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11/4/07: Festival of All Saints (“C”)

Rev. Karen S. Cook

Luke 6:20-31 (Pew Bible p. 895)

ADVICE FROM THE OVERLAP

It’s All Saints Day. Today, more intentionally than on any other day, we give thanks for all those who paved the Way of Jesus Christ before us. We celebrate the lives of those who have shown us the Way that leads to life. And it is on days like today where the veil between this life and the next can be so very, very thin.

The Festival of All Saints is one of those days we remember our Baptisms or the baptism you may have someday. In baptism we wear Jesus Christ just like we put on new clothes. And in death will we wear the new clothes of Christ too. Sometimes it’s a struggle to remember to get out of bed and remember it’s God you wear. But we remember Jesus who said, “I am Alpha & Omega; the first & the last. I died, and behold I am alive forever more.” We remember Jesus’ promise of Resurrection to eternal life on the Festival of All Saints too. St. Paul says, “Listen I will tell you a mystery. We shall not all die. We shall be changed.”

As believers of the Way, we are called to change. Jesus tells us that we are the light of the world - now. That’s what this candle is all about. It’s the Light of Christ that couldn’t be put out. The Light of Christ survived a funeral and a grave. The Light of Christ is the thing that keeps you and me listening, the Light of Christ is the thing that keep us listening for the Way that leads to Life – with a capital “L” – not for “L”oser (on your forehead), but for “L”ife. (Do the American Sign Language for Life - 2 “L” hands pointing down in front of your belly & drawn up your midsection like a fountain, turning to point upward w/ both “L” hands.) It’s the kind of Light that comes from deep within that reaches out toward that One who is so much bigger than we are; so much bigger than anything else.

I believe that the Communion of Saints live in that perfect Overlap of heaven and earth. God dwells in that perfect Overlap – embracing our loved ones as friends even as they bow down before the Divine One – the Most Holy One who is transcendent and indwelling all at the same time. It is the place of the Cross – the intersection of time and eternity.

Where do you dwell when it comes to the Overlap of heaven and earth? Do you see yourself reaching in – almost as if you can’t wait until that time when you rejoin the people you’ve loved? Do you feel God reaching out of the Overlap – almost as if there’s an offer of a helping hand? Or do you find yourself hanging in the balance where earth is starting to swallow you up? Maybe you find yourself living on the farthermost part of the earthly circle. On days like today, I actually feel as if I’m on that part that is just outside the Overlap, but also outside the earthly circle too. I don’t feel so much inside the earth as I do outside the Overlap hoping that I hand will extend so I can just get a glimpse of life as I pray it will be someday.

Even on those days where we feel the farthest away from the Overlap, there is hope. Because everyone knows, the earth revolves. Opportunities will come and go. Choices will be made that push us away from God’s ultimate dream. But the earth will revolve, and God will be closer, and the people we love will beckon to us.

We depend a lot on the voice of our saints every Sunday in worship. We depend on the voice of our saints a lot in our every day lives. This is what it means to be Christian. We depend on the living voice of dead people. We want to hear their advice. We hear what may be the familiar words of the Beatitudes this morning, and we hear the wisdom of Jesus. These are words our parents told us, and their parents told them, and our friends echo them as we walk in the Way that leads to Life.

Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you.
Turn the other cheek.
Do good to those who hate you.
Let your enemies bring out the best in you.
Bless those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you.
When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer for that person.
And if someone takes your coat – gift wrap your shirt too.
Give to everyone who begs from you.
Live generously.
Practice the servant life.

These are all qualities of the Overlap – this is God’s dream. And we thank God that people we’ve known have reminded us that this is the Way, the Truth and the Life.

It’s days like today where I give thanks to God for the Communion of Saints because whatever else eternal life is – we can know it from our own connections to the Saints of the church and of our lives. It’s days like today when we practice breaking down the barriers that we’ve put up. Today, we remember all those who are reaching through the wall of the Overlap as they remind us of the Golden Rule and the Great Commandment to love God and one another. And maybe we will reach into the Overlap and find that Christ has a Table set and is waiting for us, because He has loved us all along, and He’s invited us to follow Him, and He’s invited us to be like Him. There is a Way into the Overlap during every Communion service. We can breech all the walls in our lives at the Table – walls from the past & the future – walls between us now.

I can feel these people here at the Table today. I think you can feel them too. And it’s not all about the past… It’s about new dimensions; a new heaven and a new earth. It’s about finding a way into the Overlap; the Overlap of heaven and earth; the Overlap where Christ presides at the Table. It’s about being together, reaching through all the barriers to the Way… so we may commune with the Saints. Today is All Saints’ Day. And you are invited to remember the saints you know.

Amen.