CELEBRATING OUR HALOS

Sunday - 30th October 2005

Kingdom Season 1  |  Year A  |  Proper 26 Track 1  |  Ordinary Time Week 31

Revelations 7.9-17  |  1 John 3.1-1  |  Matthew 5.1-12 : To see the current week's readings, click here

This week's terrible joke... An old preacher was dying. He sent a message for his banker and his lawyer, both church members, to come to his home.

When they arrived, they were ushered up to his bedroom. As they entered the room, the preacher held out his hands and motioned for them to sit on each side of the bed. The preacher grasped their hands, sighed contentedly, smiled, and stared at the ceiling. For a time, no one said anything.

Both the banker and lawyer were touched and flattered that the preacher would ask them to be with him during his final moments. They were also puzzled; the preacher had never given them any indication that he particularly liked either of them. They both remembered his many long, uncomfortable sermons about greed, covetousness, and avaricious behaviour that made them squirm in their seats.

Finally, the banker said, "Preacher, why did you ask us to come?"

The old preacher mustered up his strength and then said weakly, "Jesus died between two thieves, and that's how I want to go."

AULD LANG SYNE

The old church year is drawing to a close... and November becomes a time of remembrances, and we look back before setting our sights on a new year. So we have All Saints tide, All Souls, and Remembrance Sunday before Advent sees the start of the New Year. This final section of the Church’s year is also called the Kingdom Season. These various remembrances are set in the context of Christ our King. We recall that our King calls us to follow where he has gone before... through the highs and lows... through suffering and rejection... through abandonment and death... through resurrection and triumph. So our remembrances this season are not hope-less lamentings of what has - or who have - passed, but rejoicings of what we gained from those who have gone before us, and rejoicing in the Christian hope that we will be reunited with them as we draw nearer to the throne of Christ our King.

THERE MORE TO THIS THAN MEETS THE EYE...

All Saints marks the beginning of the Kingdom Season as we remember that there is much more to this world - and the Christian life in particular - than we can see. We are surrounded by a host of witnesses, as the writer to the Hebrews puts it (Hebrews 12.1). We are being cheered on by those in the stadium who’ve been there before us, as we make our way round the track.

There is only One Church - we say that in the creed (“one holy catholic and apostolic church...”), because there is but one God, one Lord of all (Ephesians 4.4-6). But there are two “branches” of the Church if you like: the Church Militant here on earth and the Church Triumphant in glory. The dividing line may be death, but it’s not the finishing line - the party goes on!

This time of the year is a chance to remind ourselves of the other branch of the Church, to rejoice that death is an interruption, not a final destination. We go through the valley of the shadow of death...(Psalm 23.4)

THE “BIG NAME” SAINTS

All Saints tide rejoices in the “big name” saints we might well have heard about. Their example inspires us, their prayers now aid us - they are not stuck in suspended animation, or sitting wistfully on a cloud strumming a harp, but actively involved in worshipping God and in interceding for us.

All Souls is the time we remember the “small name” saints - those whom we knew and love, and at the mass on Wednesday evening here at St John’s we’ll be remembering them, giving thanks for them and continuing to pray for them.

US TOO...

“Saints” is a funny title because whilst on the one hand it might cause us to think of terribly holy and pious people, the scriptures talk about us as the saints... It’s another word for Christian! Some of us manage to better live up to that title than others, and we have good moments as well as less good ones... but it’s very biblical to call each other the Saints of God!

And what marks us out as Saints? There are many answers to that one, but here are two marks: our baptism (our inclusion into the household of God); and our behaviour.

Our baptism is the seal of the Holy Spirit given entirely and purely by God’s grace, not dependent on our worthiness or cleverness... and our behaviour is the way we are allowing God the Holy Spirit to change us. A few weeks ago I told you that quotation from Bishop Kallistos Ware... it’s been living with me over the past few weeks as a lovely summary of our discipleship. He wrote that our role as growing disciples was to move “from the divine image of God into the divine likeness”. And because it’s a longer than life time’s work that’s one reason why I don’t think we’ll be sitting around strumming harps on fluffy clouds in heaven - more of that on Wednesday!

THE BEATITUDES

And that brings us neatly to the gospel - part of the sermon on the mount - in which Jesus lists the qualities of those who live in the kingdom of God, under the King... They have been called the attitudes of righteousness, they have been called beautiful attitudes, and they are most commonly known as the Beatitudes. Beautiful they may be, but they set a very high standard of moral wisdom about life!

The structure of Aramaic in which Jesus spoke them doesn’t always come through in our translations. The Beatitudes are not a series of optimistic pious hopes for the future - not some nebulous future vision of future bliss; they are exclamations about the here and now - exclamations we are designed to live.

STATEMENT OF FACT

When Jesus spoke them the closer phrases would have been “Oh the blessedness of the poor in spirit...” That’s how we should understand them when we read “Blessed are the poor in spirit...” - the poor in spirit are blessed NOW, not in some hopeful future way. The Beatitudes are congratulations on what is but also challenges to our way of behaving!

Christianity is not some pie-in-the-sky-when-you-die hope, it’s about life NOW.

The beatitudes remind us that there is tremendous joy and blessing and happiness in following Jesus now. The word ‘blessed’ is a state, rather than an aspiration - as Christians we are blessed, fortunate, happy - we have deep, serene joy - not dependent on outward circumstance or the whims of Fate or whatever.

SO WHAT DO THEY MEAN?

So as Saints of God we are called to realise our helplessness - our dependence on God’s grace and mercy and to trust in him - OR - “blessed are the poor in spirit”

As Saints of God our hearts are broken for the world’s suffering, as God’s heart is too - OR - “blessed are those who mourn”

As Saints of God we are called to be angry at the right time, our passions God- controlled with the humility to realise our own ignorance & weakness - OR - “blessed are the meek”

As Saints of God we are called to long for righteousness - OR - “blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”

As Saints of God we are called to step into the shoes of others, to have empathy and compassion - OR - “blessed are the merciful”

As Saints of God the purer our motives the easier it is to see God - OR - “blessed are the pure in heart”

As Saints of God we are called to have right relationships with those around us, honouring and respecting them - OR - “blessed are the pure in heart”

And as Saints of God we won’t find these attitudes easy to maintain, and they will not universally endear us to everybody we meet - OR - “blessed are you when people revile you”

And in all these beautiful attitudes we are being transformed from the divine image towards the divine likeness. So to help achieve this moulding we enlist the help of our prayer-partners the Saints: those around us today, and those cheering us on from the stands, both big names and little names!

We live a very Spartan - even unthinkable - life if we ignore the saints, big and small. For the big name saints there is so much to gain from looking at their lives, their examples of holiness, their struggles with problems which confront us, their attempts to make sense of life and faith in the face of a hostile world, but not as dry dusty forgotten two dimensional characters - as people who live now in the closer presence of God and cheer us on as we struggle to walk the Way of Christ.

Fr Andrew J Perry
Rector, St John the Evangelist, Pevensey Rd, St Leonards on Sea