“FOR ALL THE SAINTS….WE GIVE THANKS”

All Saints Day 2007 C

Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31

Dear Saints of God, grace and peace be with you from our living Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Amen.

              Christian author Henri Nouwen wrote a short book entitled “Our Greatest Gift.”  He wrote it after attending a funeral service for a young man named Moe, a person he grew to know and love in a Christian community in Germany.  Saddened by his passing, Nouwen began to think about the experience of death and its meaning and impact upon the living.  He said, “People are dying.  Not just a few I know, but countless people everywhere, every day, every hour.  Dying is the most general human event, something we all have to do.  But do we do it well?”

            In his reflections about Moe, he thought of him, “A man who, through his fragility and weakness, had helped us create a community during his life so even more through his death.  As we came together…we shared a deep sense that not only does life lead to death, but death leads to new life.  The spirit of gentleness and kindness that surrounded and pervaded our conversations, the spirit of forgiveness and healing that touched each of us, and most of all the spirit of unity and communion that bound us together in a new way – the spirit was gratefully received as a gift of Moe who was dead and yet very much alive.”

            Isn’t that a beautiful remembrance and tribute to a person who had died.  To be remembered, not only for what he contributed to the lives of others when he was alive, but more so for what he contributed to the lives of others by his death.  Nouwen was describing the lasting effect of Saint Moe, a friend, an ordinary person who possessed an extraordinary gift of faith in Jesus Christ.  His life and death were a witness to that whole community of God’s mercy and love, a witness to God’s promise that through the grave and gate of death there is new life.  That is what Nouwen means by the title of his book, “Our Greatest Gift.”

            To me this reflection of Henry Nouwen expresses what All Saint’s Sunday is all about.  As we come to worship this morning to remember and give thanks to God for those who have died before us, we are joined together in a special way.  We are surrounded by the spirit of gentleness and kindness, the spirit of forgiveness and healing, the spirit of unity and communion.  These are the gifts of the saints and because of them we are richly blessed.  Today we give thanks to God for all the saints in our lives, for the courage in which they lived on this earth, for the joy they expressed in times of celebration, for the faith that strengthened and comforted them in times of trial and hardship, for the hope they had for the future because of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.

            You may ask, who are the saints who move us by their witness and support us by their example?    They are the people listed in our bulletin whose name we mentioned and for whom we lit a candle.  We remember them for their faithful witness to the gospel and their loving service to family and friends and neighbors.  We remember them for the ways in which they lived their lives and the way in which they faced their death.  We remember their contribution to the building up of this community of faith called United Lutheran Church, for their support in time, talent, and money for the mission and ministry of this place.  For that, we are deeply grateful.     

            But there are other saints we have know throughout the years who have contributed to our lives of faith and commitment to Christ.  They are our ancestors whose stories still bring tears to our eyes and laughter to our hearts, people for whom we will come and light a candle in just a few minutes. 

            I remember Susan’s dad who died in our first year of marriage.  He was a man of great intellect and integrity, quiet, honest, and trustworthy.  As his health deteriorated because of cancer, we gathered together as a family in the basement of his house to celebrate his birthday.  The only meaningful gift we could give to him was telling him how much he meant to each one of us.  The gift he shared with us in return was his love, his faith, and his confidence in a certain salvation. 

            I remember my dad for his constant love, his sense of humor, his generosity.  He was a pastor known for his preaching and compassion, a “people’s pastor,” as someone described him to me one day. 

            I remember my mother who died two years ago.  She was a strong, talented woman who was not afraid to try new things.  In addition to raising three boys, she was a high school science and elementary gym teacher.  She taught drive’s ed and swimming lessons.  She even led aerobics classes for adults.  The funny thing about all of that is that she was a terrible driver, could hardly keep her head above the water, and had no sense of rhythm.  She also taught high school Sunday school, confirmation classes and led adult Bible studies.  I always thought she could have been a pastor too.

            These are some of the saints in my life.  There are others like my grandma Johnson, Uncle Wilson, Aunt Helen.  As I remember them, my faith is strengthened, my hope renewed.  Through them, God declares to me that death is not the end of it all, but there is life, eternal life with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

            You have your saints too.  You have been blessed by their lives and by their faith.  As you remember them, the past and future are connected, forming and informing your present lives.  As they encourage you to live in faith and hope, you become living saints.  Knowing that God has provided for you an inheritance into eternity, you are enabled to live a new and different kind of life now on this earth, a life of love and service, so that through your example others might set their hope on Christ and “live for the praise of God’s glory.” 

            The Apostle Paul prayed a beautiful prayer for us who are living saints.  He prayed that “the Father of glory, may give us a spirit of wisdom and revelation as we come to know him, so that, with the eyes of our hearts enlightened, we may know what is the hope to which he has called us, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to his great power.”  As living saints, we place our hope in God who raised Jesus from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places.  “Marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit” in baptism, fed with the heavenly food of Jesus’ body and blood, we are united in a communion that is unbreakable even by death.  It is the communion of saints.

            As you come forward now to remember the saints in your life, receive the love and comfort of God who has brought forth life out of death through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior.  Amen.