Rev. 7:9-17
Mt. 5:1-12

What a strange set of blessings these are. If I were to ask most of us what our blessings are, we would think of family, perhaps, first of all, and friends; and our material blessings--the things we have; maybe also some successes we've had-- a job perhaps.

But here Jesus seems to turn all those things around. What Jesus lists in the beatitudes may seem to us to be backward blessings. Not blessed are the rich and materially blessed, but blessed are the poor in spirit. Not blessed are those who have happy families and good friends, but blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Not blessed are those who are popular outgoing personalities, but blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth. And not blessed are those who have been successful at business in this life, but those who hunger and thirst to be right with God, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Yes, Jesus list of blessings, and those who have been blessed, may seem strange, compared to our usual values. Yet he has the right perspective, of course--an eternal one.

Jesus, then, reminds us, on this all Saints day, that we need to look at what are blessings and what aren't, in the light of our mortality. And if we'll do that, we'll see that those blessings, that last--that have eternal value, are the real ones. With that lesson--showing us our real blessings, Jesus tells us some important truths about how we should be living our lives --that we should do so in the light of eternity. To discover our true blessings, maybe we should ask then who are the true saints. For they clearly, eternally blessed.

Well think about those you would consider saints. Aren't they first of all those who, instead of working their whole lives to accumulate and keep material or monetary blessings, have rather lived out their lives in a giving way--people who have given of themselves--rather than spending their whole lives accumulating and keeping?

That's an extremely important thought as we look ahead to Consecration Sunday next week. As Christians we need to ask ourselves, are we givers that we might bring new life to others, or are we keepers, as if we could somehow protect what we have that is valuable. These are hard times economically that we live in, so we might be tempted with our church pledge for example, to hold back this year, instead of letting our giving grow. But have we not learned in this year of investments shrinking, that hanging on to what we have is futile. Whereas when we give of ourselves to bring new life to the world, we create growth, and ever more new life.

Unfortunately, if we get into more a protective mode, then, I think we're a bit like the dog in that old but true story from World War II? The dog was the mascot of four American fliers, stationed in England. One day the fliers discovered that the dog loved to play with ice cubes-- they were thirst quenching, ice cubes were, and endlessly fascinating. So every time they had a chance those airmen would give the dog their ice cubes just to see him play and go nuts with joy--sliding them around the floor, chasing them, and so forth.

Then one day they noticed that the dog instinctively started to prolong his pleasure by digging a hole in the ground so that his prize, the ice cubes might be safely stored--just as some dogs would bury a bone. But later of course, he would return, only to paw, sniff, and dig, in a vain effort to reclaim his ice cubes.

Well we smile at that old story--but yet, in what way are we exactly like that dog. In what ways do we dig holes for ourselves, you and I. The gifts that God has given you --are they buried out of fear or in some vain attempt to safely secure them for the future, or do you share them with and for . . life--to give life to those in need, to work for God who has blessed you so, or to multiply those gifts so that many more can receive new life in God's world. Ask those questions of yourself today, brothers and sisters in Christ, for indeed, if they're not used for love, for life, for God--all of our gifts, thus buried, have a way of melting away. Instead of blessings for us, they become worthless. Indeed, any gift not used, given away in one sense or another, becomes useless. But when used for others and for God with love, then indeed, our gifts take on eternal significance.

But then of course, in times such as this when our economy seems to be hurting us all, one of the reasons we may well think we have to hang on to what we have protectively, is because we're afraid of being hurt. Yet as we heard in the beatitudes of Jesus, in God's world, where resurrection follows the crosses of our lives, even times when we hurt the most, are turned by God then, ultimately into new life. There were several examples in the beatitudes: remember--when we hunger and thirst, we'll be satisfied; when we mourn we'll be comforted; when we're persecuted for Christ sake, our reward will be great in heaven. Yes, so in God's world, when we struggle, we learn and gain strengths for the next time of struggle. When we hurt, God brings us healing, and on this All Saints we indeed to affirm, that even death itself is not to be feared, for God's greatest blessing, that seems a backward one according to our usual values, is that in God's world, when we give of our lives for God, new life, eternal life follows, thanks to the grace of God. Those who lose their life for my sake will find it, said Jesus. You see, we need not fear being hurt when we consider giving of ourselves, for hurts lead to new life in God's world.

When I was little, I had a bit of a balance problem, so one of the things that was very hard for me to learn to do was to roller skate. This was in the days of the clip-on roller skates with the metal wheels--kids didn't have in-line skates with the plastic wheels, or any of that then, But it was great fun, nonetheless. In fact, I enjoyed skating so much that despite my balance problem, I really wanted to learn--so I can remember spending hours in our garage, which had a nice and smooth, large cement floor for skating, where I would go at it day after day--skating away, falling on my knees, getting up again skating some more, falling on my knees, and so it went, until after awhile, I can remember that I had badly bruised, black and blue knees--for several weeks that summer. (This of course was before the day that knee pads and elbow pads or even helmets were readily available). Now the bruised knees worried my parents somewhat but it didn't stop me from skating, because I knew I was learning; and I enjoyed the skating when I was on my feet. After all, for a little boy who had taken longer than most to learn to walk--to go the next step then and learn to skate, well--that was like flying. So I just didn't pay any attention to the knees, until yes, finally I learned, and could stay on my feet all the time. Well, almost all the time. So for a long time after that, even well into my adult years, if I got a chance to go roller skating I would enjoy it greatly.

If we focussed, you see, just on our down times--our bruised knees--what miserable suffering lives we would have; but if we'll keep our eyes instead on the growth and the new life that lies ahead, even life after death itself, then even our down times are transformed--we handle them, and by facing them--oh what heavenly blessings they will lead us to again. So we need not fear being hurt, as we consider how we are to give of ourselves to life, whether on Consecration next week, or in any part of our lives, for such giving, even if it leads to hurts or struggling will always lead in God's world to new life, even eternally.

Then addition to giving instead of protecting or keeping what we have, and facing hurts with hope, instead of hiding what we have in fear, Jesus taught us that we need to learn to give of ourselves for others, rather than being protective for just ourselves and our own family. Yes, Jesus called us to be peacemakers--to reach out with love to the world, not just to be protective of our little family or territory or nation. Rather, when we give of ourselves with love for others, instead of just thinking of our own people, God indeed blesses us--for then we help God's love to grow and grow, and the world in which we live, after all, together, becomes a far more loving place.

Some of you have heard me share with you that right after our marriage, Peggy and I because of what was then our recent accident, and her disability being new to us, that we lived with another couple. That was life saving on the one hand, but also a great sacrifice for that couple. If you don't think that was difficult, letting another couple live with you, you don't understand what it was like. After all, newlyweds like to be alone right?--as they were newly weds, too, relatively. And yet though we had a very large apartment, with our respective bedrooms at opposite ends of the house for privacy, still we had to give up some of our independence as couples, and adjust to the different lifestyles of another couple, and face life's little unpleasantries which come with such situations like living through the time when the other couple were trying to housebreak a new puppy. It was hard--that year, and we each had to sacrifice, but because they were such good friends to begin with, and because we faithfully stuck it out, it did enable Peggy and I to have time to adjust to her disability, we survived that first year with the other couple, and remained friends when we parted and finally went on our own. God got us through it, and as a result, we learned some valuable lesson for our marriage and our ministry that will always be with us. Most importantly, because they were willing to sacrifice greatly for us, they launched us on our married life together, getting us over a difficult time of adjustment to Peggy's disability, so they truly gave us a whole new life--and now Peg and I have been married nearly 40 years.

You see brothers and sisters in Christ, instead of our usual ideas about blessings, God takes what may not seem to be blessings at all, and turns them into life--heavenly blessings indeed. When we use and give of our material blessings instead of accumulating and protecting them for ourselves--like burying our ice cubes, then we are blessed. When we give more, instead of being afraid of how giving ourselves might hurt us--we are blessed--for we realize that God is a healing God, who turns hurts and sacrifice into new strengths and new life, yes so we are blessed. And when we give of ourselves for others, that they might have new life --then once more, you see, we become blessed indeed. We come to know, then the life of the saints--those who have given themselves for God. And the good news is--those blessings are eternal.

So today, as we share at the table together, know the saints of years gone by who commune with us there. They gave of themselves for us, and called us to be a giving people, too without fear. And next Sunday, as we come to make our pledges for the new year, let us remember that it is indeed when we become a giving people, rather than a protective people that we are blessed indeed, in this life, and indeed, unto eternity. Amen.