| To contact us: Calvary Episcopal Church 667 Mount Road Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 OFFICE mail@calvaryepiscopalrockdale.org |
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| SERMON 25 Pentecost - Proper 26 November 2, 2008 The Rev. Kristine Hill |
| 667 Mount Road, Aston, PA 19014 610-459-2013 |
| Small Parish - Big Heart The little church you've been looking for! |
| Our Mission: To worship the Lord To serve the community To grow the church |
| Revelation 7:9-17 1 John 3:1-3 Matthew 5:1-12 |
| The Rev. Kristine Hill, Interim Rector |
The candle on the altar is in remembrance of the saints who have died since last
year’s All Saints Sunday. It stands-out here-in-the-room because it is alone, it is
lit, and its light draws our eyes, our attention. The flicker of a flame is intriguing
-- we could watch it glow, dance or burn silently for long, quiet minutes and still
be fascinated by its form. And yet a candle is a common object - just wax and a
wick. For that reason it makes a good symbol of the saints -- common people
who somehow stand apart, not in a flashy way, but in the small, every day things
of life. Today is All Saints Sunday, the day we remember those who died trusting
in the Lord, the unnamed saints along with the well-known. The saints, together
-- (whether we sing their names in the verses of our hymns or not) -- glow like a
candle; they are subtly different, just-noticeably unlike “life as usual” in this world.
The saints are a light, however modest, that shines in the darkness -- or perhaps
in the ‘sameness’ -- of daily life on earth.
Jesus led his disciples up a mountain, where he sat down. His disciples
approached him, as they would a royal figure - which this ‘new Moses’ was -- and
Jesus opened his mouth and began to teach them saying… “blessed are the poor
in spirit.” It is important that we grasp the context here. Jesus is on a mountain,
the place where servants of God go to encounter God, where godly people go to
be in touch with God. Jesus is high above, in the realm where God reigns, and
when he sits we might imagine him on his throne. These signs are intentional;
Matthew means for us to see in these hints, “Jesus the King.” So that when
Jesus begins to speak about who is blessed, we will also understand that he is
describing what life is like in his kingdom. It’s pretty different from life here.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
As I drove home from church last Sunday, still in my clergy clothes, I noticed a
blue truck in the left lane that had just passed me, was slowing down. The
person in the passenger’s seat was holding a spiral notebook up to the window.
I didn’t pay it much mind because I was trying to get home -- this was on the
blue route, and, by the way… I have an Obama bumper-sticker on my car.
Anyway… this truck kept slowing down until it was right alongside me. I was
puzzled why he had slowed down so much in the left-hand lane, so I glanced
over and saw that the sheet of paper in the window was a crudely hand-written
sign with the “F” word and then Obama’s name. Well… I figured that was for me,
so my first impulse was to ‘converse with him in sign language,’ you
understand… But something quickly suppressed that idea inside me -- and I’ve
very glad it did. It might have been because I was wearing my collar, but I
refrained from any gestures and just kept driving. After a moment to reflect, I
was so grateful, so relieved I had not responded in kind. How would such a
gesture have honored God, or honored either candidate running for president?
Clearly, not at all. But, you see, it felt as if I avoided it by this much. (fingers
barely apart).
Sitting there on the mountain with his disciples at his feet, Jesus announces the
nature of his rule. “Blessed are the pure in heart.” It isn’t that those in the
kingdom of heaven, the saints, are perfect; they are real human beings, after all
and none of us here on earth is perfect. But they are recognizable in the mass
of humanity, over the duration of their lifetime. For example, the pure in heart.
Maybe we have thought that meant people who are innocent of all wrong-doing,
people who never lie or cheat, who never say hurtful things to others, who
never let bad or ugly thoughts linger in their minds. But as I said, Jesus is
blessing real people today, and no one is perfect. No, the pure in heart are
those whose focus on God is steady, not easily disrupted. They are the ones who
do not react impulsively to insults because they are mindful of God at all times.
They are people who do not lose hope during loss and hardship; instead they will
be found reflecting the light of God to others who are discouraged, to give them
a lift. The pure in heart are never double-minded, thinking they can love God
and the treasures of the world. They love God with their whole hearts; they love
God exclusively.
“This should be our resume,” Pastor Regina said at our Bible study, “then we
could apply for the position of standing with the saints. If we can be this – what
the beatitudes say – then we can stand with those mentioned in Revelation
chapter 7.” Those mentioned in Revelation, of course, are the ones who have
come out of the great ordeal, who have been true to Christ under the most
difficult circumstances and have not denied their faith. They have washed their
robes in the blood of the Lamb; they are pure, holy, acceptable to God without
spot or blemish because Jesus covered them with his righteousness. Now they
are gathered -- people from every nation, every race, every tribe, every tongue --
before the throne of the Lamb day and night praising God, singing and
worshipping God with full and joyous hearts. Each has a place at the banquet
table, each is welcomed into the eternal home, each is fully sister and brother to
the others, and none will cry or hunger or thirst any more for God has wiped the
tears from their faces. These are the saints of God. All the saints. As we look
forward to being in their company some day, our resume is spelled-out in Jesus’
words from Matthew five. Let us hear these beatitudes, know them, digest them,
so that they become part of our very being.
“Blessed are those who mourn.” In Isaiah 61:1-4 the prophet foretells one who
will bring good tidings to the poor and comfort those who mourn. The mourning
to which Isaiah refers is grief over the ruin of Jerusalem. The city is destroyed
because it has been unrighteous; the wealthy have horded everything good for
themselves and left the poor to struggle along with little. “Those who mourned,”
were the Israelites who grieved over that situation, who felt the injustice and
lamented the destruction it brought. Jesus likely echoed the message of Isaiah
since he was the one who came proclaiming good tidings to the poor. Blessed
are those who mourn, those who grieve the unfairness, the injustice of the
world, who want and work to see the poor be richly blessed. They shall be
comforted.
“Blessed are the meek.” Who are the meek? Sissies? Folks without any backbone
who let others walk all over them? No, the meek are strong, well-defined people
who choose to live non-violently out of reverence and love for God. “Blessed
are the peacemakers…” ahhh, I think of old timey hippies with love-beads,
flashing the peace sign. Quaint, but peace-makers are people who do tough,
tough work. They are Jimmy Carter after his presidency and Nelson Mandela
staying patient and persistent those 40 years in jail - folks who sit down with
opposing sides and talk them through their disagreements until they come to a
resolution. Peacemakers reconcile estranged family members to one another, they
take individuals separated by intense hostility and find common ground between
them, they carefully construct bridges when everyone else is building walls.
Without peacemakers there is no hope for human beings to live together on this
earth. But with peacemakers everything is possible for our future; we can live as
friends with one another and old wounds can be laid to rest. “Blessed are the
peacemakers, they are the sons and daughters of God.”
We come today with thankful hearts to celebrate the saints, all the saints. We
come with full hearts, rejoicing in those who have shown us how to live as
faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Maybe you especially remember a parent or a
grandparent, a neighbor, a friend, a pastor or Sunday school teacher; each of us
has memories of cherished saints who modeled for us what it means to give our
lives to God in Christ, to be daily servants of the Lord. Today we think on them
and are grateful for them. We give thanks that they have found their rest in the
loving care of Jesus, in the eternal home of God.
On this, All Saints Sunday, we also recall that we have been called to live as
saints. We have heard Jesus describe the design of his kingdom. It is a reversal
from the way things run in this world. Here the powerful, the influential inherit
the world, there it is the meek; here the strongest armies win the kingdom, there
it is the peacemakers; here the rich and the satisfied are happy, are “blessed”,
but there the “blessed” are the poor-in-spirit and those who hunger for God’s
righteousness to rule in completeness. That is our home – that realm. We are
among those who sit at Jesus’ feet and hear our resume read to us: the merciful,
the pure in heart, those who mourn the fact that things are not as they should
be in the world… blessed are you.
We have known people like this – a friend, a family member, someone in the
congregation who was a living sign of God’s presence, the embodiment of mercy
reflecting the greatness of God’s mercy, someone so good she never answered
violence with more violence but always returned good when she had received
evil. The saints are visible in the world, not in a spectacular way, not with feats
of daring and boldness, but in the steadfastness of their daily living, in their life-
long devotion to God. Their witness glows quietly among us like a long-burning
candle. Their lives point to God, honor God, and bring hope to a troubled world.
It isn’t only those who have died, however. We are saints, too. You and I, in our
ordinary lives, are different from “business as usual” in this world. We take time
on Sunday mornings to worship. We pray daily and believe it matters. We don’t
lose hope when hard times come, but trust that God will see us through. We are
not satisfied with merely our own well-being, but insist that our neighbor have
enough, too. We know the love of God, a knowledge that gives us peace and joy,
and we are ever watchful for the opportunity to share this news with any who
lack it, any who are discouraged, alone, unsure of their worth. We want to tell
them about Jesus. We are grieved by violence and wish justice and peace would
rule among men, women and children everywhere.
You are the saints. Blessed are you, hungering and thirsting for God’s will to be
done on earth; you will be satisfied. Blessed are you showing mercy, you belong
to God in Jesus Christ. Blessed are you the pure in heart, you shall see God.
Blessed are you the poor in spirit - knowing your total dependence upon God,
yours is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, walking in the way of Jesus,
the Prince of Peace… you are the sons and daughters of God. amen.
year’s All Saints Sunday. It stands-out here-in-the-room because it is alone, it is
lit, and its light draws our eyes, our attention. The flicker of a flame is intriguing
-- we could watch it glow, dance or burn silently for long, quiet minutes and still
be fascinated by its form. And yet a candle is a common object - just wax and a
wick. For that reason it makes a good symbol of the saints -- common people
who somehow stand apart, not in a flashy way, but in the small, every day things
of life. Today is All Saints Sunday, the day we remember those who died trusting
in the Lord, the unnamed saints along with the well-known. The saints, together
-- (whether we sing their names in the verses of our hymns or not) -- glow like a
candle; they are subtly different, just-noticeably unlike “life as usual” in this world.
The saints are a light, however modest, that shines in the darkness -- or perhaps
in the ‘sameness’ -- of daily life on earth.
Jesus led his disciples up a mountain, where he sat down. His disciples
approached him, as they would a royal figure - which this ‘new Moses’ was -- and
Jesus opened his mouth and began to teach them saying… “blessed are the poor
in spirit.” It is important that we grasp the context here. Jesus is on a mountain,
the place where servants of God go to encounter God, where godly people go to
be in touch with God. Jesus is high above, in the realm where God reigns, and
when he sits we might imagine him on his throne. These signs are intentional;
Matthew means for us to see in these hints, “Jesus the King.” So that when
Jesus begins to speak about who is blessed, we will also understand that he is
describing what life is like in his kingdom. It’s pretty different from life here.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
As I drove home from church last Sunday, still in my clergy clothes, I noticed a
blue truck in the left lane that had just passed me, was slowing down. The
person in the passenger’s seat was holding a spiral notebook up to the window.
I didn’t pay it much mind because I was trying to get home -- this was on the
blue route, and, by the way… I have an Obama bumper-sticker on my car.
Anyway… this truck kept slowing down until it was right alongside me. I was
puzzled why he had slowed down so much in the left-hand lane, so I glanced
over and saw that the sheet of paper in the window was a crudely hand-written
sign with the “F” word and then Obama’s name. Well… I figured that was for me,
so my first impulse was to ‘converse with him in sign language,’ you
understand… But something quickly suppressed that idea inside me -- and I’ve
very glad it did. It might have been because I was wearing my collar, but I
refrained from any gestures and just kept driving. After a moment to reflect, I
was so grateful, so relieved I had not responded in kind. How would such a
gesture have honored God, or honored either candidate running for president?
Clearly, not at all. But, you see, it felt as if I avoided it by this much. (fingers
barely apart).
Sitting there on the mountain with his disciples at his feet, Jesus announces the
nature of his rule. “Blessed are the pure in heart.” It isn’t that those in the
kingdom of heaven, the saints, are perfect; they are real human beings, after all
and none of us here on earth is perfect. But they are recognizable in the mass
of humanity, over the duration of their lifetime. For example, the pure in heart.
Maybe we have thought that meant people who are innocent of all wrong-doing,
people who never lie or cheat, who never say hurtful things to others, who
never let bad or ugly thoughts linger in their minds. But as I said, Jesus is
blessing real people today, and no one is perfect. No, the pure in heart are
those whose focus on God is steady, not easily disrupted. They are the ones who
do not react impulsively to insults because they are mindful of God at all times.
They are people who do not lose hope during loss and hardship; instead they will
be found reflecting the light of God to others who are discouraged, to give them
a lift. The pure in heart are never double-minded, thinking they can love God
and the treasures of the world. They love God with their whole hearts; they love
God exclusively.
“This should be our resume,” Pastor Regina said at our Bible study, “then we
could apply for the position of standing with the saints. If we can be this – what
the beatitudes say – then we can stand with those mentioned in Revelation
chapter 7.” Those mentioned in Revelation, of course, are the ones who have
come out of the great ordeal, who have been true to Christ under the most
difficult circumstances and have not denied their faith. They have washed their
robes in the blood of the Lamb; they are pure, holy, acceptable to God without
spot or blemish because Jesus covered them with his righteousness. Now they
are gathered -- people from every nation, every race, every tribe, every tongue --
before the throne of the Lamb day and night praising God, singing and
worshipping God with full and joyous hearts. Each has a place at the banquet
table, each is welcomed into the eternal home, each is fully sister and brother to
the others, and none will cry or hunger or thirst any more for God has wiped the
tears from their faces. These are the saints of God. All the saints. As we look
forward to being in their company some day, our resume is spelled-out in Jesus’
words from Matthew five. Let us hear these beatitudes, know them, digest them,
so that they become part of our very being.
“Blessed are those who mourn.” In Isaiah 61:1-4 the prophet foretells one who
will bring good tidings to the poor and comfort those who mourn. The mourning
to which Isaiah refers is grief over the ruin of Jerusalem. The city is destroyed
because it has been unrighteous; the wealthy have horded everything good for
themselves and left the poor to struggle along with little. “Those who mourned,”
were the Israelites who grieved over that situation, who felt the injustice and
lamented the destruction it brought. Jesus likely echoed the message of Isaiah
since he was the one who came proclaiming good tidings to the poor. Blessed
are those who mourn, those who grieve the unfairness, the injustice of the
world, who want and work to see the poor be richly blessed. They shall be
comforted.
“Blessed are the meek.” Who are the meek? Sissies? Folks without any backbone
who let others walk all over them? No, the meek are strong, well-defined people
who choose to live non-violently out of reverence and love for God. “Blessed
are the peacemakers…” ahhh, I think of old timey hippies with love-beads,
flashing the peace sign. Quaint, but peace-makers are people who do tough,
tough work. They are Jimmy Carter after his presidency and Nelson Mandela
staying patient and persistent those 40 years in jail - folks who sit down with
opposing sides and talk them through their disagreements until they come to a
resolution. Peacemakers reconcile estranged family members to one another, they
take individuals separated by intense hostility and find common ground between
them, they carefully construct bridges when everyone else is building walls.
Without peacemakers there is no hope for human beings to live together on this
earth. But with peacemakers everything is possible for our future; we can live as
friends with one another and old wounds can be laid to rest. “Blessed are the
peacemakers, they are the sons and daughters of God.”
We come today with thankful hearts to celebrate the saints, all the saints. We
come with full hearts, rejoicing in those who have shown us how to live as
faithful followers of Jesus Christ. Maybe you especially remember a parent or a
grandparent, a neighbor, a friend, a pastor or Sunday school teacher; each of us
has memories of cherished saints who modeled for us what it means to give our
lives to God in Christ, to be daily servants of the Lord. Today we think on them
and are grateful for them. We give thanks that they have found their rest in the
loving care of Jesus, in the eternal home of God.
On this, All Saints Sunday, we also recall that we have been called to live as
saints. We have heard Jesus describe the design of his kingdom. It is a reversal
from the way things run in this world. Here the powerful, the influential inherit
the world, there it is the meek; here the strongest armies win the kingdom, there
it is the peacemakers; here the rich and the satisfied are happy, are “blessed”,
but there the “blessed” are the poor-in-spirit and those who hunger for God’s
righteousness to rule in completeness. That is our home – that realm. We are
among those who sit at Jesus’ feet and hear our resume read to us: the merciful,
the pure in heart, those who mourn the fact that things are not as they should
be in the world… blessed are you.
We have known people like this – a friend, a family member, someone in the
congregation who was a living sign of God’s presence, the embodiment of mercy
reflecting the greatness of God’s mercy, someone so good she never answered
violence with more violence but always returned good when she had received
evil. The saints are visible in the world, not in a spectacular way, not with feats
of daring and boldness, but in the steadfastness of their daily living, in their life-
long devotion to God. Their witness glows quietly among us like a long-burning
candle. Their lives point to God, honor God, and bring hope to a troubled world.
It isn’t only those who have died, however. We are saints, too. You and I, in our
ordinary lives, are different from “business as usual” in this world. We take time
on Sunday mornings to worship. We pray daily and believe it matters. We don’t
lose hope when hard times come, but trust that God will see us through. We are
not satisfied with merely our own well-being, but insist that our neighbor have
enough, too. We know the love of God, a knowledge that gives us peace and joy,
and we are ever watchful for the opportunity to share this news with any who
lack it, any who are discouraged, alone, unsure of their worth. We want to tell
them about Jesus. We are grieved by violence and wish justice and peace would
rule among men, women and children everywhere.
You are the saints. Blessed are you, hungering and thirsting for God’s will to be
done on earth; you will be satisfied. Blessed are you showing mercy, you belong
to God in Jesus Christ. Blessed are you the pure in heart, you shall see God.
Blessed are you the poor in spirit - knowing your total dependence upon God,
yours is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you, walking in the way of Jesus,
the Prince of Peace… you are the sons and daughters of God. amen.