Today is All-Saints Sunday. On this day, we remember the Saints of the
church – fellow Christians who have led by example. Fellow Christians who have embodied our faith
in how they live our lives.
Jesus asked us to be truly transformed
by the Word of God and by God’s Holy Spirit.
He didn’t want us to pretend we believe in God but not believe in our
hearts. Today, we read a passage from
the Gospel of Matthew where Jesus teaches that true believe not shown by what
actions we take but by also having our hearts changed by our faith in God.
Listen to Jesus’ wise words as they
are recalled in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 23, verses 1 through twelve:
Scripture Reading – Matthew 23:1-12
23 Then Jesus said to the crowds and
to his disciples:
2 “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in
Moses’ seat.
3 So you must be careful to do everything they tell you.
But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach.
4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on
other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger
to move them.
5 “Everything they do is done for people to
see: They make their phylacteries wide and the tassels on their
garments long;
6 they love the place of honor at banquets and the most
important seats in the synagogues;
7 they love to be greeted with respect in the
marketplaces and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by others.
8 “But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one
Teacher, and you are all brothers.
9 And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have
one Father, and he is in heaven.
10 Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one
Instructor, the Messiah.
11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
12 For those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and
those who humble themselves will be exalted.
Here ends this reading of the word of God
for the people of God. Thanks be to
God. Amen.
Prayer for Understanding
Let us
pray: Holy Spirit, take my words and
speak to each of us according to our need.
Amen.
Message
Partners
in Service
Do you recall the story of the Pied
Piper? It is often repeated to children,
although it is a pretty scary tale. In
1284, the people of Hamelin, in the Lower Saxony province of Germany, had a
municipal rat problem. Rats spread
diseases, eat food stores, and can attack people, so they are dreaded
pests. The town hired a man who played a
flute and drew the rats out of the buildings.
His music attracted and mesmerized the rats and they followed the man
out of town. He was successful in his
endeavors, apparently so successful the town leaders were surprised. They didn’t have the money to pay the man
what he was due. In retaliation, on June
26, 1284, he played a new tune on his flute.
Instead of attracting rats, it attracted children. Apparently 130 children followed the Piper
out of town and were never seen again.
The word Pied means “rejected.” The
rejected piper took vengeance on the towns’ people by taking their children
away.
This almost sounds like a Halloween
tale….but there are records of the children leaving on June 26, 1284 and never
being seen again.
In our scripture lesson today, Jesus
talked to his followers about following the teachings of the Old Testament. We are supposed to adhere to the God’s
teachings. We are even supposed to
adhere to God’s teachings if they are communicated to us by people who aren’t following
the teachings themselves. Jesus was
critical of the Pharisees and religious teachers of the law who taught in the 1st
century. He said they did not practice
what they preached. They pretended to be
very pious. They said all the right words. They did all the right actions. But, they didn’t actually believe what they
said.
When the people of Hamelin hired the
Pied Piper, they trusted him. He said
all the right things – he even did what he said he would do. But, he turned on the people when they didn’t
give him what he wanted. Instead of working
to help the people of Hamelin, he wronged them.
Jesus taught that we are supposed to
live out God’s teachings, not just pretend to live them out. We are supposed to live out our
convictions….not just for show but for real.
We are supposed to do what we claim we believe….not just on the outside,
but we are called to internally focus our hearts and minds on following God’s
teachings.
Today is All-Saints Day. Protestants celebrate All-Saints day
differently than our Roman Catholic Brothers and Sisters. In our faith, you don’t have to have miracles
attributed to you and be canonized by the Pope to be a Saint. Protestants typically regard all Christians,
those both in Heaven and on Earth, as saints.
On All-Saints Sunday, we practice what my German Evangelical ancestors
called a Totenfest. On this day, we
celebrate the lives of faithful Christians who have died – we remember
Christians who have gone home to meet their heavenly reward.
When we consider those faithful who
have died, we focus on people who lived out the teachings of our faith. They walked the walk when they talked the
talk. On this day, we fondly remember not
only our relatives and loved ones, but also the people who exemplified our
shared Christian faith in their lives – former pastors, Sunday School teachers,
Cemetery stewards, members who cared for our Property, former Consistory
members who operated as Elders and tended to the Spiritual life of our members,
former Consistory members who operated as Deacons and faithfully allotted our
church’s resources to care for our members-in-need and our church properties. We remember Christians who shared the stories
of their lives with others – they encouraged their fellow Christians with their
personal stories of overcoming hardships and living out our faith.
It is a lot easier to say you
are a faithful follower of God than it is to live like we are faithful
followers of God. God asks us to love God.
God asks us to love each other. This is easier said than done. We sometimes struggle to love God when we are
facing personal difficulties. We
sometimes struggle to love people who are different than us. We struggle to love people who hurt us. We struggle to love people who believe in different
political ideologies and moral principles than our own. It is easier to say we love our neighbors
than it is to actually love our neighbors.
And, it is sometimes painfully difficult for us to accept each other
despite our differences.
The saints who have gone before us
didn’t always think alike or look alike or vote the same way. But, they showed us that God’s people are diverse,
compassionate and kind. They set
examples for us of perseverance, strength, piety, and presence. As we work to embody Jesus’ teachings, I pray
we will be strengthened by the examples set before us by our Christian brothers
and sisters. May we model our lives on the
teachings of Jesus. May we live out God’s
teachings. May we be transformed by God’s
Holy Spirit, and may our actions, words and hearts be changed by God’s
love.
Amen.
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