SUNDAY AFTER ALL SAINTS 2007
November 04, 2007
(Ecclesiasticus 44:1-10, 1-14); Ps. 149; Revelation 7:2-4,
9-17); Matthew 5:1-12)
The Rev. Ken Kroohs
EMULATING SAINTS
St. Christopher’s,
MAY
THE WORDS OF MY MOUTH ... AND THE MEDITATIONS OF ALL OUR HEARTS ... BE ALWAYS
ACCEPTABLE TO YOU --- OUR STRENGTH AND OUR REDEEMER AMEN
Let me begin by clarifying something ... we do not worship the human
saints. We do not even worship St.
Matthew or St. Luke. We do not worship
the saints.
Actually that is true of most, if not all Christian
denominations. The different practices
may make it a bit difficult to understand at times but I believe most, if not
all churches would teach that we do not “worship” the saints.
Some churches do teach about praying to the saints. This is a practice suggested by the Book of
Revelation in which the angels carry the prayers of the saints to the
throne. I don’t believe we need such a
mail carrier – an intermediary – but if that brings comfort to someone I
certainly would not argue.
What we do is “venerate” the saints.
We deeply respect the saints. We
believe those persons named “saints of the church” are those whose lives were
even better models for us than other people we have known. We honor, respect and seek to copy the saints
– but we do not worship them. Worship is
restricted to God only.
Ecclesiasticus states it well.
We “praise” famous men – and women.
People who ruled their kingdoms, renowned for their power – the sub-text
or implicit understanding here is people who ruled and were renowned for power
well used plus: leaders, teachers, artists, merciful people, righteous people
.... including people honored by name and those whose names have been
forgotten.
That description of course takes it beyond simply saints of the
church and potentially includes all the people of God ... should include all the people of God.
Now flip over to the Gospel.
As an aside let me say that this passage, the sermon on the mount, and
what we read in Luke, the sermon on the plain, are very similar. Some scholars, including those known as the
Jesus Seminar, argue that since they are not exactly the same words that means
Jesus never said those words. They argue
that the differences mean that either Matthew or Luke – or both, changed Jesus
words.
With all do respect to people with many more college degrees than I
have ---- that doesn’t hold water!! As a
preacher I can tell you preachers will modify their basic thoughts to address a
specific congregation. There is
absolutely no reason to conclude both passages are not authentic - just
targeted to different people.
Anyway — usually when I read these passages I notice how Jesus
effectively begins teaching that those persons who are having struggles are the
people most open to God. ..... Blessed are those people who are poor in spirit
– depressed, hurting ... blessed are those who mourn .... blessed are those who
are persecuted, hated for Jesus’ sake.
They are looking for and open to God.
Overly self confident, contented people tend not to look to God.
Jesus also includes the meek ... those who desire a good
relationship with God ... the merciful ... the pure in heart .. the peacemakers
As I read this again for today I was hit with another angle. I began to wonder how many of the people
Ecclesiasticus and Jesus describe .... we might call them “saints” ... knew
what was happening in their lives? How
many understood God’s plan for their lives?
Phrase that another way: How many ended up believing that God caused
them to be “poor in spirit”? ... Caused them to be persecuted? .... Caused them
to mourn?
And maybe an even more challenging question: How many believed God caused their power,
their wealth? Taken together, did they
believe God caused the good and bad things in their lives? .... This is an
important discussion in today’s world.
How often we hear someone say ... usually around a bad event ... “it
was all part of God’s plan.”
The implication is that God sits down and writes in the book that
Harry will be meek and inherit the earth but Quentin will not. That Delores will be a peacemaker but Reberta
will not. That
Makes God seem kind of strange, arbitrary and capricious doesn’t it?
And yet, doesn’t God control the world? Doesn’t God have the power and authority to
make just those kind of decisions?
Yes, God does have the power and authority. No, I don’t believe God uses the power in
that way.
As a speaker I heard said: “God does not write 6 billion different
plans covering every person on the earth.
God writes one plan and we have a part in it.”
What a fascinatingly different way to consider that! It seems a little like semantics — and it is
to some extent but like a lot of semantics, it is also important in how we
understand what is happening.
This certainly is something we can sincerely disagree about but let
me explain my thinking. If God already
knew what Ken Kroohs was going to do .... and especially because God was making Ken Kroohs do those things – it
was part of God’s plan in that sense -- then what difference would Ken Kroohs’
actions make?
If God is making us all do certain actions, then why would there be
any evil in the world? Is the mass
murderer part of God’s plan? .... If
— and I don’t believe it, but if we believe the person who dies from the mass
murder dies because “it was part of God’s plan” — then the mass murder must be part of God’s plan!
But, and the reason many people want to believe it is all part of
God’s plan ... even the bad stuff ... but if we throw out the puppet strings
approach what are we left with?
I believe we are left with a God who would send His only Son to
live, and die for us. We are left with a
God who rather than pulling our puppet strings tries to guide us in the correct
direction. I believe we are left with a
God who loves us enough to allow us to mess up ... while hoping we won’t.
We are left with a God who does have plan for this world ... called
the
Funny thing is that we usually consider the word “dream” as less
important, less powerful than “plan”.
After all the bank asks for your “business plan” and not your “business
dream” !
But that’s because the bank is practical and focuses on limitations. The “business plan” needs to be very
practical and focused on limitations.
God’s dream is not that practical!
God’s dream focuses on abundance and not limitation. God’s dream for us focuses on what God knows we can do and not on what we think we are limited to doing.
Today we are invited by the saints we knew and the saints we have
only read about to consider what is God’s dream for us? And here I want us to consider the “us” as
each one individually and “us” corporately — St. Christopher’s. What is God’s dream for this congregation?
After the service you will hear a brief presentation on the many
accomplishments this community has made over the past year or so. And it
is inspiring! St. Christopher’s –
you, we, have accomplished some amazing things.
I firmly believe we have progressed in the direction of God’s dream for
us ... God’s dream for the
BUT — you knew that was coming didn’t you? But I don’t believe we have reached our
potential by any stretch. Some of you I
know very well, some of you I only know a little bit but I do know ... I am not
guessing. I am not supposing. I am not dreaming — I know that your potential as members of the
AMEN
We
have previous sermons on our website. To
read an earlier recent sermon just enter: www.st-christopher.org/sermon.html.
CLICK HERE TO RESPOND: I would enjoy reading your comments about this sermon. Please feel free to discuss content or presentation. (If you wish to use another email system send your comments to: ken@st-christopher.com)