Sermon for November 5, 2023 – All Saints Sunday
A few years ago, I had the pleasure of organizing a daylong retreat centered on love and relationships. We brought in a guest speaker who, not only led us through the day with different reflective activities and a one woman play performed in the sanctuary, but we also culminated the day with a Love Mass where the readings and the music all revolved around the theme of love.
At one point in the day, the presenter invited a few volunteers to discuss some things they do for their partner and their relationship. Now this is where things could have become dicey and the whole thing could have run off the rails quickly depending on what these volunteers might say. Thankfully nothing too revealing occurred, but I will never forget one practice that one volunteer described.
Andy told us that both he and his wife, spend a few minutes right before bed to share with each other their appreciation and gratefulness for the day. Each day they share three things they are grateful for, whether it is for something that happened in the day or for each other or for God. Andy shared that after months and months of doing this spiritual practice he found that both he and his wife were less anxious, they slept better, and the love between them grew. He found that acknowledging his gratefulness helped to him let go of the things that might otherwise weigh him down in order to embrace all possibilities of what lies ahead in a new day.
Any good spiritual practice achieves precisely that; an awareness beyond oneself where we see ourselves within the broader context of Creation. This then enables us to let go of our disordered attachments and feelings, so that we can reset ourselves to follow God more closely. Or to put it another way, good spiritual practices will help us move from the chaos and craziness of the dance floor up to the balcony where we have a much better view of the fuller picture, before we descend onto the dance floor to enter into that maelstrom for another song. Just about anything can be a spiritual practice, from hiking or photography or washing the dishes or sitting in stillness and silence. All can be a spiritual practice. The key is finding what practices, what places connect with your spiritual side where you become more aware of God. By engaging in a regular rhythm of spiritual practices we move our relationship with God from the head down to the heart.
Now, over the years I have adapted Andy’s spiritual practice and at some point in the day, I slow down for a moment and offer aloud to God three things I am grateful for. And for the past week as I sat with our readings for the Feast of All Saints three things kept emerging in my offerings of gratefulness.
I am extremely grateful for the saints who have gone before us, and especially my family. I come from a relatively small family scattered across the east coast from Boston to Atlanta. Many of my family whom I knew best have died. I have buried my maternal grandmother Sallie, both of my paternal grandparents Edward and Marion, my father Stephen, and three uncles, Richard, Norman, and Russell. Because I had a close relationship with each of them, I am so grateful for the time I had with them. I am so grateful because they all had a hand in shaping who I am today.
From my proper Virginian and Episcopalian grandmother, I learned that there is a certain way of being that included table manners, being helpful, and having faith. And of course, that one should always have the proper hat for church. She gave me my first bible, that even has my name on it and sits on my desk. From my more blue-collar Lutheran grandparents Edward and Marion, transplanted to Georgia from New Jersey, I learned the value of hard work, self-reliance, and pushing forward in faith. When I withdrew from my undergraduate program due to depression, they welcomed me into their home in Atlanta before I moved back to Boston, and my former US Marine Corps drill Sargent grandfather pulled me aside and said, “I don’t understand it, but we will get through this together, with God’s help.” From my Uncle Richard I learned to follow your heart. As a child and teenager, he was a soccer prodigy who had a very bright future in any sport of his choosing, so much so that he was briefly the kicker for Auburn University’s football team, only to give it all up after his freshman year to pursue a degree in art. Art was where he found fulfillment, connection, a spring of life bursting forth from within. He would never pass up an opportunity to remind me if I follow my heart, I follow God.
We can all reflect on how we have been shaped by those who have gone before us. Each of you has stories to share about how you have been impacted by someone else. We can all be grateful that in God’s plan for us, this separation that we experience in death is not at all permanent. Our reading from Revelation reveals a vision of the heavenly kingdom, the New Jerusalem, the Kingdom of God and therein lies our hope; to be reunified with all those who have gone before us into that heavenly kingdom of God where the trials and tribulations, the suffering of this life are washed away in the next. This hope doesn’t extinguish the pain. I still feel moments of deep loss and sadness, but I am comforted by this revelation of what lies ahead for us all.
That is why I am also so very grateful for God and Jesus. If our reading from Revelation gives us a look at the Kingdom of God in the future, then the Gospel gives us a look at the Kingdom of God in the now.
I am grateful to God and Jesus because I have been both, poor in spirit and poor in my bank account. Even in those dark nights of worrying about where my next meal might come from God and Jesus were with me. I have mourned, deeply, and still there are days when the shadows creep into my heart attempting to smother the light of hope. And yet I have felt comfort in those difficult times; for it was God’s love that was made manifest in others who cared for me and loved me because I was part of a larger family of faith. Though I have not been persecuted because of my faith, nor have I been marginalized because of who I am, Jesus makes it very clear that even through those difficult moments when we question our very identity or face opposition because of who we are, God will be with us through it all.
The final thing that kept emerging in my graatefulness was All Saints; this place, all of you. As John writes in his letter:
“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are…Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.”
I am grateful that this community took a chance on bringing an American to come and serve you all. I am sure there were plenty of other well-qualified candidates, but you choose me, you called me to serve. I am grateful for all the ways that you have made us feel a part of this family. As we find ourselves far removed from most family, in your own ways you have helped us feel at home. I am grateful for the love you show Stevie, so much so, he always asks if we can go to church. He feels the love and is drawn to it. He never wants to leave, but he knows he will be back again soon.
No matter how you translate that Greek word, happy or blessed, that Jesus uses again and again in our gospel, I know I am blessed, and I am happy because this is a beloved community of God. Each and every one of you makes this happen, and like me, you too have been molded by the saints in your lives who shepherded you to this place. Who are the saints that you are grateful for this day? Who helped set you on your spiritual path? If they happen to still be alive, then say thank you before it is too late. And it is with grateful hearts that we walk this path of discipleship together surrounded by all the saints. Amen.
