All Saints Sunday C November 3, 2013
Luther Memorial Church Seattle, WA
The Rev. Julie Guengerich Hutson
Daniel 7: 1-3, 15-18 + Ephesians 1: 11-23 + Luke 6: 20-31
May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our rock and our redeemer. Amen.
There is a story going around online and it’s been on the news, about eighteen year old Ben Breedlove. You see, Ben lived all of his life with a heart condition that resulted in several near death experiences. During those experiences, Ben reported feeling the most perfect peace he had ever known. It was so peaceful that he admitted, with difficulty, to his sister that he had not wanted to return to life, but rather had wished to remain in that place of abiding peace.
On Christmas Day 2011, while playing with his siblings and enjoying the day, Ben suffered his final heart incident and left this life for that place he found so peaceful. But he had left one final message for his family and friends– a two part online video. During the seven minutes of footage, Ben tells his story without speaking a single word. Instead he writes what he has to say on a series of note cards and tells his story one sentence at a time.
Today we’ve gathered in this place to remember the stories of our own saints. We particularly recall those people from Luther Memorial -, who have died within this past year. And we add the names of those baptized in this place – Mackenzie, Brooklyn, Lucas, and Bruce to their number.
Additionally, we remember all of those in our lives who have been saints, who have passed along the faith in one way or another. Who, through their lives, have shared with us and others they knew, what it meant to live as a baptized child of God.
Ben Breedlove’s video message to his family and friends is a very straightforward way of telling his story. After all, he was already known for his online blog, he was a high school student, so why not use the medium most familiar to his peers?
But watching Ben’s video and reading his message is not unlike sitting at the side of someone in their final days and hearing their reflections on life. Many of you have done just this, and some of you have done so this year.
Being present at death is a privilege. It is holy ground. It is not an easy place to be, for we bring with us our own emotions and fears. And yet, the words offered to us by these saints are gifts that will sustain us in the days and years ahead.
Our Gospel reading for this day is what we call the Beatitudes or the Blessings. Blessed are the poor, the hungry, the weeping, the hated. And I think the mistake we make when we read these words is that we imagine that they are meant for us now. But the passage tells us that Jesus looked up at his disciples and said….blessed are you…..and he followed with woes. Woe to the rich, the full, the laughing, and those who are well thought of. Jesus was describing what he was observing in the lives of those around him, not offering judgment. Jesus noted that those who were struggling, although they did not know it, and although it must not have felt as though it were the case, they were the blessed ones.
Because what we eventually learn in life is that it is within our struggles that we grow. And it never feels like it at the time…it just feels awful….when we find ourselves in poverty of pocketbook or spirit, when we are hungry for food or for friendship or for love….when we weep crying tears or with each silent sobbing breath. It feels terrible when we are excluded from community and when people revile us because of our beliefs. These were the very traits that Jesus was observing in his disciples. And while it may not be exactly what we are experiencing what we know is that somewhere hidden deep within each of our struggles and each of our trials are lessons that will help us grow. And we know that as we grow we will be better able to do those things that Jesus asks of the disciples: Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who hurt you. Turn the other cheek. Give to all who ask. Do unto others.
All Saints Sunday gives us an opportunity to remember in community those saints and what they have said to us with their lives – the lessons they have left with us. And I know that you remember your loved ones with each day. And you carry with you the lessons that they taught you.
And what the church believes is that we are all saints, all called to live in covenant relationship with God. That’s why this is All Saints Sunday, and so it is that I look out among you and see the saints of God.
I am drawn to this story of Ben Breedlove, though, for the remarkable way that this young person chose to share his wisdom, his life lessons, his observations with the friends and family he would leave in this life. And it was all there written on those cards. His own story. His feelings shared with poignant vulnerability…thoughts of his own fear, of his own love for his family, and then he ends with a statement of faith: Do you believe in God and Angels, asks his next to the last card. He answers his own question on his final card: “I Do.”
In a very real sense Ben Breedlove had the chance to answer the question: If this were your final day or week in this life, what would you say to the people in your life?
Some of the saints we remember today said things in their last days that I still carry with me:
I feel sorry for our kids, they will lose both of their parents so close together.
This is the most wonderful time of my life.
I am not afraid.
And so I’ve wondered what words I would leave if I were to make a video like Ben Breedlove’s. What words would I want to leave for those who remained?
This morning you were given some paper when you came into worship. My invitation this morning is that we spend just a few moments considering what we might say as words for those we love and that we write them on our paper. We’re going to take a few moments to do this now.
(Time is given to do this)
Throughout worship this day we are singing the wonderful traditional hymn For All the Saints. It is a hymn that is a reminder to us that the struggles of this life, for us and for the entire communion of saints, are fleeting. It is comfort to us that those we love shine in glory. O blest communion, fellowship divine, we feebly struggle they in glory shine. Yet all are one in thee, for all are thine. Alleluia! Alleluia!
As we leave here today, dear saints of God, I invite you to consider what you’ve written on your papers today. I encourage you to find a way to share your words with those you love, not as your last or final words, but as a way to share what matters to you with those who matter to you. A way to share who you are in the Kingdom as it is now. And finally, I encourage you to read the words as a message to yourself, too. A reminder that you are also a beloved child…a saint of God.
Thanks be to God. Amen.