Sunday, November 08, 2015

sermon, "Remember", by Pastor Ruth Foss, Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church, November 1, 2015, All Saints Day

November 1, 2015
All Saints Day
Stetson Memorial UMC
Hebrews 10:32-29 NIV
2 Corinthians 4:7 NIV

“Remember…”

Prayer for the Spirit’s leading…

Hebrews 10:32-39
32 Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you endured in a great conflict full of suffering. 33 Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. 34 You suffered along with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. 35 So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.
36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,
“In just a little while,
    he who is coming will come
    and will not delay.”
38 And,
“But my righteous one will live by faith.
    And I take no pleasure
    in the one who shrinks back.”
39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

Today we celebrate All Saints Day. It is a day that we celebrate those saints among us and those who have gone before us. Now let me give you a little history about All Saint Day.  

“It is when the Catholic Church and some Protestant churches commemorate every saint, known and unknown. The concept of All Saints Day is connected to the doctrine of The Communion of Saints. This is the concept that all of God's people, on heaven, earth, and in the state of purification (called Purgatory in the West), are spiritually connected and united. In other words, Catholic and Orthodox Christians (and some Protestants) believe that the saints of God are just as alive as you and I, and are constantly interceding on our behalf.

Remember, our connection with the saints in heaven is one grounded in a tight-knit communion. The saints are not divine, nor omnipresent or omniscient. However, because of our common communion with and through Jesus Christ, our prayers are joined with the heavenly community of Christians.

Remembering and honoring the saints are beneficial practices, because to remember the heroes of the faith and follow their examples are good things. Many Christians seem to strongly oppose remembering and celebrating the lives of great Christian men and women, yet have no problem celebrating the lives of secular heroes like George Washington. All Saints Day is kind of like a Christian Memorial Day or Presidents Day, a day to celebrate the lives of all the great heroes of the Christian faith, and to celebrate the deep communion we have with them. While celebrating secular heroes is admirable, how much more admirable is celebrating those who fully dedicated their lives to Christ!”

Remembering is good. These are the ones who forged the road before us. Without them where would the church be? These are the ones who are “upstream” for us. As we learn from them we become the faithful saints of God. At this time we are now the ones who are upstream for those who are downstream looking for help along the way. We have become the Saints for those who are not even born yet as were some of those who believed before us. The Scripture from Hebrews I read tells us that we must remember and hold onto that passion and zeal we have for the Gospel of Grace. It is all in the remembering that we can gather strength to move forward for the kingdom of God. We become the light upstream for those who are in the dark downstream…

As I think about the saints that have gone ahead of me there is one thing…one theme so to speak that keeps popping up…God reuses the things that are broken to achieve His plan. God is the ultimate recycler. There is nothing that He can’t use.

It is within our brokenness that He is able to reform us into a thing of beauty. He reclaims us for a far better purpose than what we can imagine on our own. We all have brokenness within us, it all began in a garden before we were ever born. But God…in His infinite wisdom…when the time was right He made a way for us to have that relationship with Him that brings us from brokenness to wholeness.

Now things that are broken need to be fixed right? This includes you and me. But how do we go from brokenness to wholeness? OK…this is how I see it…

Each of us is created a precious vessel of God’s love. But somewhere along the way each of us has experienced hurt in some way, bringing a sense of brokenness. Now in order to begin that “recovery” process we need to realize that moving toward healing is to offer the gift of life and wholeness, not only for ourselves but also for others as we come to see each person as a Holy Vessel and as we come to desire that wholeness for all of creation.

2 Corinthians 4:7 states:
“7 But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”

We have that treasure within us…we are the jars of clay that God, even though we are broken, still uses to show His glory through. Remember, even the saints before us were broken. God still used them to bring us to where we are today…

Today we celebrate the saints past, present and future. Even though broken, God still uses us to continue to be His light in the world. It is within our brokenness that God repurposes us to be whom He would have us be. Maybe as we realize this we can begin the road to healing and wholeness. Perhaps if we just remember what we have forgotten we would again be strengthened for the journey. We all have cracks and chips but I would rather be a cracked pot for God than anything else in the world…

Amen

=============
edited November 7, 2015
our prayers are joined – v2
November 5, 2015
a precious vessel of God’s love
edited November 5, 2015
we must persevere – 2 – v2
November 4, 2015
in jars of clay
edited November 4, 2015
we must persevere – 2
November 4, 2015
you need to persevere
November 4, 2015
our prayers are joined
November 4, 2015
the light we follow
November 4, 2015
even when we hide it
Matthew 5:15 (KJV)
Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel,
but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.”
edited November 4, 2015
the light can’t be hidden – v2
November 4, 2015
the light can’t be hidden
November 3, 2015
from their light
edited/new November 3, 2015
shines through the cracks
November 3, 2015
through the cracks in my broken clay
November 1, 2015
All Saints Day
Hebrews 10:32-39
2 Corinthians 4:7
message: “Remember …” (including the naming of our saints)
and Communion Liturgy and Great Thanksgiving
text


video
by Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s Whisper” blog
Children’s Message
Mystery Box – ballerina, teacup and saucer, apple
by Pastor Ruth Foss
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
November 1, 2015


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss (raymondafoss@gmail.com) for usage. See all 40,090+ of my poems at www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.

No comments: