Sunday, November 5, 2017

Gratitude - For all the saints

 Psalm 107:1-7, 33-37  

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
Let the redeemed of the Lord say so,
    those he redeemed from trouble
and gathered in from the lands,
    from the east and from the west,
    from the north and from the south.[a]
Some wandered in desert wastes,
    finding no way to an inhabited town;
hungry and thirsty,
    their soul fainted within them.
Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble,
    and he delivered them from their distress;
he led them by a straight way,
    until they reached an inhabited town.

33 
He turns rivers into a desert,
    springs of water into thirsty ground,
34 
a fruitful land into a salty waste,
    because of the wickedness of its inhabitants.
35 
He turns a desert into pools of water,
    a parched land into springs of water.
36 
And there he lets the hungry live,
    and they establish a town to live in;
37 
they sow fields, and plant vineyards,
    and get a fruitful yield.
*****************************************************



A couple of months ago,  Michael and Jordan talked to me about how cool it would be (for them and the choir, anyway) if every month had a theme, and how even cooler it would be if they could get the theme, the scripture readings and the sermon titles at least 2 months in advance.  And I agreed that it would be very cool indeed if that could happen.   And while normally I’d have given that very cool thing approximately the chance of a snowball in Selma in August, I decided that it would be a good discipline for me to do that.  So I did.  

Themes haven’t been that hard to come up with so far.  October was Stewardship month, of course.  December is Advent, so that’s kind of built in.  And November - well, it does have Thanksgiving right at the end, so obviously it is Gratitude month.

Now, you all know, I think, that I work hard at finding things to be grateful for.  Every morning, no matter which side of the bed I wake up on, I find 10 things to be grateful for before breakfast.  Two of them are usually coffee and cats, but hey.  They are two of my favorite things.   But this - today - is All Saints Sunday. Today is the day in our church calendar dedicated to remembering all those who have come before, who have served as guides and mentors and inspirations.  I’d like to read you an excerpt from the UCC Still Speaking Daily Devotional which I get in my email every morning.  

On November 1st, Emily C. Heath, Senior Pastor of the Congregational Church in Exeter, New Hampshire, wrote:   Martin Luther famously said that while we live we are all simultaneously saints and sinners. We are imperfect and messy, prone to doing all the wrong things, and completely hapless. And yet, we are also the beloved children of God, trying every day to get it just a little more right. In other words, we are human beings who are alive.

Protestants believe something else, too. We believe that when we die we join the Communion of Saints. Far from a club for people who lived perfect lives, or believed without doubt, sainthood is a state achieved not by works but by dying in the hope of Christ's grace and love. 

So when I talk about someone who has passed, and refer to them as one of the saints of the church, we are not to consider all the things they may have done wrong, but celebrate the one thing they did right for sure - died in the hope of Christ’s grace and love.   

Today I would like to do something a little different.  We have already lifted up the names of our loved ones for prayer and remembrance.  What I would ask of you now is to tell us about some of the saints of the Church - maybe this congregation, maybe another one.  I would like us to share our gratitude for the people who have gone before us, who have inspired and encouraged us.  I would like to begin.

My brother Nick - who is probably rolling on the floor of heaven laughing at being called a saint of any kind - but who throughout his lifetime helped me whenever I needed a shoulder to lean on or advice.   He was always there for me.  When the day came that I confessed to him that I had become a Protestant, and was even going to become a minister of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), his response was to return to the church of our youth, attending faithfully and participating in many parish activities,  and encouraging me on my faith journey, until his death on Christmas Day, 2010.  

What saint would you share memories of today?   ………………………

The Psalmist reminds us today of God’s steadfast love.  The saints we have lifted up in gratitude are our example of God’s love and God’s grace.  For they have been given to us for a season, to inspire, to encourage, to strengthen, in God’s name.  Some traveled in the desert wastes, thirsting and in danger, until God came in answer to their cries and led them by the straight way to shelter in God’s arms, to the living water that is Christ.  Some abided in God all of their lives faithfully.  But no matter where they began, all ended their lives in faith, with hope in Christ.  


Pastor Heath went on to say in her devotional that we are all saints in training.  And as such, we will often get it wrong.  But each day we have new opportunities to practice doing the right things, to practice loving one another as God would have us do, to work toward a world in which God’s peace and justice prevails, where none must hunger and thirst, or live in fear. In the week to come let us express our gratitude each day for all that we have received, and for the knowledge that one day we too, will join all those saints who have gone before, and who wait for us joyfully in the company of our Lord, Jesus Christ.    

No comments:

Post a Comment