Lessons for November 3, 2013

All Saints Day

Since Easter was about as early in the calendar as it can get this year the Pentecost Season and its lectionary has stretched to passages not normally handled. Today we take a break for one of the lesser festivals of the church year.

All Saints Day is properly November First the day following All Hallows Eve, or Hallowe'en. In the Lutheran Church it follows Reformation Sunday, also October 31. I believe it is safe to say that the observance serves to put a Christian Gloss on a festival the pre-dates Christianity by centuries. Various Sects hold this celebration at various times of the year. It should be stressed here on this day that saints are not those who have lived saintly lives or performed saintly acts but the priesthood of all believers who form the church universal, in this context we are all saints.

Today's lessons combine apocalyptic writings and passages delving into what it means to be a member of the communion of saints.

The pericope does its typical cherry-picking job leaving out the verses in Daniel that complete the message and making the passage supplied nearly meaningless. The intent appears to be the final verse which confirms that the saints will inherit the Kingdom of God Forever.

The Psalm praises God for his support and deliverance and his people's victory over their enemies. In fact the tone of its end verses is rather bloody-minded.

The Epistle confirms that Christ's Church, the communion of saints will inherit the Kingdom of God. It is worthwhile to remember that saints in this context are not saintly but rather the priesthood of all believers, the members of the church universal.

The Gospel in Luke lists several of the Beatitudes that form part of the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 and continues with a group of Woes and ends with:

Luk 6:31 Whatever you want people to do for you, do the same for them.

Are we being given a guide for how saints should behave? I think it's safe to say that I feel this group of lessons scrapes the bottom of the barrel and that I'm glad I don't personally have to preach a sermon based on them. The commentaries I've read tended to beat around the bush without attempting to find a theme or purpose for this group of lessons.

The beatitudes and woes appear to be a form of New Testament Wisdom Literature. This set seems to predict good things for the downtrodden and continue the theme of the ills that will befall the rich and successful in life especially if they fail to share their good fortune with others.

Lessons October

Psa 51:10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.
Psa 51:11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.
Psa 51:12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation: and uphold me with a free spirit.
Psa 51:13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.
Psa 51:14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation; and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.
Psa 51:15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
Psa 51:16 For thou delightest not in sacrifice; else would I give it: thou hast no pleasure in burnt offering.
Psa 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
Psa 51:18 Do good in thy good pleasure unto Zion: build thou the walls of Jerusalem.
Psa 51:19 Then shalt thou delight in the sacrifices of righteousness, in burnt offering and whole burnt offering: then shall they offer bullocks upon thine altar.

Throughout this season of Pentecost we've delved unflinchingly into the true nature of Christian Experience. We talked about faith, pride, sin, prayer, and our journey as believers. Today we confront the worship experience itself. Why do we come to church? Why do we dedicate beautiful elaborate structures to corporate worship? In an age when many are willing to list their religious preference as none it is still considered prudent for someone seeking political office to have a church affiliation. If our church affiliation is nothing more than an attempt to appear an upstanding pillar of society it is distasteful to our Lord. If we make show of our charitable giving we vaunt ourselves and prostitute our beneficiaries. Have you listened to those TV Evangelists who boldly pray as if they were on a first name basis with God. Is the comfortable pew an opportunity for a Sunday morning back rub and a nap during the sermon? Do our daily lives reflect the belief system we profess Sunday Morning.

To Jeremiah in today's OT Lesson the answer is a resounding "NO!" Our New Covenant belief system may not equate God's rejection of our worship with God's wrath as does Jeremiah but the sense of abandonment and shame are just as real.

The Psalmist glories in the presence of God's Temple. What does this Holy Place represent for him? Does it symbolize God's presence in his life?

In the privacy of his prison cell Paul is facing his death at the end of Second Timothy confident in the support and presence of his Lord.

So what of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Jesus parable. The Pharisee is certain of his place in the order of things. He is the centre of his own universe and God is simply a prop for his vanity. The Tax Collector is aware of his place as well and probably cringed at the sneering curl of the Pharisee's lip. This man humbled himself before God and made God the centre of his supplication.

So the message here is that in the sight of God we are all unworthy sinners. In that knowledge we gather for the support of the communion of all saints living and dead to confess those sins in an act of corporate worship, to repent, and receive absolution. The building and the rituals performed in it are secondary to the support of the priesthood of all believers who are God's living church. We can and should pray anywhere and everywhere but it is in the presence of each other that we truly feel God's presence among us. Lets be clear on this point, the church is not the building in which people gather but the communion of saints who there gather. All are equal before their God.