[Propertalk] Fwd: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for All Saints' Sunday: "Where Are the Saints?"

[Joe Parrish]

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-----Original Message-----
From: Judy <judy_boli at ecunet.org>
To: Propertalk <propertalk.topic at ecunet.org>
Sent: Sat, Nov 3, 2018 10:20 pm
Subject: [propertalk.topic] Sermon for All Saints' Sunday: "Where Are the Saints?"

DearFriends, ThisSunday’s sermon is entitled “All Saints” or “Does the Son Shine through You?” or“Where Are the Saints?” and deals with all the lessons.  Here it is:   Happy All Saints’ Day Sunday!  Weknow about ChristMass and Easter and even Pentecost- but what in the world isAll Saints’ Sunday?  Would you believethat All Saints is as ancient a Christian holiday as ChristMass?  Both were started in the 300’s (about 300years after Jesus was born).  All Saintsbegan as a holiday to remember those Christian martyrs who were murdered forfollowing Jesus.  Some 300 years later,people began honoring just plain, ordinary folk along with those special peoplewho were killed for their faith.  This isfitting, because you know that the word “martyr” means witness; and many ofthose fine ordinary people were wonderful witnesses to our Lord.  You know the connection between All Saints’Day and Halloween?  Christian holidaysstart the night before at sundown.  (Thisis why we celebrate the ChristMass after sundown on December 24thinstead of waiting until ChristMass day, December 25th.)  Well- people used to be more superstitiousthan we are now, so they thought those who were being honored (in other words-dead people) wandered around that night as ghosts.  Some people dressed up to scare them andothers dressed up as ghostly beings to scare other people.  It didn’t take long for business owners tofigure out they could make a LOT of money by adding “trick or treat!”  In our time, All Saints is a day in which wemake new saints by baptizing them; we review our own lives to see if we areacting like saints; and we remember our loved ones who have already made theirtransition to the church triumphant (i.e. heaven).   So, what is a saint?  Do you haveto be dead to be one?  If you want to beone of those “capital ‘S’ saints” the Roman Catholic Church beatifies, theanswer is yes.  But there are a lot ofcommon ordinary saints- “small ‘s’ saints”- some alive, some already in heavenwith Jesus, who have truly made a wonderful difference in this world.  So what is a saint?  A mother once asked her little boy this samequestion.  He said, “Look mother; I’llshow you.”  He took his mother by the handand led her to one of those stained glass windows with people wearinghalos.  “You can always tell the saints,”he said, “because they’re the people whom the sun shines through.”  “Small ‘s’ saints” are us- those of us whohave been baptized and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  Our calling, just as the little child said,is to let the sun (God’s Son) shine through our lives. So- saints- how are you doing? Are you letting Jesus, the Son, shine through your life?  The best way to tell is to check your life,not in the easy times but in the hard times. Did you notice the thought for the week: “People are like tea bags- youhave to put them in hot water before you know how strong they are”(anonymous).  Please look atEcclesiasticus 2:1, “Students, if you decide to worship and obey the Lord, beready to face problems.”  All the“capital ‘S’ saints” faced huge problems in life; in fact- every human beingfaces huge problems in life.  It’s howyou face these problems, it’s how I face these problems- doing it my way orGod’s way, that determines if we are going to have a truly blessed life.  A good test can be found in the Beatitudesfrom today’s gospel (Matthew 5:3-10). Please note- doing these things will NOT get you into heaven.  Only the blood of Jesus, the Christ, will dothat.  These will test how you’re doingin letting the Son shine through your life to others.  Are you living God’s way?  Let’s check: God blesses those peoplewho.....U  Depend only on him. Our culture teaches us to depend on our money or power or smarts to get usthrough tough times.  Our bottom line isGOD!  Only God is in charge.U  Grieve- why?  Grievingthe loss of someone else is proof that you’ve lived your life loving otherpeople- or at least loving one other person. If you don’t ever love anyone, how can you grieve for them when they’regone?  Our culture’s way is to be independent-depend on no one, and be stingy about giving away your heart.  U  Are humble.  Asyou know, this word means something different in our common language.  When the Bible uses the word “humble,” itmeans “reality oriented- knowing what we know and don’t know; knowing ourstrengths and weaknesses.”  Humble peopledon’t say, “I am the greatest!” Why?  Because only God is great.U  Want to obey God more than to eat or drink?  Our culture teaches us to say, “I’ll do it myway.”  That doesn’t even work fortwo-year-olds, and it surely doesn’t work for us.  It’s God’s way that works!  It’s like the directions on the back of thecake mix box.  Go ahead and put mustard,catsup, and sardines in the batter if you choose; but if you want a good cake-you’d better make it the way the creator of that cake mix says.  The same with people.  Who made us? We’d better follow our Creator God’s directions.U  Are merciful.  Ourculture teaches us to take revenge, but I’m here to tell you that revengedoesn’t work- it just feels good for a while. Jesus pointed out that even limited revenge (an eye for an eye and atooth for a tooth) doesn’t work, because what goes around comes around; andpretty soon everyone who lives by revenge would be blind and toothless. U  Have pure  hearts:not hypocrites- talking holy and not behaving like a Christian.U  Make peace.  Ourculture teaches us to start things and then step back and enjoy the fireworks.  If we all lived this way, life would be hell.U  Are treated badly for doing right.  Why? Because it means you have backbone! It means you have integrity!  Peerpressure is the coward’s way.  We weren’tcalled to be cowards!  We were called tobe God’s children.  Our values aren’tshaped by our friends.  We choose to haveour values shaped by God. May God bless us as we allow the light of Jesus, the Son of God, toshine through our lives so we may be counted among the saints when he comes forus.  At that time, may we- along with St.Mary and St. Paul and Martin Luther King. Jr. and all the saints hear, “Welldone good and faithful servant.  Enterinto the joys of your Lord.” (Matthew 25:23b). Amen. For anyone who is interested, this sermon and updatedAfrican-American wisdom statements are posted on our parish’s web site under“Sermons & Stuff”. The address is: http://www.stpaulsepisag.org. Blessedpreaching,JudyBoliSt.Paul's Episcopal ChurchSaginaw,Michigan-- 
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