All Saints (Observed)
Blessed? Saints?
Matthew 5:1-12
2 November 2014 – Redeemer
And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Mt 5:2-3
Larry was a deacon who worked for the congregation in Rome. One day the authorities – soldiers of the King stopped by and demanded that Larry turn over the treasury of the church, checking, savings, and everything in the safety deposit box, anything of value in the church. If Larry didn’t comply he would be killed. Larry spent the next few days giving away all the riches of the church to the poor in Rome and then brought the poor before the governor and said, “Here are the treasures of the church!” Larry was condemned to death. As the story goes he was bound to a grill and laid over an open fire. The year was 258 A.D.
Would you say that Larry was blessed? Do you think he is a Saint? He is indeed a Saint. The Church commemorates St. Lawrence, Deacon and Martyr on August 10th of each year. How do you judge a man like Lawrence? You probably hesitate to say he is blessed because he was killed in a horrible way. But you would probably agree with the Church’s acclamation that he is a saint because he was courageous and faithful even when threatened by death. But note well your judgment of Larry is based on Larry – how he lived and how he died.
The appointed Gospel reading for All Saints Day according to Saint Matthew is summarized by one word – Blessed. The Saints of God are blessed.
Are you blessed? Your answer to that question varies as much as the wind this past week. Some days we enjoy clear, calm, and sunny and that is blessed weather. Other days the wind blows out of the Northwest and we feel the accursed cold in our bones. We feel blessed when a child or grandparent receives a report of good health after a medical test. We feel blessed when a son or daughter returned safely from deployment. We feel blessed when we escape life’s problems momentarily in the deer stand or at the family Thanksgiving table. And there are other times when we seem to be cursed – when a child dies, when a job is lost, when we’re hit with an unexpected blast of the cold and dark life in this fallen world.
Are you blessed? It all depends doesn’t it? Some days you complain with the Psalmist, “For the waters have come up to my neck. I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold; I have come to the deep waters and the flood sweeps over me. (Ps. 69:2) And other times you join him in adoration, I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bounteously with me. (Ps. 13:6) So if you are looking at your life, you don’t really know if you are blessed.
So much for blessed, what about saint? Are you a saint? To that question the great majority of us would respond “No!” We need to look no farther than the commandment provided for our meditation in the bulletin. Has my life been full of craving? Have I been stingy or indulgent with my money? Do I keep wishing for and dreaming about things I do not have? Just one commandment points out the depth of our sin against God who gives us our daily bread.
Are you blessed? Are you a saint? Are you a blessed Saint? Where do look for the answers. It has been a little while since I reminded you of the top three answers to questions in the Lutheran Church. Answer one: Jesus. Answer two: Word and Sacrament: Answer three: Yes and No.
Jesus says “blessed are you.” When Jesus says something it is so. When He says, “It is finished” it is finished. When He says, “Father forgiven them.” They are forgiven. When He says, “Thomas, stop doubting and believe.” Thomas is brought from unbelief to belief in his risen Lord.
Jesus says, “blessed are you.” How can that be? How can you be blessed simply because someone says so? On Tuesday we will cast our votes in this democracy for men and woman who have promised us blessing upon blessing if they are elected. We all know from experience that we will not get what we were promised. So how can we trust Jesus? How do we know He delivers? Because He delivered on every promise made in the Scriptures. Jesus was born of a woman, under the Law, according to God’s Word. He was baptized into your sin, according to God’s Word. He took your place in the flesh, with your sin, under your curse, all the way to His plot in Calvary cemetery according to the promises of God. You can trust Jesus. He rose from the dead according to His Word. He delivered on forgiveness for you. He delivered on life after death. He delivered on the resurrection after the grave.
The Word and Sacraments of Jesus declare, “You are blessed.” You are blessed by baptism – you are cleansed of your sins and marked as God’s own child. You are blessed by absolution – you have been forgiven by your pastor in the stead and the command of Jesus. You are blessed by communion – you eat and drink the very body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. The Word and Sacraments of Jesus answer, “yes” you are blessed.
Are you blessed? Are you a Saint? Yes, says Jesus. Yes, says Jesus through His Word and Sacrament. “Yes, amen,” says your faith, but your eyes say, “No, not yet.” That’s the “yes and no” of the Christian life. Sin still clings to you, but it is losing its grip. Satan still accuses you, but he’s wasting his breath. You live in a fallen world where children die, and arteries clog, and joints stiffen, and husbands cheat and children rebel and parents grow stubborn and neighbors can be unneighborly.
Saint Lawrence was a blessed Saint not because of Lawrence, but because of Christ. He was not made a Saint by his courage, but by Christ. His death, horrible as it was, was a blessing because He died in Christ. If you want to know whether you are blessed of God, or a Saint in His eyes, you need to close your eyes, ignore your feelings and experiences and listen to Jesus, hear Jesus, receive Jesus. For this is what He says of you who know your sins and realize the poverty of your own righteousness. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Are you a blessed saint? Yes, absolutely yes. That yes is declared in God’s Word, given in the Sacraments, and received by faith. Yes you are a blessed Saint in the name of Jesus. Amen.