Some of God's Children
Some of God’s Children
All Saints Sunday
I John 3:1-3
CCUM November 6, 2005
Rev Carolyn Waters
John Steinbeck wrote the following in his epic novel East of Eden:
"It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world."
In all my years of ministry, there was only one funeral that I experienced as a celebration by six people who were relieved the person had died. Not because of her suffering, but because of the suffering she inflicted upon those who knew her.
It seems to me that God is quite gifted at creating a good percentage of saints to mix in with the rest of us!
The people who show up on our pathway and make walking the path more manageable. The people who always know how to offer words of hope in situations that seem hopeless. The one’s who always have time to listen, to help.
They are the saints of our lives; the saints of our churches; the saints of our culture.
We all know some of them. We have all participated in their lives and missed them in their deaths.
They are the great cloud of witnesses that guide us beyond our own abilities and wisdom to continue walking on the path that is about justice and righteousness, forgiveness and love.
Saints are people who know something profound about love, that suffering is connected with it. They learned the path of sainthood is not one of accolades but accusations. They were charged with demanding change because they wanted people to know more about God than others could stand to have revealed. They challenged governments and leaders who were exploiting others. They worked to bring justice to those who were ground down by unjust systems. And in their dedicated work, they were jailed, beaten, and sometimes murdered.
Other saints are the simple less famous ones. The teacher that took the time to listen, the neighbor that was always near when needed, the patient friend that could listen for hours.
We are pilgrims of the saints. We become a reflection of who has reflected the face of God to us. We become the children of the children of a living God because of the memory of those we have known or the memory of the history we are told. We honor them by the decisions we make and the way we live. People we call saints; have given us unique insights into what it means to live a life in relationship with God.
It is not hard for me to name the saints I have known. The church can be quite good at growing its saints. Some of them are grown in order for others of us to be tolerated! We’ve said good by to some very important saints in our congregation this past year. Last week we said goodbye as a nation to Rosa Parks, an unassuming black woman who’d had enough.
Hopefully our main task is challenging one another to live into our own sainthood. Not to be presumptuous, but what a difference it would make if we all considered ourselves to be in training, to someday be called a saint by another person.
Every death that is a part of my life makes me reflect on my own death.
Every birthday that puts me closer to a bigger number, gives me pause to ask what am I doing with my life.
We remember the saints today, both those of church history and those of our own community, because we honor them. But we also remember them because we need to be reminded of our own mortality, and reminded that the way we live our lives, does make a difference to others.
God has set into motion the possibility of individual greatness. It has nothing to do with what we gather in our granaries………..it has everything to do with the list of people we give ourselves to, and the efforts we make to make a difference.
Ole Anthony, is founder and president of the Trinity Foundation, who has what we might consider a fairly radical approach to Scripture. Ole Anthony has either reached out and embraced the poor, the hungry, and the weeping, or they have found him. He lives in a community that follows a vow of poverty. In the community he lives in there is at least one formerly homeless person in each house. His community fights the corruption of televangelism in a David and Goliath-like battle. And, he is smart enough to figure out that the war against homelessness requires more than a pot of gold. It requires us to do "to others as [we] would have them do to [us]."
"All theology and doctrines are meaningless unless you lay down your life to meet
the needs of those around you who are hurting."
And,
"It is not the function of the Church 'to change the world.' It is the function of the church to have community -- not just have it, but live it."
Christ church is a community of believers both living and dead that reflect the image of God in the world. We are Children of God……….only some of God’s children……….seeking to empower the saints among us!
Madeleine L’Engle wrote:
“We do not convince others by telling them loudly how wrong they are and how right we are. We convince them by showing them a light so lovely they will want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”
All Saints Sunday
I John 3:1-3
CCUM November 6, 2005
Rev Carolyn Waters
John Steinbeck wrote the following in his epic novel East of Eden:
"It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world."
In all my years of ministry, there was only one funeral that I experienced as a celebration by six people who were relieved the person had died. Not because of her suffering, but because of the suffering she inflicted upon those who knew her.
It seems to me that God is quite gifted at creating a good percentage of saints to mix in with the rest of us!
The people who show up on our pathway and make walking the path more manageable. The people who always know how to offer words of hope in situations that seem hopeless. The one’s who always have time to listen, to help.
They are the saints of our lives; the saints of our churches; the saints of our culture.
We all know some of them. We have all participated in their lives and missed them in their deaths.
They are the great cloud of witnesses that guide us beyond our own abilities and wisdom to continue walking on the path that is about justice and righteousness, forgiveness and love.
Saints are people who know something profound about love, that suffering is connected with it. They learned the path of sainthood is not one of accolades but accusations. They were charged with demanding change because they wanted people to know more about God than others could stand to have revealed. They challenged governments and leaders who were exploiting others. They worked to bring justice to those who were ground down by unjust systems. And in their dedicated work, they were jailed, beaten, and sometimes murdered.
Other saints are the simple less famous ones. The teacher that took the time to listen, the neighbor that was always near when needed, the patient friend that could listen for hours.
We are pilgrims of the saints. We become a reflection of who has reflected the face of God to us. We become the children of the children of a living God because of the memory of those we have known or the memory of the history we are told. We honor them by the decisions we make and the way we live. People we call saints; have given us unique insights into what it means to live a life in relationship with God.
It is not hard for me to name the saints I have known. The church can be quite good at growing its saints. Some of them are grown in order for others of us to be tolerated! We’ve said good by to some very important saints in our congregation this past year. Last week we said goodbye as a nation to Rosa Parks, an unassuming black woman who’d had enough.
Hopefully our main task is challenging one another to live into our own sainthood. Not to be presumptuous, but what a difference it would make if we all considered ourselves to be in training, to someday be called a saint by another person.
Every death that is a part of my life makes me reflect on my own death.
Every birthday that puts me closer to a bigger number, gives me pause to ask what am I doing with my life.
We remember the saints today, both those of church history and those of our own community, because we honor them. But we also remember them because we need to be reminded of our own mortality, and reminded that the way we live our lives, does make a difference to others.
God has set into motion the possibility of individual greatness. It has nothing to do with what we gather in our granaries………..it has everything to do with the list of people we give ourselves to, and the efforts we make to make a difference.
Ole Anthony, is founder and president of the Trinity Foundation, who has what we might consider a fairly radical approach to Scripture. Ole Anthony has either reached out and embraced the poor, the hungry, and the weeping, or they have found him. He lives in a community that follows a vow of poverty. In the community he lives in there is at least one formerly homeless person in each house. His community fights the corruption of televangelism in a David and Goliath-like battle. And, he is smart enough to figure out that the war against homelessness requires more than a pot of gold. It requires us to do "to others as [we] would have them do to [us]."
"All theology and doctrines are meaningless unless you lay down your life to meet
the needs of those around you who are hurting."
And,
"It is not the function of the Church 'to change the world.' It is the function of the church to have community -- not just have it, but live it."
Christ church is a community of believers both living and dead that reflect the image of God in the world. We are Children of God……….only some of God’s children……….seeking to empower the saints among us!
Madeleine L’Engle wrote:
“We do not convince others by telling them loudly how wrong they are and how right we are. We convince them by showing them a light so lovely they will want with all their hearts to know the source of it.”
posted by Rev Waters | 1:37 PM
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