You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea

Proper 26-A/All Saints

Nov. 2, 2008

St. Paul’s

Revelation 7:9-17; 1 Thessalonians 2:9-13; Matthew 23:1-12

Good morning, Saints!

Years ago, when Tim was sharing his church with a Pentecostal Holiness congregation, I was struck by the simplicity and directness of this way of greeting the congregation: Good morning, Saints!

It gets right to the point. And today, on this day when we remember All the Saints, we are making a new one: in a few minutes, Marilyn will be baptized.

All Saints Day is a time to look back: who are the saints in our lives? In our world? The first lesson asks, and answers that question for us:

"Who are these, robed in white, and where have they come from?" … "These are they who have come out of the great ordeal; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and worship him day and night within his temple, and the one who is seated on the throne will shelter them. They will hunger no more, and thirst no more; the sun will not strike them, nor any scorching heat; for the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of the water of life, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

It is this great chain of being, Marilyn, that you enter today. Saints who witness, to God’s great glory, and to great human tragedy. Saints who struggle for justice and for the freedom and dignity of every human being. Saints who resist Satan and all the evil powers of this world which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. Saints who sing and dance, who weep and mourn. Saints who trust and love, who follow and obey, who pray and serve. Welcome, Marilyn. All the saints of God rejoice that you are with us here today.

Marilyn lives here in Brockton, but she comes to us from Nigeria. And soon she will be going back to Nigeria, for a little while, for a great celebration: Marilyn is about to be married – to an Anglican pastor. During coffee hour you can find out more of Marilyn’s story. But the important thing is that today, we are standing here for all of Marilyn’s beloved family. We are standing here for all the saints in Nigeria, who are cheering her on, and waiting for her to come to their congregation.

Another phrase popped into my mind reading these lessons: Word. Have you heard young people say that? It’s another way of saying, Yes! Sure! Right! Right on! Ain’t that the truth! Word!

St. Paul, in his letter to the brothers and sisters in Thessalonica, talks about the Word, and gives the saints kind of a blueprint for what this Word means for Christian living.

“You received the Word of God,” Paul says. The Word is not something you have to work to get. It is the freely given gift of God. And, Paul says, “You heard it from us.” We receive that gift of God’s Word from the lips of other people, people who have heard it before we have, people who have come into our lives in all sorts of ways – people, like the hymn says, who come to us in school, or in lanes or at sea, or in church or on trains or in shops or at tea. The Word always comes to us from others, from people who have been saints to us, and Word! We are the ones to give it to those who need to hear it. That’s what Paul means when he says that God’s Word is at work in us believers. No matter who we are, or what work we do, or how far we travel, or how simply we lead our lives, the Word is at work through us.

But: the Word of God can work through us only if we let it. The Word of God can’t be heard by others unless we proclaim it. The Word of God can’t be seen by others if we keep our doors closed. The Word of God can’t be felt by others if we think we have to pick and choose who we will tell it to, or who we will invite in – or if we don’t invite anybody in.

Saints! We are the Word we have received. Now, let us act like we believe it.