An All Saints Day Message The Author Was Not Pleased With
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This is an outline of my sermon
text for All Saint’s Sunday, on November 3, 2019. My main
focus was the Gospel lesson, Luke 6:20-31. Much of the second half of my sermon was adapted
from my sermon on June 19, 2016 on a version of this pericope. I've included the audio version from Redeemer where I admittedly went off script and just spoke. Here are links to another audio version, and a video version on YouTube. + pBRC
Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song.
Let the faithful exult in glory; Praise the Lord! (Psalm 149:1,5,9)
·
All Saint’s
Sunday is a day to remember.
o
It is a day when
we remember our loved ones who are no longer with us; our loved ones who have
died.
§
We remember them,
the good times and the bad times that we spent with them, and we deal with the
pain of loss.
§ For those who have recently lost
a loved one, it marks the beginning of a challenging time. The holidays that
run from Halloween to Thanksgiving to Christmas to New Year’s are ripe with
memories. Having to go through those holidays and the preparations that go into
them remind us of the loss that we have.
·
We remember the
costumes. We remember the family dinners. We remember the gatherings and gift
givings. We remember the celebrations.
o
For each memory,
we feel the pain of not being able to have those memories anymore.
·
All Saint’s
Sunday is a day to remember.
o
It is a day when
we remember that God has defeated death.
§
By Jesus Christ
dying on the cross and being raised on the third day, we remember that we are
promised to be raised ourselves, when Christ comes again.
§
We remember the
promises that we hear in baptismal and funeral liturgies that we are joined to
Christ in a death like his so we will be raised like he was.
§
We will be with
our loved ones again, and with the One who loves us the most; our Creator, our
Savior and our Advocate.
·
All Saint’s
Sunday is a day to remember.
o
Our Gospel lesson
is a reminder that while the Kingdom of God has come near, it is not here.
o
In his Sermon on
the Plain, Jesus issues the familiar Beatitudes, offering blessings to those
who are suffering in this world.
§
Jesus tells the
poor, the hungry, the mourners, and those alone and rejected that they will
receive their reward.
§
But because this
is Luke’s Gospel, the great reversal of fortunes is also proclaimed.
·
Jesus warns the
rich, the full, the joyful and the influential that they are due for a
comeuppance.
·
Luke includes the
woes in his telling of Jesus’ Great Sermon because he wants to remind his
readers and listeners that they have been blessed so they can be a blessing to
others.
·
All Saint’s Sunday
is a day to remember.
o
Jesus describes
the behavior that should characterize those who listen to him, and those who
follow him.
§
Jesus goes beyond
telling us to “Love our neighbor.” In fact, Jesus reverses that.
§
Jesus calls us to
live out the promise we are to remember.
·
Death has been
defeated. Our sins have been removed.
·
What do we have
to fear? Our eternal home is promised to us.
·
"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.”[1]
o
Jesus challenges
us to go far outside of our comfort zone.
o Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you.
Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you.
§ This is not what we hear from many leaders and those
who want to be leaders.
·
Some call those
who challenge or oppose them scum, animals, unpatriotic, fake, inhuman.
·
Some do not know
to unite, but only to divide.
§ For them, Jesus calls us to do better and to be
better.
·
We are to love
them. We are to do good for them, even though we will be hated and mocked and
cursed for doing so.
·
We are to pray
for those who hurt us or would try to hurt us.
o Jesus is calling us to challenge those who are against
us.
o When Jesus says, 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, this had real world applications.
§ If someone strikes you on the cheek, they backhand
you.
·
Offering the
other cheek means you turn again to face them.
·
If they want to
hit you again, now they have to do it while looking in your eyes.
§ If someone wants the cloth that was both your coat and
nighttime blanket, give them your undershirt as well, and face the world naked.
·
Jesus isn’t
calling his followers to be weak or soft.
He is calling us to defy the powers of the world.
He is calling us to defy the powers of the world.
o Jesus says loving only those who love you is not
enough. Anyone can do that. We must love those who don’t love us.
§ It is not just because Christ commands us to do so,
but because doing anything else leads to death and destruction.
§ Returning hate for hate and hurt for hurt only creates
more hate and more hurt.
§ The cycle of hate and violence must be broken, and Our
Savior commands us to break the cycle.
·
This is not the
work that will make us saints.
·
This is the work
we are to do because we have already been claimed as saint. We are justified in
God’s eyes because Jesus has claimed us as being justified.
o We remember this gift of grace when we do the difficult.
§ We have been saved so we can serve.
§ We have been forgiven so we can give.
§ Here, Jesus is reminding us that do Love all and serve
all, that means those people we really don’t want to go to.
·
The first step we
have to do to Do to others as you would have them do to you is to
repent.
o Before we can do for anyone, friend or foe, family or
enemy, neighbor or stranger, we have to own our own sin and hate.
§ Recognize your own intolerance.
·
Admit you do not
value all people the same.
§ Recognize your privilege.
·
Admit there are
advantages in being white.
·
Admit there are
advantages in being male.
·
Admit there are
advantages in being economically well off.
·
Admit there are
advantages in being straight and cis gendered.
o Then repent.
§ Stop how you’ve been acting. Stop how you’ve been
thinking.
§ Realize what you’ve turned away from.
§ Realize the path you’ve strayed off of.
§ To do to others as you would have them do to you, you
must think of how you would feel if you weren’t welcomed, accepted or
tolerated.
·
Think of how you
would feel if you were constantly viewed with suspicion, derision; dismission,
rejection or disgust.
·
If we want God to
accept us, forgive us and love us, if we want to be in that number when the
Lord in glory comes[2],
why do we demand change and conformity from others and not from ourselves?
·
All Saint’s
Sunday is a day to remember.
o
We remember that
we are saints not because of what we do, but because of what Christ has done
for us.
o
And that is to
show the ultimate life-giving love by loving those who ignored, rejected,
despised and hated him. Christ has blessed us who have turned away from him,
giving not only his teaching and wisdom, but his very life.
§
We are to
remember this, and do as Christ HAS DONE for us.
§
And when the new
world is revealed, O Lord, I want to be in that number when the new world is
revealed.
AMEN.
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