|
First
Reading
|
Psalm |
Epistle |
Gospel |
| Daniel 7:1–3, 15–18 |
|
Ephesians 1:11–23 |
Luke
6:20–26
|
Dan Sisler at his retirement dinner some years ago offered the image of a turtle sitting on top of a high fence post, overlooking an expansive field. His point was that no body gets to where they are in life and what they are able to accomplish, alone or without help. That’s one of the things I want you to take home about All Saints’ Sunday, for today is about remembering and offering thanksgiving for those who have helped us on our way, who have been mentors, providers, teachers, and sources of inspiration.
Now some of the Saints are like those in the windows on either side of Jesus, Peter on your left holding some keys and John on your right holding a quill pen. In the afternoon when the sun is directly shining on these windows, the light shines through them illuminating this place with a broad spectrum of color. Some of these women and men of old are saints whom the light of God has shone through for generations. However, we know next to nothing about most of the saints in stained glass windows and those for whom churches are usually named. Plenty of legends abound, but for a large number of them we hardly know enough to write more than a simple sentence, but that is okay for All Saints’ reminds us that they have, in some way, given and passed on to us the love of God, from generation to generation. They have carried and have shown us the way to the good news.
Yet, there are many more saints who are not a famous, but whose witness is every bit as important and worthy to honor. We are where we are today because this parish has been blessed by saints such as James and Hortense Gibbs, Louise and Blanchard Rideout, Eva Evans, Ruth Ogden, Warren Traub, and Alice Comstock, to name a few. I did not know them all, but some us had the privilege of personally knowing all of them. Nevertheless, all of us are connected to them through the great company of saints.
The world can be very capricious with our reputation. We may be quickly forgotten or long remembered. The world's historical record may be accurate or become distorted beyond recovery. In the hands of God, though, there is a lasting relationship of the living and dead; we are not forgotten, but are part of one body, seen and unseen.
Sometimes a young child will ask a parent, "Did our priest know Jesus when he preached in Galilee? " It's not a foolish question to a child, and, of course, the answer is no from the world's perspective. However, Jesus has touched us all. Those who shared the Gospel with you and me were in turn given it by someone else, who in turn had been given it also. In a critical sense, the touch of Jesus has been passed directly from person to person. Saints are those who touch us, saints are those who hold us, saints are those who pick us up and lift us to a higher place so we can understand and appreciate the Gospel. .
Lastly it is important not to confuse saints with media or celebrity status. People who seek to be idolized usually are so self-absorbed that they have neither time nor inclination to be aware of the ground around their feet and pick up turtles, but saints, share our common ground, they lift our lives up to a higher plane. In a world that can be dismayingly petty, hateful and nasty, saints help us perceive higher horizons where God's grace is as broad and clear as the heavens. In a world that likes to tear people apart, saints emphasize our common humanity. In a world that tends to squander the heritage and future of its children, saints seek to preserve and enhance it. Saints offer us a rich inheritance of communion, not autographs of themselves to sell on e-bay.
We are baptizing five individuals and they are all very much individuals. Some are quiet and shy, others many be less so. However in Christ’s baptism, they are all related, all members of God’s family and brother and sister to each other. From this day forward, they are called to live in relationship within the great communion of saints. Baptism is the public announcement that they will make it their life’s work to make this world a better place for the family of humanity, and in their time to let God’s light some through them, so that we all may be helped to get to a higher place. Yes All Saints is all about turtles perched on the top of high fence posts five feet off the ground, turtles who are given a much better sense of the world’s true horizons, who can transcend far beyond their own selfish and grounded inclinations, and who serve as inspiration for others who will follow. This is why this is such a special day, for Dajoure, Dominique, Demetrius, Robin, and Skye, as we baptize them and acknowledge and welcome them as saints.
And I offer this to you in the name of the Living God, Amen.
