SERMON: "To All the Saints"

"To All You Saints"
Matthew 5:1-12

The basis for this sermon was the continuation of a two-part sermon I shared with a congregation my final two weeks as their pastor. The first of this two-part sermon series was titled Some Things I Hope You Heard Me Say. While in the first sermon I shared with them that I hoped they heard me say that we should love God, others and ourselves and that God is a God of grace, forgiveness and love; and that we are all called by God to share our gifts, talents, skills and resources to sow for Jesus Christ and thus that we are all ministers; the emphasis in the second week's sermon was what I hoped they heard me say about what it means to be the church, the Body of Christ, the community of faith. They are ideas I hope every church community of faith I was privileged to be a part of heard me say as well. The truth of the matter is they each helped formulate//birth in me what I have come to believe and hopefully live out.

One of my favorite stories to use when I talk about the church is the story of the Life-Saving Station. I know, I know, I just one similar to it last week in a sermon post! But, it's another one that is too spot-on for contemporary images of what today's church often morphs into or, if not careful, can. The story is about a little life-saving station on a very dangerous part of the seacoast. It started out in this very primitive building with only one boat. The members of the little life-saving station became well-known for their commitment and unselfish service. They saved many, many people.

As a result of their success, many others supported their efforts with time, talent and money. New boats were purchased, new crews recruited and training sessions held. One day some of the members became concerned about how out-of-date some of their equipment and building was. And so they launched a successful campaign to build a new building with much nicer furniture.

Things began to change. Not necessarily bad things - members began to get together more often at the new facilities and it was obvious they loved and cared for one another. But, many lost interest in going out into the dangerous waters. And so, a specially trained crew was hired to do that.

Well, one day this terrible wreck happened and the hired crew brought boatload after boatload of cold, wet, dirty, sick and half-drowned people into the station. It was chaotic - mud was everywhere - some furniture got damaged.

As a result, the property committee built a shower on the outside of the building so that future victims could be cleaned up before they were brought inside. Well, this created quite a rift among the members. Some wanted to totally discontinue rescuing others and others insisted that that was the primary purpose of their existence. A vote was taken and those who wanted to continue saving lives were told they would have to do so elsewhere - which they did.

It wasn’t long before history repeated itself and another church . . . whoops! . . . life-saving station was started just up the beach from the first two. And the story ends with this: “And if you visit that seacoast today, you will find a number of adequate meeting places with ample parking and plush carpeting. Shipwrecks are still frequent in those waters, but most of the people drown.” (1)

I hope you have heard me say when I shared stories like that one with you that the church exists to rescue, to save, to heal, to mend, to comfort, to give itself away. The church exists to minister to those beyond its walls. Its reason for existence isn’t to be a safe and comfortable fellowship that exists only for itself. I hope you have heard me say, if we don’t go and sow - if we don’t reach out beyond the walls of our beautiful buildings to those who are hurting, lonely, afraid, sick, poor and needy - if we are not the Body of Christ for those in need of Him, there’s a good chance we’ll go the same way of the life-saving stations along the coast that lost their sense of mission. And friends, that’s not what I believe any church’s future should be. God has a plan for every church, just keep being faithful, keep praying for direction and keep doing, hoping that you are in step with God’s work.

Another thing I hope people in the churches I served heard me say about the church, the community of faith, I introduced with stories like the one about the old monastery that had fallen on hard times. It had once been a vibrant place with young monks filling its buildings and wonderfully beautiful chanting bouncing off the walls of the church. But, there came a day when only a handful of old monks shuffled through its cloisters and hardly anyone went there to be nourished by prayer.


An old rabbi lived in a little hut on the edge of the monastery woods. From time to time the old rabbi would go there to fast and pray and the monks would whisper to one another, “The rabbi walks in the woods.” And they would feel better, feel supported, by news of his prayerful presence.

One day after the morning Eucharist, the abbot of the monastery decided to visit the old rabbi and share with him the things that were on his mind and heart. As the abbot approached the rabbi, he saw the rabbi standing in the doorway with his arms outstretched as if he was waiting for him. The two embraced like long-lost brothers. Then they stepped back and just stood there, smiling at one another with smiles their faces could hardly contain.

Finally, the rabbi motioned for the abbot to enter. In the middle of the room was a wooden table with the scriptures open on it. They sat there for a moment in the presence of the book. Then the rabbi began to cry and soon after the abbot did as well. They sobbed together like children lost on a beach for a long time.

And then their tears stopped and they got very quiet. Finally the rabbi lifted his head and said, “You and your brothers are serving God with heavy hearts. You have come to ask a teaching of me. I will give you this teaching, but you can only repeat it once.  After that, no one else must say it aloud again.”

The rabbi than looked straight into the eyes of the abbot and said, “The Messiah is among you.” Silence followed. Then the rabbi said, “Now you must go.” And the abbot did.

The next morning, the abbot called all the monks together and told them that he had received a teaching from “the rabbi who walks in the woods” and that once he told them it they could never mention it again. Then he looked at his brothers and said, “The rabbi said that one of us is the Messiah!”

The message startled the monks. They asked among themselves, “What could this mean?” “Is brother John the Messiah? How about Father Matthew? Or, brother Thomas? Am I the Messiah? What could this mean?”

The monks began to treat one another with special reverence. They didn’t talk about it - they just did it. It was as if they had found something. Word spread and visitors came and were moved by what they experienced. People began to come again to be nourished by the prayer life of the monks. Young people began again to join the community. (2)

I hope people have heard me say with such stories that the community of faith most effectively lives as the Body of Christ, witnesses to itself and others when we look upon one another, think of one another, as Jesus Christ himself. Brothers and sisters in Christ, others will come to believe and to know Jesus Christ when they experience us living out this truth that Jesus Christ, the messiah, lives among us. If the resurrection means nothing else, it at least means that Jesus Christ is alive and at work through his living body, the church.

While there are many other things I hope people heard me say, there’s one more I want to share in this blog post. While it’s not necessarily the best news, and while it’s not as good of news as some of the other things I have already mentioned, it’s something that makes the message of Jesus Christ different, unique, as I see it. The idea is simply this: Discipleship - following Jesus Christ - involves sacrifice, suffering, service. Cross-like living is a reality for Christians because it involves making some tough choices - it involves taking unpopular stands - it involves serving even if it involves suffering.

I suppose my favorite illustration for emphasizing this idea is the one about the wannabe follower that exists in everyone of us who goes to Jesus to get a cross.  Now, it’s a rather sarcastic piece but I think it makes the point very well while chastising the popular view of Christianity that it’s all about Christ making us comfortable and doing things for us.

“Well, here I am, Lord. You said, ‘Take up your cross,’ and I’m here to do it. It’s not easy you know, this self-denial thing. I mean to go through with it though, yes, sir. I’ll bet you wish more people were willing to be disciples like me. I’ve counted the cost and surrendered my life and . . . well, it’s not an easy road . . .”

“Do you mind, Lord, if I look over these crosses? I’d kind of like a new one. I’m not fussy, you understand, but a disciple has to be relevant these days. And I was wondering . . . are there any that are vinyl padded? I’m thinking of attracting others, you see. And if I could show them comfortable crosses I am sure I could win a lot more. Got to keep up with the population explosion and all, you know.  And I need something durable so I can always cherish it. Oh, and is there one that’s sort of flat so it would fit under my coat? One should not be too obvious in this day and age, you know.”

“Funny, Lord, there doesn’t seem to be much choice here. Just that coarse, rough wooden one. That would hurt, wouldn’t it, Lord? Don’t you have something a bit more distinctive, Lord? I can tell you right now, none of my friends are going to be impressed by this shoddy workmanship! They’ll think I’m a nut or something! And my family would be mortified!”

“What’s that, Lord? It is either one of these or forget the whole thing? But, Lord, I want to be your disciple! I mean, just being with you, that’s all that counts, isn’t it?   Life has to be have a balance too, Lord . . . But, you don’t understand, Lord, nobody lives that way today! Who is going to be attracted by this self-denial bit? I mean, I want to, but, let’s not overdo it. Start getting radical like this Jesus and there will be talk of locking me up . . . know what I mean, Jesus?”

“Being a disciple is challenging and exciting, Lord, and I want to do it, but I have some rights and concerns you know! Now, let’s see, Lord, another thing: no blood, O.K.? I just can’t stand the thought of that Lord . . . Lord? Lord? Lord?” (3)

Yes, I hope people have heard me say that following Jesus most of the time involves suffering - ours. It involves identifying with those who suffer in this world - it involves sacrificing and serving. The world of today - the community we live in is in desperate need of a church, a community of believers who understands this and is willing to put everything they have and are on the line. Being successful as a church is not always measured by numerical growth but by the way the people who make it up live their faith.

Well, that brings me to the final thing I hope people have heard me say about being a faith community - we are sinners, sure, but, we are also saints. We are saints because we are people through whom others see the light of Jesus Christ shine.

The day I originally shared these thoughts was an All Saints Sunday so I also noted that the day is for more than just remembering those who’ve exemplified the Christian life in special and unique ways down through the ages - it’s more than remembering those who’ve stood out in our local churches or in our own faith journeys - it’s more than a day when we remember those related to our congregations who are no longer with us because of their deaths in the past year which of course is central to what we do in the service. All-Saints Sunday is also a day for us to remember that just as we are all ministers because of our saying yes to Jesus Christ, we are also all saints as a result of what Jesus Christ has done for us and in us. We are saints who occasionally sin.

And I ended it with the following which I've expanded for this blog sermon to include other communities and communities of faith it was our privilege to be part of: I could go on and on about this, but sense I better end and say what I want to say with some simple words of affirmation: “You, the people of Ottawa Trinity, Ada First, Lima Grace, Miamisburg Parkview, Urbana, Lima Trinity, Linden Heights, Worthington, Maple Grove United Methodist Churches and you, the people of the Ottawa, Ada, Miamisburg, Urbana, Lima, Linden, Worthington, and Clintonville areas are wonderful, wonderful people. You are indeed saints to us. Not because you never do/did anything wrong, but because you are people through whom we have seen Jesus Christ, who have made Jesus Christ visible to us. Dorothy and I and our adult children, Jeremy and Megan, love you all very much. We are so thankful to God for you. We wish you our very best. We will never, ever forget what you have done for us - how you’ve touched our lives - influenced our lives - and made our lives better. God bless you and keep you! Amen."

1. Source long ago dropped. Some illustrators give credit to Mike Yaconelli writing for The Wittenberg Door. Here's a recent source using it: http://sermonideas.net/view/The- Story-of-the-Lifesaving-Station.
2. ChristianGlobe Illustrations, Adapted from "The Rabbi's Gift" in Stories for the Journey by William White, ChristianGlobe Networks, Inc.
3. "Drama: Crosses" I've also posted a similar drama on the blog that was shared by the Maple Grove Players. We are still looking the original source of these two humorous looks at our sometimes perverted ways of thinking of the cross.