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October 31…Halloween. It seems
to get bigger every year. On my street, there are more
decorations, more lights, more pumpkins, more ghosts and
goblins. November 1, on the other hand, passed with little
notice. For John Wesley, it was just the opposite. It was
his favorite holiday. Reading his journals, you can pass
December 25 with hardly a word about Christmas, and you can
comb through his entries from February to June any year and
hardly determine Ash Wednesday or Good Friday. But on
November 1, Wesley goes into fits of ecstasy. He tells you
what text he preached from and where. He cites Brother
Charles’ hymn for the day. He even delayed the dedication of
Wesley’s Chapel on City Road in London until November 1,
1778. It was his favorite day of the year.
The day is important not only
because it is important to remember those who have died, but
also to lift up the models of a life “to die for” (as the
saying goes)—a life worth living.
1. A life worth living is
a life rooted in the past.
It is important to recall what
one author called “the endless line of splendor” of
those who have gone before, those who have lived and died in
the faith, those who have modeled for us lives worth living.
Here, in this place and pulpit, we remember Dr. Runkel, Dr.
Thomas, Dr. Wright and Charlie Beynon. But more important
than the pulpiteers are the countless people who have filled
the pews and the community with their lives of faith and
service. Friends and family, husbands and wives, sons and
daughters, those who have lived and died. We are all
connected, growing out of their lives, rooted in the past.
Stephen’s sermon (which you will
need to read in its entirety) traces God’s movement through
the past and connects it with the word of Jesus and the
resurrection. He takes them back to the beginning and says
that this “new faith” is not really so new. It is an
outgrowth of all that has gone before, rooted in the old
covenant, now made new in Jesus Christ.
And I would suggest that in a
day like ours, a time of rapid change and massive upheaval,
we need to find our anchor in a faith deeply rooted in
tradition. I make no apology for what we do here—this space,
this music, this liturgy, this table and this font reach far
back into the history of the faith because we are rooted in
tradition.
If you have visited Duke
University Chapel, you know it is not really a chapel at
all. It is a great cathedral. It is called the “Gothic
Cathedral of the South” and it looks like something out of
medieval Europe, transplanted in the hills of North
Carolina. Bishop Will Willimon was for many years the dean
of the chapel. Commenting on the many tourists who shuffle
through the place, he says he thinks one of the reasons they
come is that “…in a day of disposable diapers, throw-away
wedding gowns, biodegradable garbage bags and plastic
everything, people are hungry for something that gives a
sense of stability, a sense of permanence, as if to witness
to something that will last forever.” (Quoted in James
Harnish’s sermon, “Till All Heaven Breaks Loose,” Nov. 22,
1987)
The Confirmation class is in
worship together this morning and I want to ask them, “Do
you think much of what we do here seems out of date? Is the
hymn language archaic, does the imagery seem antiquated?”
Well, of course it is! That is just the point. We are not
making this up as we go. Our faith is deeply rooted in a
long tradition, reaching back two thousand years to Jesus
Christ and, in fact, all the way back to the very beginning,
the “Genesis” of all that exists, the creation. So we sing:
How firm a foundation, ye saints
of the Lord,
is laid for your faith in his excellent word.
Lives worth living, and the
people we honor today have a firm foundation…
2. Rooted in tradition,
but not root-bound by tradition.
Lives worth living keep an eye
on the future.
Let me tell you about my Boston
fern. We have had it for more than six years and I haven’t
managed to kill it yet. It still looks beautiful. We put it
outside for the summer, and just last week I brought it in
for the winter. Amazingly, what I discovered when we brought
it inside is that the poor plant is obviously outgrowing its
pot. New sprouts are trying to make their way out of the
little watering holes in the bottom of the pot. It is
desperately root-bound, desperately seeking new life.
This church, this faith, is
rooted in tradition, but not root-bound by it. We are
looking, stretching for the future, trying to break out of
the old pot in new ways—Sunday Night Alive and plans for a
fifth worship service, “Emerge” ministries and new
technology, all growing out of our tradition but seeking to
express it in vital, creative, new ways.
Len Sweet coined the phrase
“ancient-future faith”—an ancient faith is deeply rooted in
the rich past and oriented to the future.
Luke says that when Stephen
tried to preach the new word, the Good News, the crowds
thought he was the enemy. They said, “He is speaking out
against this holy place and the law. He is breaking our
customs.” (That is to say, “We never did it this way
before!”) They couldn’t endure his preaching. Luke says:
When they heard his words, they
were enraged and ground their teeth against him. But he,
full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven, and saw the
glory of God.
A life worth living is rooted in
the past, but gazes toward heaven. It has its eye on the
future, looking for the glory of God.
These whom we honor today in the
name of St. Stephen…they looked beyond the suffering of the
present and the moment of death to catch a glimpse of the
glory of God. Rooted, but not root- bound…living for the
future.
3. And Stephen learned
that a life worth living, a life to die for, is a life of
giving.
Flash back to last week.
Remember Stephen’s whole life and ministry was a life of
service, a ministry of food, caring for the widows, giving
of himself until in the end he gave his very life.
And when we look at ourselves in
the mirror, when we take a deep look at our lives and the
lives of people who have inspired us, we discover that a
life worth living is not found in how much we get,
but it is measured by what we give. A life worth
living is the life of giving.
The cover article of Time
Magazine in September was entitled “Does God Want You To
Be Rich?”, the debate over the so-called gospel of wealth.
It featured some of the biggest preachers of the day:
- Joel Osteen, pastor of the
largest church in America
- Joyce Meyer, one of the most
popular TV evangelists
- Kirby John Caldwell, pastor of
the largest United Methodist church in America
…all espousing something of the
“gospel of prosperity.”
And I would say there is an
element of truth to the word they proclaim. God does want us
to do our best, to be our best, to discover the joy of all
that God can give us. But the article also quotes Rick
Warren from Saddleback Church: “The idea that God wants
everybody to be wealthy? Baloney. It’s creating a false
idol. You don’t measure your self-worth by your net worth.”
(Time Magazine, Sept. 18, 2006, page 55)
A life worth living is measured
not by what we get, but by what we give. A
life worth living, rooted in the past, with an eye on the
future. It is a life of giving.
Bruce Modahl shares a beautiful
childhood memory for All Saints Day. He says:
In the early evenings of my
childhood, the mothers in the neighborhood stuck their heads
out the back careen doors and called to their children.
“Bruce, come home for supper,” my mother sang. “Coming,” I
chanted back.
“Roberta, Alan, Dale, Steve,
Terry, time for supper,” the other mothers sang in turn. We
broke off our play and headed for the family dinner table.
Standing at the Lord’s Table on
All Saints Sunday, I call to supper all of those who have
gone before us. “Coming,” they reply.
And we join our voices with
theirs and here, in this Lord’s supper, the distance between
heaven and earth thins out, the great divide grows porous,
the Jordan River narrows, and we sit down to supper
together.
(Bruce Modahl, Christian
Century, Oct. 27, 1999, page 1025)
O blessed
communion, fellowship divine
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine.
Yet, all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia. Alleluia.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
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