Online Sermons
All Saints' Day (Holy Baptism): November 1, Martha Rogers
Welcome to our website. You are here: The Word --> Online SermonsSome years ago, I sat in a convention hall in Des Moines during diocesan convention. Now, I’m not the best convention attendee as my thoughts and mind seem to wander at times during speeches.
At this particular convention we talked about the diocese that we are a part of. About how the diocese is more than an office in Des Moines, how it is us in this very church and our connection with others in their churches. How we are all interrelated and support one another in many varied ways.
The main speakers on Friday were two bishops, one from Alaska, Bp Mark McDonald, and the other, the Bishop from Nevada. They spoke of how ministry is defined in their dioceses and each spoke so very differently. Then Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of Nevada spoke of three ways of talking about ministry, the ministry of all of us, and defined these ways as three kinds of love, three ways of being a baptized Christians in today's world. (10:30 am: Now pay attention, Baby Jack. You're about to be baptized. You are being welcomed into a family that has three ways of loving. And you are being asked to be a lover too.)
Bishop Katherine said that service, reconciliation and working towards unity were the three ways of life as a baptized Christian. And then she went on to talk about the different ways we do ministry. (Jack, are you listening? Three ways, Jack, once you're baptized and you remember it: three ways: service, reconciliation and working towards unity. Three ways of remembering, risking and loving, Jack. )I’d like to share some of her thoughts with you because her words remain with me and also, on this day, on All Saints Day, we set aside time to honor those great saints of our church who passed on the truth of living out Christ’s gospel to us.
Now I consider this to be a risky sermon because in preaching class I was taught that you should never preach to someone and ask them to remember because the listeners will go back in their thoughts and stay there and not listen to me preach. I want you to listen to me preach.
But I also think All Saints Day is just the perfect day to be risky, to remember and to love these people even more. So let's risk together! (And listen to me preach)
We remember today the great saints of our Christian tradition. These weren’t great people; rather I like to think of them as great lovers of God. They had their quirks, they were often wrong in their opinions, they had their problems, they had their personal downfalls and disappointments, but they also had an enormous sense of love for God and lived that love out.
There was St. Francis, whose lusty, sexy thoughts had him rolling in the snow naked to cool off, yet who brought reconciliation to all he met and he served God humbly.
There was Joan of Arc, who loved to cross dress as a man in armor, yet went to her death in service to Christ’s truth.
There was the first British martyr, St. Alban, who disguised himself in another’s clothing and lied to the judges about his identity. He screwed up big time, it eventually cost him his life and the lives of two others also, but service to another was how he lived out his new found faith.
It was not their perfection in life that won these people sainthood; it was not their goodness in life that won these people sainthood---it was their love of God.
And the same can be said about our own saints: those who have died and are no longer with us. And it can be said for the saints present in this very church and in our very lives today. And for those saints yet to come into this world.
It will not be the goodness or perfection of their lives that make them, or us, saints, it will be our love of God.Bishop Katharine talked about saints. I can't recall if she ever mentioned the word 'saint', but she said that in our ministries, in our living, there will be prophets among us. These are the truth tellers that are willing to live on the edge, to confront us with truth and who stay the course. (Maybe, Jack, you're going to grow up to be a prophet)
The prophets among us think differently about problems and have a great hope that the problems are fixable and there will be redemption. So I began thinking about the saints that have been part of our lives who have had a prophetic voice.
Now here is the risky part of this sermon. For I ask you: who were, who are, the prophets in your own life? They would be the truth teller, the person willing to confront you and turn you towards change? Remember them and name them now, either silently or aloud. (Silence--turn around in pulpit and face the altar to name my own prophets--delayed pause--turn back) We honor these prophets today on All Saints Day.
Preachers are part of our lives, Bishop Katherine said. (Hey Jack, if being a prophet, a truth teller, isn't going to be your thing, how about growing up to be a preacher in the world?) The preachers among us connect our daily life with the good news of God’s truth. The preacher is the person that offers us resurrection and hope thru their words, connecting our own stories of pain and disappointment, joy and need of healing with the eternal stories of all people and of scripture.
We all can be preachers for others, we all have known preachers, and we all know preachers in our daily routines. It might be Grandma who reassured us that things will not last forever, or the 4 year old down the street whose infectious laughing cleanses our hearts, or neighbor George who was willing to listen to our concerns and then use his own words to address our pain and comfort us with his words.
Will you risk your heart a little more?
Who were, who are, the preachers in your own life? The one whose words connect us with our soul’s hunger to hear the way of God come alive in our conversations? Remember and name the preachers in your life now, either silently or aloud. (Silence-turn around again, give time) We honor these preachers today on All Saints Day.
(Jack, so maybe being a prophet or a preacher isn't going to be your style. There's always the chance you could grow up to be something different.)
Bishop Katherine’s third way of loving, baptized ministry was categorized as pastors. The pastors in our world share joy and sorrows, they enter our situations and suffer or rejoice with us. They give us a gift of presence, of being with us, while showing some humor, all the while pointing to the holy which surrounds us at any given moment, offering hospitality to all sorts and conditions of our days. We have all had pastors walk the walk with us: those whose very presence signified hope and comfort and reassurance. Who were, who are, the pastors, in your own life? Remember now the pastors, the comforters, in your life and name them, either silently or aloud. We honor these pastors today on All Saints Day.
(Well, Jack, if I haven't talked about something that you might be yet, there's this last category). Bishop Katherine talked of one last category of living as the baptized people of God. This category she called Pontifix, a Latin word for bridge builder. The pontifix people in our world have a passion to see the two banks of a river connected by a bridge. The pontifix sees the whole picture and wants to connect the fragmented parts of us and our lives. This person has a willingness to learn about us, has patience with us, is persistent and offers a strong belief in the resurrection promise of new life for you and me.
This person has vision and healing to help build the bridge from one bank to another and invites us to cross over, to own where we came from and to move us to where we should be going. The pontifix bridge builder reconciles the parts of us that are stuck in one place for too long or that are too alone.
Let us risk once again in love. Who were, who are, the pontifix people in your own life? The bridge builders? Remember them and name them now, either silently or aloud. (silence-turn around) We honor these pontifical figures today on All Saints Day.
Prophet, preacher, pastor, pontifix. Four ‘p’s.
Four personalities that enter our history, that enter our daily living, that surround us and bring us to a more faithful walk with the God who loves us and is loving us.
Prophet, preacher, pastor, pontifix. Four ‘p’s’.
Four ways for us to receive God’s love in the saints that have touched our lives, hundreds of years ago or just yesterday or even today or tonight or tomorrow. And for their presence in our life and for those who have yet to touch our lives, we offer our gratitude to God.
We must remember that goodness and perfection of living is not what you and I will be known for. How we reach out to others from our own love of God will be what we will be remembered for.
That (baby Jack) is the truth of what being baptized is all about: how we reach out to others as lovers. . (Listen, Jack, to the baptismal promises we will all make and renew today. You're learning the secret of those promises. ) It's a lifetime of work, Jack, being a lover of others. But it's the key, Jack, it's the key to a full and whole and satisfying life.
Four kinds of love, said the bishop.
Prophet, preacher, pastor, pontifix.
So I challenge us all today to live boldly--risk letting the world see and know that you are a lover of God..
Prophet, preacher, pastor, bridge builder.Remembering, risking and loving.
Ways for us, God helping, to be saints too.
Amen.