This Reflection is taken from the Sunday Devotion written by this blogger for Christ Episcopal Church, Yankton, SD on November 1, 2020
2 Corinthians 5:14-19
For the love of Christ urges us on, because we are convinced that one has died for all; therefore all have died. And he died for all, so that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for him who died and was raised for them. From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way. So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us.
Matthew 5:1-12
When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying:
"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
"Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
"Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
The New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Church of Christ in the USA, and used by permission.
REFLECTION
“I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.”
On this All Saints’ Day we not only remember those who have gone before, but we ponder the interconnection that exists between those who are past, those who are present, and those who are yet to be as expressed in the term, “the communion of saints.” The word saint is derived from the Latin word, “Sanctus” - holy - which in Hebrew is קֹדֶשׁ kodesh, meaning set apart or other. Within Christianity, saint is term that can be broadly applied to all members of Christ’s Body.
With that being said, it is important to understand that the Body of Christ is not limited to those who are recognized as Christians through baptism, confirmation, and their participation in the Holy Eucharist but to all who, by God’s grace, do what Jesus did and taught. Jesus said, “I have other sheep that do not belong to this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice.” [John 10:16]
People that come to mind in this category are like the French-born Jew, Simone Weil, a philosopher and mystic who never formally converted to Christianity but deeply loved Jesus and felt great compassion for the poor and persecuted throughout her life. Another is Mahatma Gandhi, a life-long Hindu, who not only admired the beatitudes of Jesus in today’s Gospel lesson but also put them into practice and liberated a whole nation through the practice of non-violence.
There are untold others who may not have even heard of Jesus, much less, converted to Christianity but who practiced and are practicing what Jesus taught whether from the perspective of a different religion or as awakened human beings who understand the interconnectedness between one another and all life on this planet. These too are in the Body of Christ and are among the saints we honor today. Jesus said, “If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, so that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.” [John 10:32-38]
As the well-known hymn says, “There’s a wideness in God’s mercy like the wideness of the sea; there’s a kindness in his justice, which is more than liberty.” [TH 1982 #470] There is, in all major religions, a sense of interconnectedness; a communion of creation in which nothing God has created is lost. In spite of all the evil, wrongdoing, and needless tragedy played out in our world and in our lives, there is a strong undercurrent within our Scriptures that indicates everything culminates in God.
Consider these words of St. Paul from today’s second lesson, “ In Christ God was reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them.” Such mercy and loving-kindness seems so unimaginable in today’s polarized world that it borders on what one might consider divine naiveté.
But God is not naive. God is purposeful. In and through Christ Jesus God knows our every weakness and our every failure as individuals, as nations, and as a species.
There is nothing about us that God doesn’t know and that God doesn’t forgive. This is what Jesus was hinting at in his Parable of Landlord and Hired Workers [Matthew 20:1-16] and in Parable of the Prodigal Son [Luke 15:11-32].
Such a loving desire to reconcile the world and forgive all is so unbelievable that we can recoil at the thought of it because, at a worldly level, it doesn’t make sense, it doesn’t seem right, and it doesn’t seem fair. We are all prone to a retributive payback mentality for wrongs done to us. We are prone to withhold forgiveness until the offender demonstrates a measure of contrition, asks for it, or begs for it. Even then some, who claim to follow Jesus, may not offer it.
This is not God’s way. This is not the way of Jesus. Our ability, as Christian, to ask for forgiveness is strictly based on being forgiving. [See Luke 11: 2-4]
Those we honor as saints today are those who in this life followed the way of Jesus and who worked at reconciling the world; those who did justice, loved kindness, and walked humbly with our God. They are those who embraced the message of the beatitudes and viewed the world through its holy lens.
On this day we remember with thankfulness those who have gone before us; those who, by the grace of God, built the foundations upon which we stand and those who shaped our lives and set our feet on the path we are walking. It is proper to remember and honor them; not as people of the past but rather as alive in Christ.
The experience which brings this home for me is when I am reading the scriptures writ large in nature; as in, stepping outside for a moment on a still, clear, and frigid moonless winter’s night to look at the stars. Such frigid darkness is as close as I can get to experiencing the unimaginable vastness of space, to encounter a silence that speaks, and see with my naked eyes stars that are as far away as 2 million light years. Seeing light in the present that was generated in the far distant past reminds me that nothing in God’s creation is lost.
Light perpetual shines.
For Christians, the communion of saints is that timeless bond created by God in Christ Jesus, through whom all things were made. This bond is sealed by the life-giving Holy Spirit who brought life from light and raises all to new life through the outpouring of our Father’s love. We who are here today and those who will follow us are entrusted to continue the ministry of reconciling the world to God in Christ so that all may come to know the wideness of God’s mercy and experience the kindness of God’s justice that exceeds liberty.
May God strengthen us in this endeavor.
A PRAYER OF THANKSGIVING FOR ALL SAINTS
Most loving God whose mercy is wider than the sea, we offer you our thanks and praise for those known to us and known only to you in every age and place,
who like Saints Stephen, Peter, and Paul willingly laid down their lives for the
Gospel and did not forfeit their faith, their hope, and their love of you;
who like Mary, the mother of Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and Julian of Norwich humbly
opened themselves to your will and revealed hearts aglow with your love;
who like Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr, and Oscar Romero devoted
their lives to the nonviolent pursuit of justice and peace;
who like St. Francis, St. Theresa of Calcutta, and Desmond Tutu committed their
lives to reconciling the world to through their offerings of mercy and forgiveness to all.
On this day, we remember all those of sainted memory whose lives have impacted ours and who we name in hearts (please offer the names of those you carry in you heart).
Gracious God, who in Christ Jesus has created a timeless bond in the communion of saints, instill in us the strength and will to walk in the paths they forged for the sake and in the name of Jesus. Amen
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Until next time, stay faithful.
Norm
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