Loving God, you make us your saints in baptism and then you call us to continue to learn from Jesus.  By the power of your Holy Spirit, continue to work in our hearts and in our lives, renewing us in your love and teaching us how to live as your people; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

    Here we are on All Saints’ Sunday.  Today we remember and give thanks for those from the family of faith who have joined the saints on the other side of eternity.  And so it is a day of mixed emotions.  Some are weeping and grieving, for they miss being able to see these people from day to day.  However, at the same time we gather in faith and in hope, for we know that death is not the end for those who belong to Jesus Christ.  We live with the expectation that we will see these people again, for this is our inheritance through Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:18).

    At the same time, all the saints gather with us as we worship together today.  We often speak about how people who have died have gone to be with Jesus.  However, when you think about it, if Jesus is here with us, why wouldn’t the saints be here with us as well?  I actually think that we should imagine an invisible extension to the altar rail that goes all the way around the altar, for at the Lord’s Table, the communion of saints is there with us.

    Of course, this is a statement of faith.  Those who have trouble believing in anything that they can’t see with their own eyes might have trouble believing this, too.  It is something that you can only see with “the eyes of your heart,” which Paul talks about in his letter to the Ephesians (1:18).  However, just as it is God who enlightens the eyes of our hearts, it is also God who gives us the gift of faith through the Holy Spirit.  God is always the initiator, and is the one who comes looking for us.  In fact, this is just one of many surprises and reversals that are part of the kingdom of God.

    In some ways, it is an odd gospel that we heard today.  It takes many of the things that we believe to be true and turns them on their head.  Jesus speaks to those who are poor and hungry and weeping and hated and tells them that they are blessed.  He doesn’t say that they will be blessed some time way off in the future.  He says that they are blessed – experiencing the highest degree of good and happiness that you can imagine!

    At the same time, Jesus warns those whom we would normally think of as being blessed.  The people listening to Jesus (and perhaps us as well) would have figured that having riches and being well-fed and being able to laugh and being well spoken of by others – they would have figured that all of these things are signs of God’s blessing.  But Jesus says, “Woe to you who are rich,” and “woe to you who are full,” and “woe to you who are laughing,” and “woe to you when all speak well of you” (Lk. 6:24-26).

    And then, Jesus continues to turn things on their head by telling us to love our enemies instead of hating them, and blessing those who curse us, and praying for those who abuse us (Lk. 6:27-28).  We are to turn the other cheek instead of hitting back and give extra to thieves and give to everyone who begs from us (Lk. 6:29-30).  And then the last part kind of makes sense: “Do to others as you would have them do to you” (Lk. 6:31).  So what are we to do with all this?

    Well, first off, we are being reminded that this communion of saints – this kingdom of God – of which we are a part is kind of different.  The things that God values are very different from the things that this world values.  You see, God is always on the side of the underdog.  God’s concern is always for the poor and the orphans and the widows and the most vulnerable people.  The people that we might call “losers”? – those are the ones that God is most concerned about.

    At the same time, those who believe that they have it all together and are respectable and strong and in control – they will have trouble hearing anything that Jesus has to say as good news.  It is those who know their need and who know their vulnerabilities and who know that they are powerless in the face of death who experience the blessing that is to be found through Jesus.

    The other thing that this gospel brings to mind is a video study that some of us did a few years back that was called “A Rediscovery of Life.”  The tapes featured a Jesuit named Tony DeMello, who talks a lot about the attachments that people have in this world that rob us of inner peace and calmness and happiness.  He also talks about the freedom that people experience when they are able to let go of some of these attachments.

    And so, for example, when we read in today’s gospel about somebody taking our coat or begging from us or stealing our goods, Tony would say that the reason these things bother us is our undue attachment to our material possessions.  He would also say that the behaviour that is outlined in today’s gospel helps us to let go of those attachments and leads to life in all its fulness.

    At the same time, when we think about people who are unduly attached to their riches or to their food or to laughing at everything or to what other people have to say about them, they are not going to be able to hear the good news that Jesus has for them, for they are far more attached to these other things.

    And so, do we know our need?  Do we know that the things of this world are temporary and not eternal?  Do we know that all of us are vulnerable to hunger, or to poverty, or to grief, or to exclusion?  Do we know that God’s concern is always for the “least of these,” as well as how we treat them?  Do we know that God is the only one who has the power to heal and to give life?

    Perhaps the only part of today’s gospel that we haven’t really dealt with is the turning the other cheek and praying for those who abuse you and loving your enemies.  When we think about it, this really does describe how Jesus responded when he was arrested and slapped around and tortured and crucified.  In his case, this was not a sign of weakness, but a sign of great inner strength and humility.  Rather than hurting those who hurt him, he prayed that they might be forgiven (Lk. 23:34).

    We need to be clear that this is not the same as somebody who is living with abuse or somebody who has been beaten down their whole life.  To stay with your abuser or to continue to take it are not life-giving things to do, and Jesus would lift those people up and not keep pushing them down.  Instead, all of this passage is in the context of loving your enemies rather than hating them.  To be able to have love in your heart rather than hate gives tremendous freedom, and gives life.

    And so, when Jesus endures silently, and doesn’t hit back, and prays for those who crucify him, it is a sign of his great love.  He does not wish ill on any of those who torment him.  Jesus’ love really is for all people.

    Actually, when our love is for all people, then we will know that we have grown up into Christ.  Until then, we are still in the process of becoming the saints that God has made us and the people that God always intended us to be.  Amen.

All Saints’ Sunday(C)                            Luke 6:20-31
November 3, 2013                                Ephesians 1:11-23
St. Luke’s Zion Lutheran Church
Pastor Lynne Hutchison

© 2013 Lynne Hutchison  All Rights Reserved