plain. Similar to Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. But for Luke the mountain was a place of prayer. A place that lifted hearts and minds heavenward like the great vaults of a cathedral. Not a place of the politics of daily life. The valleys, the plains. These are the places of every day life. Of the trials and temptations. of people and politics. In the Gospel of Luke here on the plain is the place where Jesus speaks to the realities of life.
The stately and dignified language of our English translations which make for suitable reading in public worship can sometimes camouflage the raw impact. The politically charged and somewhat ironic qualities of the words Jesus delivered. "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God" sounds somehow pious and dignified. Lacking the political force and impact that actually made these words memorable and meaningful to the crowds. There have been other translations. Some that have a far more political edge. Try this one This is where it begins. here among the common people. those who don't have much. Your poverty is where God begins. From the poorest of the poor comes the seeds of the kingdom. The real power for the kingdom that will replace these earthly forms. Your hunger will not last much longer. Your turn is coming. All the grief and tears will end when you get the last laugh. The struggle you have now is proof that you are on the right path. This is the road to victory. God's road. that that those who have gone before us pointed to. The rich and the famous have had their time. They didn't care. they didn't share. They laughed and had their good time but a new day is coming. If these words sound a little Marxist or militantly liberationist it is not surprising. They were the language of confrontation and challenge in their day. Jesus after all was not crucified by the Romans because he was just another well-spoken preacher poking fun at the religious establishment. the crowds followed him. People who get crucified are those perceived as threats, as dangerous subversives.
The Romans recognized in Jesus' words what many did not perceive until much later. These words and deeds had the potential to overturn the Roman world. The poetic and polite religious translation of these words rob them of the content and intent with which Jesus delivered them. The concluded election is now evaluated in terms of winners and losers. Democrats and Republicans. Each party setting itself over against the other. But Jesus does not see political distinctions of this type. He did not speak for or against the government or any factions of the political system. He spoke instead of those who are of the people. His distinctions were not the political categories of power, but spoke of transcending values based on themes of justice and economics. His view of morality did not focus on single issues but embraced the wholeness of the person and society. The sound bites Jesus offered reflect a world that is complex and nuanced, and the solutions are not an easy route. The world says, "The strong survive, the weak perish". The world declares it a law of nature demanding survival competition for society. But Jesus taught a different politic "The strong have an obligation to defend and protect to those to whom much is given even more is expected." Jesus didn't practice survival of the fittest but care for the neediest. The world's politics say "Grab all you can and hang on to it." The politics of Jesus says, "From anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt." The politics of the world says, "An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth". Judgment and punishment based on power is the only rule. The politics of Jesus says, "If anyone strikes you on one check offer the other also" The world says, "You've got to look out for Number One and the devil take the hindmost." Jesus says, "Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful." Politics as usual. or something more.
Our worship this morning is intended to call us to something more. Our entry into this space. our gathering around this altar. on this All Saints Sunday we are to feel the strength of numbers. The power politic of a great majority who stand together Following the lead of Jesus to stand for something more than our own needs or expectations. We are called today to remember those who have gone before us. Those who have gone this way before us. Anyone who has ever visited the great cathedrals of Europe knows a little of what this means. I think of places like Westminster Cathedral or Christ Church in England where for centuries the English had the peculiar and yet fascinating practice of burying their famous (and not so famous) under the floors of their cathedrals and churches. Walking into Westminster Cathedral one can hardly take a step without walking on the grave of someone, royalty, clergy, nurse maids, poets, politicians, soldiers, servants. The engraved stones on the floor and along the walls reads like a litany of the royal houses of England. of kings and queens. There are also the names of familiar greats. Shakespeare, Milton, Donne but more amazing there are total unknowns. To our minds just ordinary people. And most of the engraved stones and markers on the floor have long since seen their inscriptions worn smooth by the passage of time and the centuries of visitors walking through the church. You find yourself wondering for at least a brief moment with each step who might be literally under foot. A visit to one of these churches carries with it a constant reminder that others have passed this way. lived their lives in faith. These churches are quite literally built on the saints of the community who have gone before.
One of the reasons we have a day like All Saints Day is to remind us of what we might otherwise forget. Unless you were visited by a death in the family this year this day is pretty much like any other Sunday except that the prayer list has two collections of names. The second collection of names are a reminder of the greater multitude of those who have gone before us. Saints. real people. not religious all-stars. Not necessarily the best and the brightest of the faithful. but the blessed. Blessed by God and a blessing to us because they walked this way before us. This week I attended a retreat that had as its focus saints and mystics of the faith. I was reminded once again of the great diversity to be found in any list of even the great Saints of the church. A mixture of personalities and types. There are old saints like the desert father Anthony who lived to be 104 and young saints like the new born Holy Innocents. There are activist saints like Bonhoeffer (a Lutheran) and contemplatives like Benedict. Learned saints like Augustine, Aquinas and Luther, and simple saints like Francis of Assissi. African saints like Onesimus and African-American saints like Martin Luther King, Jr. Native American saints like Seattle and female saints like Monica and Mother Theresa. It is even true that not every saint is dead although on this day we tend to focus on those saints. Truth be known. we also are saints. each of us. Perfection is not the key to being a saint. The Lutheran theologian Carl Braaten has observed that being a saint does not mean that we are saved from sinning but rather we are saved in our sinning. The Latin phrase is simil justus et peccatur. At the same time both saint and sinner. No one is good enough to be a saint which is why God acts to make us all saints. There used to be a time when the church warned its member to be careful that they not become so heavenly oriented that they are no earthly good.
Today the challenge is the reverse. To be careful that we do not become so earthly involved that we are no heavenly good. Our concerns are politic. Safety and security. economic. health and education. the future. I just don't want my children to have to go through what I went through. I just don't want to be poor. or have to give up a vacation or not be able to drive the car I want to drive and wear the cloths I want to wear. I just don't want to have anyone depend on me or expect me to be responsible for anything or anyone but myself. And Jesus said, "Blessed." Blessed are the poor. the meek. the merciful. the peacemakers. For in the end the call from Jesus is to something more than just existence. We are each unique before God. Saints. gifted to be someone. To do something that will set us apart from the multitude. Not so that we will deserve any special blessing but because we have been blessed. On this day we remember the saints of our lives. Those who helped us to see the future. They are those who invite us to return to greater challenges and opportunities. Those who would lead us into the future. The story is told of a time in Japan many centuries ago, crops failed because of a drought. Famine was imminent. The Emperor declared that all persons over the age of 70 must be destroyed in order that the young could live through the winter. Carefully one young man in the village picked up his aged and weak mother and began to search for a place for her to die and be buried. He carried her to a clearing in the woods at the top of a mountain. He laid her on the ground and rested for a moment before carrying out the emperor's orders. "One thing, Mother," he asked. "Why did you keep tearing bits of your shawl as we came up to this place?" The weakened mother replied, "I wanted you to be able to find your way back down the mountain."
The saints are those who have gone before us to help us discern more clearly our calling as people of God. They help us find our way in times of doubt and uncertainty. They call us to our place in the tradition of the faith. And they point us in new directions. Today we are blessed. not by our own actions, elections or deeds. Today we are blessed by the one who is blessed. And that is what makes us saints. All Saints.
Amen