Sunday
11/03/19 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “We stand in a line of Heroes”
Old Testament
Scripture: Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18
New Testament
Scripture: Ephesians 1:11-23
Gospel Lesson: Luke
6:20-31
Welcome again on
this the Twenty-First Sunday after Pentecost, and this our All Saints Sunday.
Twenty one Sundays after the Holy Spirit moved nearly two-thousand years ago,
giving birth to the Christian Church, and also again this is our All Saints
Sunday.
This past Thursday was Halloween or All Hallows Eve, and this
past Friday was All Saints Day. The village of Sidney, due to the terrible
weather that we got on Thursday night however, moved the village-wide trick or
treating to yesterday, Saturday November 2nd. As a result, our
church also moved our trunk or treat to yesterday November 2nd, as
well. This has never happened to me in my lifetime. I thought about therefore,
what to call yesterday. It was Halloween or All Hallows Eve on Thursday, and it
was All Saints Day on Friday. So, I decided to call yesterday “trick or saints,”
or “saint or treats”.
The reason that we are celebrating All Saint Sunday today,
is that we generally don’t have a worship service on Friday. As a result, this
is our All Saints Sunday. Our scripture readings for this morning are in fact,
the Friday November 1st All Saints Day scriptures.
So what is All Saints Day, and why do we celebrate this
holiday of tradition within many Christian Churches?
Here is a brief explanation of All Saint’s Day:
“All
Saints' Day,
also known as All Hallows' Day, Hallowmas, the Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints, is
a Christian festival celebrated in honour of all the saints, known and
unknown. In Western
Christianity, it is celebrated on 1
November by the Roman
Catholic Church, the Anglican
Communion, the Methodist Church, the Church
of the Nazarene, the Lutheran Church, the Reformed Church, and other Protestant churches. The Eastern Orthodox Church and associated Eastern Catholic Churches and Byzantine Lutheran Churches celebrate
it on the first Sunday after Pentecost. Oriental Orthodox churches of Chaldea and associated Eastern
Catholic churches celebrate All Saints' Day on the first Friday after Easter” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day).
Going a little further, this source
says:
“The Christian celebration of All Saints' Day and All Souls'
Day stems from a belief that there is a powerful spiritual bond between those
in heaven (the "Church triumphant"), and the living (the "Church militant"). In Catholic theology, the day commemorates all those who
have attained the beatific vision in Heaven. In Methodist theology, All Saints Day revolves around
"giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints", including those who are "famous or
obscure". As such, individuals throughout the Church Universal are
honoured, such as Paul the Apostle, Augustine
of Hippo and John Wesley, in addition to individuals who have personally led
one to faith in Jesus, such as one's grandmother or friend” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day).
So All Saints Day, or today, All Saints Sunday, is the day
that we honor the saints. In the Methodist Tradition, we view this day as
celebrating those that have went before us that are alive in Christ in
eternity. Those people that have died in Christ, and our now reigning with
Christ.
In reading the names that we read and spoke aloud earlier
in this service, we were speaking aloud and remembering just some of the many
millions upon millions of the saints of the church. This is a great day in the
life of the church that shows us the strength of the church, the size of the
church, and as my sermon title says, “We stand in line of Heroes”.
All Saints Sunday, or All Saints Day, isn’t just about
celebrating some good men and women that preceded us. It isn’t just that they
were good Christians and sacrificed so much for others. Part of it also, is
that they paved the road for us. Through their blood, sweat, and tears, we have
the church today.
Do we really believe that churches like this simply just
came up out the ground? Do we not realize the legacy that has brought us from
back then to the present? People that began worshipping in their homes hundreds
of years ago, gathered funds, and built a church. Some of the same people that
when they passed on to glory, left some of those funds to the church, for a
stained glass window or something else. These are saints that gave and
contributed, likely not to bring praise to themselves, but solely to bring praise
to the God of heaven. People that loved Jesus, were changed by his grace, and
who wanted the world to know who he was and is.
As I stand here on this our 2019 All Saints Sunday, I
believe that we all here “stand in a line of Heroes,” and that we stand of the
shoulders of giants. I remember that the first Christians were oppressed, killed,
persecuted, fed to lions, and crucified upside, never ceasing to proclaim that
Jesus Christ is Lord.
These same Christians created schools, hospitals, and did
so many things. We are the legacy of all of those saints, all of those great
men and women, who have gone before us. Today we heard just a handful of the
names, of the great cloud of witnesses in heaven.
The question then is, what will we do with this legacy? We
will pass this faith and this love on to the next generations? Or will we let
the faith that we have shared for centuries just fade off? Don’t get me wrong
the gates of hell cannot overcome the church, but I believe that we shouldn’t
take from granted the fact that “We stand in a line of Heroes,” and that we
stand on the shoulders of giants.
We are reminded of this morning once again in the Apostle
Paul’s Epistle or letter to the Ephesians. Once again this scripture says:
“In Christ we have also obtained an
inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him
who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who
were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his
glory. In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of
your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the
promised Holy Spirit; this is the pledge of our inheritance toward
redemption as God’s own people, to the praise of his glory”
(Eph. 1:11-14, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul tells us that through
Jesus we have an inheritance, everlasting life, forgiveness, and new hope. We
are to live for and like Jesus. We know Jesus because someone told us about
him, as the Apostle Paul says “the word of the truth, the gospel of your
salvation.” We were forgiven, transformed, and thus we are able to be equipped
to transform the world. We are to seek Christ, but also to share Christ and
live for Christ.
So many of us were taught about Jesus,
learned the Bible, and the love of God through Jesus Christ. We are able to be
here on this day, on this All Saints Sunday, because of those that went before
us. We are able to be here because “We stand in a line of Heroes,” and we stand
on the shoulders of giants.
Not only is Jesus Christ our Lord and
our savior, not only did he live, breathe, love, heal, and forgive, and die for
us, but Jesus and his gospel is the eternal hope of a broken, hurting, and a
dying world. So strongly did many of ancestors believe this, that churches like
this stand today as a testament of the men and women of faith that went before us?
So do we honor the saints on this day?
You bet we do, but may we be included in the great cloud of witnesses one day
to. The Apostle Paul completes his reading for this morning from his Epistle or
his letter to Ephesians by saying:
“I have heard of your faith in the Lord
Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do
not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that
the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of
wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your
heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you,
what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is
the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the
working of his great power. God put this power to work in Christ
when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the
heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and
above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to
come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over
all things for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all
in all” (Eph. 1:15-23, NRSV).
The Apostle Paul thanks the Ephesians and us for the faith
that we have in the Lord Jesus Christ, and our love toward all the saints. He
prays that God would give us wisdom, love, enlightenment, as we are promised a glorious
inheritance among the saints. The Apostle Paul said God’s power raised Christ
from dead, and everything and everyone on earth is under the love, rule, and the
dominion of Jesus Christ.
Our churches exists, as does everything that God has used
us to create, because “we stand in a line of Heroes,” we stand on the shoulders
of giants.
So friends, brothers and sisters, who are the saints, the
heroes, the giants of this church that have went on before us? Who are those
men and women who gave all they had, to gift us with all of this, so that we
will be able to share our faith and change the world? Who are the saints of
this church that changed us, that led us closer to Christ? Further, how will we
be the saints to the next generation, so that they might know the incredible
hope found only in Jesus Christ?
In the world today, people are being feed, water wells are being
drilled, hospitals built, schools built, diseases cured, peace sought, lives
changed, all because of the love of Jesus Christ. In this way, All Saints
Sunday reminds of who we are, who has come before us, and where God is calling
us to go.
In this way the prophet Daniel says once again this morning
in Daniel 7:18:
“But the holy ones of the Most High shall receive the
kingdom and possess the kingdom forever—forever and ever” (Dan.
7:18, NRSV).
I would also argue, while honor the
saints this day that have left this earth to be with the Lord, that we have
saints among us. We have some people in this church that give, care, love, and
make the world better every day. We truly are a church full of saints in
training. One day our names might be read from a list like the one I read
earlier in the service, and my hope and my prayer is, is years from now, when
some other young pastor asks you who the saints where in your lives, that your
name will be spoken. They will say, “Dick and Vi Stevens were saints in the
church that changed me.” They will say, “Jack Doyle and Sarah Pressler served
the music ministries of this church for years with the greatest of love and
grace, and they changed me.” Maybe they might say, “Guys like Roy Nabinger, Ron
Nemire, and Joe Singlar loved the Lord so much that they were always here
helping, fixing, and being great men. They have changed me”.
This isn’t just a Sunday that we only
remember those who have went before us, but I also think that those who have
went before us are calling to us to live holy and righteous lives. Those that
have went before us are calling us to pick up the mantle that they laid down
the day that they went on to glory, so that we might pick it up.
I no longer have my Grandpa Winkelman
here on earth, but I have a duty and a responsibility to live the Christ-like
way that he lived. I have a duty and a responsibility to live like him and the
others before him. I have a responsibility to carry the light of Christ with
God’s help, so that the truth and love of Jesus will continue to shine until
the day that I lay my mantle down, or Christ returns. Today we remember that “We
stand in a line of Heroes,” and that we stand on the shoulders of giants.
So what is an example that Jesus gives
us of just how we are supposed to live? Well I think that we have one of the
best examples in the bible, in our Gospel lesson for this morning. In this gospel
lesson, which is Jesus’ “Sermon on the Plain,” similar to the “Sermon on the Mount,”
Jesus once again says this in Luke 6:20-31:
“Then he looked up at his disciples and
said: Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
“Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. “Blessed
are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
“Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you,
and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice 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. “But
woe to you who are rich, for you have received
your consolation. “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. “Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that is
what their ancestors did to the false prophets. “But I say to you that
listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse
you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer
the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even
your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your
goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you”
(Lk. 6:20-31, NRSV).
Today
we honor the saints, as we remember that “we stand in a line of Heroes,” and that
we stand on the shoulders of giants.
On
this All Saints Sunday I want to close this message with a quote from a saint
about being a saint. This quote is from the great Saint Augustine who said:
“If they, why
not I?—If these men and women could become saints, why cannot I with the help
of Him who is all-powerful”
(Quotable Wisdom-The Saints, pg. 95).
Friends,
brothers and sisters, on this All Saints Sunday, and always, “we stand in a
line of Heroes,” and we stand on the shoulders of giants. Amen.
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