ALL SAINTS OBSERVED

Revelation 7:2-4,9-17

I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, having the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to damage earth and sea, saying, "Do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have marked the servants of our God with a seal on their foreheads."

And I heard the number of those who were sealed, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed out of every tribe of the people of Israel.

After this I looked, and there was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, robed in white, with palm branches in their hands.  They cried out in a loud voice, saying,

"Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!"  And all the angels stood around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, singing,

"Amen!  Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever!  Amen.”

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, "Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?"

I said to him, "Sir, you are the one that knows."

Then he said to me, "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.  For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them.  They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

Matthew 5:1-12

When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him.  Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

It is a poor culture that would neglect its past – especially those whose lives are the foundation on which that culture was built.  It is almost universal for a people to venerate their ancestors and those who have gone before, to recall the price they paid to make life more meaningful, a bit more livable for the present generation.

In Christianity, there has been an All Saints’ remembrance from at least the beginning of the 3rd century, and probably before that, from almost the beginning of the Church.  From the earliest days, honoring the contributions made by the witnesses or martyrs has been an essential part of Christian worship.

I Peter gives us an image of the church as a building – with Jesus as the corner stone and the saints as “lively stones.”  A special day for recognizing those on whom the Church was built was inaugurated in Rome in the 7th century.  The Pantheon in Rome, built “to all the gods” in 25 B.C., was given to Pope Boniface IV, in May, 609 by the Byzantine emperor.  Boniface pulled down the statue of Jupiter and other idols and consecrated it as a Christian church, the Church of Mary and all the Martyr Saints, its present title.  In 837, Pope Gregory settled on the present date for All Saints’ Day as November 1st in the 9th century, adopting the Irish Celtic Church’s practice of celebrating the New Year and remembering those who had died.

There is a popular misunderstanding about the meaning of the word "saint," due, in part, to popular concepts about the Roman Catholic "canonization of saints" as well as to a resurgence of interest in books about "the lives of the saints."  Truth is, a saint is simply a human being, living or dead, worthy or no, whom God has created for a life of purpose and upon whom God has lavished grace.  If you would like to see a genuine, authentic, real live saint, just look right or left.  Yes, those most ordinary of persons that we take for granted in our lives are, in reality, holy persons, those in whom Jesus the Christ might be seen if only we had eyes to see.  It helps to remember that All Saints’ Day was begun as a feast, not to honor humans, but to honor God’s work of salvation and sanctification in ordinary people.

The Gospel reading for All Saints’ comes from the beginning of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  Known as the Beatitudes – from the Latin word for “blessed” – these opening words form one of Jesus’ best known and least understood quotations.  I suspect our familiarity with the Beatitudes comes, as does our elevation of what are called the Ten Commandments, from our Western mind’s penchant for lists.

Matthew records nine “blesseds” in this passage – and certainly the characteristics that are blessed seem pretty feeble in the eyes of the world.  While some have suggested that “happy” is an appropriate sense for the word, blessed, in the Hebrew from which Matthew would have drawn, perhaps a better word is “complete.”  The mystery surrounding this passage is equaled only by the ways in which folks have tried to make these beatitudes into a second, Christian, law, a litmus test for true Christian practice, the door at which we might huff and puff but shall never blow down.

Poverty of spirit, mournfulness, meekness, and desire for righteousness -- not exactly the kind of goals most people including us Christians -- might jot down as our life plan.  Mercy, purity of heart, and peacemaking are not things at which we naturally excel.  And even when we do these things, we are often looking for someone to take notice, to give us a compliment.

And how about these last two?  Persecution and reviling?  You likely won’t find promises of persecution in the latest bestsellers in so-called Christian bookstores.  It is far more popular to speak of rewards and escape from tribulation.  This is in contrast to the words we hear in our ancient lesson from the Revelation to John, words that describe what those who “washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb” endured and had to overcome.

So why does Jesus preach like this, and why does the Church use this Gospel reading on All Saints' Day?  Jesus is not giving us laws that describe what we must do to be worthy of the kingdom nor that if we do them well enough, we get the big prize.  Rather, Jesus is teaching us about himself -- and keep in mind that the “Beatitudes” initiate a larger sermon.

Jesus is poor in spirit, born in humble and scandalous circumstances, but he is the king of heaven.

He mourns, weeping for Lazarus and for doomed Jerusalem, but is comforted by the ever-present Holy Spirit.

He is meek, taking the form of a servant, yet inheriting the earth from God, the Father.

He hungers and thirsts for righteousness but is filled by virtue of his divinity.

He is merciful -- and the one to whom the Father shows mercy by raising him from the dead.

He is the pure in heart; he sees God.

He is the peacemaker, the one who reconciles man’s enmity toward God, and is truly the Son of God.

He is the one persecuted for righteousness, crucified on a cross, yet his is the kingdom of heaven.

So how does this apply to the saints, those here, as well as those who have gone before and entered death’s door?  Notice how Jesus changes from third person to second person when he says: “Blessed are you.”  For when you are persecuted, Christ is persecuted.  The blessings given to Jesus as the only-begotten Son of God are also given to you -- adopted sons of God.

As someone has written, Jesus did not come seeking admirers or those who would look approvingly on his teachings and ministry -- he came seeking those who would follow, would be willing to walk the walk, live the life, die the death.  The extent to which we see the characteristics described in the Beatitudes as evident in a person’s life is the extent to which we see the Christ in them.

And it is in communion with Christ and the company of our fellow humanity that we find the Christ in ourselves.

You have likely seen this quiz or one like it:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
3. Name ten Nobel or Pulitzer Prize winners.
4. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor or actress.
5. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?  The point is, almost none of us remember the headliners of yesterday.  They are the best in their fields but applause dies, trophies tarnish, achievements are forgotten.

Then it is followed by another test:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
2. Name three friends who helped you through a difficult time.
3. Name five people who taught you something worthwhile.
4. Think of people who made you feel appreciated and special.
5. Think of people you enjoy spending time with.

We are touched in a memorable way by the servant nature of others -- not by their inherent strength and power to achieve, but by their ability to identify with us in our need and to bring us to a higher place than we can get to on our own.  Shortly we will read a list of saints whom those in our congregation have listed as important people who have gone before us and have shaped our lives.

And for their lives we will offer praise to God as do those described in John’s vision of heaven.  We will join the long line that has, since the early Christian church captured this practice in the words of the Te Deum:

The glorious company of the apostles praise Thee.
The goodly fellowship of the prophets praise Thee.
The white-robed army of martyrs praise Thee.
All Thy saints and elect with one voice do acknowledge Thee,
O Blessed Trinity, one God!

-- from the Te Deum Laudamus

Amen

John Dryden Burton
November 5, 2006

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