November 4, 2007
| All Saints Sunday, 2007 | Daniel 7:1-3, 15-18 | |
| Ephesians 1:11-23 | ||
| Luke 6:20-31 |
Today is All Saints Sunday- a day when we remember our dear departed ones. Yogi Berra once said something about funerals. "You should always go to other people's funerals. Otherwise they won't come to yours."
Yogi often makes perfect sense by saying something nonsensical. Now think about his statement in the context of Christian theology.
"You should always go to other people's funerals. Otherwise they won't come to yours."
When you think about it, that's another way of saying "Do to others as you would have them do to you." It's the final verse of today's gospel text. Of course it's not an exact match, but I see a strong similarity.
But as I pondered today's gospel I also realized there are some similarities here to games and sports that go beyond Yogi Berra. I hope I can explain this.
Kids play sports. Adults too, for that matter. Hockey, Baseball, Softball, Basketball, Volleyball, Football, Soccer, and the list goes on, and on.
For people my age, sports often meant choosing up sides. Choosing up sides was a rite of passage. With choosing up sides, game after game included a public honor- or-humiliation: whether you get picked sooner, or middle, or later, or last. You always knew where you stood. This was good news for some and bad news for others.
I don't know if kids still do that, choose up sides. Most youth sports now are organized, have coaches, leagues, and referees. Tryouts happen only once. I think for younger folks once you're on a team, that's your team. You don't mix and match like choosing up sides- you just have one team.
Either way, you have a team. We will come back to that, so keep a finger in that page.
People play sports. People also play board games. Monopoly, Sorry, Risk, Clue, and again, the list goes on.
Most board games don't have teams. Board games are about taking turns. Each one takes a turn, one at a time. As the playing pieces travel around the board, each player moves through the same ups and downs as everyone else.
You have a team. That's one kind of experience. You take your turn. That's another kind of experience.
So. Three things: Yogi Berra's version of the Golden Rule. Being on a team. Taking turns. Keep them in mind.
Now to the text. Jesus said, ""Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. "Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you will be filled. "Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh." Good News.
He also said, "But woe to you who are rich, for you have received your consolation. "Woe to you who are full now, for you will be hungry." Bad News.
Some get good news. Some get bad news. When Jesus said this did he mean there are two teams? Is there a 'rich team' and a 'poor team?' Are these teams permanent? If so, some are always blessed, others always cursed. You either get picked first or last- some get good news others bad news. You make the team, or you don't.
I believe WE are tempted to make such teams, and to assume they are permanent. In our minds there are these people and those people. Us and them. It pervades our thinking. In issues as serious as immigration or as frivolous as radio formats, from the culture of a congregation or denomination, to parenting styles, to crime and punishment, blue collar and white collar, conservative, liberal- we make the teams and we assume them permanent. And how often are we the good guys?
Did Jesus divide us into camps? Did he speak to situations? Are we among the blessed or the cursed?
If this is what Jesus meant, then there is no room for repentance, or healing, or social reform, or reconciliation. I don't think Jesus meant nothing ever changes.
Even so, the words are necessary and true. People who are poor or oppressed need hope. If you ARE hungry there is good news and hope. If you ARE weeping, take heart because God hears you. There IS blessing, God's favor for the hungry... the weeping... for the poor.
But some poverty and oppression are caused by the decisions and actions of the well-to-do and powerful. Woe to all who hold so tightly that no one else gets a share. Some curses are in order, even if they are aimed at us! Even if the teams are not fixed forever.
Maybe it is more like taking turns on a board game. Taking turns would mean that no social station or circumstance is permanent. To the Poor, Jesus says, "Chin up, God loves you and things will get better- it's your turn to be poor now, but that won't last. To the Rich Jesus says, "Don't be so smug- you have comfort, but everything you have can be taken away in an instant- wealth is no guarantee against tragedy."
Both rich and poor are called to trust in God, and to remember that NO life situation is permanent. In our First Lesson from Daniel we see even the great empires of earth do not last.
Poverty is not evidence of sin or judgment- that needed to be said in those days, and maybe these days too. Wealth must not be equated with virtue! That surely does need to be said in America in the 21st century.
Following Jesus had its costs, back then, and still today.
We read on. Just after the blessings and woes, we have these words: (verse 27) "But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you..." and then more words about treating others with a giving, sacrificial kind of love, and finally, (verse 31) "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
Which team was he talking to? Luke offers an answer. At the outset of this sermon section, Luke's gospel describes the listeners this way...
"He (Jesus) came down with them (the Twelve) and stood on a level place, with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon." (Lk. 6:17)
Jesus was talking to everybody. Jesus said this to everybody. The crowd that day was a wide sampling of people. His closest friends, his critics from Jerusalem, even foreigners and Gentiles.
These words are for everyone.
But they are hard to follow. To love an enemy, to turn the other cheek, to spend your money on beggars- these words are for everyone but no one can do it all.
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On All Saints day we remember loved ones. For us, a saint is not some perfect person, but a forgiven sinner. WE know the people we love best and miss the most were never perfect. Will God be any less merciful to us?
On All Saints Day it is helpful to remember that God's people are both- saint and sinner. "Simul Justus et Peccator" Latin for at the same time saint and sinner- Martin Luther points out that God is merciful. God justifies sinners.
People quote Yogi Berra a lot. He said some things worth repeating. And if you were on Yogi's team you would never forget him.
How much more will we remember and repeat the things Jesus said? We quote Jesus because his Word is LIFE! Jesus speaks. His call is a call to love and sacrifice, but a call to life and eternal life.
God sent Jesus into the world for the sake of hope, for the sake of peace, for the sake of salvation. We have these precious words because God has decided we are coachable. Worth saving. YOU are chosen.
If there were nothing we could do or say, then God would never bother speaking. We will never be perfect, but we will always have Jesus, who calls to us, and speaks to us. The Living Word creates in us.... faith hope and love.