Sermon 6 November 2016 Feast of All Saints (transferred from 1 November) Luke 6:20-31 Year C

Note: The Nave (worship area) was under construction due to carpet installation and we worshipped in the Parish Hall.

     For the last several years my prayers include this: “Help me to be vulnerable to those who are angry or in pain.” I want you to know that the four of us who attended our Diocese Convention these last two days, heard two Bishops demonstrate their vulnerability. Our own Bishop Ed, and Bishop Robert Wright from the Diocese of Atlanta both told personal stories of life changing experiences. Any of you who have met Bishop Ed know that he’s a pretty buttoned down guy. Most of the time you don’t know what he’s thinking or feeling. When he spoke at Convention the entire room was still. You could tell he was speaking directly from his heart, with complete vulnerability. And, you could tell how much he wanted us to listen to him. Not listen because he was the bishop, but to listen because he was another human being with a story to tell.

         One of the things Bishop Ed said was that our country is as divided right now as he can remember. I saw heads nodding throughout the room. What I notice in particular these days, is anger simmering in nearly every person I meet. I see angry drivers in urban attack vehicles, excuse me, I mean Suburban Utility Vehicles, coming up behind me, tailgating and then swooping around me as though I shouldn’t be on the road. Then there are the angry people in the grocery, pushing one another’s shopping carts aside so they can grab their groceries. There are angry parents, slapping children when they engage in age appropriate behavior as most children do. There are angry people in line at the fast food drive-through, revving their car engines and drumming impatiently on their steering wheels.

         I wonder sometimes if people might become saints now simply because of their endurance, their ability to last through contemporary life without getting angry.

         The real saints though, are ordinary people made extraordinary by being vulnerable.

         Listen to what Jesus tell us in Luke’s Gospel about how to be a vulnerable saint; a saint who is open to others:

·      Love your enemies.

·      Do good to those who hate you.

·      Bless those who curse you.

·      Pray for those who abuse you.

·      If anyone strikes you on the cheek, give them the other cheek too.

·      If anyone takes away your coat, give him or her your shirt too.

·      Give to everyone who begs from you.

·      If anyone takes away your goods, forget trying to get them back.

·      Do to others, as you would have them do to you.

        

If Jesus appeared right now, he might add a few things. How about these?

·      When you do to others, ask what they want rather than assuming you know what they want.

·      Give up forwarding inflammatory emails.

·      Give up hiding behind the anonymity of online comments.

·      Give up using Facebook and Twitter as forums for your anger.

·      Give up firing off an email or text when you disagree with someone.

·      Talk to people in person.

·       Listen with an open heart and mind to what people have to say.

·      Feed the good in yourself and others.

·      Be open and vulnerable.

·      Honor those who are open and vulnerable to you.

All of the things Jesus talks about are ways of being vulnerable and open to others. Being vulnerable and open means living, really living out our baptismal vows. In a few minutes we’ll reaffirm our baptismal vows, as is appropriate for the Feast of All Saints.

None of us can live out our baptismal vows alone. We all need people who are willing to help us live out our baptismal vows. I’m sure each one of you has a wonderful story about someone who is a saint to you and helps you live out your baptismal vows. So today, before we reaffirm our baptismal vows, I invite you to do this. Think for a moment, who is it in your life who does one or more of these things:

·      Helps you believe?

·      Helps you continue in the apostle’s teaching and fellowship?

·      Helps you persevere in resisting evil?

·      Helps you repent and return to God?

·      Helps you proclaim by word and example the Good News of Jesus?

·      Helps you seek and serve Christ in all persons?

·      Helps you love your neighbor as yourself?

·      Helps you strive for justice and peace among all people?

·      Helps you respect the dignity of every human being?

There is someone who has helped you do one or more of these things. Who is it? What happened? What did the person do or say? (I paused to give people time to remember.)

Since we’re in a semicircle today, it’s easy for each of you to turn to the person next to you and tell him or her who that person is and what happened, and what the person did or said. If you can’t think of someone right now, you can still be vulnerable and open by really listening to the other person’s story. I’d be willing to bet though, that each of you already has a story to tell. So I invite you now to turn to the person next to you and share that story. And, I invite you to listen to their story.

(I allowed 5-10 minutes. I gave 2-minute warning to wrap up stories.)

Thank you for being vulnerable with one another and listening to each other’s stories. It’s through these stories of our saints that we build our faith day-by-day, month-by-month, year-by-year, and life-by-life. We increase our openness and vulnerability to others by the grace of God, the love of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit. We’re called to listen, learn, and love, with the saints you named, and all the saints: past, present, and yet to come. AMEN.

The Rev Nicolette Papanek

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©2016