Sermon for November 6, 2019 - All Saints' Sunday - The Rev'd Jeffrey W. Mello
Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18, Ephesians 1:11-23, Luke 6:20-31
Can I have an adult volunteer to help me with this sermon?
Great. Could you open your wallet and give all the loose cash to a person you don’t know? Could you do the same with your credit cards?
Could I get another adult volunteer? No?
I learned, at a very young age, never to raise my hand until I knew what I was volunteering to do.
Just prior to this morning’s reading from the Gospel of Luke, Jesus just chose the twelve disciples and they follow him down, off the mountain, and into the crowd who have gathered there and are now waiting for them in eager anticipation.
How proud the 12 must have been of themselves.
I imagine iff they had had cellphones and social media, there would probably have been texts to family and posts on Facebook, “guess who got chosen? Out of a crowd of hundreds, Jesus picked just 12, and I am one of them!” Maybe a selfie or two with Jesus. #jesuspickedme. #blessed. #beatitude.
They have been chosen. But only now do they learn what it is Jesus has chosen them to do, and to be..
Jesus lifts his gaze, perhaps reticent to kill the joyful mood.
“Blessed are the poor…
Blessed are the hungry…
Blessed are those who weep…
Blessed are those who are hated for their love of Jesus…
Woe to you who are rich…
Woe to you who are full now…
Woe to you who are laughing…
Woe to you who are well spoken of…
Love your enemies..
Bless those who curse you…
If you are struck on the cheek, offer the other…
If someone takes your coat, offer your shirt…
Be merciful…”
That’s the job for which they have been chosen. That’s the kind of life they have just volunteered to live, for the sake of God’s love for the world.
I can imagine those in the crowd who were not chosen to be one of the 12 breathing a huge sigh of relief.
Dad always said to know what you’re getting into before volunteering.
Up until very recently, it has been easy to be a Christian in this country, even in the world. With the rare exception, Christendom has made it easy, even materially beneficial to be a follower of Christ. The exceptions to this so rare, we have made them into saints and painted them into icons.
This morning we are surrounded by the exceptions to the Christendom rule.
To the chosen 12, maybe following Jesus seemed like a good idea at the time, while Jesus was riding a wave of popularity. To be one of the inner chosen ones, one of the 12, looked like a great plan for social advancement.
But Jesus knows better. Jesus expects more. Jesus’ mission is a grand reversal in which those who are poor, and hungry, and the persecuted get their fill. They are the ones who are seen as the rich and the satisfied and the beloved. They are the blessed ones.
We heard a bit of this truth in the Stewardship testimonials. Members of our community offered stories of living in a world in which they were hungry for something, lacking something, missing something and found a bit of what they were searching for here, in ways great and small.
It is a tried and true plot line of tv shows and movies that the wealthy are never wealthy enough to make them happy. The powerful never have enough power to make them feel loved. The popular are never popular enough to make them feel like they truly belong in this world.
And here, we try to practice something a little different. Here we try to create a world in which the Beatitudes, these Blessings of Jesus, are just a little more true.
Here, we try to care more about the content of your heart than the content of your bank account. Here, we try to value the way you live your life more than how many followers you have on social media or the position/rank you hold in your work.
Here, we strive to look to the poor to teach us what it means to be rich, to look to the hungry to show us what it means to be fed, to look to those in prison to teach us something about being free. Here, we look to the broken to teach us wholeness and we listen to those on the margin for a word about what it is to belong.
That’s the job description folks. That’s what it means to be a disciple of Jesus; a student, a learner, a follower of Jesus rather than just a worshipper of him.. Here, I repeat my favorite quote from one of my favorite theologians, Verna Dozier. “Do you want to follow Jesus, or are you content just to worship him.”
That’s my question for you this morning. Do you want to follow Jesus, or just worship him? Worshipping Jesus is easy. My gosh, sometimes it’s even fun.
But following him? Imitating him? Going where he leads us? That takes work. It takes practice. It takes discipline and it takes sacrifice.
So, when we renew our baptismal vows in just a few minutes, I want you to seriously consider what it is you are agreeing to do, “with God’s help.”
When Miriam is baptized this morning, she will be welcomed into this topsy turvy world of following Jesus. This morning, her sponsors will agree to raise her to understand what true wealth is; what true belonging looks like; what true power can do for the sake of the world.
As she grows and begins to chase the things the world will put in front of her as objects of desire, we agree to remind her, and each other that those are not the things that offer anything lasting.
We promise to remind her that revenge isn’t nearly as powerful as mercy. That having belongings won’t satisfy her nearly as much as truly belonging. We promise to teach her that hate and fear will not feed her nearly as much as love will.
It is a difficult path Miriam begins today. It’s a difficult one we follow as we walk where Jesus leads us. Which is why we don’t do this alone, but in community. Not alone, but surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses we call the saints.
So that’s the work, Miriam. That’s the work my beloved in Christ.
Now you know.
Can I get a volunteer?
AMEN.
© 2019 The Reverend Jeffrey W. Mello