[Propertalk] All Saints - with Baptisms

[robertpmorrison at charter.net]

Still needs tinkering with, but here's this week's offering.

Bob


THE EPISCOPAL CHURCH OF ST. ALBAN, ALBANY 
THE SUNDAY AFTER ALL SAINTS’ DAY
WISDOM OF SOLOMON 3:1-9					                        			   4th NOVEMBER, 
2012
REVELATION TO JOHN 21:1-6a				                            	                     	 
PSALM  24
JOHN 11:32-44

	Someone sent me a hint last week. The person wrote, “Whatever you do, 
always give 100% …….. ”
	“Unless you’re donating blood.”
	
	Think about that as we remember what we’re doing this morning – 
welcoming people through God’s gift of baptism; coming, as we do every 
Sunday, and at other times in between, to meet Jesus at the altar; 
celebrating the ministry of those known and unknown who have blazed 
trails for us to follow; and also bringing to mind what we can do for 
this congregation through our pledges for the next year’s mission.	

	“No Christian is solitary. Through baptism we become members one of 
another in Christ, members of a company of saints whose mutual belonging 
transcends death. (As Charles Wesley put it)

	One family, we dwell in him,
	one Church, above, beneath;
	though now divided by the stream,
	the narrow stream of death.” 1

	One of our favourite All Saints’-tide hymns ends with the affirmative 
words, “And I mean to be one too.” It refers to our desire to be 
included in that wonderful crowd gathered in Jesus’ Presence. But it 
describes our desire to be included among the faithful as they and we go 
about our daily business – not just at some point in the future.

	The hymn makes clear, triumphantly, that being accorded the title 
“saint” isn’t reserved for a select few – dare I use the analogy of 
percentages bandied about in the mercifully-soon-to-be-concluded 
political campaigns?

	Probably not, but it’s too late now. The idea’s stuck in your brain! 
You get the picture, though. Sanctity isn’t the provenance of the elite. 
God bestows it on everyone. It’s simply up to us to recognise it in 
others and in ourselves, and to act upon it. This is as true for us here 
as it is for those who live and work on the eastern seaboard.

	Bishop Victoria Matthews of Christchurch, New Zealand, wrote recently 
about Christians’ response to needs and disasters, of whatever sort. She 
remarked that, “The best thing people of faith immediately can do after 
natural disasters is to provide a sense of community and connect 
one-on-one with their neighbors,” 2

	It doesn’t matter if we’re freshly wet from the font or dried out after 
our baptism fifty and more years ago. We’re all called and empowered, no 
matter how inadequate we may feel.

	God calls us to our several vocations, then prays that we’ll both hear 
the call and discover the matching gifts after which God blesses us. And 
the outward sign of the response to this call is being marked again this 
morning, just as it was last Sunday, and on many previous occasions.

	God calls us into this marvelous family and restores us, renews a sense 
of worth and dignity within us, not only for the sake of Sylvia, and 
Kendrick, and Kiwi, and Ellie, who’re to receive the sacrament of 
baptism this morning. This is for OUR sake as well. They and we together 
are to be witnesses to what it means to be loved by God.

	This may not bring an instant behavioural change, but we all pray that 
it’ll bring a demonstration of enthusiasm, or courage, possibly even 
recklessness in the way that they and we interact in faith, and hope and 
love.

	As they have the water poured on their heads – as Emerly had last 
Sunday – and the sign of the cross marked on their foreheads with 
chrism, as they’re welcomed at the altar and participate with us in the 
simple Feast of Love, eating Bread and drinking Wine, so we all rejoice 
as we find ourselves surrounded by a tremendous crowd of saints whom we 
know, and saints whom we don’t know, all participating in their 
vocations of service.

	That’s why we mark today, both at the celebration of Baptism and on 
this Feast of All Saints. We acknowledge that our public initiation into 
God’s family is a sign of our commitment to do what is right with and 
for God.

	Baptism and All Saints talk about the seriousness of our devotion to 
Jesus in faith. Not serious in the sense of

lacking in joy. I find myself being “surprised by joy” every day in one 
way or another. When I do or say something, or give something to 
indicate how much I love God, I find that my resources aren’t being 
depleted. And the same goes when I say, or do, or give something to a 
human as an expression of love. Usually my resources are actually being 
built up; new resources, new treasures are given me to help me in my 
service of love and compassion.

	What treasures, what gifts I may have been given by God in blessing, 
are received by the congregation of all the
faithful, especially the faithful of this part of the world, and my 
offering is used not simply in an academic exercise of praise, but as a 
practical way in which we’re able to minister together in and through 
the people of this Episcopal Church.

	Our celebration of Baptism and of All Saints is, indeed, serious. It’s 
a public display of commitment and encouragement – commitment and 
encouragement from God that we will never be left alone, never be found 
flat-footed, never have to face decisions all by ourselves, but in the 
company of the Blessed Trinity and of all those saints who have preceded 
us in life and left recognisable footprints all round this building, 
this city, this world, for us to follow. But the celebrations in which 
we’re engaged today are also a public display of commitment and 
encouragement to one another – a celebration that we personally will 
make sure that we will engage our baptismal covenant promises for the 
benefit of ALL God’s people, not just this congregation, not just for 
Episcopalians, not just for Christians, but for ALL God’s people, 
wherever they are, whatever they look like, however they act. And this 
most certainly includes how we have voted or will vote in the next 
couple of days.

	What happens at Baptism and the commemoration of ALL God’s People who 
have gone from this life involves the promise to engage ourselves 
everywhere we are, whatever the time. And, yes, this IS cause for 
celebration, for being thankful, because we’re reminded that, as the 
recent English prayer book put it, “No Christian is solitary.”
	
	That’s what strikes me about the prayer which I’ve been quoting for 
these past several weeks; that’s what excites me about belonging to 
God’s family, and, specifically to those around me who reflect God’s 
love and compassion. Baptism – our own as well as that of those who join 
us this morning – baptism calls us to a ministry of thankfulness and 
praise. Baptism calls us to recognise that our names are added to that 
great list of all the saints. And baptism invites us to offer whatever 
we are and whatever we have as participants in God’s reign. That’s where 
my friend’s Facebook comment about always giving 100%, all the time, 
comes into play. Nothing is excluded from our lives as Christians.

	We don’t say that we want to live, but we don’t need to breathe, or 
drink, or eat. For that matter, we don’t say that we want to live, but 
we don’t want to live with contact with other human beings. Love needs 
all of these – the breath, the drink and food, above all the 
companionship brought to us through our mutual interaction and sharing 
with other people.

So our baptismal pledge is just the same as the pledge we made twelve 
months ago to contribute to the financial stability of this 
congregation, enabling us to be here and to minister in Jesus’ name. And 
keeping both these forms of pledge are equally important. God invites us 
to renew both our pledges. We’re called to be Jesus’ hands, feet, mind 
and heart. The church – every congregation – is defined as the Body of 
Christ, not the museum, not the spectators of Christ.

So we pray;

	“Dear God,
	Thank you for all that is good,
	for our creation and our humanity,
	for the stewardship you have given us of this planet earth,
	for the gifts of life and of one another,
           for the love which is unbounded and eternal.” 2

It’s because we are living members in Christ that we’re able to make 
this prayer our own and to recognise our vocations as stewards of ALL 
the gifts of the Spirit which are affirmed at baptism.

Let us make our pledge together, then – to God and one another as we 
renew our baptismal convent – and to God and one another in a couple of 
weeks when the financial stewardship cards are handed out.

Deacon Marj’s words of dismissal are not idle – they’re a reminder to be 
engaged. So, “Let us bless the Lord”.

NOTES:

1 	From “Common Worship, page 537. © Archbishops’ Council, 2012

2	“Community, personal relationships crucial in disaster: Christchurch 
bishop talks of experience after devastating earthquakes” By Mary 
Frances Schjonberg | November 1, 2012
 
http://episcopaldigitalnetwork.com/ens/2012/11/01/community-personal-relationships-crucial-in-disaster/

3	“Night Prayer” from “A New Zealand Prayer Book”, page 167 ff.


Robert P Morrison
Interim Vicar
The Episcopal Church of St Alban
PO Box 1556
Albany OR  97321   541-921-1076 (cell)