The Good News!

Welcome! I am the Rev. Ken Saunders. I serve as the rector of St. James Episcopal Church in Greeneville, Tennessee (since May 2018). These sermons here were delivered in the context of worship at the various places I have served.

[NOTE: Sermons (or Homilies) are commentaries that follow the scripture lessons, and are specifically designed to be heard. They are "written for the ear" and may contain sentence fragments and be difficult to read. They are NOT intended to be academic papers.]

Sunday, November 5, 2017

Year A - All Saints' Sunday - November 5, 2017

The Rev. Kenneth H Saunders III
Trinity Church
Towson, MD

Year A - All Saints' Sunday - November 5, 2017

Revelation 7:9-17
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12


If I told you - that you, as a baptized Christian, a believer in Jesus Christ, were a saint, would you believe it? Or would you feel guilty, because for some reason you felt like you have come up short?… For some reason, you would be embarrassed because you didn’t feel worthy of sainthood.

Being a saint, or being called a saint, it’s not comfortable for many people and it’s not easy. Saints have been identified throughout history as ones who are recognized as holy… or having that unique closeness to God. At this point, I would ask if it’s just not comfortable, or is it not fashionable?

Society has shown us, by its actions that being a saint is not important… That being holy is something that religious people do… That It’s not relevant to our life. Society has hijacked the Sabbath… one of those big 10 that we talked about last week and said work is the ruler and rest is the enemy…

Society has replaced God with other things of worship… Like the Dow Jones index or the latest sports superstar… Society has told us that it’s not cool to love and follow Jesus, to walk in Jesus way, and do those things that help us develop a closeness to God. To nurture our relationship in a community of believers… to seek to understand more closely who we are, by understanding to whom we belong… Not possessed, but empowered by God to make a difference in the world.

Today is ALL SAINTS’ SUNDAY. And we understand saints to everyone with a faith and belief in God in Jesus Christ. We believe God is the creator, redeemer, and sustainer of life, love, and relationship… God is the source and the radiance of ALL being, yet we are timid and afraid to claim it for ourselves. God loves each and every one of us… So deeply, it’s indescribable!

There aren’t words in any vocabulary that brings justice to the depth of that love… When Jesus walked on this earth, he showed us how much God loves us… He showed us by what he taught… He showed us by what he did… Up on the mount, Jesus taught the complete reciprocal of what society taught (and still teaches)…

Society taught (and still teaches) that if you are strong and rich and powerful that you must obviously be blessed… Jesus teaches the opposite when he says, blessed are the poor, and meek, and merciful… Don’t misunderstand… meekness isn’t weakness, but a bridled strength under control.

Society teaches that if it feels good, regardless of how vile or corrupt, that you are certainly blessed… Jesus teaches… Blessed are the pure in heart…

Society teaches that you don’t need a savior, that if you work hard enough and are a good person, then you can save yourself...  Jesus teaches that following him has worldly consequences, but great rewards… 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.

Society teaches the evils of selfishness my & mine… Jesus teaches that the hungry and thirsty will be filled. No wonder most of the folks who say they follow Jesus are scared to admit it in society… Sainthood is difficult and in 2000 years it hasn’t gotten any easier.

Today, we celebrate the saints… Not just those whose day shows up on the liturgical calendar… But ALL THE SAINTS… Those past, present, and yet to come… Those who have a faith and trust in God in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Today we have a special opportunity to bring, into our community, into our fellowship Dominic Reagle, Charlotte Burton, and Everly Bryan. Those little saints, those innocent souls whose parents have said that they want them to grow up in this world believing in something that this world does not know or even comprehend…

They want them to have the faith to make sense of their life when their life doesn’t make sense… They want them to have the strength of Christ when they are weakened by the trials and tribulations of evils of this world…

They want them to love others as God loves them completely and inexhaustibly… seeking to serve justice and respecting the dignity of every human being…

That’s a tall order… And we know it’s not easy to be a saint. It’s never been easy to be a saint. That’s why the whole community of faith is here – gathered together promising with them to help uphold the promises, helping them uphold the faith… Help them to grow and learn and love and become life giving and reconciling presence in this world.

That is our purpose as proclaimed followers of Jesus Christ as part of the Jesus Movement in the world. To nurture and develop a closeness with God modeled after the teachings of Jesus. Our purpose is to become saints…

Sainthood is not easy brothers and sisters, and I call you brothers and sisters because even though some of us are grown we are all children…  Children of God and joint heirs with Christ… Brought to God by adoption in baptism and each loved by God beyond measure… Loved and given an inheritance that we will not understand until it comes to fruition and is revealed to us…

So when we finally experience the heavenly kingdom, we can sing…  "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." 
           

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