TODAY IS ALL SAINTS’ DAY – TODAY IS ALSO THE DAY AFTER THE CERTAINLY MORE POPULAR & FAMILIAR HOLIDAY OF HALLOWEEN OR “ALL HALLOW’S EVE”… I IMAGINE THERE ARE SOME AMONG US WHO SPENT LAST NIGHT CELEBRATING HALLOWEEN BY DRESSING UP IN COSTUME & BY DECORATING & BY SHARING IN THE EXCITEMENT OF A HOLIDAY THAT DATES WAY WAY BACK…
AS YOU MAY KNOW - HALLOWEEN BEGAN AS A CELTIC HOLIDAY - LONG, BEFORE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. HALLOWEEN WAS THE EVE OF THE CELTIC NEW YEAR, WHICH BEGAN ON NOVEMBER 1ST. ALL HALLOW’S EVE WAS CONSIDERED A TIME WHEN THE SPIRITS OR THE “HALLOWS” - OF ALL THOSE WHO HAD DIED DURING THE YEAR - WERE BELIEVED TO ROAM FREELY ON THIS EARTH BEFORE MAKING THEIR FINAL JOURNEY TO THE OTHERWORLD. HALLOWEEN WAS A NIGHT WHEN THE SPACE BETWEEN THIS WORLD AND THE NEXT WAS CONSIDERED TO BE THINNER THAN THE REST OF THE YEAR.
ALL SAINTS’ DAY CAME ABOUT AS A CHRISTIAN OVERLAY, A FEAST DAY INTENDED TO REPLACE OR AT LEAST COUNTERACT WHAT WAS CONSIDERED THE “PAGAN” HOLIDAY OF ALL HALLOWS’ EVE… ALL SAINTS DAY WAS DESIGNED AS A DAY TO HONOR CHRISTIAN SAINTS… ALL SAINTS DAY WAS ESTABLISHED TO HONOR GOOD & NOBLE FOLKS WHOSE LIVES WERE MARKED BY EXTRAORDINARY FAITH…
ALL SAINTS’ DAY, THEN, OFFERS US A DAY TO FOCUS ON WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A REALLY “WORTHY” PERSON, WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A SAINT, AND A DAY TO CONSIDER HOW WE MEASURE UP…
IF ASKED TO IDENTIFY PEOPLE YOU CONSIDER SAINTS, SOME OF YOU WHO GREW UP IN OTHER CHURCH TRADITIONS MIGHT BE ABLE TO QUICKLY LIST “THE SAINTS”… OTHERS OF US WOULD HAVE A MORE DIFFICULT TIME LISTING THOSE TRADITIONAL “SAINTS” BY NAME. MOST OF US, I BELIEVE, COULD PROBABLY IDENTIFY AT LEAST A FEW FOLKS WHO WE WOULD CONSIDER “EXTRA SPECIAL” PEOPLE… MOST OF US COULD NAME AT LEAST A FEW PERSONS WHOSE LIVES SEEM TO EXEMPLIFY A PERSON OF FAITH WHO COULD SOMEHOW BE CALLED A SAINT…
NOW THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT DEFINITIONS FOR SAINT. PAUL TILLICH OFFERS THIS DEFINITION WHEN HE SUGGESTS, “THE SAINT IS A SAINT NOT BECAUSE HE/SHE IS GOOD, BUT BECAUSE HE/SHE IS TRANSPARENT FOR SOMETHING THAT IS LARGER THAN HE/SHE IS...” (REPEAT)
I LIKE THIS PARTICULAR NOTION OF A SAINT AS ONE WHOSE LIFE IS TRANSPARENT … A SAINT IS A LIFE THAT SHOWS US SOMETHING BEYOND, SOMETHING OF GREAT POWER & MYSTERY BEYOND THAT PERSON...
SAINTS SEEM TO BE PEOPLE WHO HELP US SEE GOD MORE CLEARLY… SAINTS ARE PERSONS WHOM GOD’S LIGHT SHINES THROUGH!! SAINTS ARE PERSONS WHOSE LIVES & ACTIONS SERVE AS WINDOWS UNTO GOODNESS, AS WINDOWS UNTO GOD...
IF YOU CAN THINK OF AT LEAST ONE PERSON WHO HAS BEEN A SAINT, CONSIDER HOW THAT PERSON LIVED THEIR FAITH & HOW THEY MADE GOD COME ALIVE THROUGH THEM…
I HOPE WE EACH KNOW FOLKS WHO LOVE GOD WITH ALL THEIR HEART, SOUL, MIND, & STRENGTH AND WHO THEN LOVE THEMSELVES & OTHERS ENOUGH SO THAT GOD SHINES THROUGH THEM…
SAINTS ARE PERSONS WHOSE LIVES ARE TRANSPARENT, PERSONS WHOSE LOVING & CARING FOR OTHERS RADIATES GOD’S LOVE INTO THIS WORLD…
OUR LESSON FROM MARK’S GOSPEL FOR TODAY REVEALS HOW JESUS TOOK THE TRADITIONAL JEWISH LAW AND ENHANCED IT BY COMBINING TEXTS FROM TWO PLACES IN THE LAW… WHEN A RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR CHALLENGES JESUS TO SPEAK ABOUT WHICH COMMANDMENT IS THE FIRST OF ALL, JESUS QUICKLY & NEATLY COMBINES THE STANDARD LAW FROM DEUTERONOMY AND ANOTHER STANDARD FROM LEVITICUS. JESUS ANSWERS THIS RELIGIOUS SCHOLAR IN A CLEAR AND MEMORABLY BRIEF WAY. JESUS MELDS THESE TWO ACCEPTED & HISTORICAL STANDARDS AND SUGGESTS SIMPLY THAT OUR TASK IS: TO LOVE GOD & TO LOVE OURSELVES & TO LOVE OTHERS.
IN ONE NEAT PACKAGE, JESUS SUMS UP THE LAW: THAT WE ARE TO LOVE GOD, TO LOVE OURSELVES, & TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS…
ELSEWHERE IN THE SCRIPTURE JESUS INSTRUCTS US TO: “LOVE OUR ENEMIES!” JESUS IS NOT SIMPLY ASKING US TO “LIKE” OUR NEIGHBORS OR OUR ENEMIES... JESUS ASKS US TO LOVE EVERYONE… HE IS UNAMBIGUOUS ABOUT THIS LOVE BUSINESS...
JESUS KNOWS THAT AT THE HEART OF FAITH LIES THE INCREDIBLE GOOD NEWS THAT GOD LOVES US WITHOUT CONDITION... SINCE GOD LOVES EACH OF US, WE ARE EXPECTED TO DO THE SAME - FOR OURSELVES & FOR OTHERS AROUND US… AND THAT IS WHERE WE FINALLY REACH THE REALITY THAT WE ARE BOTH SINNER AND SAINT… GOD DOES NOT EXPECT OR DEMAND PERFECTION IN US… GOD KNOWS THAT WE ARE SINNERS… JESUS REMINDS US THAT GOD LOVES US, EVEN IF WE THINK WE ARE UN-LOVEABLE... GOD LOVES US, EVEN WHEN WE DON’T EVEN LIKE OURSELVES. GOD LOVES US IN SPITE OF WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT OUR OWN LIVES, ABOUT OUR OWN FAILURES, ABOUT OUR OWN FLAWS... GOD LOVES US UNCONDITIONALLY… AND GOD IS ALWAYS SEEKING US OUT...
GOD LOVES US AT THE VERY CORE OF OUR BEING – & FORGIVES US OVER AND OVER AGAIN… OUR TASK IS TO BECOME CONSCIOUS OF THAT LOVE SO THAT WE CAN LOVE GOD BACK, WE CAN LOVE OURSELVES & WE CAN LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR...
ON THIS ALL SAINTS DAY WE INVITE YOU TO THE COMMUNION TABLE & THIS SACRED MEAL… WE REMEMBER ALL WHO HAVE COME BEFORE US… WE REMEMBER ALL WHOSE SHOULDERS WE NOW STAND UPON… WE REMEMBER ALL WHO HAVE SERVED AS MODELS FOR US AS PEOPLE OF FAITH THROUGH THE YEARS…
WE COME TO THE TABLE TO REMEMBER THAT GOD GAVE HIS ONLY SON TO WALK ON THIS GOOD EARTH AS ONE OF US, TO LIVE AMONG US, AND TO DIE ON A CROSS FOR US, THAT WE MIGHT BE GIFTED AN ETERNAL LIFE IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD’S LOVE FOREVER...
REMEMBER THIS DAY THAT YOU ARE GOD’S BELOVED…
REMEMBER THIS DAY THAT YOU HAVE THE CAPACITY TO LOVE GOD, TO LOVE YOURSELF & TO LOVE OTHERS…
REMEMBER THIS DAY THAT AT THIS TABLE WE ARE EACH FED, NOURISHED, & NURTURED…
COME TO THIS TABLE TO TASTE & TO SEE… COME TO THIS TABLE JUST AS YOU ARE – BOTH SINNER AND SAINT…..AMEN