Serm-11-4-07 To Be A Saint

November 4, 2007 The Twenty-Third Sunday After Pentecost All Saints' Sunday Sermon: To Be a Saint Texts: Ephesians 1: 11-23; Luke 6:27-31 Today let's talk about the meaning we attach to this word, "saint," and how all Christians can be saints in their daily lives. Let's talk about the people who have influenced you to walk the way of Christ and how you want to continue to let them inspire you. Picture in your mind, Bob and Helen Parr, a seemingly normal suburban mom and pop who are really part of the government's Superhero Relocation Program. Picture teenage daughter Violet and their son Dash who seem like normal teens but can do amazing things like turn invisible and run at a lighting speed. This is the superhero turned normal suburban family. But, Bob is really Mr. Incredible and Helen is really Elastigirl. They have had to take on new identities because the general population just could not deal with their superhero powers. (Boston Globe, Section D-2, 11-5-04). This movie, The Incredibles, came out a few years ago. Why? We all love our superheroes. Superheroes fight dastardly villains and toss huge chunks of masonry around and they also are folks like you and me. You can easily identify with them and feel with them as they express emotions of despair, confidence, joy, envy and affection. Perhaps that's why we love those superheroes. The Harry Potter craze that began a few years ago is not a surprise---we love our young wizards who look so normal on the outside but have those special powers on the inside. What makes the Harry Potter books or films so popular is the same reason The Incredibles movie was hit: it is not what happens in the end that is surprising or interesting; it is how it happens and how the characters react. All Saints' Sunday is a time to remember that ordinary person are those extraordinary superheroes. Saints are not perfect people. They are people like you and me, people who have disappointments, doubts, unreal expectations or feelings of inadequacy. They are people with low days, high days, days of compromise and failure, days of success and joy. When Lesbia Scott wrote the hymn we sang earlier, "I Sing A Song of the Saints of God," she wrote it for her own three children. It was never intended to be published. It was meant to be used on saints' day as a reminder that sainthood is a possibility even in the context of our daily lives. (Hymn Profiles, New Century Companion, 359) What do you think? Is "sainthood" a possibility in our daily lives? Yes, if we honor the meaning of "All Saints Day" in the life of the church. Saints, according to the Apostle Paul, are all people who follow the way of Christ. Saints are people who try to live a life attentive to God's presence and have this Christ-like power on the inside. Saints are serious about the intention to live a life of holiness and devotion to God's ways. What are those ways? The lesson from the "Sermon on the Plain" in Luke's gospel tells us about a moral code turned upside down for those who follow in God's way. Superheroes, saints, are those who love the enemies as well as friends, who turn curses into blessings, who do not abuse prayer, who turn the other cheek for a second strike, and include a shirt as a bonus when a coat is taken. Listen to the way Eugene Peterson explains this in his paraphrase of the scripture (from The Message). "To you who are ready for the truth, I say this: love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with energies of prayer for that person. If someone slaps you in the face, stand there and take it. If someone grabs your shirt, gift wrap your best coat and make a present of it. If someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff. Live generously." So, who are saints? They are ordinary people doing extraordinary things. We must be careful never to underestimate the power of the ordinary person. Paul teaches the people in the congregation in Ephesus that they hold much power because of who they are as people of faith. These saints of God thought they had no power...who would listen to them? But, Paul reminded them that God's mighty power which raised Christ from the dead and placed him in authority above all others was at work in them. Sometimes, they simply missed this point. It is like the story of the bishop and the priest out in a row boat. A stiff wind came up and blew the cap off the bishop's head. The priest tried to reach it with a fishing pole but he couldn't. So, the bishop got up and got out of the boat, walked across the water and retrieved his cap. The story was covered in the local newspaper the next day. The headlines read, "Anglican Bishop Can't Swim." The newspaper headline shows how hard it can be to get recognition for a miracle in our midst. The miracle of ordinary people doing extraordinary things was the gift of God's power working in and through the common people. Theses people were deemed by Paul to be saints of God and that is why we refer to the Christians who have served the church as the "communion of saints." Those of long ago and those of recent past, can help us be encouraged to live the life Jesus' taught that would bring us closer to God's plan for the world. This is not easy. We are called to be saints; we are called to stewardship of all we are to God's greatness and criteria for seeing the world. It will not be the way others see the world. We will be tempted to have the reaction to our faith or even our church of "checking out," that is, withdrawing from the community. We may feel we are "giving out." We are tired and cannot deal with the bad news anymore. We believe we no longer make a difference. Social problems we face in our country are getting worse. Wars are still being waged and are raging. No matter what we say or do, nothing will change. We may not "check out" or "give out," we may just "freak out." That is, we get immobilized by fear. The last reaction I'll mention is one that is probably practiced often. We "zone out." We don't react at all. We just know it is part of life and we forge ahead. Maybe, we just go shopping. So how do we respond when the world is hurting and our collective lives or personal lives are on a collision course? Paul tells his people they are marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit. This means, God gave them the resources to let the work of Christ empower them to live their faith with boldness. In other words, as Luke said, you are blessed when you are hungry, when you are poor, when you weep. We are blessed when we can see the world through the eyes of God. Somehow we become saints when we, ordinary people, come to touch with the extraordinary powers that God has given to each of us to rise above the human response of apathy, pride, or self-sufficiency. If we have a hard time remembering how to do this, let's just call upon the "communion of saints," to help us out. Yes, the church is filled with a variety of people who have taught and led by example this path toward God's kingdom come, God's will be done. Many years ago, a Baptist teacher named Carlyle Marney, offered a beautiful way to celebrate the communion of saints and their help to us the living. Being a Southerner, he imagined a house that had a balcony made of white wrought iron with wicker rocking chairs. On the balcony, there are people in rocking chairs sipping iced tea or bourbon, depending on whether you are Baptist or Presbyterian, he would say. The people on your balcony are the strong, positive, influences in your life. They are your heroes, your models, your mentors. Your parents may be there or your grandparents. There may be some people up there you never met but they influenced and helped shape you. And there are some big names up there; people whose lives inspired you from afar and called deeper faith, courage, stamina, love and discipline out of you. The people on your balcony are your saints. They way to observe All Saints Sunday is to walk out of your house and look up and greet the saints. Call the roll. Name them. Wave to them. Your saints, the great ones and the small ones, are people who have managed to be more than a cranny through which the infinite peeps. Robert Frost wrote: "Two roads diverged in a wood and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference." As we part today, we give thanks for those who have served this church faithfully and served the church universal in their loving, their giving and their relentless pursuit of peace and justice and integrity for all God's creatures. Thanks be to God for the saints who have taken the "road less traveled by." Glory to the Creator who gives us life. Glory to Christ who shows us how to love. Glory to the Spirit who fill us with dreams and empowers us to move forward into the world. O Saints of God, dance with the God's Spirit wherever you go. Amen.