All Saints Sunday
November 4, 2007
Text: Luke 6: 20-31
Looking at his disciples, he said:
Ever since her death ten years ago, we’ve been hearing about Mother Teresa being on the fast track to sainthood. It re-fers to the process of be-coming a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. It is a lengthy and com-plicated process requiring decades or centuries, be-ginning with beatification, a public but limited veneration of the departed. And it ends with canon- zation, where the de-parted is elevated to saint-hood and joins the list of the church’s other saints.
"Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.
Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when men hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man.
Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their fathers treated the prophets.
"But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort.
Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will mourn and weep.
Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for that is how their fathers treated the false prophets.
"But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you.
Mother Teresa seems to be on the fast track because she seems exceptionally saintly. Her face, her countenance, seems saintly: she seems simple, prayerful, of God. She worked in Calcutta, India, ministering with the poorest of the poor, founding an order of sisters, putting in writing a treasure chest of wisdom. Her presence and advice were sought out by priests, popes, and presidents.
So you may remember some months ago she made the front pages of the news because of a diary, I think it was, that described a spiritual wilderness she inhabited where she felt utterly abandoned by God. The stir was that this kind of experience didn’t seem to square with someone up for sainthood. Saints don’t have bad days and by implication live only a life of bliss.
I was, frankly, surprised about the hubbub. I don’t think of saints as perfect. And I believe faith and doubt are two sides of the same coin. We all have faith that can move mountains. And we all have doubt that can be difficult and dark. The revelations of the diary only increased my respect for her. It made her a real saint to me.
A real saint. What’s a real saint? A saint is not bigger than life, a superhuman, holy man or woman, as often we think. A saint with a capital “S.” If you are baptized, either as a child or an adult, you are a saint. That’s because of God’s love for you in the suffering, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. God makes saints of sinners like you and me. Mother Teresa was a saint, not because she was such a good and powerful person. No. She was a saint because God made her a saint in baptism. On that basis, you and I are saints.
What we admire about Mother Teresa, or any saint, is their saintly outlook and behavior. There’s something attractive about someone —and you know many of them—who live by grace. A saint is a baptized child of God, growing in grace. That’s what a saint is. And this is our definition. (It is also the main point of the sermon.) It helps us understand that God makes ordinary folks like you and me saints. We are baptized and grow in grace. Saint with a small “s.”
But there are some of the saints that are growing in grace and it overflows in a remarkable and memorable way. Their grace gets our attention.
One of them for me was my mid-high Sunday School teacher, Jim McNeil, who tried to impart the Gospel to a group of half-a-dozen hormone-driven male adolescents, of which I was one. He accomplished that not by what he said so much, but instead of his saintly behavior, showing up every week prepared and passionate. Others overflowing with grace we remember, too: Paul, Francis of Assisi, John the twenty-third, Henri Nouwen, and many others.
My mother had an adjective that she used. “Sainted,” she would say. That is a sainted man or woman. A sainted mother or father. A sainted pastor or police officer. When my sainted mother used that word she used it to describe someone growing and overflowing with grace. Not someone perfect. Or especially holy. Or especially successful. It was instead an adjective of someone who was doing what they do, with, yes, grace.
Maybe Mother Teresa can help us understand that a saint is a baptized person who is growing in grace. Someone gave me a little book called Thirsting for God. It is a little book of the words of Mother Teresa for each day of the year. Here’s one that especially caught my eye. It comes from November 3. It goes like this:
If you were to die today, what would others say about you?
Now, I am not planning to die any time soon, but the Mother’s question prompts me to think about what a grace-filled saint might look like.
What was in you that was beautiful, That was Christ-like, That helped others to pray better?
So I think: what in me is beautiful? That I work hard? Love the Lord? Have compassion? Am called to lead? I’ll bet everyone here has points of beauty that we can grow. At our staff retreat Pastor Nico was in charge of doing team-building exercises. She showed up with some XXXX-sized pajamas and balloons. She had each of us blow up the balloons. Then she asked for a volunteer to put on the over-sized pajamas. Then each of the staff took our balloon and stuffed it into the space between the person and the pajamas, saying something we appreciated or admired about the person. We ended up looking like this (shown: a couple of pictures of “puffed up” staff) and felt oddly beautiful.
What in me is Christ-like? This is a harder one. But if I am a saint, growing in grace, I at times at least ought to reflect the image of Christ. Is the Lord my God at the center of my life? Do I forgive? Am I willing to submit to the will of God? Do I participate in healing? Do I look anything like the ethics of Christ given to me in the Beatitudes: fortunate are those who are poor in spirit, who mourn, who are meek, who hunger and thirst for God, who are merciful, pure in heart, and peacemakers?
And how have I helped others pray better? For me this means getting closer to God. One of the treasures of my life is doing chapel for preschoolers and that’s because I teach them the Lord’s Prayer. I am at first surprised that so few of them know it. But once we get beyond “forgiving trash cans” and “delivering us from emails” they learn the entire prayer. Something they will keep for a lifetime.
Today we honor saints. Not so much the big-name saints beginning with a capital “S.” But saints like you and me gathered together in this community, growing in grace, and reflecting the love of God in Christ Jesus. This day is for you. A job well done.
Amen.