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Sermon for November 1, 2009
Pastor Sara Kay Olson-Smith
All Saints Sunday
Texts: Isaiah 25:6-9; Psalm 24; Revelation 21:1-6a; John 11:32-44
Grace to you and peace, from God our Creator and from Christ Jesus, our resurrection and our life.
Whenever there was any big transitions in our family,we would have a big meal and give each other gifts. The gift would often be simple - even a word, or a phrase, or a blessing, but sometimes we actually got something to hold. So today, as we gather together on this, our last All Saints Day together, I want to give you something, just a little something. A stone. Here, pass them around, and take the one that you want...
I am giving you these stones for a few reasons. The first is because of Peter - you know, the saint. Peter’s name, comes from “petros,” the Greek word for rock. We could be called, not St. Peter’s, but St. Rock Lutheran Church. Jesus said to Peter, “You are my rock and upon you I will build the church.” St. Peter, the Rock. I give you this rock today, because it is not just St. Peter and all the grand saints whom we celebrate on this All Saints Day, but all the saints, all those rocks who, through their faithful witness, compassionate service, and bold proclamation, have built the church.
On this day, we give thanks for all the saints who have gone before us. This place is full of those saints, those blessed people who have touched our lives, who have been “rocks” for us, through their friendship and witness. On this All Saints Day - especially on our last day in this building - we give thanks for those people who have been the rocks upon whom this church was built and rocks upon whom our faith was built. It is my prayer that this little rock will remind you of them. I hope this rock will speak out those those stories of the people whose faces and phrases and kindnesses are racing through your head.
I give you this rock for a second reason. With it, I speak my gratitude because you have been that rock for me. The gift of serving a small congregation is that I was blessed to get to know you, to hear your stories, to experience your quirks. And you have each, in your own unique ways, blessed me tremendously. I have been so honored to have had the privilege to serve you as your pastor. I thank you for inviting me into your lives, to listen to your longings and fears, to be at funerals and weddings, to celebrate and to mourn with you. I am honored and I have been blessed. You have been rocks to me - people of strength and courage and bold witness. I have grown to love you and this community. You will forever be the first congregation I served, and your presence and witness will shape my life of ministry wherever the Spirit leads me. You will, beloved saints of St. Peter, beloved rocks of St. Rock, be always in my heart and prayers.
I give you this stone for a third reason, too. Not just as a reminder of the saints in our lives, and to thank you for being saints in my life, but as a sign of the resurrection hope we trust. In our gospel story, Jesus meets his dear friends Mary and Martha after their brother has died. They turn to him in sorrow and anger, because they grieve his loss. And Jesus weeps, too. Jesus joins with them in sorrow and sadness, Jesus meets them in their suffering and feels its deeply with them. When they once could be with their brother, now he has died, and the gravestone keeps the grave closed and keeps them separated. The grave stone stands there as a wall which keeps them apart, as a sign which names the strength and power of death.
Jesus comes, and he weeps with them, but he does more. Jesus comes, and the stone is rolled away. He calls Lazarus up from the dead. He restores him to life, and moves the stone of death that once kept them separated. But Jesus didn’t just stop with Lazarus. Jesus died on the cross,carrying with him all our weeping and mourning and sadness and was buried in the tomb. Yet, on Easter morning, that stone, too, was rolled away. The stone of that tomb could not keep Jesus and the power of his love inside. Christ shattered the power of the that tombstone; Christ swallowed up death forever! No longer can death, or endings, or anything else, separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus! Because of this we can trust that there will be a day when weeping and crying and mourning will be no more!
This stone in your hand is not just to remind you of all the saints, but also for another reason. It is there to remind you of the stone which has been rolled away from the tomb. In these days, it feels like we are buried in a tomb of sadness and endings. The closing of this church is hard and sad and will be such a change. This is not easy. The grief will linger, will likely last awhile, but the stone has been rolled away. New beginnings are possible. The stone has been rolled away. The sadness and sorrow of this day will not last forever. The stone has been rolled away. New life will be given to you and me, each one of us.
We can trust that because Christ has rolled away the stone, the power of death and endings does not keep us separated. Through the resurrection, nothing can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. And by the wonderful and mysterious work of the Holy Spirit nothing can separate us from one another either. I will not be your pastor anymore. We may not see each other as often. We may never see each other again, but we are together in Jesus. This is the communion of saints which we confess each Sunday, “I believe in the Holy Spirit... the communion of saints....” We are one in Jesus and the love we share can never be taken away from us.
Around this table we come to know this communion of saints. Around this table Jesus breaks down the rocks of time and space which separate us from one another, and from those who have died. Around this table we gather together with all God’s people, those beloved saints who have gone before - who once gathered here with us, those who are scattered around the world, and those here - all of us together, all of us, saints, rocks, built together into the body of Christ, built together into the church triumphant, singing praises and confessing our hope. This will continue, no matter where we are, no matter what table we surround.
So today, on this day of transition. We gather around this meal, and we receive gifts. We are given bread and wine from Jesus, and these little rocks from me. These gifts tell of the power and promise of resurrection which will indeed come for each of us - new life and hope and joy. They shout the story of those saints of this place who have been your rocks. And these little rocks will, I pray, remind you of how grateful I have been for you. Fed with this bread and wine, carry these rocks which remind you that you are loved, by me, and more importantly, by our God known to us in Jesus Christ, who weeps with us, and brings us life!
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
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