SCRIPTURE
Time after Pentecost - Lectionary 32
Luke 20:27-38 (NRSV)
Some Sadducees, those who say there is no resurrection, came to him and asked him a question, "Teacher, Moses wrote for us that if a man's brother dies, leaving a wife but no children, the man shall marry the widow and raise up children for his brother. Now there were seven brothers; the first married, and died childless; then the second and the third married her, and so in the same way all seven died childless. Finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will the woman be? For the seven had married her."
Jesus said to them, "Those who belong to this age marry and are given in marriage; but those who are considered worthy of a place in that age and in the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage. Indeed they cannot die anymore, because they are like angels and are children of God, being children of the resurrection. And the fact that the dead are raised Moses himself showed, in the story about the bush, where he speaks of the Lord as the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. Now he is God not of the dead, but of the living; for to him all of them are alive."
GOD OF THE LIVING
This is a well known and very beloved portion of scripture from the Gospel according to Luke. The “blessed be” litany is one that I memorized as a little girl in Sunday School; I suspect many of you may have done the same.
On this All Saints Day, we are reminded that the word saint literally means “holy ones” or “blessed ones.”
As protestant Christians, we do not venerate the saints or pray to them for intercessions. So why is it that we celebrate All Saints Day at all?
I love Philip Melanchthon’s explanation of the day as found in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession. He says that our confession allows us to honor the saints. He says they are honor worthy because they cause us to give thanks to God for all those people who have faithfully used their spiritual gifts to bless the church. They are honor worthy because they strengthen and encourage our own faith. After all Peter was forgiven for denying Christ three times, so we know that we can experience God’s Amazing Grace as well. Finally, the saints are honor worthy because they are Christian role models in faith and virtue who serve as an inspiration to us in our Christian journey! (Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Article XXI, paragraphs 4-6).
In each of these calls to honor the saints I notice that the one receiving all of the honor, glory, and praise is God who inspires and equips ordinary and sinful human beings to do extraordinary things to the glory of God!
Since this is true, we recognize that All Saints Day is an opportunity to affirm and celebrate the fact that God declares everyone who has been baptized and believes the promise of the gospel to be justified, holy, and blameless. The communion of saints therefore includes all believers still living on the earth, as well as those who have died in the faith and are now living in heaven.
By this definition we are all saints! We are all holy ones! We are all blessed ones! God made it so when Love allowed Jesus to die on the cross to atone for our sin and gift us with eternal life!
As blessed ones, we are assured of certain blessings and promises. Jesus says in essence, even if my blessed ones are poor, they are rich because the kingdom of God belongs to them. Even if my blessed ones are hungry, soon they will be filled. Even if my blessed ones are crying, soon they will be laughing. Even if my blessed ones are hated and excluded because they believe in me, soon they will receive a great reward in heaven.
But, Jesus also calls us to a very high standard as blessed ones! Jesus says…My blessed ones love their enemies. My blessed ones do good to those who hate you. My blessed ones bless those who curse them. My blessed ones pray for those who abuse them. My blessed ones don’t fight back when attacked. My blessed ones share even when it is difficult. My blessed ones are generous toward those in need. And ultimately, my blessed ones always treat others as they would like to be treated!
Now, you may be saying, Now wait a minute pastor, you’d have to be a saint to do all that!
And my answer would be—YES, INDEED, YOU WOULD!
Jesus calls us, as believers, to be saints in this world, and in the world to come!
Unlike those who do not believe in the promise of the resurrection and thus only live for the now chasing money, stuff, reputation, and easy laughter, Christians live in the now, and the not yet now, always remembering the importance of living as a “blessed one” in our earthly tabernacles and later in our heavenly ones.
Today, we remember and call the names of our loved ones who have taken flight from earth to glory!
We remember with fondness their lives and legacies toward us--their laughter, stories, love, and tender care.
Some of us are laughing and others of us are still mourning.
But, hopefully all of us have a blessed assurance in our hearts that comes from knowing that God specializes in resurrecting the dead in power and in victory!
As a pastor, it is my greatest honor to often be present when a saint departs this world, for the next. It is an amazing honor to watch a person labor out of this world and into their eternal home. Sometimes, like birthing a child, the labor is painful. It seems like it will go on and on. It feels like the person will never survive. It is intense and sometimes painful. But, do you know what I have found?
When your baby emerges, you cease to care about the labor that it took to bring him or her into the world. You just rejoice when they place your child upon your chest. And I truly believe that when our loved ones labored out of this world, and into the next, they ceased to care or remember the pain of the journey, because they emerged reborn into their eternal home and into the arms of their loving Heavenly Father.
Today, I am so very aware that we often describe a “saint” as either someone who is extremely “good” or someone who has passed away and is now with God in Heaven.
But, Martin Luther once said that we are all simultaneously saint and sinner.
This means that a saint is really just a forgiven sinner. We are all saints. We are all forgiven. We are all laboring to our eternal home.
On this day I pray that we will give great thanks to God who forgives our sin and declares us blessed.
In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.
INVITATION
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