Finding Faith ... in the model our saints have lived

EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2017 I began a new venture as a synodically authorized minister at Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. The ride over the past 3 years has been an amazing journey of learning, growing and a deepening of my theological mind. This sermon took place on Oct. 27, 2020. This was the 28th digital service we performed after our church was shuttered because of the COVID pandemic.

We are indeed celebrating All Saints Sunday this week, and maybe for some of you who are

watching right now in the recorded version, you might be celebrating today, which is our actual All Saints Sunday.

And, of course, All Saints Sunday is a Sunday when we honor the "saints" of our congregation, and others, who have passed in the previous 12 months. But this year -- how many times have we said that in recent months? -- but this year, as it has been on so many occasions, All Saints Day seems to bring with it a heavier weightiness than maybe in the past.

After all, we are celebrating two of our very own saints that we mentioned earlier, Elaine and Jackie. And this year, we hold them in our hearts as many of us did not get to say goodbye to properly in this past. Some of us may have participated in graveside services for either Elaine or Jackie, but it still didn't feel like an honoring of a saint that we're used to, did it? ... That opportunity was taken from us by a pandemic. ... And that's not even to mention a quarter of a million more Americans who were taken directly by a pandemic, and their loved ones weren't able to honor them properly either.

So much heaviness for us on All Saints Sunday, but I got to thinking this week that even in

a normal year it's never easy to say goodbye to our beloved saints on All Saints Day. So one might just wonder why it is that we always see that the beatitudes is the selected gospel from our lectionary writers on All Saints Sunday. ... After all, it's not as if the beatitudes are a somber scripture fitting of the occasion. Rather, instead many of us probably even look to this passage as an uplifting passage or a passage of hope. ... So what gives lectionary writers?

Well, as I studied the gospel this week, I think what our lectionary writers were trying to point out to us is two things: The first is that many of us miss it, but the beatitudes are actually a call to action for people of faith, for Christ's followers. They're not just a list of reassurances for those of us faithful. And the second point is that in celebrating all saints day we're not only celebrating the lives of our loved ones who have passed in the past 12 months. While that's important, more importantly what we're actually celebrating is the actions of these cherished saints during their lifetimes in our church or in our lives. ... And I think in the somberness of All Saints Day, we often miss that point as well. ... So thankfully, the beatitudes and Jesus point both things out to us tonight.

If you go back and you re-read the beatitudes with this in mind you might notice that tucked away at the very end of the beatitudes Jesus reminds us and makes us all aware of a promise of a reward. You can go back and look in your bulletin and reread the gospel very quickly, and you can find it right down there at the end in verse 12: "Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven." ... And the reward that Jesus is talking about is a direct result of living our lives according to the beatitudes listed above. ... Or in other words, living out God's Kingdom right here on earth.

Now, we oftentimes look to the beatitudes in times when we need an uplifting passage that tells us that even though we might be tread upon, or that we might not be rich, or that we might have troubles, or the times that might we might be the meek ones, or there might be times in which we are you know afflicted by many a thing ... and we look to the beatitudes for reassurance. But, I think it is that we forget that last verse.

If any of you are thinking to yourselves right now, "You know, I've never really thought of the beatitudes that way." ... Trust me, you're not alone. Frankly, I also had never recognized that hidden deep in this comforting passage is actually Jesus's message telling me that I can't be a passive believer. ... Not if I expect to inherit the kingdom.

And so that passage, and that promise of reward, leads us directly into the second point that our gospel is telling us tonight. And that is that it's the very deeds that our loved ones did while here in the earthly kingdom that make them our saints. ... It's not just in their passing that we are recognizing them. ... Actually, All Saints Day is a recognition of those saints and all of what it is that they have done to bring God's Kingdom here to earth. ... All Saints Day is a celebration of just how it is that those saints have been Christ to others. ... Maybe even to one of us.

Finally, All Saints Day is a celebration of how those saints ministered to the others in their lives, ministered and loved their neighbors, and that is what we are celebrating in naming our saints on All Saints Sunday.

I had the honor this year of walking the path with both Jackie and Elaine's families as they planned graveside family services with of course the lament that they couldn't celebrate these very saints with all of us here in our cherished sanctuary. But in walking those paths with each of those families, I was made aware of their very saintly deeds and the many joys they brought to others whether it was through food or Jackie's smile or Elaine's taking care of children later in life. There were plenty of references to their saintly deeds and how it was that they were the face of Christ for many here in this congregation, many here in the community of Wolverton, and even beyond.

And so on this particularly heavy All Saints Day, my encouragement to you, Faith Family, is to go back and review the beatitudes one more time. This time with an eye to that call of action from Jesus, and then I encourage you to think about that call to action to you. ... How are you living a life that is bringing God's Kingdom right here to earth? How will you be remembered as one of our saints?

I believe that Jackie and Elaine led the way for us and gave us a perfect model of being that face of Christ to others ... and that is the Good News for this Tuesday, Oct. 27, and this Sunday, Nov. 1, All Saints Day 2020. ... Amen