11062021 – All Saints Sunday
This is always such a SPECIAL WEEKEND in OUR “faith community.”
It is a celebration of our NAMESAKE and WHO WE ARE. WE ARE “all saints.”
And to my way of thinking, there is NO “other place,” exactly like “THIS PLACE,” on the face of the globe.
We are a UNIQUE community of believers and unbelievers…sinners and saints…tarnished and untarnished, broken and in process of being made whole, all gathered under one roof in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
Here, for others.
Here, to serve.
Here, to make a difference.
Here, making our stand.
Here, worshiping God.
Here, for our young people.
Here for each other.
Here, praying up a storm.
“Only at All Saints” is MORE than just a saying we flippantly toss around. It is ESTABLISHED IN FACT.
And all of this, on the Fall Craft Weekend. I have always said, “We are at OUR BEST, when we have A LOT going on!”
We center ourselves on WORD and SACRAMENT, Christ Jesus himself being at the heart and center of all that we do.
And before us this day…we have a POWERFUL STORY.
— A POWERFUL STORY of the raising of Lazarus.
So powerful, in fact, that the Chief Priests and the Pharisees “call a meeting of the Council” and discuss just “how dangerous” Jesus HAS BECOME.
The Evangelist or the Gospel writer, John, summarizes their deliberations with this haunting sentence:
“So, from that day on they planned to put him to DEATH.”
There is NO GOING BACK.
For “bringing forth life,” he MUST DIE.
The raising of Lazarus may be the PROVERBIAL STRAW that broke the camel’s back, or it may be AN ESCALATION of Jesus’ ministry to an entirely NEW and UNEXPECTED LEVEL.
Either way, the DIE IS NOW CAST. This story is headed for THE CROSS of crucifixion.
The grief of Mary and Martha, the compassion of their friends, family, and supporters; the angst, and tears of Jesus, the COMMAND to NEW LIFE, this is an EXTRAORDINARY story.
A part of its intrigue are the LAST SMALL SIX WORDS.
“Unbind him and let him go.”
It appears that the love and compassion of Jesus is NOT enough.
The power of Jesus’ word is NOT enough.
The victory (albeit temporary…) over death is NOT enough.
The foreshadowing of what is to come is NOT enough.
There still is work to do.
And this work is entrusted to ALL who are there: “UnBIND him and let him go.”
YOU unBIND him and let him go.
Jesus “MAY” be OUR INVITATION into the kingdom of God — into a LIFE that is eternal — but we won’t experience IT if we are still BOUND by our past…
…BOUND to the ways of “this world” that bring “death, hurt, pain and destruction.”
A key responsibility of THE CHURCH that takes the name of Jesus is to set us free from whatever it is that BINDS us…
From everything… that prevents us from experiencing the FULLNESS of God’s LOVE and GRACE.
The saints we remember today are examples of this.
They come in ALL SHAPES and ALL SIZES, at various AGES, in all SKIN TONES and from every continent on our planet. Sometimes, they might seem like the most unlikely of all people.
Unbind them and let them go. Do NOT JUDGE THEM.
Moses: a stuttering-murder-fugitive-on the-run.
David: an adulterer-and-a-murderer.
Peter: a-loud-mouthed-uneducated- fisherman.
James and John: followers of Jesus WHOSE AMBITIONS get-the-best-of- them.
Luther: a hot-tempered-ol’-antisemitic- German.
Each of them BOUND by their human frailties, yet GIVEN NEW LIFE through the LOVE of God, and SET FREE by the good news of God’s WORD, through the gathering of GOD’S PEOPLE, through the movement of God’s most HOLY SPIRIT.
God DOES NOT choose to work only through those who are particularly well equipped for ministry, but instead chooses to work through the church and equip those of us who are called to FAITHFULNESS.
You and I, as broken and tarnished as we may be, are CALLED to do the very work of God in our daily lives.
We are here.
And THE CHURCH is called to be a place where WE can be SET FREE from ALL THAT HOLDS US BACK and be sent forth weekly as REPRESENTATIVES and as AMBASSADORS of Jesus in this world.
The beauty of All Saints Sunday is that IT IS NOT just about those “famous saints” who have “inspired countless believers.”
It is also about “those HUMBLE Saints” simple human beings, who have shared FAITH and ENCORAGEMENT with others along the way.
And YOU are HIS SAINTS in this place.
And soon, we will be sent forth AGAIN…
Amen.