All Saints (transferred) Yr C October 30 2022

All Saints (transferred) Yr C October 30 2022

Daniel 7:1-3,15-18, Psalm 149, Ephesians 1:11-23, Luke 6:20-31

 

We arrive back at Luke’s story after Jesus has chosen the disciples, and he sets about teaching them everything he can as they embark on their journey to Jerusalem. Jesus comes down from the mountain, stands on the plain, raises his head to look at his disciples, his friends, and begins this teaching. Luke has every intention that any onlookers, including you and I, will overhear what Jesus says.

 

Jesus says, blessed are you who are poor now, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. And immediately the disciple’s ears prick up, your ears prick up. Who’s he really talking to? The disciples are not poor, the disciples are not hungry, we are not poor, we are not hungry. And all of a sudden the disciples know, and we should know too, that this is not about us, it is about people who are poor and hungry. In Luke’s beatitudes it is Jesus who has attitude. You will also notice that these beatitudes are not the same as the beatitudes in Matthew’s gospel. Luke’s seem much more strident, much less spiritual, than Matthew’s. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus is clearly including those who are on the margins, those who are disenfranchised, those who have nothing, those who are blessed.

 

You see, you remember, near the beginning of Luke’s story, we hear Mary’s song, the Magnificat. This song frames Luke’s gospel, none of this gospel can be read without referring to it.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

 

Jesus does indeed speak about those who are rich and powerful being cast down. "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. These are hard words for us, as we sit here many of us have had plenty to eat. But, blessing, according to Jesus, far from being about material abundance, is to enjoy the regard and favor of God. And the God of Israel to whom Jesus bears witness reserves special regard for the poor, the maligned, the downtrodden. This God shows particular favor to those in need. While this may at first seem threatening to those of us who enjoy so much of the world's bounty, it also clarifies our calling to identify and help those in need, and it promises that God stands also with all of us in our moments of loss, distress, and poverty.

 

And this remains good news, it is good news because Jesus says directly to us, Love your enemies, do good to those who turn their backs on you, give your coat to someone who needs it. The good news here is that the heart of God is full of mercy and compassion, abounding in steadfast love. The good news here is that God loves every one of God’s children, and that God’s dream for us is to act in love.

 

We read these beatitudes on this All Saints Day, the day we remember the cloud of witnesses, all those who came before us to walk this journey of love, all those who show us what it means to be blessed. Because a saint is an ordinary person like you and me who is made holy, and who is blessed by God.

 

We too are blessed to be a blessing. We are filled with God’s love, and mercy, and compassion, Yes, we can be saints too. The words we pray at a funeral, “Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light,” remind us that we are numbered in the ranks of those who are sinners made into saints, we are not perfect, but perfectly loved. And we are called specifically to welcome all God’s children, we are called to love our enemies, and we are called to bless those with whom we disagree.

 

Along with the saints we name today we too are called to bless others with mercy and compassion, with love and forgiveness. And on this day of all saints, we reaffirm our baptismal promises. We remember who and whose we are, we recall our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God. We vow to live our lives from that center, from that identity, God’s beloved. On this day of all saints, we remember, we reaffirm, and we renew our courage and bravery to be witnesses to God's amazing and abundant love.

 

As we reaffirm our identity as God's beloved, we are renewed for the journey. This community of faithful saints, along with the cloud of witnesses, the saints who have gone before us, we are renewed by hope and blessing for the journey we take together. We call upon each other and God to stand here beside us as we follow Jesus into the world to do the work that we are called to do, and that work is to be agents of God's healing and reconciliation, agents of God’s love in the world. 

And all the saints of God say, Amen. 

 

All Saints Yr C November 3 2019 (transferred)

Audio  All Saints Yr C November 3 2019

Daniel 7:1-3,15-18, Psalm 149, Ephesians 1:11-23, Luke 6:20-31

We arrive back into Luke’s story after Jesus has chosen the disciples, and he sets about teaching them everything he can as they embark on their journey to Jerusalem. Jesus comes down from the mountain, stands on the plain, raises his head to look at his disciples, his friends, and begins this teaching. Luke has every intention that you and I will overhear what Jesus says.

And then, Jesus says blessed are you who are poor now, for yours is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. And immediately the disciple’s ears prick up, your ears prick up. Who’s he talking to? The disciples are not poor, the disciples are not hungry, we are not poor, we are not hungry. And all of a sudden the disciples know, and we should know too, that this is not about us, it is about people who are poor and hungry. In Luke’s beatitudes it is Jesus who has attitude. You will also notice that these beatitudes are not the same as the beatitudes in Matthew’s gospel. Luke’s seem much more strident, much less spiritual, than Matthew’s. In Luke’s gospel, Jesus is clearly including those who are blessed, those who are on the margins, those who are disenfranchised, those who have nothing.

You see, you remember, near the beginning of Luke’s story, we hear Mary’s song, the Magnificat. This song frames Luke’s gospel, none of this gospel can be read without referring back to it.

“My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,

my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;

for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.

From this day all generations will call me blessed:

the Almighty has done great things for me,

and holy is his Name.

He has mercy on those who fear him

in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,

he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,

and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,

and the rich he has sent away empty.

Jesus does indeed speak about those who are rich and powerful being cast down. "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry. "Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. These are hard words for us, as we sit here many of us have had plenty to eat. But, blessing, according to Jesus, far from being about material abundance, is to enjoy the regard and favor of God. And the God of Israel to whom Jesus bears witness reserves special regard for the poor, the maligned, the downtrodden. This God shows particular favor to those in need. While this may at first seem threatening to those of us who enjoy so much of the world's bounty, it also clarifies our calling to identify and help those in need, and it promises that God stands also with all of us in our moments of loss, distress, and poverty.

And this remains good news, it is good news because Jesus says directly to us, Love your enemies, do good to those who turn their backs on you, give your coat to someone who needs it. The good news here is that the heart of God is full of mercy and compassion, abounding in steadfast love. The good news here is that God loves every one of God’s children, and that God’s dream for us is to act in love.

We read these beatitudes on this All Saints Day, the day we remember the cloud of witnesses, all those who came before us to walk this journey of love, all those who show us what it means to be blessed. Because a saint is an ordinary person like you and me who is made holy, and also who is blessed by God.

We too are blessed to be a blessing. We are filled with God’s love, and mercy, and compassion, Yes, we can be saints too. The words we pray at a funeral, “Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive her into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of everlasting peace, and into the glorious company of the saints in light,” remind us that we are numbered in the ranks of those who are sinners made into saints, we are not perfect, but perfectly loved. And we are called specifically to welcome all God’s children, we are called to love our enemies, and we are called to bless those with whom we disagree.

Along with the saints we name today we too are called to bless others with mercy and compassion, with love and forgiveness. And on this day of all saints, we reaffirm our baptismal promises. We remember who and whose we are, we recall our identity as beloved sons and daughters of God. We vow to live our lives from that center, from that identity. On this day of all saints, we remember, we reaffirm, and we renew our courage and bravery to be witnesses to God's amazing and abundant love.

As we reaffirm our identity as God's beloved, we are renewed for the journey. This community of faithful saints, along with the cloud of witnesses, the saints who have gone before us, we are renewed by hope and blessing for the journey we take together. We call upon each other and God to stand here beside us as we follow Jesus into the world to do the work that we are called to do, and that work is to be agents of God's healing and reconciliation.

Thanks be to God.

4 Epiphany Yr A Jan 29 2017

Hadrian's Wall, the northern edge of the Roman Empire

4 Epiphany Yr A Jan 29 2017 Audio

I am convinced the prophetic voices we hear in today’s readings can guide our walk with Jesus. We must listen to them. We hear these verses in Matthew’s gospel that we call Jesus’ sermon on the mount. Jesus’ sermon on the mount is the opening proclamation of the ministry to follow, and it shows us what the kingdom of God looks like. In God’s kingdom, you are blessed, and the purpose and focus of Jesus ministry is to bless. Blessing is what it means to follow Jesus. And in our lectionary today, Matthew’s gospel is preceded by the prophet Micah. So today, we’ll begin there with Micah.

The last verses of what we hear from Micah are what we know best. I want to put those verses into some context. What we have is a sort of trial, with an indictment, “plead your case” the Lord says. And then the sarcasm begins. In the voice of the Lord we hear, O my people, what have I done for you? All I've done for you is to bring you up from the land of Egypt, I redeemed you from the house of slavery; I sent before you Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam. As if that's not enough to. And then the voice of the Lord calls us to remember what happened and to remember the saving acts of the Lord. And following that is this question, how shall we come before the Lord? Shall we bring burnt-offerings, rivers of oil, our first born child, again, sarcastic. And then we hear the instruction, what the Lord really needs of us is to do justice, and to love kindness (also translated mercy), and to walk humbly with our God.

Do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with our God. Wow. This is what God’s kingdom looks like, and this is also what it means to follow Jesus. But, humbly isn’t quite an accurate translation, it should be more like walk intentionally, walk deliberately, with your God. Do justice, love kindness, and walk intentionally with God.

So then we move into how to recognize blessing in Matthew. We’ve heard these beatitudes so many times, haven’t we. You know, for a long time I taught children using Godly Play. Godly Play is a way to tell the sacred bible stories. So, I’d tell this story about Jesus teaching his friends when the children were in first grade, and then they’d hear it again in second grade, and by third grade they’d say, we’ve heard that one before! And I’d respond with, of course you have, what’s different about it this time? Because you see, each time we hear these sacred stories, we are in a different place and a different time, so we hear something different in them. Friends, we are in a different place and a different time, we must hear these beatitudes differently.

Jesus is speaking directly to his disciples with this teaching. You and I are really just eavesdropping on Jesus’ teaching. Jesus is teaching his disciples about how to recognize blessing. Not, who is blessed, or how to bless, but how to recognize what God has already blessed. God has already blessed the poor in spirit, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. God has already blessed those who mourn, and they will be comforted. God has already blessed the meek, and they will inherit the earth. God has already blessed those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, and they will be filled. God has already blessed the merciful, and they will receive mercy. God has already blessed the pure in heart, and they will see God. God has already blessed the peacemakers, and they will be called children of God. God has already blessed those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and theirs is the kingdom of heaven. And God has already blessed those who are reviled and persecuted.

You see, our job, as followers of Jesus is to get with the program, God is already doing great things, our job is to see that and join forces. And what’s odd about this, is God has already blessed those who we would not think are blessed. In our world, when we think of someone who is blessed we most often think of someone who is wealthy or powerful or famous or successful or beautiful or enviable. Blessing, at least according to the standards of this world, is most often of the material kind. Blessing, in our world is missing the close call, or getting something someone else doesn’t get. But that’s not what is revealed in Matthew’s story about Jesus teaching the disciples. God blesses those in need.

So now we have these two scripture that are presented to us together on this day, in this church, in this community, in this country, and the question I ask of them is what does it have to do with us? What do these pieces of scripture have to do with following Jesus?

Following Jesus is about is doing justice, loving kindness, and walking intentionally with God. Following Jesus is to recognize blessing when it is staring us in the face. I think recognizing blessedness has something to do with living in a country of hospitality, a county in which people who can no longer literally live in their own countries can come and find justice, and kindness and mercy, and freedom to walk with God. I think recognizing blessedness has something to do with living in a community, a church of hospitality, a place where people of all stripes can come and find justice, and kindness and mercy, and freedom to walk with God.

Friday was International Holocaust Remembrance Day. When I was a kid in civics class, we learned about the Holocaust, and I remember being frightened and disgusted. In my own life I can not come to terms with how people can do such things to other people. And I learned that we learn about such atrocities, so as to never let it happen again. I have been to the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site, I have been to the Holocaust Memorial in Washington DC, and I believe following Jesus is about offering hospitality and sanctuary to all who come seeking refuge from violence and persecution in their own countries. And I know that seems like it is way outside our control, so the question I bring to these texts today is, right here in our church, right here in our community, how do we follow Jesus by doing justice, loving kindness, and walking intentionally with God. How do we follow Jesus by recognizing blessing when it is staring us in the face?

So that’s what I want for us to consider. What is it you can do, today, tomorrow, and the next day, to offer hospitality to the people you sit next to in these pews, to the people who walk by our church daily, to the people who are in our neighborhood and community, to the people who come to this country seeking refuge from death and starvation. What is in your hands? How can you walk with God and be that light that shines in this darkness? How can you be a partner in building God's kingdom?

Friends, we follow Jesus because we are convinced of God’s love for us, God’s love for all of creation. We follow Jesus because we are convinced that Love wins. We come here, to this place and we offer our own brokenness to be forgiven and healed, we are filled with bread and wine that are Jesus’ body and blood. In the mystery that is God’s love for us, we recognize blessing, we receive mercy, and we enact justice. You are loved, go out into the world to do the work you are called to do, to love and serve as faithful witnesses of Christ our Lord. Amen.

All Saints Yr C

The Beatitudes are very familiar to us, although, we may not be aware that there are two versions of them, this one from Luke, and the one in Matthew, they are very similar. I have trouble understanding the Beatitudes. It’s hard because the blessings don’t seem like blessings, being poor, hungry and weeping. The woes don’t seem much like woes, being rich, full and laughing. The problem is that they aren’t really clearly blessings and woes, what they are is much more about where we place our trust, in whom we place our trust and who and what we worship.

I think the Beatitudes in Luke are about what gets in the way of our trust in and worship of God. I think these Beatitudes are about idolatry, whether it’s blessing or trouble. I think the Beatitudes are about how the stuff in our lives clogs our lives and gets us stuck. When we concede to the seduction of the culture of greed, the culture of fame, the culture of consuming, we transfer our trust in God to trust in something other than God, and when we do that, we put idols before God. When we concede to the culture of self-absorption, and the culture of happiness, we put idols before God.

This is nothing new, the stories of idol worship go back as far as Genesis, when Adam and Eve transferred their trust in God to their own self-importance they were kicked out of the Garden. When the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, they transferred their trust in God to trusting themselves and they had nothing to eat. When the Hebrew people transferred their trust in God to the empty rituals of sacrificing animals their temple was destroyed.

Let’s take a look at these blessings and troubles one by one, and see if we can identify the idols, the stuff of our lives, that get us stuck and clogged up. The language we’re hearing is from Eugene Peterson’s translation in The Message.

You’re blessed when you’ve lost it all, God’s kingdom is there for the finding. Sure doesn’t seem like a blessing. We hear stories of people losing everything, in fire or in flood. You all have stories of people you know who have lost much due to fire or flood. When people lose home and possessions in fire or flood, when they are left with nothing, it is at that very time, when there is nothing between them and God, that their relationship with God may be at it’s strongest. So often it is what we perceive as loss that brings us to our knees, it is these times when our relationship with God is most pure.

You’re blessed when you’re ravenously hungry, then you’re ready for the messianic meal. You and I rarely go hungry, and if we do it is often because of poor planning rather than any real need for food. It is hard when we are so well fed to imagine coming to this table hungry, hungry for relationship, hungry for connection to God and to others. But each time we come to this table we are satisfied. And not merely with the meal of bread and wine, but with the meal that is Jesus, the meal that satisfies all of our longings, the meal that fulfills all of our hopes.

Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out. What it means is that truth is too close for comfort. When we become too smug and too sure of our rightness, we are sure to be cut down a notch. It is then that we can see the truth. It is in our humility that we can see God clearly. It is in our humility that we begin to be compassionate and know the truth of the other.

It’s trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself, your self will not satisfy you for long. It’s not about you, it’s about God. You’ve got to keep the main thing, the main thing. It’s never about how great a Christian any of us is, how much we give or how much we serve. It’s not about how important you are, how big your house is, how great your grades are, how talented you are. It’s about God’s abundant love for you and for all of us together. Satisfaction comes from God.

And it’s trouble ahead if you think life’s all fun and games. There’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it. There is no truer statement. The reality of our lives is suffering and pain, along with joy and celebration. You know this. Jesus didn’t live this life to take the suffering away, Jesus lived this live to accompany us in the midst of the suffering, to walk by our side, to be our guide, to suffer with us.

There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, popularity contests are not truth contests. Your task is to be true, not popular. That’s one we can all write down and post on our mirrors, or our desks, or someplace where we see it daily. Your task is to be true, not popular. Jesus shows us and teaches us the truth, the truth of our lives. And the truth is about trusting God to be God, Emmanuel, God with us, the One who created us, and is in our midst, the one to whom we sing Holy Holy Holy and who accompanies us through our joys and sorrows, the one who loves us no matter what, especially when we are feeling like there is nothing left to be loved, the one who we call Father and promises to be connected to us, when we feel isolated from everyone around us. The One who lived, suffered and died, and rose again to new life, so that we may be made new.

The Beatitudes call us away from idolatry, they call us to examine the stuff of our lives and to get unclogged. The Beatitudes call us away from idolatry and toward servanthood. And it is the Beatitudes that we hear on this All Saints Day. But remember, your task is to be true, not popular. Your task is to be faithful, not a saint. If we get caught up in being a saint, we are a long way from being a servant.

Today we baptize Isaiah, Isaac and Tiana. Today we reaffirm our own baptism promises. Isaiah, Isaac and Tiana, and all the rest of us, remember who you are this day, remember who came before you this day, and remember who comes after you, God was, is, and always will be. Every day, God is worthy to be praised.

Thanks be to God.
Amen.