For all the saints...

a cutting from an All Saints Sermon...

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.  Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.  Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” 

These words also are for the living, because we are not only commemorating the saints of heaven, but we celebrate, honor and name the saints here on earth. The meek, those who feel actual hunger pangs for righteousness, the merciful, the pure in heart...these are the saints on earth. We do not often claim and name our sainthood, that sounds awfully haughty and self-righteous, doesn't it? We are holy, because our God is holy and because of the power of the Holy Spirit and because of the love and grace of Christ on the cross, we are made holy—we are made saints of God.

Yet, while we remain on earth we are not just saints – we are sinners and we are saints all the same glorious time. Most often we trudge with the weight of sin around our legs, we work to forget and let go of the sins of our lives and our poor attitudes – yes, our sinfulness can certainly be the more predominant state of our existence. But today, we gather with the whole church – the church on earth and the church in heaven and say WE HAVE BEEN MADE HOLY by the Holy Spirit. WE HAVE BEEN FORGIVEN by the cross of Christ, and, so, WE ARE SAINTS OF GOD! This is not for our own promotion or glory, our declaration is a declaration on the who God is. We believe in a God who so desires to be in relationship with us that God has chosen us to be God's children, we believe in a God who so protects life that he sent us a Savior to lift the weight of our sin so that we could live freely and love boldly. We believe in a God who is holy and who is love, and so through Christ, we are made holy and we are made for love too.

Today, when we remember the saints, we do not only remember those who have died, but we remember and honor and claim the sainthood of the living. Because God has made it so.

Fredrich Buechner is one of the saints of our time, a Presbyterian minister, celebrated theologian and incredible writer...I would like to share with you these words he give us for All Saints Day.

‘At the Altar Table the awkward pastor is doing something or other with the bread and with the wine. In the pews, the congregation sits more or less patiently waiting to get into the act. The church is quiet. Outside, a bird starts singing. It’s nothing special, only a handful of notes angling out in different directions. Then a pause. Then a trill or two. A chirp. It is just warming up for the business of the day, but it is enough.

The pastor and the usual scattering of senior citizens, parents, teenagers are not alone in whatever they think they’re doing. Maybe that is what the bird is there to remind them. In its own slapdash way the bird has a part in it too. Not to mention “Angels and Archangels and all the company of heaven” if the prayer book is to be believed. Maybe we should believe it. Angels and Archangels. Cherubim and seraphim. They are all in the act together. It must look a little like the great jeu de son et lumière at Versailles when all the fountains are turned on at once and the night is ablaze with fireworks. It must sound a little like the last movement of Beethoven’s Choral Symphony or the Atlantic in a gale.  

And “all the company of heaven” means everybody we ever loved and lost, including the ones we didn’t know we loved until we lost them or didn’t love at all. It means people we never heard of. It means everybody who ever did – or at some unimaginable time in the future ever will – come together at something like this table in search of something like what is offered at it.

Whatever other reasons we have for coming to such a place, if we come also to give each other our love and to give God our love, then together with Gabriel and Michael, and the awkward pastor, and Sebastian pierced with arrows, and the old lady whose teeth don’t fit, and Teresa in her ecstasy, we are the communion of saints’. – Frederick Buechner

Jesus' words of blessing and promise are for the living, and around this table we come to remember life and death, saints on earth and saints in heaven...and more than anything we come to participate in this dying in Christ and rising again to new life. Saints and sinners now, saints then, forever, with God. Amen.

a beautiful promise...from Leviticus?

Leviticus is a book of the Bible that is all about law and "do-nots"...not exactly warm and fuzzy.  So, imagine my surprise when this sermon materialized from Levitcus 19.  Yes, I wrote it, but I was amazed at the promise, beauty and hope that comes from this text.  The sermon was surprisingly difficult for me to get through, which usually means it was written from a fragile place...that was certainly true for me this past Sunday. 

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Leviticus is the book of focus for today. Our Old Testament reading comes from Leviticus, which can be a somewhat intimidating book, boring, stern, a divisive book painting pictures of black and white morality. Leviticus is often quoted when one wants to throw down the moral gauntlet of what God said is right and what God says is certainly wrong. Leviticus is a book about holiness, or certainly our reading today centers on that very idea of “being holy”. Now, that is a church-y kind of word – an off-putting word, I think, often we think of holy as in “holier than thou”. We say God is Holy, or if we do not say it Scripture certainly does, all over we hear of that God is Holy, the name of the Lord is Holy, Bless God's Holy name. But, what does that even mean?

In our Old Testament, God's holiness is depicted as something completely and utterly “OTHER”. Moses is commanded to take of his shoes for he is on “holy ground”, many hid their face in the presence of holiness in order to spare their lives, and those who did not, certainly died for merely catching a glimpse of the holiness of God. Sound inviting? Probably not. God is holy, because God is perfect and we know that God's ways our not our ways, God's thoughts are not our thoughts. This Almighty Creator of the Universe is Holy and awe-inspiring and worthy of our fear and our worship and our bowing of heads, because God is Holy. As we hear in Leviticus 19 God is inviting us in to these different ways of living – ways that revere our relationships, ways of living that care of those that live on the margins of society, ways of living that do not stand for hatred, but rather love others as we love self. God is holy because these are the very nature of God, God's holiness is defined by relationship, liberation, mercy and love. This is the holiness of God, this is the nature of God.

There is another invitation extended in Leviticus 19. In verse 2 God says, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” To me this sounds like an old parenting technique – “You will sit quietly during church today” “You will clean your room this afternoon” I have used this technique from time to time and I know these statements are not really meant to be prophecies are much as they are threats lest the hoped for behavior does not happen! God says, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” This, however is no threat, this is a promise. “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” This is no threat, this is a promise.

There is a beautiful, and holy litany found in Leviticus 19. The rhythm invites us with every refrain into the Holiness of God, how could we possible be invited? How could we, mere mortals, be drawn into this God whose very presence can cause death, this God whose very nature liberates and loves without measure? Who are we to be invited into this holiness?

Because this Holy God is your Lord and your God, you will be holy. This is no threat, this is a promise.

You will revere your family – I am the Lord your God.

You will care and provide for the poor and the alien – I am the Lord your God.

You will not steal or profane God's holy name – I am the Lord your God.

You will promote justice and speak well of your neighbor – I am the Lord you God.

You will not hate in your heart, you will not take vengeance on anyone, you will love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Lord.

This is not a laundry list of things to be before being considered “holy”. This is a divine gift, a holy glimpse into the ways and nature of God. When our heart and will conforms to the ways and nature of God, we experience holiness...sometimes slight and passing droplets of holiness, sometimes long and satisfying drinks of the holy, beautiful majesty of our Lord and God.

This is the law of God, and the law of God is a way into holiness. Of course, we know this is not something to achieve, rather something to embrace, a life and way of being that is different. We are still mere mortals, we still will turn our faces in the presence of this Holy God because we know how often we have turned down this invitation.

This Holy God is our Lord, our God and we can say this and claim this Holy God and know that we are claimed by God. God claimed us as beloved, redeemed and yes, even Holy, in Christ. Scripture continues to proclaim what was first made true in our creation in God's image, what is proclaimed today in Leviticus 19, Scripture continues the proclamation when Jesus prays these words, in the Gospel of John “17Sanctify them [Jesus' disciples] in the truth; your word is truth. 18As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. 19And for their sakes I sanctify myself, so that they also may be sanctified in truth.” In the Word we are sanctified, meaning we are made holy. In Jesus, we are sanctified, meaning we are made holy, too. This is not a threat, this is a promise.

We do not make ourselves holy, we will not be offering a holiness-now seminar at church anytime soon. This is the work of the Spirit, and the Spirit is at work in me and in you because Jesus came into this unholy world with a holy promise and a holy invitation. The holy invitation is that our hearts and our very natures will be conformed to God's so that our lives may be love-filled, caring, reverent and holy. This is the work of Christ, in us, you and me. Sometime we catch droplets, sometimes long and satisfying drinks of the holiness of God in our midst.

Three years ago I traveled to Mexico with other seminarians to fulfill a cross-cultural requirement. This was not a mission trip, or a chance to sit on the beach, instead it was a listening experience. Each day for two weeks we stepped into different communities and heard stories—we heard the stories of community organizers working to bring fair profit to local farmers, indigenous people fighting to remain on their land, church leaders working to make the church in Mexico a place for all people and we heard the stories of many, many, many women who work tirelessly for their families, their land and their home. I met one woman whose story will stay with me forever. I met her during our visit to a community called La Estacion. This squatter settlement lays on the outskirts of Cuernava, Mexico and stretches for literally miles. The types of homes one will find while walking the neighborhood range from areas of land, simply marked with string and people sitting around, cardboard boxes, or some more developed homes that have metal walls and some cement foundation or outline. Stray dogs were everywhere and the smells that we walked through made it very difficult to breath. I was prepared to see neighborhoods like this, what I was NOT prepared for was to sit inside a home and have a conversation with a life-long resident. Our trip leader broke us into small groups so that only two or three entered a home at a time, there was not really room for any more. And we were armed with questions to ask so that when we regrouped we would have all asked the same questions and could have a cohesive reflection time. I was tasked with speaking for my group and was ok with most of the questions, what does a typical day look like for you? What is your relationship with your neighbors? Are you hungry? But my final question I was so embarrassed by I prayed we would run out of time so that I wouldn't have to ask it. “What are your dreams?” this is what I was to ask our host, whoever they may be. Standing in La Estacion I thought the word dream couldn't be anywhere in the vocabulary! Who am I to ask about dreams and hopes and aspirations of any kind? What do I know of what the residents could want?

holiness in Mexico

With a pounding heart I went with my group further into the neighborhood. Our hostess was Brenda invited us into her home, we ducked out heads and made our way through a small maze of wires, copper-fencing, boxes stacked until we entered the home. The floor was cement and the walls were made of metal…this was one of them most stable structures we had seen. The home consisted of two rooms, the kitchen which we sat in, and sleeping room—the two areas were divided by hanging blankets. Over the entrance hung a cross, and near the only window was Our Lady of Guadalupe. This was the home for Brenda, her husband and their seven children.

She served us a snack and politely entertained our questions. The answers were all the ones we did not want to hear — her day was endless finding and preparing food — some days successful, many not. The community very dangerous — you cannot trust your neighbor even though these homesteads were literally collapsing on top of one another. Then I asked with broken spanish, do you have dreams? Hope? ..she answered that all of her children remain healthy and that their future might be safe, good and better than she could hope. Then I asked if she had fears…that her children would be hurt, ill or stumble onto paths that would lead them to bad places. So many things between Brenda and I are different, at first glace, maybe everything is different. But our heart and our nature is one – we were simply mother to mother and though all earthly measurements put us on different ends of the scale, we were the same, living out the dreams, hopes and fears of all mothers and fathers and care givers anywhere.

In La Estacion I sat while drops fell from Brendas' eyes and drank a long and satisfying drink of holiness. The heart and nature of God manifest in this woman, she is holy because her Lord and her God is holy, she is holy because her heart and nature are of God...love-filled, caring, reverent and holy.

We are invited into holiness, but not just invited, we are transformed and made holy by Christ alone and because this Holy God has made it so. Holiness is not a status to be reached, it is an encounter, it is a gift, it is relationship with God and with one another...this is where we become holy.

“You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.” This is not a threat, this is a promise. Thanks be to God. Amen.