Sermon Scripture: JOHN 17:25-26
25Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. 26I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
Sermon Scripture: LUKE 6:20-31
20Then [Jesus] looked up at his disciples and said:
“Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
21“Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
“Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.
22“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. 23Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven; for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.
24“But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
25“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.
26“Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.
27“But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt. 30Give to
everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. 31Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
Sermon Text:
My childhood was surrounded by my grandparents and great grandparents. I have many memories of being in their presence. For each of these grandparents and others in my life who have died, I have dates- so many dates that surround their lives here with me. Their birthdates and death dates–the very specific life dates that come up each year and sometimes my feelings on those days catch me by surprise. And also there are the dates that are more vague, the ones that hold memories of moments and events that contributed to our depth of relationship. And then there is this date- All Saints Day. A day given where we remember, celebrate, grieve, and mark these lives and their meaning in our life story. This date feels different for me because it is a day wrapped in the promises of God. It’s a day where we remember not so much who they were but who they are to us and how they are held with us in God’s story, the bigger story of life death and eternity. And how they and we together are blessing and light and how they and we together are blessed and given light- through the source of Christ as our light. It is a day we place ourselves in the light of renewal-renewal through memory, renewal through connection, renewal through love.
Jesus in these beatitudes from Luke is pronouncing a blessing. This blessing is not instructive, but it is descriptive. It is a blessing upon them that says you are blessed. You have this promise from God. You are infused with this light and with this love so you can respond, you can go, you can be free to love–love your people, love your enemies, love the moment in life that you have been given. This blessing is given to all the saints, all those who live in our memory AND all of those who sit by us and walk with us each and every day AND all those still come-the generations who will never know my grandparents are still connected.
This blessing on all saints day connects us through a renewed promise and sends us to be that which Jesus pronounces us–those who have agency and love to bring to the world.
This happens here today as we light candles and sing and pray together. This happens in our community of faith that gathers to bring our memories into one space and lift them to God. And it happens when we leave this place. We are still connected, still called blessed, still sent into a world that needs this renewal of love again and again.
I have a video to show you that I connect with and believe it demonstrates this blessing that we possess, that we don’t always see, but when we let the light come on and inspire, it is a way of living into the sainthood that is pronounced upon us.
Eattogether video 2:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?
That is a gathering of saints–a coming together, a recognition of connection and a blessing of community dwelling in the movement of love. As you remember your loved ones, also remember you are a loved one and you have the calling and the gift to bring that love into the hallways, the elevators, the classrooms and parks, all the spaces big and small you are given to bring renewal with the love and light of Christ.
In the letter to the Ephesians, Paul reminds us of this inheritance we have through the passing on of the faith in and of Christ. We set our hope and our renewal in this promise of the word of truth, the gospel of salvation and the sealing of the Holy Spirit. Linda Hogan, a native american writer, says it well when she reflects on All Saints day, she says, Suddenly, all my ancestors are behind me. “Be Still” they say, “Watch and listen. You are the result of the love of thousands.”
God is the source of this love of the thousands. You are a result of the love that goes back to the beginning of time and extends well past the end of your time. You are claimed, named and sent out in that result of the love of God that ties you this ancestral and future eternal promise.
Sermon Scripture: JOHN 8:31-36
31Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, “If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; 32and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 33They answered him, “We are descendants of Abraham and have never been slaves to anyone. What do you mean by saying, ‘You will be made free’?”
34Jesus answered them, “Very truly, I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave to sin. 35The slave does not have a permanent place in the household; the son has a place there forever. 36So if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”
Sermon Scripture: LUKE 18:1-8
1Then Jesus told them a parable about their need to pray always and not to lose heart. 2He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. 3In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Grant me justice against my opponent.’ 4For a while he refused; but later he said to himself, ‘Though I have no fear of God and no respect for anyone, 5yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will grant her justice, so that she may not wear me out by continually coming.’ ” 6And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. 7And will not God grant justice to his chosen ones who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long in helping them? 8I tell you, he will quickly grant justice to them. And yet, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”
Sermon Scripture: LUKE 17: 11-19
11On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. 12As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, 13they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. 15Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. 16He prostrated himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. 17Then Jesus asked, “Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? 18Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?” 19Then he said to him, “Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”
Sermon Text:
This scripture , it sparks such connection and joy for me when I read it. It seems like one that lends itself a little more easily to what I like to call our modern day scriptures or parables. Those stories that teach us and tell us some deeper truth that we understand on a grander level. While I was on a visit this week, I heard one such story from a homebound couple of our congregation. It is a story the woman loves to tell, taking her back to her memories, her personal experiences that have become the stories and scriptures that connect her to herself and to God. She was a teacher, she wanted to be an engineer but even though she applied across the country at that time was never accepted because women were not allowed in engineering school. She always says though, I found a love and a place in teaching that I would never trade. She was a teacher for students with special needs and in particular a gifted math teacher- I know this because of the light that goes on her eyes when she tells this story and because of the pride in her husband’s posture and stance when he listens. The textbook was no good, it didn’t teach children, it only showed information. She is a teacher of children, of people, and she found ways to connect to the parts of their world that they cared about in order to learn math–like how not to get cheated when making big purchases is a really good reason to know your fractions and percents! She did away with the textbook and taught the people. The students were in the middle years of schooling and when they left her school for the next she mostly did not know how they landed. Except for one. One student whose mother after a year of his being in high school, came back to her. She came back and told her how well he was doing and how much he had improved. She back and thanked her, poured out her gratitude for the gift that was given to him by this teacher of people. And this gratitude. This thankfulness. This one time has made all the difference in that teacher’s story of herself, her life, and her gifts being used in the light of God. And it is renewing for her whole self.
I told her this week as she wrapped up that this was also a story of Jesus. A story of how he threw away the policies of healing only at certain times and healing only certain kinds of people and instead, he simply healed people. He saw people. He heard people. He loved people and brought grace and mercy to heal people. And many we never know what they did or how their life changed, but this one leper, the foreigner in fact, the one who did not automatically fit in with the others around him, we do know. We know his gratitude. We know his joy. We know his faith and his heart were changed and impacted in big and mighty ways. We also know he was welcomed, he was praised, and he was renewed-an outsider brought in and blessed by the grace of Jesus.
And because he came back in gratitude, because he couldn’t keep this story to himself, we hear and tell this story again and again so we can also remember and renew our story, our life, our gifts in the light of God.
I was talking with a colleague and she said sometimes it feels like the spiritual practice of gratitude has been so invaded by culture that it has become a platitude, a buzz word. She may be right. However, gratitude–it’s of and from God. We as people who attempt to walk in faith, we get to take it back not because it’s popular with Oprah or the hallmark industry, but because it’s ours–it’s of our faith, it’s from our scriptures, it’s a part of who and what we are–refilled with grace to know that every time we re-return to God, Jesus is already there, ready for our gratitude, ready for our gifts, ready for our light in the world.
Eckert Tolle, a spiritual teacher and writer, says “if the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” Think about it for a moment. The prayer of gratitude, the prayer of thanks. It is a way we connect our spirits to our minds and also to our community. When is a time you have been genuinely given gratitude? How did it feel? How did it connect you to your gifts… to the other person.. To your spirit? How about those gratitude you have to give? Some may be simple–a word of kindness, a meal, a walk with a loved one. Some may be profound and deep–a gift, a tough experience, someone who has stuck with you through ups and downs. These prayers of thanks are in your heart and they invite you to be transformed in your mind, in your hopes, in your movement in the world.
We are going to pause for just a moment and practice–because like all spiritual endeavors, gratitude takes practice. Turn to your neighbor or grab the pencil and paper in your pew and just lift up one gratitude you have and give God thanks. (Pause, 30 sec)
As we come back from our gratitude break I have a little greek lesson for you today–the word Eucharist, it comes from the greek for Thanksgiving. This is why you will sometimes hear communion, the holy meal, called the Great Thanksgiving. The Eucharist as it has come to be in our practice is a spiritual way of that re-turning to give thanks and returning to be renewed. When we come together each week and we gather at this altar, at this table and rail to be brought back together in thanksgiving for the grace and love that God has promised to us. Those words of institution, those are the words of the story that Jesus has a remember- to remember his promise and words yes, but also to Re-Member- to be back together as a community who re joins itself together in renewal, in thanksgiving, in gratitude, in spiritual practice of knowing the renewal of our story, our life, our light is in God. Thanks be God. Amen
Sermon Scripture: LUKE 17:5-10
5The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
7“Who among you would say to your slave who has just come in from plowing or tending sheep in the field, ‘Come here at once and take your place at the table’? 8Would you not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, put on your apron and serve me while I eat and drink; later you may eat and drink’? 9Do you thank the slave for doing what was commanded? 10So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, ‘We are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done!’ ”