Alleluia! Christ is risen!
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!
I love All Saints’ Sunday,
maybe especially because we usually
have some All Souls,
or All Faithful Departed
mixed in.
In our chapel
at the liturgical “West” end of the church –
though it’s actually the north –
we are remembering those
who have gone before us.
In remembering and acknowledging their deaths
we celebrate that Christ is risen from the dead
trampling down death by death
and upon those in the tombs
bestowing life.
That’s echoed
on the altar itself
where we ask God to be with us
in Jesus’ body and blood
and ask for the intercession
of those saints
who made us who we are.
As we look to those who have died in faith
we bring Arlo to his first grave,
the grave that matters to us as Christian:
the watery grave
of the baptismal font.
The Ironborn in George RR Martin’s
A Song of Ice and Fire
who celebrate the drowned god,
a god who has faced death,
are on to something when they say
“that which is dead
can never die.”
We have those who have died,
and Arlo joining us
on this Christian walk
and again to those who have died,
who remind us that even at the grave we make our song
“Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.”
Today we hear Paul or one of his disciples writing
to the followers of Jesus at Ephesus
“In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,
having been destined according to the purpose
of him who accomplishes all things
according to his counsel and will,
so that we,
who were the first to set our hope on Christ,
might live for the praise of his glory.
In him you also,
when you had heard the word of truth,
the gospel of your salvation,
and had believed in him,
were marked with the seal
of the promised Holy Spirit;
this is the pledge of our inheritance
toward redemption as God’s own people,
to the praise of his glory.”
Our opening versicles today
are also from the Letter to the Ephesians.
In joining the church,
in being baptized
in coming to the table
time and again
we are joined to God’s cosmic plans
for the salvation
of the whole creation.
As we look to the past
with those loved ones’ photos
as we see the font
and join Arlo to our common life
and remember our own promises
and more importantly God’s pledge of our inheritance
and come to enjoy
a foretaste of the heavenly banquet
we see God carrying out
God’s plan of salvation.
Our call as a church
is to meet the needs of Christ
whom we seek and serve
in all persons.
We must never forget, though,
that all good comes from God
and that in the fullness of time
God will make all things well.
We’re not working
for our own and each others’
salvation.
Luke’s Beatitudes today
keep us grounded
in the hope of God’s ultimate future
but don’t excuse us
from seeing the reign of Jesus
made manifest all around us.
“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.”
As Jesus speaks these words
it’s like God speaking
creation into being.
By Jesus’ saying it,
it becomes true
in the fullness of God’s economy.
It’s a promise of hope
that those who endure hardship now
will know comfort.
Luke goes farther than Matthew
in two distinct ways.
First, Luke speaks
to material reality.
His calls for justice –
themes of the gospel from the first chapter –
continue to be explicit.
We don’t hear Jesus promising
filling for those who hunger and thirst
for righteousness’ sake.
Blessed are you who are hungry now,
whose bellies are rumbling
who don’t know where your next meal is coming from
for you will be filled.
Second, Jesus gives warnings and woes
which is probably why Luke’s Beatitudes
aren’t as popular
on bookmarks and Sunday school posters.
“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.
“Woe to you who are laughing now,
for you will mourn and weep.”
The metaphors are a little too on the nose –
from the bulldozing of the East Wing
to a Gatsby themed Halloween party
while 42 million Americans
face even more food insecurity.
Being joined to Jesus’ body the church
in our baptisms
reminds us that we are not alone.
We aren’t facing this human or Christian life alone
and we’ve chosen to be a part of something bigger.
We make and renew our vows
together.
Stepping into the stream of God’s saints
as we come through Christ’s grave and resurrection
reminds us that we’re part of something bigger
in our civic lives as well.
It’s not enough to be mad
at the on the nose metaphors happening
in DC and Mar-a-Lago.
We have work today,
and we have the grace, strength, and company
to do it.
We are not alone in our feelings
nor are we alone
in carrying the burdens,
carrying the crosses,
of following Jesus.
“In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance,
having been destined according to the purpose
of him who accomplishes all things
according to his counsel and will,
so that we,
who were the first to set our hope on Christ,
might live for the praise of his glory.”
As we look back
to those who have come before
and look around at our work
which Arlo joins today
and look to those
who stand around the throne of God
singing God’s praise
the proclamation of our faith in Jesus
carries us on.
Alleluia! Christ is risen.
Christ is risen indeed! Alleluia!