Holy Cross Monastery, West Park, NY
Click here for an audio of the sermon
“Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.” Amen. (2 Chronicles 6:41)
Regardless of anything that happens during the next several minutes, I’m happy to be able to assure you with the highest level of confidence possible that we’ll all be going to bed tonight convinced that we heard an amazing sermon here on All Saints Day. And not only will we remember the sermon as being pretty great, but we’ll also recall with wonderment at just how eloquent and wise the preacher was. Yes, we’ll all agree it was one of those sermons that leaves an impression, makes us think. Indeed, today’s sermon has the power – the likelihood, even – to change not only our lives, but also the lives of those around us.
The sermon is, of course, the one Jesus just preached to all of us in Saint Luke’s Gospel: The Sermon on the Plain. As it’s obviously a perfect sermon, it will not be improved upon by anything anyone – and especially I – could possibly have to say about it. Jesus has just told us that true joy and purpose are to be found by living in love for God and one another rather than for the false and fleeting honors of the present age. In short, Jesus says, if we want to be “blessed” – that is, if we want to be saints (which is the whole point after all!) – we must strive to do the right thing, not worrying about the inevitable inconveniences it causes or the nasty reactions it sometimes incites in certain people, and to treat everybody – especially those who mistreat us – as we would like to be treated ourselves.
And that’s pretty much it! There’s nothing else to add to the message. The only thing for us to do is to take Jesus’ words to heart, believe and understand them, and decide how we’re going to put them into practice. As we know, of course, this is far easier said than done much of the time. But, as it happens to be All Saints Day, we have the benefit of learning from so many people who have gone before us – as well as many who are journeying to Heaven with us in the here and now – to discover what living into the Reign of God in everyday life, as Jesus has just invited us to do, actually looks like.
First, of course, there are the great saints of history, including those from the Hebrew and Christian Bibles. Take Daniel for instance. The passage immediately preceding today’s first reading contains Daniel’s famous ordeal in the den of lions. He was made to endure this by people who were angry that he was continuing to pray to God rather than to the earthly king Darius. And, sure enough, Daniel suffered. But because he was faithful to who he was and how he knew God wanted him to live, Daniel was indeed “blessed” in spite of being mistreated, and, through his example, he even eventually helped the king and others see and acknowledge the greatness of God.
But the saints don’t only live in Bible stories and hagiographical legends. I can think of many times when complete strangers have unknowingly preached the Gospel to me simply by doing to others as they would have others do to them, or to their loved ones. In many ways, these are my favorite examples of the saints at work because, if we pay attention, we can see them happening almost anywhere – little Gospel vignettes playing out in real life.
I remember riding the bus home from work on a very rainy afternoon, and people were getting on wearing raincoats and carrying wet umbrellas. But one man got on who hadn’t been prepared for the deluge and he was soaked to the skin. As he sat down, I could imagine how uncomfortable he was pressed against the seat with his wet clothes, his waterlogged socks squishing inside his work shoes, and the air conditioning chilling him out. But I wasn’t the only one who noticed him. There was a woman sitting across the aisle and a row back who immediately began pulling paper towels from her bag and handing them across. Even though he still stayed pretty wet, he could at least dry his head, face, arms, and hands. The gratitude on his face and in his voice said it all: he was profoundly thankful to have been unexpectedly blessed by this kind and caring saint.
Then, of course, there are the saints we know more personally – our relatives, friends, classmates, coworkers, baristas – whose saintliness can often be a bit disguised, but who nevertheless bring Jesus’ words to life for us. Here in the monastery, I’m often touched and, frankly, shocked, by the many acts of thoughtfulness shown to me by my brothers when they notice that I could use a little extra kindness or understanding in a given moment, such as offering to cover a work assignment because they know I’m not feeling well, or patiently rearranging part of their own schedule to help me cope with a project or task that’s gotten away from me – and all without grumbling (at least outwardly) or expecting anything in return. In such cases, I can see the spirit of Jesus’ instructions to “Give to everyone who begs from you” being put into action in a real and holy way, and both the brother and I are indeed made “blessed” by this.
In the beginning, I promised we’d go to bed thinking about the sermon we heard from Jesus this morning. But why wait until tonight? I’d like to invite all of us to spend time today thinking about some of the saints who have preached the Sermon on the Plain to us through the examples of their lives. These could be the celebrity saints of history, as well as our grandparents or parents; siblings, cousins, and other family member; friends; classmates; co-workers; people on the bus, train, or street – anyone whose actions, words, or presence have helped us see the path to God a little more clearly.
And while we’re at it, let’s also honor those times when we, as saints-in-training ourselves, have been the bearers of Christ to others. Yes, it’s almost certainly a fact that, somewhere out there, a stranger still remembers you because you once smiled at them on a bad day; or you pulled their suitcase off the baggage claim belt when others were crowding it and they couldn’t get through; or maybe you casually waved them into your lane on the freeway when they were rushing to the hospital, desperate to see someone they loved for the last time. You just never know. As we think of all these saints – those both known to us and unknown, alive and at rest – let’s join with Saint Paul in praying for them and never cease giving thanks for the ways God’s love has shone – and continues to shine – through their lives. And may peace and all goodness be upon each and every one of us, now and always. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment