Loading...On this All Saints’ Day, I want to start by acknowledging the complex emotional depth of remembering those who have died. Many of us here today have first-hand experience in losing someone we have loved this year. These deaths are fresh.
I believe that nearly all of us have some experience with the death of loved ones over the years. Those deaths may not be as fresh, but they impact each of us, nonetheless.
While we all know that everything dies, those who are left live with holes in their hearts, empty chairs at the table, and often, a deep sense of grief and of sorrow. We must, as a community, remember to hold tenderly those who are living with what can sometimes feel like unbearable grief.
Experiencing all the emotions that come with the death of a loved one can be summed up in one of the lines in today’s Gospel when Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.”
In our simple act of lighting candles this morning, we are reminded of the light of Christ, and of the lights of our loved ones. Those lights still burn within us. One, to provide comfort in our grief. Others to keep memories alive.
I pray that in those minutes of remembering, in watching as the line of people coming forward to fill the bowl with candles, illuminating our love and our loss, that each of us felt comforted. I pray that even when mourning is complex, we felt blessed. And I pray that when we feel alone in our grief, we will remember this time and feel the blessings of our community warming our hearts and souls.
For the past few weeks, we have been reading about the last week of Jesus’s human life. We’ll get back to that part of the story next week, but for All Saints’ Day, we jump back to the beginning of Jesus’s ministry.
He had just been surrounded by crowds of people needing healing, support, care, and attention. I can only imagine the emotional and physical drain on Jesus. Through the Gospels we learn about his empathetic nature. Often after being surrounded by crowds, he is sometimes depleted after being with so many people.
In this story, Jesus retreated from the crowd, went up the mountain, and reflected on what he had just experienced. Now that he was with his newly gathered disciples, he took this time to talk with them about what he had learned. And it became a list that many Jesus Followers believe is foundational to our faith.
I imagine that this time of reflection and teaching took longer than what was written. I can picture Jesus, eyes closed, recalling the faces of the people he had met that day, searching for words to describe how he understood their need.
Jesus knew that each one of these people were already blessed. That their lives were gifts from their Creator God. But sometimes then, just as we know it can be now, humans need reminding, especially when they are dealing with some kind of hardship.
Hopefully none of us will ever have to go through every one of the things on this list, but I bet many of us can say we have known at least one.
In Matthew’s recollection, you might have noticed, Jesus does not say, “blessed are you.” Nor does he include the “woe to you” part we find in other Gospels. Instead, the way this is written, it seems more like, as I already stated, Jesus is reflecting on what he had just experienced. On whom he met.
Blessed are all these people, described in words that may have been about only a moment in time, or for some, a life-long experience. These were people who came to Jesus, seeking some word of encouragement that confirmed they were known by God, especially when they were troubled.
In some ways, this time on the mountain Jesus was teaching the disciples how to respond to those who will come to them, perhaps for help discerning what to do; perhaps hoping to know that they are not alone in their dilemma; perhaps needing to know that even when life feels hard, they are seen and known by God. He was teaching the disciples all how to provide what we would call pastoral care. Jesus taught them these things:
If they are poor in spirit; feeling separated from God, they may need to be told to be patient because God is working in and through them.
If they are mourning a loss of any sort, perhaps they simply need a hug or a shoulder to cry on, knowing they are not alone.
For those who are meek—in other words, who are, according to Merriam-Webster, “enduring harm or injury with patience and without resentment,” remind them of their worth and ability to speak up or stand up for themselves. That God will be with them when they do.
There are those who stand firm in their convictions for the health and wholeness of society; who are hungry for the world to be turned toward God but feel like they are alone in their quest. They might need, for example, to be assured that their vote will count or that their belief that all people should be treated with dignity truly does matter.
Those who are merciful and compassionate toward others may feel like no one offers mercy or compassion in return. Or they may be told that they are too sensitive. They might need someone to remind them that mercy and compassion are superpowers. That being kind has the power to change the world.
I wonder if the “pure in heart” are those who regularly pray, who consistently attend worship and faith education, and who are an active member of a faith community. They are those who walk in the light and hope of God. They may not seem to have any needs, but they may need to be reminded that their commitment to God and to their community is meaningful to others.
Peacemakers might feel like their efforts are fruitless when the world seems to always be at war; or that people do not know how to talk kindly to one another. How can a single person make a difference when literal or figurative bombs are dropping? These people need it to be known that they understand that everyone is a child of God and that every time they remind others of that belovedness, they are making a difference.
Then there are the martyrs, the squeaky wheels, the whistle-blowers, who stand up for what is right and good and then are persecuted for doing just that. They may need to know the hard work they are doing may make them enemies of people in power, but that their work is not in vain. God is cheering them on.
Lastly, when Jesus recognized that those who will follow his examples of all the ways we can express love in the world, there will always be some who will not understand, and some who will exert their power through words and actions. He reminded the disciples that their work as his followers will be difficult and their feelings may be hurt and their efforts misunderstood.
His last message in this list is directed to the disciples: it will be hard for a time, but for everything you will endure for the sake of God’s purpose on Earth, you will experience your reward in heaven.
We can learn from Jesus all the ways we can impact others when we listen with care about how they express who they are or how they are feeling. We can show that we understand that every human being is blessed from their beginning through and beyond the end of their mortal life.
I find this a poignant message as we remember those who have died, recognizing that each one of those people possessed this blessedness through all the grace and the grind of their lives. We learn from them how to live, and here, in this Gospel, we learn from Jesus how to respond.
What a great way to move toward the next part of our service. To the baptism of three young people. Remington, Roman, and Rue have made a choice to be baptized. They have asked, even begged, to be baptized.
It is my prayer that they will learn in their Christian walk how to see the blessedness of everyone in all the ways people live. That they will know that they are seen and loved by their Creator God. And especially that they will be supported throughout their lives by people who will remind them that they have been blessed by God since the day they were born, and that blessing does not and cannot wear off.
We all carry painful scars and wounds that represent our humanity. And we, in our vulnerability, may need to be reminded that even when life is hard, we are not forgotten.
And we also need to know that we carry joyful marks and memories. And in those moments of a different kind of vulnerability, still might need to be reminded that even when life feels good and healthy, we are not forgotten.
We are God’s children. We are blessed beyond comprehension. We do nothing to earn that blessing, but we are called to be in community to help others when they need to be lifted up, and to support those who are struggling, and to celebrate the joys that all come from this blessed life we have been given.
Let us pray. Jesus, you taught the disciples how to respond to people in their weakest, most vulnerable, most needy moments. You modeled how to listen with both ears and heart, and to respond with both gentleness and firmness to help everyone know that they have always been blessed and beloved by God. As we listen to your teaching, help us to find our own heart and voice to help others when they come seeking acknowledgement of their worth. And when we are the ones seeking that acknowledgement of our own belovedness, of our own worth, may we find others who will provide us that same support.
Jesus, we are a community, bound together by your consistent message of love. May we have the confidence to share that love, knowing that every person was born blessed, will be blessed throughout their life, and will find blessing when they are welcomed into your arms when they leave this life.
All this we pray in your holy name. Amen.
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