Poking Holes in the Darkness

Sermon-Year C-Advent 1 November 29, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
I almost never do this. But I like to look back at old sermons to see what I was doing years previously, and I read this sermon. And I thought to myself, this is better than anything I would write this year. So with a few changes, I am going to use it again.
Sermon-Advent1B-11-27-05
Today is the first day of the new church year. It is the first Sunday of Advent. There is a legend that Jesus will come back on the first Sunday of Advent one year, and one of the people on DesperatePreachers.Com said that would ruin a perfectly good shopping season.
Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. It is not Christmas season. That is always very frustrating for us. Walmart and Hallmark and all the tv stations are telling us that time is running out and we have to hurry. Now. Or we’ll miss out.
And the message is clear-Christmas is almost here and we are running out of time. We’re not ready yet. We’ll never get everything finished if we don’t hurry.
And the church is so dumb, obviously what we need to have is shorter sermons and fewer hymns and quicker services so we can get back out there and get even more ready. It’s coming and we’re not prepared !!! We have get it done. NOW!
Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. And the first 2 weeks of Advent almost always focus on preparation and readiness-just like all the stores. They almost have it right. They want us to shop to get ready for Christmas, and the church wants us to work on our soul. But the goal is the same. Get ready, be prepared. What do you hear in today’s gospel- Jesus says, “6Be alert at all times….”
I was thinking about this watching all the people sitting in line outside the electronic stores this week. They were trying to be the first ones in to get the best electronic toys. We tell people to get ready and wait for the Christmas. It’s so close, it’s easy to get confused.
You turn on the radio and you hear Christmas music all the time. It’s sweet at first, but then after a few days you just want it to be over so you can move on. And by the time Christmas gets here we are so ready for it to be over with. Even though we’re never finished with all the cards and all the presents and all the wrapping we’re so tired of Christmas.
Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. And we begin with this terrible reading from our gospel for the next year, Luke. It’s a very dark way to begin Advent season. Please, go out and tell your friends-“gee, Church was really nice today, we heard all about the end of the world.”
25“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
It’s a hard lesson-scary. It always makes me think of that Disney movie, Fantasia with A Night On Bald Mountain. One writer I was reading said that the world focuses on endings and Jesus always emphasizes beginnings. Listen, Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent. We are trying to take Jesus back from all the stores, we are trying to hold on and transform what the world does-we are trying to be alert and make ourselves ready and do almost as much for our souls and hearts as we are doing for the revival of the economy. I don’t begrudge what the stores do, but this is a great opportunity for us to teach and show and witness what Advent is really all about.
So, I want to do something that I’ve been doing the last few years. I want you to get your hearts and souls ready for Christmas. I want to share with you four things that I think we can do to help ourselves be prepared.
I want us to take back this season and make it really about making us ready for the birth of a child in our heart.
First, be a little quieter. When you get up in the morning, before you go to bed at night, sometime during the day-take one minute and just be silent. No tv, no radios, no family or pets or ipods or books. Just sit. And be quiet. Once a day. Don’t be quiet because you don’t have any noise within reach-CHOOSE TO BE QUIET. Start by stilling your life each day. For one minute. Each day. Quiet. 1 minute. CHOOSE TO BE STILL.
Second, find a way each day to wait. Wait. Don’t just wait because you can’t get ahead faster, CHOOSE TO WAIT. Let someone in line ahead of you while shopping. Tell them you’re working on your waiting skills. Don’t weave in and out of lanes while driving. Skip the express lane at the store and get behind the woman with the overflowing basket and a fistful of coupons. Find a way to wait. Years ago I saw Norma Gearns in Meijer’s and she said to me, “We would have been out of here a half hour ago but we were taking your advice. I don’t think she was happy. Learn something about waiting. Choose to wait.
Third, watch. Don’t watch for sales, or discounts, or great deals. Watch for the things you don’t usually see. Watch for signs of Jesus being born. Listen to the words from today’s gospel: “stand up and raise your heads” and 34“Be on guard” 36Be alert “Jesus keeps repeating over and over BE AWAKE, BE ALERT, WATCH FOR ME! Why? Maybe he’s afraid that when He comes nobody will know it-we’ll be too busy. So, notice something every day that you never saw before. Watch. See. Wake up. Notice one thing every day you never noticed previously-no matter how many times you looked at it. Maybe Jesus is being born in the world, and we were too busy to notice. This Advent, CHOOSE TO NOTICE, CHOOSE TO WATCH.
Finally, prepare. I don’t mean prepare your house, prepare your tree, prepare your gifts. Prepare your heart. How can you do that? I would suggest that we slow down. Every thing the world is teaching us is faster faster, louder louder. I think it’s a very good time of the year to do just the opposite-slow down. How can I be ready if I’m running so fast? Running so quickly? Racing around? I can’t focus when I am hurrying so much. Each day try to do one thing you always do-a little slower, less quickly. CHOOSE TO PREPARE YOUR HEART.
Listen, I’ve used this example before but I just love it. When Robert Louis Stevenson, the great adventure writer of the 19th century (The Master Of Ballantrae, Kidnapped, and Treasure Island) was a little boy, he was very ill. And he had to stay in bed or in his room for over a year. One night as he was standing at the window watching the lamplighter light the gas lamps on the street. His nurse called him away from the drafty window afraid he would get ill, but Stevenson said he liked to watch the man poke holes in the darkness.
That is our job, our purpose, our goal in Advent-to poke holes in the darkness of the year. To quiet, to wait, to watch, to slow down. We can do this. We can help ourselves-and then others-ready our hearts. It’s not that hard.
1 minute of stillness a day-Choose to be quiet
letting others go first-Choose to wait
look for something new every day-Choose to watch
slow down-do one thing more slowly-choose to prepare
Let’s take Advent back. Let’s change the world. Let’s do very little things so that we and maybe the whole world is ready. I was talking to someone once who had a stroke-and you know what she said, “I knew there was a problem when I had trouble brushing my teeth. That’s when I decided to go to the doctor.”
It’s the thousand little things that we can do to change our lives that impact the world. It’s the little things we do each day that change us, that we notice.
I was standing in Meijer’s-in a hurry-shopping, this was several years ago. And this guy came up to me and handed me a clipboard. I started saying to him that I was really busy and had to get going. But he didn’t say anything. And his expression didn’t even change. So I talked louder. And faster. But still he didn’t say anything. So in exasperation I looked at the clipboard. It was a petition asking me to sign so that those who were hearing impaired could bring therapy dogs into Meijer’s to hear for them.
Choose quiet
Choose Waiting
Choose Watching
Slow down.
It won’t be the end of the world. But it may feel like it.
Listen, Today is the first day of the new church year, the first Sunday of Advent.
Let’s take back our lives. Let’s take back this season. Let’s take back Christmas.
We can do it. Let’s work almost as hard on our souls, as we do on our gifts. Quieter, slower, waiting, watching. Amen.

25“There will be signs in the sun, the moon, and the stars, and on the earth distress among nations confused by the roaring of the sea and the waves. 26People will faint from fear and foreboding of what is coming upon the world, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27Then they will see ‘the Son of Man coming in a cloud’ with power and great glory. 28Now when these things begin to take place, stand up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
29Then he told them a parable: “Look at the fig tree and all the trees; 30as soon as they sprout leaves you can see for yourselves and know that summer is already near. 31So also, when you see these things taking place, you know that the kingdom of God is near. 32Truly I tell you, this generation will not pass away until all things have taken place. 33Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. 34“Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day catch you unexpectedly, 35like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. 36Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all these things that will take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.”

Choosing a king

Sermon-Year B-Proper 29 25 Pentecost-Christ the King November 22
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Today is Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. This is from preacher Bruce Modahl about today:
Christ the King is a Johnny-come-lately to the schedule of festivals and observances on the church calendar. It has neither the biblical warrant of Easter nor the antiquity of the forty days of Lent. Christ the King Sunday is the invention of a twentieth-century pope, Pius XI. Yet Christ the King Sunday is on the calendars of all the Protestant churches that keep a church calendar. No doubt the appeal of the day is rooted in the need Pius XI saw in 1925. Europe was still reeling from World War I, and economic uncertainty abounded. People were bending the knee and doing obeisance to human savior and political parties that promised to rescue them. Religion was increasingly relegated to the private sphere. In response to this, Pius XI called for an annual Sunday feast day to assert the "Kingship of our Savior." He called for a day on which people would gather to bend their knees to Christ and … witness to the day when every knee in heaven and on earth and under the earth will bend to Christ and confess him as Lord. In 1925 the observance of Christ the King proclaimed that no earthly ruler is lord. The day proclaimed Jesus is king not only of our hearts and our private moments and personal salvation but of all time and space.
It was also the 1600th anniversary of the Council of Nicaea . Any of you students of history, did the world change after 1925? What kind of impact did Pius XI’s papal bull have on the rulers and nations of the world? Zip, zilch, nada.
NOTHING CHANGED. Not in the nations and countries of the world. The question is, do I change, am I different?
This reading is taken from Jesus’ encounter with Pilate late in the gospel of John. Pilate has heard about Jesus, but when he finally meets him, he is disappointed. Jesus is just so, so “ordinary”. So, “unkinglike.” When people think of royalty, kings and queens, a lot of the time we think of Queen Elizabeth-who’s been queen for over 50 years. Do you realize that throughout history the average length of time a monarch served was less than 4 years before they were killed or overthrown? Here is Jesus in front of the king of Palestine, Pontius Pilate, a man known for his ruthlessness and violence, and you can almost hear Pilate laughing. “You’re a king?”
This is such a great story, because it sums up our own journey. Throughout our lives we will be drawn and attracted to the world-possessions, security, the adoration of others, a certain amount of wealth, a life of ease. Right? Isn’t that what most of us want? Most of the time it’s what I want. When we talk about winning the lottery or the Nobel prize or winning anything isn’t it because we want these things? possessions, security, the adoration of others, a certain amount of wealth, a life of ease-the things of royalty.
And here is Jesus standing before Pilate. A man with a rapidly shrinking number of friends. A man with the clothes on his back. No 401K. A man who would shortly after this conversation be tortured and killed. A man whose ministry lasted just about as long as most kingship-3 years. This is the contrast with royalty-the kingship of Christ.
Kings have servants. Jesus called people to serve.
Kings have wealth. Jesus called people to sacrifice.
Kings tell others what to do. Jesus invited people to follow.
Kings demand loyalty. Jesus asked people to have faith
Kings try to conquer. Jesus came to help.
Kings dominate. Jesus encouraged.
Kings require obedience. Jesus offered freedom.
Kings call for people to wait on them. Jesus washed peoples’ feet.
Kings rely on strength. Jesus advocated going the extra mile.
Kings demand. Jesus turned his cheek.
Kings curse. Jesus blessed.
Kings wear crowns of jewels. Jesus wore a crown of thorns.
Over and over in my life I see this great struggle between the values of the world, and the values of Christ. It is challenging The world paints the king’s life as pretty appealing. Possessions, security, the adoration of others, a certain amount of wealth, a life of ease. Isn’t that attractive?
Jesus tells Pilate, “My kingdom is not of this world.” He didn’t mean his kingdom is in heaven. He meant that it was different than the world’s kingdoms. Jesus died the way he lived, as a suffering servant. He brought healing, hope, and freedom to those who followed. It wasn’t the kind of kingship Pilate was familiar with.
Charles Colson, former legal counsel to Richard Nixon and later founder of the Christian Prison Fellowship, says it like this: "All the kings and queens I have known in history sent their people out to die for them. I only know one king who decided to die for his people."
Today is Christ the King Sunday. It’s the end of the church year. It sums up for us all we have learned about Jesus in the past year.
Today at Trinity we struggle with these same kingdoms, but we also make a statement. Today, while the rest of the world is out shopping for gifts, we are inside collecting clothes for strangers. While the world is saying that buying is king, we are in here proclaiming giving. The day we collect all these clothes for children we will never know, is our way of saying Christ is King of our lives. It is a small gesture. But it is our answer to “who is truth”. Two short stories to end with:
An Amish man was once asked by an enthusiastic young evangelist whether he had been saved, and whether he had accepted Jesus Christ as his Lordand Savior? The gentleman replied, "Why do you ask me such a thing? I could tell you anything. Here are the names of my banker, my grocer, and my farm hands. Ask them if I've been saved."
There is an old saying “Many Christians accept that Jesus as the savior of the world, but few are willing to serve him as Lord.” Today I make a decision, today we are offered a choice, as to who my king, who do I claim.
My friend Mark loves this story. “A little girl was visiting her grandmother in a small country town. They went to a very emotional church service together. People were jumping and shouting, "Praise the Lord!", and "AMEN!", and lifting their arms in the air. Some might call it a holy roller service. The little girl asked her grandmother if all that jumping meant that God was really there. Her grandma said, "Honey, it don't matter how high they jump up. It's what they do when they come down that will tell you if it's the real thing."
It’s Christ the King Sunday, the last Sunday of the church year. Which king do you want to claim as yours?

Nouns and Adverbs

Sermon-Year B-Proper 28 24 Pentecost November 15
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
A couple of deer hunters are out in the woods when one of them falls off the path, down a ravine, to the ground below. His buddy looks down after him. The fallen man doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes have rolled back in his head. The other guy whips out his cell phone and calls 911. He gasps to the operator: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator, in a soothing voice, says: "Just take it easy. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. The guy's voice comes back on the line. He says: "OK, now what?"
I’m sure you all are already prepared but I thought I would just check to make sure, you know that the world is ending 2012? Right? But not til Dec. 21st 2012 so at least we have over 3 years left. That’s according to the Mayans. This year 7 movies referring to the end of the world have been released, including last Friday’s 2012. Even for Hollywood, seven movies about the end are a lot. Why do you think there are so many? What’s it all mean? One survivalist who has a blog says that his website has tripled in popularity in the last 14 months. Why? Why is the end of the world so popular? (Transformers, G.I. Joe, The Day the Earth Stood Still)
“When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning…”
Sound scary? Mark the gospel writer is writing this about 70AD we think. That becomes important later. But first let me tell you a couple of things.
In the early 1500s a man by the name of Melchior Hoffman who was a lay preacher was noted for his teaching that the world would end in his lifetime. In 1526 Hoffman published a detailed pamphlet on the twelfth chapter of Daniel which proclaimed that the world would end in seven years, at Easter of 1533.” “A German bookbinder named Hans Nut said that he was a prophet of God sent by Christ to herald the Second Coming. This would occur exactly three and a half years after the start of the Peasant's War, in 1527.” “Bishop Frederick Nausea predicted that the world would end in 1532 and Martin Luther, the reformer, predicted the end of the world in 300 years or in 1800.
These are just a few of the prophets of the early 1500s! Every era, every century believes that the world will end, that the end is coming. It’s called “the apocalypse”, which means the “unveiling” or “revealing.” If you watch any end of the world movies, read any of this genre, you will hear the word APOCALYPSE. It is very popular. Every year there have been dire predictions, terrible prophecies forecasting the end of the world. There are 4 places in the Bible in which we read about the apocalypse-The Book of Daniel, The Book of Revelation-and the 13th chapter of the gospel of Mark and the 21st chapter of the gospel of Luke). Writers (and movies) love to refer to these books as “predicters” of the future.
One psychologist I was reading said that the more people feel out of control in their personal life, the more they are drawn to apocalyptic teaching. For instance-people losing their homes, people losing their jobs, people without health care or who are told daily that global warming or international terrorism is going to destroy them. People who are losing what will keep them safe are most susceptible to stories about the end. No wonder people are making a lot of money off of predicting the end of the world.
Do you remember last week’s gospel and Dick’s sermon? A poor widow drops two pennies into the collection at the temple. And only Jesus seems to notice and appreciate her sacrifice. The story continues this week with Jesus and his followers walking out of that same temple and taking a place opposite it-and all the disciples want to talk about is how grand the temple is. Jesus obviously is still thinking about the poor widow they just saw giving up everything.
And Jesus says, “Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down." They must have been shocked. This is the center of their faith, and Jesus is telling them that it will end? And of course, within 40 years the Romans tear down the temple, all except a portion of the west wall that we have today. And so Jesus’ prediction comes true. His friends say nothing at the time, but later, in private, they want to know about the end, “WHEN WILL THIS BE??? WHAT ARE THE SIGNS THAT THE IS GOING TO HAPPEN?” TELL US ABOUT THE APOCALYPSE???
A volunteer tutor was asked to visit a nine-year-old in a large city hospital. She took the boy's name and room number and was told by the boy's teacher that they were studying nouns and adverbs in class. It wasn't until the tutor got to the boy's room that she realized the boy was a patient in the hospital's intensive care burn unit. No one had prepared her to find a nine-year-old so horribly burned and in such great pain. She felt she couldn't just turn and leave, so she gathered her courage and entered the room. "Hi, I'm the hospital teacher," she stammered. "Your teacher asked me to help you with nouns and adverbs." And, clumsily, she launched into the lesson. The next morning a nurse called the tutor. "What did you do to that boy?" The tutor immediately began a tearful apology, but the nurse interrupted her. "No, no, no. You don't understand. We've been very worried about him. But since you were here, he's fighting back, he's responding to treatment. It's as though he's decided to live." The boy later explained that he had given up hope, until the tutor came. "I figured they wouldn't send a teacher to work on nouns and adverbs with a kid who's dying, would they?" ("Hope in the active voice," Connections, Solemnity of Christ the King, Nov. 1998)
Why waste time on someone who is dying? Jesus tells his friends that bad things are going to happen, but that God is constantly trying to build up his kingdom-not tear it down.
We live in scary times. Human beings have always lived in scary times. Buildings get destroyed. Walls are pulled down. People lose jobs and homes, and often, they lose hope. We feel overwhelmed, we feel powerless, we cannot cope with all the stuff going on in our lives. That happens. It always has, and it will continue. So where do we go? How do we act? How do we respond when so many movies, so much of the newscasts, so much of the words coming at us are full of fear?
We sit down and go on with our lives. We live each day. Of course we’re afraid, of course we’re overwhelmed. And often we feel powerless. But you know what? We go on. We continue. We decide to live and fight back. It is not easy. We often don’t know which direction to go, or how to get there.
10 years ago, when the 10-year celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall, they were remembering the economic crisis and general chaos the fall of the wall created, while we, over here in the US were celebrating. A woman who'd been behind the iron curtain was quoted in the paper saying that while it was great that they were now free, no one had taught them how to be free. And she was terrified of what came next.
Today’s reading ends with this verse: This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.
Think back over your life, to moments when your life was about to change? At the time do you remember feeling confident and strong? Do you remember feeling sure of yourself, and absolutely clear about what you were supposed to do? When Jerusalem was destroyed and the temple was torn down in 70AD, the church was based and centered in Jerusalem. Christianity was forced to leave and scatter throughout the world. It looked like the end of the church. Guess what?-That was the apocalypse, the unveiling for the Christian church and look at it today.
It is so easy, so inviting, when we are powerless, when we are scared, to give in to fear. It is so simple and so appealing when we are overwhelmed to succumb to paralysis. But it is not Christian. Next Sunday is the last Sunday of the church year. This is a time of endings. But for Christians, it is also day of beginnings. This is but the beginnings of the birthpangs. We are often powerless, we are frequently scared. We look at the world and the things that are happening and we get paralyzed with fear. But that’s ok. We know that change always starts this way. With fear and trembling and worry. That’s ok. The future isn’t about the end of the world-it’s about the beginning of God’s kingdom. Sometimes when we are feeling as though we are in the burn unit awaiting death, God comes in to teach us about nouns and adverbs. Amen.
Mark 13:1-8
13:1 As he came out of the temple, one of his disciples said to him, "Look, Teacher, what large stones and what large buildings!"
13:2 Then Jesus asked him, "Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left here upon another; all will be thrown down."
13:3 When he was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter, James, John, and Andrew asked him privately,
13:4 "Tell us, when will this be, and what will be the sign that all these things are about to be accomplished?"
13:5 Then Jesus began to say to them, "Beware that no one leads you astray.
13:6 Many will come in my name and say, 'I am he!' and they will lead many astray.
13:7 When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be alarmed; this must take place, but the end is still to come.
13:8 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places; there will be famines. This is but the beginning of the birthpangs.

Saints In A Thousand Pieces

Sermon-All Saints’ Day-Nov. 1, 2009
The Cloud of Unknowing, "O God, our great companion, lead us ever more deeply into the mystery of your life and ours, that we may be faithful interpreters of Life to each other, through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Ok, I tell you a lot of stories about my friend Mark who is a priest in Binghamton, New York, but it’s because, unlike me, he makes so many mistakes. Three weeks ago he was baptizing a child in his church, so he told this story.
Today we have a baptism, and that's always fun. I'm not sure it would have been quite as much fun to baptize a Viking back in the Dark Ages of Europe. But some Vikings did get baptized. There is a story that the leader of one tribe of Vikings heard the story of Jesus and decided to be baptized. And in his tribe, if HE got baptized, EVERYBODY got baptized. So they all traipsed down to the river, because in those days, you got baptized by being dunked all the way under.
They understood what that baptism was all about. All the warriors, at the command of their tribal leader, walked into the water to get baptized. But all the warriors, including the tribal leader, held their right arms up out of the water during the baptism. They got dunked completely - except for their sword arms.
They knew they were going to continue on using those swords in their Viking-like activities, so they did not want those sword arms baptized.
So Mark told this story, and then he went on to tell the congregation that it was pledge Sunday and they shouldn’t hold their wallets up in the air to exempt that part of their body from Christ.
So at the offering, several men in the congregation held their wallets up in the air, just as he told them not to, to tease him. Only Mark is so blind he didn’t realize that these guys were holding up their wallets making fun of him, he thought they were holding up cell phones taking pictures of the baby he just baptized.

We welcome all you saints today! You may not believe you are a saint. You may not feel like a saint. No one may have told you recently that you are a saint. But do you think saints felt like saints? During the civil and religious strife of the Reformation in England, Protestant Roundheads stormed into cathedrals, destroying all religious “Catholic” symbols, getting rid of anything that they believed stood between people and God. They were the Taliban of Protestant Christianity in the 17th century. In Winchester Cathedral there was a magnificent stained glass window over the west end dominating the whole cathedral that they pulled down, smashing it into a 1000 pieces. The shattered pieces, which once had shaped a Rembrandt-like scene from the Bible, could not be restored to form the original picture. With love and care, the people picked up the pieces of that beautiful scene. Long before the time of abstract art, they leaded the broken glass together with hope and returned it to the round window. Today, 300 years later, the same sun shines through the same beautiful colors of fine stained glass, a kaleidoscope of pieces, rearranged in a different and even more meaningful way. The broken glass tells a more powerful story than the previous window did of a people’s love and faith during a time of oppression.
Today we baptize two children. We call them, our newest Christians, our newest saints. They have done nothing wonderful, nothing holy, nothing sacred. Except be born. And bring joy into their family’s hearts. What more does God want? What more is a saint called to do? There is an old story of a child who was asked what a saint is, and he pointed to the church’s stained glass window and said simply, “a saint is someone the light shines through.” Saints aren’t necessarily the best people, they’re not always the holiest people, they are simply the people who for one brief shining moment show us the light-and lead us towards God.
We do something here at Trinity that is backwards, counterintuitive. In our service, we remember the people who are saints for us-those living and past who have touched us and shown us the way. We will read their names in a few minutes. And then after the 10:30am service we go out to the garden, and we will remember many of the church’s saints, those who showed all Christians the light of Christ. The first list are those who showed us the way-the second list are those who showed everyone the way. Both lists have the same purpose, to be transparent to the light.
Anatole France, the famous French poet, journalist, and novelist and Nobel Prize winner said that when he was a little boy he read the story of the life of St. Simeon Stylites, that strange gentlemen of ancient times who lived for thirty years on top of a sixty-foot pillar in Syria praying, and for some reason Anatole decided he was called to perform a similar act of saintly heroism. So he went into the kitchen, climbed up on the kitchen cabinet, and stayed there all morning. At lunchtime he got down. His mother, who understood what was happening, said: "Now, you mustn’t feel bad about this. You have at least made the attempt, which is more than most people have ever done. But you must remember that it is almost impossible to be a saint in your own kitchen."
But that is what we say today, that the list of saints that we read are the people who are saints for us in our own kitchens. They are the people who have led us to God, and showed us the Beatitudes, and taught us what it is to be blessed. Often the people we mention today were broken into a thousand pieces, and had to be put back together in a new configuration, revealing a whole different person. Often our lives feel like failures, or too damaged to ever be a saint or guide for anyone. How often do we look at our selves and think, “I have wasted so much, I have thrown away so much of my life, I have missed out on so many chances, so many opportunities? Judith Davis, Rector of Christ Church-Washington once preached
“Saints are people who know something profound about love, that suffering is connected with it. They learned the path of sainthood is not one of accolades but accusations.”
We remember all the saints today, those just being born, those who passed decades ago, those who seemed to touch only us, those whose witness touched everyone. Each one was a broken stained glass window scattered on the floor that God put back together to reveal a way.
We are asked to be saints, too. To be good and to let light shine through us. To be born again continually and to bring joy to our families. To stand in our kitchens and practice holiness-even if it’s only in our kitchens. We are never ever good enough. We are never holy enough. No saint is. But that is what God asks, that we be willing to be put back together in new ways, to show something profound about love.
Amen.