Death is a part of Life

November 3, 2019 Ephesians 1:11-23 Death is a Part of Life All Saint’s Sunday Year C Children’s Sermon Children’s Sermon Good morning. Today is a special day in our church. Of course, every day is special when we can be together. But some days are more special than others. Today’s special day is called All Saints Day. Can you say that with me? All Saints Day. Did you know that you are a saint? A saint, in the Bible, is what people in the church called each other. “I am a saint, you are a saint, we are all saints together.” Saints in the Bible are those who seek to follow Jesus. So, you see, I think you must be a saint because I know you try to follow Jesus: loving God, neighbor, and even your enemies. But sometimes you will hear somebody called “Saint So and So.” Or maybe you have friends who go to St. Matthew’s Church. It is named after one of Jesus’ disciples named Matthew. Sometimes famous people who did wonderful things get called saints. And sometimes at church, you might hear someone talk about someone who died. They might say, “He was a real saint.” This is a way of remembering someone that we really liked who followed Jesus. Today we are remembering some saints in our church. We are remembering people who died in the last year. Did you ever know anyone who has died? When someone dies we usually feel sad. And we might cry because we loved them. Because they were saints, because they tried to follow Jesus and helped us to follow Jesus, we do things to honor them. And today, we will remember them by reading their names in worship. I give thanks every week for the ways you show me how to follow Jesus. You are Jesus’ saints. Yes, children are Jesus’ saints, and Jesus knew you would be and he told adults, “become like children to enter God’s kingdom.” Saint Children, Stewardship Moment This morning we are reminded of the sacredness of life. God is all around us. Everything about life is special because of the presence of the Holy Spirit. We can see God’s presence in so many ways. In our family and friends, in the life that we live, in our priorities. Being a child of God is a wonderful privilege given to us, but it also gives us great power. The power to make a difference, the power to make the world a better place, the power to give and let God’s presence be known to others. This morning, during our time of giving let us feel the presence of the holy Spirit and all that the Spirit does to spread love. We have the power to be a part of that in giving what we have in love. Scritpure Ephesians 1:11-23 Common English Bible (CEB) 11 We have also received an inheritance in Christ. We were destined by the plan of God, who accomplishes everything according to his design. 12 We are called to be an honor to God’s glory because we were the first to hope in Christ. 13 You too heard the word of truth in Christ, which is the good news of your salvation. You were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit because you believed in Christ. 14 The Holy Spirit is the down payment on our inheritance, which is applied toward our redemption as God’s own people, resulting in the honor of God’s glory. Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians 15 Since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, this is the reason that 16 I don’t stop giving thanks to God for you when I remember you in my prayers. 17 I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, will give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation that makes God known to you. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart will have enough light to see what is the hope of God’s call, what is the richness of God’s glorious inheritance among believers, 19 and what is the overwhelming greatness of God’s power that is working among us believers. This power is conferred by the energy of God’s powerful strength. 20 God’s power was at work in Christ when God raised him from the dead and sat him at God’s right side in the heavens, 21 far above every ruler and authority and power and angelic power, any power that might be named not only now but in the future. 22 God put everything under Christ’s feet and made him head of everything in the church, 23 which is his body. His body, the church, is the fullness of Christ, who fills everything in every way. Common English Bible (CEB) Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible Jack defeats death One day Jack was about to go to work, before leaving he looked in on his mom. She did not look so well. Her color was off, she had not gotten out of the bed yet, and she was not very responsive when Jack talked with her. Even so, so encouraged Jack to go on with her day. She would be fine, just go on she encouraged. Reluctantly, Jack walked out of the door, down the sidewalk and out onto the street. But he noticed that there was a man, dressed in black from head to toe, with a black cape covering his face so you couldn’t see his face. And a sickle in his hand. Jack turned around to look at this strangely dressed man. He noticed that the man was heading up the driveway of his house. So Jack yelled at the man, can I help you. The man responded no thank you, I just have some business to take care of. You have some business headed that way? Jack asked. Yep said the man. No, I don’t think you have any business in this house, so you need to go on about your business. I am sorry but I cant do that said the man, I have my instructions and I have to follow them. Realizing now who this man was, Jack jumped in front of him and said I am sorry but I cant let you go into that house. As a matter of fact, Jack reached out and bopped death in the nose. Death was a little taken off guard and did not fight Jack back. Jack just kept hitting death and bopping him. Every time Jack hit, death got a little smaller and smaller. Once death was smaller even then a peanut, Jack looked around the ground and found a acorn with a hole it in. He smashed death into to acorn and ran to the beach and threw the acorn into the ocean. At last, he had victory over death, he had won the fight, and put death far away. Jack decided that he would go check on his mom to see if she was okay. And sure enough, she was up , she looked better than she had in years, her hair was done and she even had on one of the best dresses the she owned. She said that she had the energy that she had as a teenager. Her color was in her cheeks, she was really happy. She told Jack that she wanted to cook him a good lunch since he was home. She went into the kitchen to cut up some carrots, but she noticed that everytime she cut the carrot, she could cut it, it would just bounce off of the cutting board. Never mind, she would cut up some potatoes - the same thing happened. She couldn’t cut into it. By this time Jack comes into the kitchen to make sure everything is okay. Mom responds, I am having a little trouble with the vegetables, but that is okay because we need some meat. She asked Jack to go to the butcher to get some pork chops. Jack goes into town, but he notices that everyone is walking around aimlessly. He goes to the butcher shop and asks for some pork chops. But butcher tells him that he cant give him any pork chops, he could kill the pig this morning. Jack says that okay, them give me beef, the butcher shakes his head, I cant do it. What about chicken, the butcher shakes his head again. As Jack walks home he notices everyone is just walking along, everyone seems to be upset, no one can prepare anything to eat. They cant kill nothing and wont nothing die. Jack wonders what he is going to tell his mom about the meat. When he gets home he tells his mom what happens at the butcher shop, and how everyone in town is in a total panic. He also tells her- I think I know what is going on. You see, this morning I got into a fight with death. I beat death and through him into the sea. You beat death – why would you pick a fight with death – because he was at your doorstep – and you didn’t look so good this morning, so I needed to get rid of him, so that you would be okay. His mom puts her hand on her head, o my God Jack, what have you done. You cant get rid of death, death is a part of life. In order for things to live, some things have to die – that is just the will of God. how are we supposed to eat lunch if we cant get kill anything. Leave it up to my son to not only ruin lunch, but to upset the whole order of life. She looks at Jack and tells him that he has to go and make this right. How I am supposed to make this right. Death is in an acorn at the bottom of the ocean, I will never find him. Jack, I don’t know what you are going to do, but you better get out of this house right now – and do something. Jack walks out of the house, and walks to the beach and just staring at the ocean, totally at a loss of what to do. All of a sudden the tide blows in, and an acorn washes up on shore. Jack cracks the acorn open, in sure enough there is death, still smaller then a penny. Jack has to take death and stretch him out. He pulls him left and right until he is back the size of a man. He gives death back his black robe and his sickle. Death thanks Jack for restoring him, and he looks at his watch as says that he still have a busy schedule. But he turns to Jack and says, since you now seem to understand the concept of death, I wont be going to your house today. But you need to understand that when the time comes I will be back for her, and the next time she has to go with me. Jack said that he understood. When he got home, lunch was ready for him. He treasured each moment that he had with his mom. Until many years later his mom passed away. Jack is a popular character in English folktales. Jack represents the ordinary guy – he is not the smartest person in life, but he not the dumbest. He is not a good person, but he is not necessarily the worst person. He doesn’t go to church, so sometimes he has to learn his lessons the hard way. In the earlier centuries, people used to carve out turnips, and put a candle in it in order so that when Jack got lost, he would see the light and have a safe place to sleep at night. He would sleep in the turnip – today in America – people carve out pumpkins and call them Jack o Lanterns. Jack never did really come to terms with death – that is why he is roaming the earth still looking for a safe place to sleep at night – but that is a story for another time and another place. Not a story for today In many ways – we all struggle with death. And all of us would do all that we can to save our loved ones from death. And when it affects those that we care about, it is harder for us to accept death as a part of life. but Ephesians gives us a word of hope in the midst of our grief. Because it reminds us that in the presence of the holy Spirit, death is not the final word. Redemption and resurrection is the final word, since Christ came into our world. We share in the inheritance of Christ of eternal life with God. The presence of the holy spirit in this life is sort of a down payment in the joy to come. Joy of truly being in the presence of God, where there is no sorrow, no death. Only love, light and hope. As we stand today – we stand in the presence of all who came before us, all that is to come. The doors of heaven are open – just to give a glimpse of better days. Let us pray…..

Re-member

All Saints Day
Remembering so that we can move forward
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31
Year C



Poem to Remember

Always remember to forget the things that made you sad, but never forget to remember the things that made you glad. Always remember to forget the friends that proved untrue, but don’t forget to remember those who have stuck by you. Always remember to forget the troubles that have passed away. But never forget to remember the blessings that come each day.

Definition of Remember
The dictionary definition of remember is to re memor (memoir) – to bring back to mind, to be aware of, to rethink, to look back upon.
But there is a deeper meaning – to literally re –member. We live such fractured lives, where our thoughts are all over the place. We remember the past, not as it happened, but as it is convenient. We remember people with sorrow – for what we should have done, and not for what we do. We can get so caught up on what needs to be done, that we forget to look at the blessings that God has given us in today. I heard a saying that tomorrow is a date on a fool’s calendar. In our fractured state, we worry about what we will do when we have more money, more time, more understanding, never realizing that day will never come. All that we have is today – and who we are and what we have.
Remembering is the task of re membering our lives. Taking all of the parts of ourselves and putting them in one place. Taking our past and our future and making a strong connection with the present. That is all that we have to work with.

History of Englewood
Since coming to Englewood church, I have been fascinated in researching the history of the church. If learning of the young pastor who came on the train to meet someone, they didn’t show up and he realized that there was not a Methodist church in the area, so he gathered the Methodist families and started one. Then there was the newsletter article from the 20’s or 30’s which said the Negros are coming, and a challenge to the church to reach out to them. The building of the new facility in the late 50’s early 60’s as the neighborhood was changing and the facility was starting to age and need care.
I even had a facebook friend who emailed me from Iowa to tell me that a member of his church, James Beebe was also pastor of this church. It was funny because he assumed that because he was pastor in 1910, he must have been the founder of the church. It was fun to email him back to say that this man was five years old when Englewood was founded, so he could not be the founder. Rev. Beebe had a pretty distinguished career, he died pretty early at about 56, but he went on to become president of several seminaries and I think even a district superintendent. And it looks like he had been brought into the conference specifically to run a 1000 member church. He pastured Englewood in its heyday.
In reading the 25th anniversary booklet, Rev. Beebe makes a very powerful statement. It was a celebration of the church and the Sunday school. He say, “It is one thing to be proud of the achievements of our predecessors. It is another thing so to achieve that our predecessors would be proud of us. Let us manifest our pride in the history of our Sunday school, not by boastful words, but by service in our day as faithful and conscientious as the past ever knew. So we too shall enter into the joy of our Lord – and our successors.”
What a wonderful statement of what it means to remember. To connect who we are and what we do in the future, not only with the past, but also with Christ, and the saints that he commissioned before us.

Vision
I was so impressed with his statement, that as I get more and more familiar with Englewood, and I develop the vision and mission for ministry in this area – that is my foundational goal. To remember what was done here in the past, but to create a future that achieves just as much and makes the saints proud.
Ephesians says that in Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will, so that we, who were first to set our hope on Christ.
We have inherited a purpose, a plan and a hope. We are all saints – people who have been chosen by god for a holy purpose. We have been sanctified by the Holy Spirit – which gives us ability to recognize that God is with us at every moment of our lives, the ups and the downs. Christ is not only the ruler of our lives, but the example of what it means to live holy. The church is a group of saints that have been chosen by god and who belong to Christ.

What it means to be a saint
Being a saint has nothing to do with whether we are good or bad, or even if we are dead or alive, God has different categories than that. It is about whether we listen to the Holy Spirit and we devote our lives to discipleship and service. We are not concerned with making a name for ourselves in the world, but in the eyes of our ancestors who taught us the ways of God.

Discipleship and Service
The second text for today is called the sermon on the plain. Matthew has the Sermon on the Mount that we are familiar with. In Luke Jesus gives 4 blessings to the oppressed, but he also gives 4 woes to those of us who forget to be in discipleship and service to Christ and those whom Christ blesses. You heard it in the new Revised Standard Version, so I will give it to you in another version. Rev. Eugene Peterson, wrote a version of the bible in modern language, called the Message – and once you have the literal version, it breaks it down.
Luke 6: 24-26 says
There is trouble ahead if you think you have made it. What you have is all you ‘ll ever get. And its trouble ahead if you’re satisfied with yourself, your self will not satisfy you for ling, and it is trouble ahead if your think life is all fun and games, there’s suffering to be met, and you’re going to meet it. There is trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others saying what flatters them doing what indulges them. Popularity contest are not truth contest. Look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors. Your task is to be true, not popular.
Usually on all saints day – we spend a lot of time remembering the blessings, remembering that our tears of loss for our loved ones will be comforted, remember that is we are peaceful we will be blessed. Remembering that in our sadness we will be blessed. Remembering is not task of feeling, it is a task of action and work. I think that it is honoring the woes – the trouble ahead that we really honor the saints who gave their lives before us. It remind us of the work in the present that we have to do. Of who we have to be to honor their lessons and to honor the lessons of Christ. Never be satisfied with who we are and what we have. Never look for the truth within ourselves, be true to our values, not to the world. In all things think of what it means to be in discipleship and service. That is the task of remembering – re- membering – bringing the world together in unity with Christ.
And when we complete that task, God moves us on to another task. In another world.

God makes no distinction

For God, life and death is not defined in terms of whether we are physically present in the body. God notes that there a lot of people in the world who are breathing, but are dead, because they have no idea of what their inheritance is and what they were put on this earth to do. And there are a lot of people who are not breathing, and yet have been granted eternal life, because they are faithful. In god’s eyes there is no separation of the past, the present and the future – they are all happening at the same time. In God’s eyes – there is no distinction of the work of the saint, we all work together for a common cause.
Unfortunately we don’t always see things the way god sees them.

We are never alone

A man from Chicago went up to heaven. And walking the streets of God, and visiting the many mansions, he noticed there was a sign on one door which said quiet please. He asked saint peter why the sign asked for quiet.
He said that behind that door there was a group of saints – they were having church service – and the members of heaven had to be quiet, because the saints truly believed that they were all alone – no one was having church but them.
We are never alone – how many other churches are having service and in praise and worship with us right now, how many people who wish they could be with us, but join us in spirit. We are never alone – but we have to have special days like this, to set aside time to remember – to re-member to connect to all of the saints of God. Let us pray….