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Sunday, November 7, 2010

All Saints Sunday
Good Shepherd Lutheran Church
Denver, CO
Pastor Dena Williams

Daniel 7:1—3, 15-18

The prophet Daniel dreamed a vision and wrote it down
about 200 years before Christ. You remember Daniel, he
was thrown in the lion’s den by King Nebuchadnezzar
because he continued to pray to God. Although King
Nebuchadnezzar repented, other kings did not. Daniel’s
vision describes how earthly kings will be destroyed, while
God the King will reign into eternity. Our lector will read the
first three verses and then our Bible Study group and I will
tell you the story of Daniel’s dream since it is not included in
our reading. Then our lector will read the concluding verses.

Psalm 149
Praise the Lord for his care for the faithful!

Ephesians 1:11-23
The writer gives thanks for all the saints.

Luke 6:20-31
The Blessings and Woes
The Golden Rule

Then Jesus looked up at his disciples and said:

‘Blessed are you who are poor,
for yours is the kingdom of God.
‘Blessed are you who are hungry now,
for you will be filled.
‘Blessed are you who weep now,
for you will laugh.

‘Blessed are you when people hate you,

and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you
on account of the Son of Man.
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Rejoice on that day and leap for joy,

for surely your reward is great in heaven;
for that is what their ancestors did to the prophets.

‘But woe to you who are rich,

for you have received your consolation.
‘Woe to you who are full now,
for you will be hungry.
‘Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.

‘Woe to you when all speak well of you,

for that is what their ancestors did to the false prophets.

‘But I say to you that listen,

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,
bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also;

and from anyone who takes away your coat
do not withhold even your shirt.
Give to everyone who begs from you;
and if anyone takes away your goods,
do not ask for them again.
Do to others as you would have them do to you.

What now?

We are baptized.
We are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
We are marked with the cross of Christ forever.
What now?

We talked last week about an important question.

The question:
“What do we have to do to go to heaven?”
The answer:
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“Nothing, absolutely nothing.”

We struggle with this information, this belief.
We know it is foundational to who we are as baptized
Christians,
as Lutheran Christians, in particular.
We know that we are justified by grace through faith for the
sake of Jesus Christ.
We know that nothing will ever separate us from the love of
God that is in Christ Jesus.
We just can’t quite believe it.

Let’s pretend for a moment that we do believe,

that we do trust God to keep God’s promise to us.
Let’s pretend that we truly believe that the answer to the
question:
“What do we have to do to go to heaven?”
is, indeed,
“Nothing, absolutely nothing.”
We truly believe in God’s saving grace.
Then, the question becomes, not,
“What do I have to do?”
The question becomes:
“What will I do now?”
Now that I believe that nothing can separate me from God’s
love,
what will I do?
The answer may be:
“Nothing, absolutely nothing.”
God gives us free choice and we are free to do nothing.
We are free to live our lives as though we were never
baptized,
never sealed by the Holy Spirit,
never marked with the cross of Christ.

We are also free to choose love.

We are free to respond in loving ways to God’s unlimited
love for us.
We are free to remember that we are baptized children of
God,
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that we have been sealed by the Holy Spirit,

that we are marked with the cross of Christ forever.
We are free to choose love.
What will we do now?
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”

What will our lives look like if we choose love?

Let’s begin at home.
What will life in our homes look like if we choose to respond
to God’s love for us by loving others?
As parents and spouses,
we will seek love in our relationships with our families.
We will be kind and responsible.
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
We will work to make our homes safe and nurturing places
where everyone is treated with respect.
We will encourage our children and grandchildren to love
each other,
not just with words,
but by modeling for them what it looks and feels like to be in
loving relationship.
We can choose to do nothing in response to God’s love for us
or we can choose to make our homes rich in love for one
another.

When our son Walker was confirmed, ten years ago,

I wrote these words:

Our children need us to nurture them in the ways of faith.

When we bring our little ones to the baptismal font we
promise to place in their hands the Holy Scriptures,
to provide for their instruction in the Christian faith,
to teach them the Creed,
the Lord’s Prayer,
and the Ten Commandments,
to bring them to God’s house.

It isn’t always easy to keep those promises.

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It is not easy to get children up and fed and dressed on

Sunday mornings
and then to get ourselves ready too.
It is not easy to sit through worship with a three-year-old.
It was not easy to insist on worship with a reluctant twelve-
year-old.
I will long remember the sound of a three-year-old boy who
recited the Creed and the Lord’s Prayer,
chanted the liturgy,
the congregation’s part and, sometimes,
the pastor’s part as well.
He recited and chanted,
not because we made any special effort to teach him these
things at home,
but because we brought him to God’s house.
As he grew,
the world offered him other words, other ideas, other songs,
but he has these Holy words that he learned so early in life
to keep him centered on Holy things.

As we remember on this All Saints Day those who have gone

before us,
those who God called home in the last year or in years past,
all our loved ones,
perhaps the very ones who brought us to the baptismal
waters,
all those who have nurtured us in the faith--
parents, grandparents, pastors, Sunday School teachers--
we give thanks to God for people who decided that
doing nothing was not the answer to the question.
As we remember the saints today we give thanks for those
who chose to share God’s love with us,
those who lived out the golden rule.
The saints we remember with love were not perfect people,
but they were people who decided that doing absolutely
nothing was not the answer.
They were people who loved others in response to God’s
love for them.
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It is also appropriate that on this All Saints Sunday

we celebrate the sacrament of Holy Communion.
We come to this table expecting God’s love and forgiveness.
We come believing God’s promises to us.
Perhaps, most of all, we come together.
We come as a community of the body of Christ,
to remember God’s love for us,
to share God’s love with one another.
As we come today,
be aware of the great cloud of witnesses that surround us.
The saints join us at the table,
their love surrounds us as we receive the body and blood,
the blessing of our Lord,
for all are welcome at the table.

How will we answer the

“What now?” question in our lives this week?
Now that we have to do nothing, absolutely nothing,
what will we do?
We may choose to do nothing.
We may choose:
“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”
Whatever we choose,
we know that we are not alone.
God has given us saints to remember,
a community of faith to love and support us.
Most of all,
God has given a Son to redeem us.
Baptized, sealed, and marked.
What now?
Amen