Sunday 11/01/20 - Sidney UMC
Sermon Title: “Saints: And The Sermon On The Mount”
Old Testament Scripture: Psalm 34:1-10, 22
New Testament Scripture: 1 John 3:1-3
Gospel Lesson: Matthew 5:1-12
Friends, brothers, and sisters in Christ, welcome once again on this our
All Saints Day Sunday. On this day, we celebrate the great saints of our
Christian faith, both past and present.
To explain a little bit more what All
Saints Day is, let me read to you from this source that I found:
“All Saints' Day, also known as All Hallows' Day, Hallowmas, the Feast of All Saints, or Solemnity of All Saints, is a Christian solemnity celebrated in honour of all the saints, known and unknown. In Western Christianity, it is celebrated on November 1 by the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Communion, the Methodist Church, the Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente), the Church of the Nazarene, the Lutheran Church, the Reformed Church, and other Protestant churches. November 1 is also the day before All Souls' Day. The Eastern Orthodox Church and associated Eastern Catholic and Byzantine Lutheran churches celebrate it on the first Sunday after Pentecost. The Church of the East and associated Eastern Catholic churches celebrate All Saints' Day on the first Friday after Easter” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Saints%27_Day).
So, this morning then, we celebrate those saints that have
went before us. We knew some of these saints, but many we did not, and we are
called on this day and always to be saints ourselves. While we are still living
this life here on earth, we are called to live like Jesus, to be saints. Today is
the day in the life of church that we celebrate all saints, both past and
present.
When I think about what it means to be a saint, I think of
what it says once again from our reading from Psalm 34 for this morning. Once
again it says:
“I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. 3 O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:1-3, NRSV).
As much as this is what we hope that we are doing and
saying all day every day, we all know that sometimes we struggle to always do
this. Yet, saints persist. Saints work through the challenges, celebrate the
victories, and grow closer to Christ.
Saints in fact, are often some of the people that we revere
the most but are often people that have suffered greatly. Saints are people
that are selfless, people who love others boldly, and sometimes met a martyr’s
end. Yet these saints did what they did, because of their belief in the gospel
of Jesus Christ. They did what they did, because they believed that Christ was
Lord of all, and they still do in heaven. They did what they did, because they believed
in the love of God, they believed in a better world, and they believed in life
eternal with Christ.
Sometimes during a Saint’s life, they were not appreciated
or even cared for the way that God calls us all to care for each other.
Sometimes it was not until years later that they were recognized for there
calling, and the work that they did for Christ.
I think that our scripture from 1 John for this morning is
telling of what a saint thinks, feels, believes, and does. Once again 1 John
3:1-3 says this morning:
“1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 Jn. 3:1-3, NRSV).
Saints are the way they are because they know Christ. Since
they have been changed by Christ, Christ has called them to change others and
the world. On its face this seem marvelous, and it is, yet the gospel does not promise
us that life will be perfect. Instead, the gospel promises us that God is with
us, and that Christ is faithful.
For example, one my heroes as a pastor and as a saint, is
Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta. As many of us know, Mother Teresa worked with
and served the poorest of the poor in India. Many of us that know who Mother
Teresa was, likely admire her greatly. In fact, by a show of hands, how many of
us here admire Mother Teresa? With this said however, how many of you would want
to have lived the life that Mother Teresa lived? Many admire saints, famous
saints, saints that were part of this or other churches, saints from our own families,
or people that are living like saints today.
I have also heard many stories of some people who have
suffered greatly, yet through there suffering had great faith. We admire such people,
yet we ourselves would never wish to suffer. Many saints suffer, but Christ is
with them.
Another saint that I greatly admire, other than many my
late family members and many people that I have known who have passed on to
glory, is Saint Lawrence. For those of you that have heard of Saint Lawrence
University in Canton, NY, that university is named after Saint Lawrence. I want
to tell you a little bit about Saint Lawrence and how he died, according to
church tradition. This is how the story goes:
“The esteem in which
the Church holds Lawrence is seen in the fact that today’s celebration ranks as
a feast. We know very little about his life. He is one of those whose martyrdom
made a deep and lasting impression on the early Church. Celebration of his
feast day spread rapidly”.
“He was a Roman deacon
under Pope Saint Sixtus II. Four days after this pope was put to death,
Lawrence and four clerics suffered martyrdom, probably during the persecution
of the Emperor Valerian”.
“Legendary details of
Lawrence's death were known to Damasus, Prudentius, Ambrose, and Augustine. The
church built over his tomb became one of the seven principal churches in Rome
and a favorite place for Roman pilgrimages”.
“A well-known legend
has persisted from earliest times. As deacon in Rome, Lawrence was charged with
the responsibility for the material goods of the Church, and the distribution
of alms to the poor. When Lawrence knew he would be arrested like the pope, he
sought out the poor, widows, and orphans of Rome and gave them all the money he
had on hand, selling even the sacred vessels of the altar to increase the sum.
When the prefect of Rome heard of this, he imagined that the Christians must
have considerable treasure. He sent for Lawrence and said, “You Christians say
we are cruel to you, but that is not what I have in mind. I am told that your
priests offer in gold, that the sacred blood is received in silver cups, that
you have golden candlesticks at your evening services. Now, your doctrine says
you must render to Caesar what is his. Bring these treasures—the emperor needs
them to maintain his forces. God does not cause money to be counted: He brought
none of it into the world with him—only words. Give me the money, therefore,
and be rich in words.”
“Lawrence replied that
the Church was indeed rich. “I will show you a valuable part. But give me time
to set everything in order and make an inventory.” After three days he gathered
a great number of blind, lame, maimed, leprous, orphaned, and widowed persons
and put them in rows. When the prefect arrived, Lawrence simply said, “These
are the treasure of the Church.”
“The prefect was so angry he told Lawrence that he would indeed have his wish to die—but it would be by inches. He had a great gridiron prepared with coals beneath it, and had Lawrence’s body placed on it. After the martyr had suffered the pain for a long time, the legend concludes, he made his famous cheerful remark, “It is well done. Turn me over!” (https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-lawrence).
I do not know how anyone could hear
the story of Saint Lawrence and not be touched or moved. In fact, if you have never
heard the story of Saint Lawrence, maybe you yourself now admire him. To be saint
though, is to pursue Christ with everything we have, even when it is hard.
A good blueprint for living like a
saint can be taken once again from our scripture reading from Matthew 5:1-12
from this morning. This scripture is often called “The Sermon on the Mount,”
which is different from the sermon that I jokingly give on Consecration Sunday
called “The Sermon on the Amount”. So, let us go through “The Sermon on the
Mount” that Jesus gives us this morning. Once again, our gospel reading says:
“When Jesus saw
the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came
to him. 2 Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
3 “Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
4 “Blessed are those who
mourn, for they will be comforted.
5 “Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.
6 “Blessed are those who
hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. 7 “Blessed
are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
8 “Blessed are the pure
in heart, for they will see God.
9 “Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt. 5:1-12, NRSV).
This is quite a list, and we all have
different callings and different gifts and graces. Yet God calls us all to be
saints, and to live like saints now. Living like a saint might indeed mean some
suffering, but through all of that, we have the glory, the love, and the peace
of Jesus Christ. Saints are people, who can be abused and beat down, but they
get back up, they persist, and they keep moving forward, for they remember the one
who died for them!
All Saints Day then is the day that we
remember not just famous saints, but the countless saints that we know and the
countless more that we have never met. Perhaps we remember dedicated teachers,
pastors, family members, soldiers, community members, and the countless people
who served, sacrificed, and in different ways suffered. You see, it is glorious
to talk about being a saint, yet it takes a life of devotion to Christ and to
others, to be known after you are gone as a saint.
I believe that it is true that all who
die in Christ are saints, but some we have greater respect and admiration for,
knowing who there were and what they did. It is my hope and my prayer that one
day, after we have lived, loved, served, and cared, that we may be able to say what
Apostle Paul said before his martyred death.
For the Apostle Paul told is young
friend and brother Timothy, in 2 Timothy 4:7-8:
“7 I
have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 From now on there
is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have
longed for his appearing” (2 Tim. 4:7-8,
NRSV).
I would encourage you therefore, before
you leave the church today, to notice the names on the stained-glass windows. I
would encourage you to look at this church’s memorial book in the Narthex, to
look at the other plaques of dedication, and to realize that we are here today,
because of the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. This grace has been lived out by
so many that have come before us.
As you heard me say before, we all
stand in a line of heroes, and on the shoulders of giants. May we look to God,
but may we also look to that great cloud of witnesses, the saints we have known,
and many we have not known. Today we honor them, and may we be like them. May
we also on this All Saints Day and every day, fight to good fight, run the
race, and keep the faith. Happy All Saints Day and Amen.
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