Sermons

FILTER BY:

← back to list

    Nov 03, 2019

    Well Done

    Well Done

    Passage: Mark 12:28-34

    Speaker: Rev. Vivian McCarthy, Pastor

    Today we celebrate that each and every one of the saints we remember today shared a love with us that helped us – in some way, no matter how infinitesimal – to feel and know the love of God or at the very least, to find God in our lives.

    Just what is sainthood about?  Sainthood is “not about perfection or superhuman holiness but simply love for God and neighbor.”  Jesus didn’t merely command love.  He loved.  He demonstrated love – often in unlikely settings.  He put love on display so we’d know the way, but his display isn’t just for watching; we receive his love, his embrace.”[1]  Disciples do our best to live and love like Jesus did. 

    Saints like the ones we are remembering today were friends of God.  They weren’t perfect.  Most of them lived rather ordinary lives.  They made mistakes.  They lost their tempers.  They laughed and cried and argued and made up.  Some of them were stubborn or chronically cranky.  Some of them were hilariously funny.  And we loved them, in spite of their flaws and imperfections. 

    Frederick Buechner, in his book The Sacred Journey, wrote:

    On All Saints' Day, it is not just the saints of the church that we should remember in our prayers, but all the foolish ones and wise ones, the shy ones and overbearing ones, the broken ones and whole ones, the despots and tosspots and crackpots of our lives who, one way or another, have been our particular fathers and mothers and saints, and whom we loved without knowing we loved them and by whom we were helped to whatever little we may have, or ever hope to have, of some kind of seedy sainthood of our own.

    And they did their best to be a friend of God – even on the days that they were less than exemplary witnesses to God’s ways.

    So, who is it that we remember today?

    A homemaker who was a shining example of the kind of frugality that we talked about just last Sunday – a woman who made every penny count and who was legendary for her ability to make scrumptious meals all year long because she preserved food at the height of freshness and for making beautiful clothing for her family – a woman who had very high standards that even when the family went camping there was an air of elegance to their accommodations.

    We also remember several people who were experts at having fun and providing memorable experiences for those that they loved or were lucky enough to be part of their lives.  One of these was a woman who love, love, loved to dance and would dress up – including in a chicken suit – just to pick up the kids from school!

    We remember a dad who, as his daughter described him, was always patient and kind.

    We remember a man who was a life-long Hindu who chose to be part of this congregation because he found Christianity to be a faith based on kindness.

    We also remember a man who was married for 56 years to the love of his life.  His wife said:

    Fifty-six years sounds like a very long time to be married to one person and it is except for me it went by much more quickly than I would have liked.  Richard literally raised me.  I learned so much from him including how to put a diaper on a baby correctly.  He was much better at it than I was.  The diapers I am speaking of were cloth and had to be folded first and put on the baby so they could not wiggle out of them.  Another thing I admired about him was his faith and his generosity to others.  He loved to give himself in time, funny stories, and money.

    More than one of our beloved that we remember today planted a love of music in the lives of their families and friends.  An organist.  A Barbershopper.   A grandmother whose son and granddaughter offer praise to God through music at every opportunity.

    Were they perfect?  No.  Sometimes far from it.  And sometimes the saints of God, in spite of their weaknesses, show us amazing glimpses of God, glimpses that help the rest of us lurch along in our so ordinary lives, reaching out to God for the strength to show an alternate reality to the world – the reality of God’s love and grace.  For example,

    Brian Doyle told of a couple whose child was born with no limbs. They freaked out; they just couldn't accept such a child. But the labor and delivery nurse and her husband were happy and eager to take the child home. They adopted her, and said she was "the best kid ever." After she died at age 8, they adopted more special needs children. Doyle wrote, "There really are people like that on this planet." 

    And yet, “These friends of God are not superhuman. Saints do not possess an extra layer of muscle. They are not taller, and they do not sport superior I.Q.s. They are not richer, and their parents are not more clever than yours or mine. They have no bat-like perception that enables them to fly in the dark. They are flesh and blood, just like you and me, no stronger, no more intelligent. And that is the point. They simply offer themselves to God, knowing they are not the elite, fully cognizant that they are inadequate to the task, that their abilities are limited and fallible.”[2]

    The saints we celebrate today are real flesh and blood people that we loved and lost.  We grieve that they are no more with us but celebrate that each and every one shared a love with us that helped us – in some way, no matter how infinitesimal – to feel and know the love of God or at the very least, to find God in our lives.  And for that, we are thankful.

    [1] James C. Howell, Ministry Matters, October 30th, 2018.  https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/9319/weekly-preaching-all-saints-day

    [2] James C. Howell, Ministry Matters, October 30th, 2018.  https://www.ministrymatters.com/all/entry/9319/weekly-preaching-all-saints-day