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November 2, 2008
In the Name of Jesus. Amen. As anyone call tell, given the joyous hymns this morning, All Saints’ Day is not intended to be a day of sorrow and grief as we remember loved ones who have died. Sorrow most certainly is a part of the private stirrings within us as we think of them. I know it’s true for me as I remember, while singing these wonderful hymns, my mother my grandmother on whose birthday I was born, a boyfriend who died of cancer in our early 20’s, my father-in-law, and a brother-in-law. As I think of them, I miss them because I loved them, and they were each such a blessed part of my life. Why all the rejoicing, the praise, the singing then, today? Did you hear the Gospel reading? “Blessed are the poor in spirit, are those who mourn, are the meek, are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, are those who are persecuted and insulted for their faith...” Why all of this talk of blessing, all of this joyous singing, in the midst of the remembrance of death? The world has been asking Jesus’ followers that question since Christ’s ascension. “What are you doing, singing in the midst of a world filled with sorrow and suffering?” – especially when worshiping God was illegal, punishable by death. As one writer puts it, “It is particularly at times like those that people begin to appreciate what, under other circumstances, might seem bothersome... We know enough people right now who are incapacitated, in wheelchairs and on sickbeds, who would be overjoyed, for example, if they were just able to wash dishes or rake leaves, or if they could only get on a bus and go to school with all the other kids, run the vacuum cleaner, prepare and eat a whole meal, leave the confines of their room and go out and put in a good day’s work...” And we stand here, singing with joy about death – “For all the saints who from their labors rest...”? We could well answer, “The Scriptures say that when God created the world, it was good, perfect! I believe that’s what God intends for all of us, not sorrow and suffering. Just knowing that gives me reason to be joyful.” Yeah, well, that may be. But the world’s in pretty bad shape these days. That was then. This is now. I haven’t seen God speaking to anyone out of a burning bush lately. Have you? We could well answer, “No, but the Scriptures promise that Christ will come again and make all things new, and that we will live in the presence of the glory of God again, just like in the beginning...but this time, forever. That certainly gives us reason to be joyful.” Yeah, well, that may be. But God’s sure taking his own sweet time. That will be then. This is now. You’re such an idealist. Get real! We could well answer... what? How DO we answer the skepticism of the world, and the sometimes rather contemptuous accusation that we Christians are so heavenly minded that we’re no earthly good. How do we account for the joyous hope that is within us? In both the Old Testament and the New, it had come to be understood from experience that when God makes a promise it’s as good as done. The idea is this: we don’t live our lives now hoping that God will keep God’s promises to us some day in the future. We live our lives now as if God’s promises to us had already been fulfilled. We don’t have to wait around to see if God’s promises are real – God has proven himself in the past, to be so profoundly, totally trustworthy, and able to do whatever God says he’s going to do that if God has promised it, it’s a done deal. We can, even in this economy, “take it to the bank.” We can, quite literally, stake our lives on it. And if that is what we are staking our lives on – that God’s will in creation is beauty, order, compassion, joy, health, harmony – that God’s will in history since our Fall into sin is to restore us and all of creation to himself – no more tears, no more sorrow, no more suffering, but eternal glory with him – if THAT sacred promise is what we stake our lives on, it changes everything about the way we lives our lives here and now, doesn’t it? Knowing what our future is, we don’t have to live in dread of death, or be anxious about it, or live our lives as if this is all there’s every going to be. Or, when I suffer the countless other “small d” losses which we all suffer, I know what my Savior has promised, and because of that, what I know I could never endure alone, I know I can endure in Him. I have heard people, real people, say such things from terminally ill sickbeds, from permanent wheelchairs, and in recovering from the death of a loved one, from divorce, and from other “small d” deaths. These are not what the world considers to be “rational” points of view! If they were, every human being on earth would be a Christian. But the Scriptures don’t look at things through the eyes of the world, through the eyes of cold, hard logic and reason – but through the eyes of faith, defined in Hebrews as absolute confidence in what we cannot yet see. Abraham and Sarah lived in faith that God’s promises to them would be fulfilled even though they did not live to see it. I have seen that trust, that joy, in the lives of many of you. Some of you, because of circumstances or events, have opened the door to your private sorrows to me. I have been amazed at the story of what you have suffered because you, also even while carrying sorrow and grief yet in a quiet place in your heart, reflect joy blessing in the way in which you live your lives. The witness of your lives is that God’s promises are not just about some heavenly future beyond time. God’s promises break in and transform your lives here and now and, without your even saying so, your very lives testify to God’s faithfulness to you, to God’s promises fulfilled. How else could this be – this blessed joy of yours in the face of the sorrows and tragedies of your lives? Today, God’s kingdom is breaking into our midst yet again in the baptisms of Jackson and Wyatt Williams. In the midst of bad news every time we turn on the news, in the midst of some of the most mean-spirited campaigning for political offices in American history – why would God bother with two little baby boys, in a congregation across from a bait shop and a grocery store in Minnesota? Who could believe that all that is God’s to give is being promised to, poured out over, to tiny little Jackson, tiny little Wyatt, in the midst of the great sorrows and suffering of the world? This is what joy is! From the doom and gloom of the evening news and the morning paper, we have come here this morning and are privileged participants as God brings the Kingdom one step closer to fulfillment, so Wyatt and Jackson, and every one of us who have been baptized, now live not in our own names, or even our family name, but in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit – just like all the saints for whom we thank God this morning. The Kingdom of God, all that is described in our text from Revelation, has come into your very presence this morning – nothing less! On All Saints Sunday, we remember our loved ones, and those whose names we will never know this side of eternity, who lived, served, and died in faith, trusting our Lord and Savior, living and serving and dying as if all the promises of God were already fulfilled in their lifetimes. On All Saints Sunday, we remember those who suffered and died for insisting on making that illegal confession: Jesus is Lord, and who were thus assured that the gospel would not die with them, but would be passed on to at least one more generation – until it came even to us. Because of them and their response to God’s work in their lives, we are here today. On All Saints Sunday, we remember that our children and their children look to us to explain this irrational joy in the midst of pain, this strange story of a baby named Jesus born to be king and Savior of all the world ...so that the gospel does not die with us, either. And on All Saints Sunday, we remember that when we sing something like “For all the saints who from the labors rest,” eventually we’re singing about – ourselves. Thanks be to God. Amen. Rev. Joan A. Gunderman,
Senior Pastor |
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