A lot of people stay away from this Sunday; this Sunday being All Saints Sunday. I get that. Today we remember the people to whom our hearts have clung, who have died, and are now with God as a part of the church triumphant. This can be a rough Sunday.
This is my first All Saints Sunday without my dad, and I too get the grief-filled opportunity to suffer once again the loss of the man who loved me dearly and called me from his van every week while my mom was at choir practice. As I said, it is not easy.
Do you know what makes it a little easier? I bring to mind the fact that All Saints Sunday is less a funeral revisited every single year, and more a family reunion of those who love one another.
It is the gathering of the saints of God feasting together at the table of the Lord. And, it does not matter if a person is entering the reunion through the door from this life or through the door that leads to the resurrected one. We are together to feast and celebrate this day at the table of God where the feasting never ends.
Just in case hearing the word “saint” sends a small twinge of fear down your body, and you secretly fear that this celebration could not possibly include you, I would like to remind you that in the Bible, a saint is not a morally perfect person, nor are they a person of superman-like faith.
In the Bible Paul calls all the members of the church “saints.” Remember that in Ephesians 1:1 he writes, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints who are in Ephesus”. See? Saints are everyday Christians who have been claimed by Christ.
Christ has claimed as you his own. That baptismal claim cannot be wiped away with any towel. So, welcome to the family reunion, O saint of God.
How about we sit down and swap some old pictures from the scrapbook of Christianity during our family reunion, and take a look at some of those saints, some of those everyday Christians, whom Jesus brought into the family through grace.
You can see snapshots of what they might look like when you read Matthew, Chapter 5.
Immediately you see the undeniable image of the poor in Spirit. Right away you realize that being a part of the family has nothing to do with perfection, and seeing the poor in spirit at the Lord’s family reunion makes you feel like you just might very well be a permanent part of the family of God after-all.
Seeing the poor in spirit at the reunion is like the day I was feeling really, really down and my dad revealed to me that most of my family is on anti-depression medication. That sort of knowledge just makes you feel like you are not alone when you just cannot make your spirit look on the bright side. That sort of knowledge just makes you want to shout, “Look, every one of us here is one french-fry short of a happy meal! It’s OK!” That was one of my father’s favorite sayings.
On another page you see a picture of the meek. In fact, it is a picture of a humble grandma. She is one of those grandmas who is not in charge of the family and does not say a word, but who quietly cleans up the messes in which the family finds themselves. She brushes away the hair, cleans the wound, and puts on the Band-Aid. Every family absolutely requires those who are meek.
Of course, there are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness… who hunger and thirst for justice. These children of God care deeply for those who have been stepped on and trampled by others in life. You know who this person is. She is the aunt who has to mark “convicted felon” on her McDonalds application, not because she did anything morally wrong, but because she stood up for what is morally right in the face of a heartless and cold world.
Sitting behind you, you hear the unmistakable words of the merciful one, who just deflects the anger that others fling her way, and gives everyone a second chance. You would tell her to stand up for herself if she did not seem so confident that forgiveness is always the right option, and sometimes the only option.
You have a chuckle when you pass on the much hated and slightly burned green bean casserole, and your pure-hearted brother takes it, smiles genuinely, and says thank you so much. He cannot see a fault in anything or anyone. He has never grown old. His heart is still the heart of a child, and it is a beautiful thing to see.
A moment is taken in the gathering to remember Father Joe. It is said that in the middle of war, with only his prayer book in hard, the good priest convinced the enemy at gunpoint to put down their arms. “These are you brothers and sisters. You cannot harm your brothers and sisters, can you?” That day he saved both sides from losing life. Instead, an exchange of candy and cigarettes ruled the day. No one knows if this peacemaker’s story is true, but we all hope that it is. Until we can ask him directly, the story will continue to be shared. After-all, if it is not true, it ought to be.
We also take a moment of prayer to remember those who are persecuted for their Christian faith. They cannot gather with us, but we know they are out there, held hostage for loving the world, just as Jesus was taken captive and hung on a cross for the same cause. Their lives and Jesus’ life are so intertwined that we cannot even conceive of forgetting to pray for them.
As we look around the feasting and laughing, we see saints from the rest of Jesus’ ministry also. As the Reverend Ralph Jacobson puts it, we see “sinners who are forgiven, handicapped who are healed, the rejected who are received, the cursed who are blessed, the unclean who are purified, the salt of the earth, the light of the world. That’s our family.” https://www.workingpreacher.org/craft.aspx?post=5461
Today, we give thanks to God for them all...for us all. For the Lord called each one of us, bathing us with the waters of grace, feeding us with the delicious meal of love, and wrapping us with a warm blanket of eternity.
Rejoice and be glad you people, for you are children of heaven; you are the saints of God.
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