All Saints' Day (observed) Sermon

Blessed are You…

Matthew 5:1-12

All Saints Day, 2012B

Zion Lutheran Church

Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Pastor Jonathon Bakker

            Grace to you and peace from God, our Father, and from the Lord, Jesus Christ, amen.  The Holy Scripture for our consideration this day is the Gospel lesson from St. Matthew.

And seeing the multitudes, he went up on a mountain, and when he was seated his disciples came to him. Then he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: ‘Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.’

            Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, not many people pride themselves on forgetfulness.  You know this firsthand.  When someone breaks a promise because they forgot about it, you think less of them.  When someone says they’ll be there, but then doesn’t show up because they forgot to check their calendar, you wonder about their priorities.  When someone says that they will do their part for a project, but then forgets to fulfill their task, you wonder if they even care.  And when you forget something, it is even worse; you feel embarrassed and ashamed because you know what it’s like for those you’ve let down.

            There are some times, however, when you wish you could just forget that something happened, or you pray that others could just forget about something that happened.  Maybe you want others to forget about something you said, or something you did.  A harsh word to a loved one spoken in a moment without thinking is hard to forget, and takes time to heal.  Even more so with a careless action; the things you do and the things done to you do not always disappear from reality or from your memories.  Grudges come naturally, but nobody, it seems, can choose what to forget.

            There are a lot of things I would like to forget, even from this past week.  I would love to forget the 15 messages on my answering machine this week reminding me to vote on Tuesday.  I’m sure all the candidates in the coming election want you to forget all the negative things about them and only remember the bad things about their opponents.  I would like to forget that a hurricane wreaked havoc on the east coast this week, knocking out the power for millions just as the weather is turning cold and disrupting and taking lives.  I would most like to forget that a 24 year old mother was robbed of her life this week, barely 5 miles from my home.  I’m know I’m not alone in that wish.  And I selfishly wish I could make others forget that the man arrested and charged in her death claims to be a Christian pastor, but I can’t make people forget.  Even though I know that most people will see through a murderer’s hypocrisy, there are others who will never forget that a man who served as a pastor did such a thing.  When you want to forget something, you can’t make that happen; but when you don’t want to forget something…it can disappear before you even miss it.

            Today Zion is commemorating All Saints’ Day, a day when people face some of the hardest memories of all.  It is the day when the church remembers all the faithful who have been taken to heaven by God to everlasting life.  Not strangers, but friends, family, believers of all times and places.  People you know, people you love, people you miss.  You don’t want to forget them, and you shouldn’t, but there are times when you could do without the sadness and grief that accompanies those memories.  Yet your grief is not hopeless.  St. John in the reading from Revelation gave you an unforgettable glimpse of heaven and all those people as they are today, white robed and waving their palms with Jesus.  Through John, God gave this revelation of Jesus Christ and your future to strengthen your resolve and encourage you in your faith.  For now you see others there, singing the Lamb’s praises and rejoicing in his salvation, but one day, by his grace, God will also bring you there, and he will wipe away all of your tears, and you, too, will wave your palms, rejoicing.  The Lord tells you this so that you do not forget whose you are, and where you are going.

            Now, in the Gospel, Jesus begins one of the most unforgettable sermons in all of history.  These are his Beatitudes, which introduce the Sermon on the Mount.  A beatitude is a blessing, and Jesus speaks of those who are blessed, and the blessing they are to receive.  They are beautiful promises.  The poor in spirit receive the kingdom of heaven; those who mourn shall be comforted; the meek shall inherit the earth; the hungry and thirsty shall be filled; the merciful shall obtain mercy; the pure in heart shall see God; and the peacemakers will be called sons of God.  To those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake belongs the kingdom of heaven.  These are wonderful, unforgettable promises from your Lord, especially when you consider what the Lord in Revelation showed to John.

            After all, who wouldn’t want comfort from God?  Or mercy?  Or that kingdom of heaven?  But then that nagging memory kicks in, and starts asking some hard questions.  Not about the promises, but rather about you.  Who does these wonderful things that go together with God’s promises?  And not just in name only; who truly fulfills them?  Who is meek?  Who is absolutely pure in heart?  Not you, not me.  Not perfectly.  You want to see yourself as that person every time, living up to Jesus’ words so that you can rejoice in the knowledge that those promises are for you…but your memory just won’t let you.  And it isn’t because your memory is failing…the problem is that you also remember other things; things that don’t fit with Jesus’ description.  Your sins, and your sinful nature.  These things, along with the devil and this fallen world, always seek to corrupt you and turn you away from the Lord. 

            Don’t listen to such temptations and don’t lose hope.  The words from Jesus today are not conditions by which people who follow a strict behavioral pattern earn each and every blessing from God; that would be impossible.  You may think for a microsecond that other people are capable of such virtuous living, but then you remember.  You know better.  All have sinned; all fall short of the glory of God.  Jesus speaks one way for most of these beatitudes, ‘Blessed are they who are this…and blessed are those who are that…,’ but then he changes his tone.  No longer is it ‘they’ and ‘them’ who are persecuted and reviled, but you.  Blessed are you when you are persecuted; when you are reviled.  Blessed are you when they say all kinds of evil against you falsely for Jesus’ sake.  Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

            It is easy to forget that this promise at the end of the beatitudes is the key to understanding the rest, especially when the world, the devil, and your own sinful flesh persistently tempt you to turn your attention elsewhere.  The first beatitudes do not fit you or me because of sin, but they fit Jesus, and he does it for you.  The last beatitude is not about you, but about what is done to you by your sinful flesh, by the fallen world, and by the devil himself; and it is finally about what the Lord has in store for you in eternity. 

            Jesus tells you this today, on All Saints’ Day, so that you don’t lose hope and don’t give up believing.  He tells you this so that you don’t forget along the way why you’re here in the first place.  He wanted your life to be eternal before you even knew what that was, and he did the work and gave his Spirit to make it happen.  He used his means to justify your end.  In his baptism, he took your sin and sinfulness upon himself so that in your baptism you would be washed clean and given this faith.  In his preaching he gave you his Word that you might hear and learn it and know by it that your sins are forgiven.  In his last supper he took bread and wine and instituted the Sacrament of his Body and Blood to forgive you and strengthen you in your faith.  On his cross he bore the curse of God’s wrath for all sin, dying in your place, and rising again to establish your everlasting life.

            This, dear friends, is why you are here.  Your memories may get in the way of the rejoicing and being glad that your Lord encourages you to be doing in this life, and promises you for the next, but don’t let those memories trump the most important memories of all; that God in Christ came to save you, dying and rising to bring all believers of all times and places to be with the Lamb reigning from the throne, forever.

            To Christ alone be all the glory, forever and ever, amen.

            The peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus, our Lord, amen.