For All the Saints

Matthew 5:13-14

November 1, 2015

Mark S. Bollwinkel

            A funeral is for the living not for the dead.

            This cliché has some truth to it.  A memorial service, or the words at the graveside said on the behalf of the departed, benefit those who hear them the most.

            Many will reflect after a funeral that they wished we had said all those nice and appropriate words to the individual before they died.   It’s a reminder that we have little time to waste to tell those we care about how much we love and treasure them.

            I thank God that my mother had that very idea when she planned my father’s extravagant 80^th birthday party nine years ago in Sacramento.   Even following a significant surgery, my Dad was an active senior with important years ahead of him.   My mom wanted to gather his family and best friends and give them the chance to tell the story of Cal Bollwinkel’s life and what he meant to them while he could enjoy it…and so could we.

            It was a wonderful event.  Over 100 folks came from all over the country.  Relatives I had never met; four of his former bosses, his golfing and pinochle buddies, neighbors and all of his children and grandchildren.   It was a fun evening as we simply told Dad how much we loved and honored him while he could still hear the power of those words.

            One of the marks of a tragic death is to lose the opportunity to “say goodbye”.  We are cheated when we do not have enough time to reconcile unfinished business or to tell those in our lives how much we loved them.   Grief is hard enough when you’ve had the chance for a “good good-bye”.  It is even more difficult when death cheats you of it.  

            For example:  I thank God this nation had the opportunity to tell Mrs. Rosa Parks how much we honored her before her death in 2005.

            In 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Mrs. Parks with the Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor in our country.   Over the years Mrs. Parks had received numerous awards for her contribution to our freedom.   Her act of courageous defiance to racial segregation in Montgomery, Alabama upon her arrest for refusing to move to the back of the bus is legendary.   But that was not the only accomplishment in her life.  She was a committed activist for racial equality before December 1, 1955 and long after.  Mrs. Parks was a congressional aide, worked in the South African anti-apartheid movement and opened a career counseling center for African American youth in Detroit, Michigan (National Public Radio, 10/25/05).

            The tributes paid to Mrs. Rosa Parks were well deserved.   That this former department store seamstress would be the first woman in American history to lie in state under the Washington DC capital building rotunda proved the power of President Clinton’s words, “We must never ever…forget the power of ordinary people to stand in the fire for the cause of human dignity.”

            Now over the ten years past, those words, and the millions spoken and written about Mrs. Parks are for our benefit.   When we tell the stories of our heroes and memorialize our loved ones we hold up the eternal values that make life worth living.   We point to the accomplishments that define a life well lived.   And we do that for us, for our benefit.  Not just because we need to grieve but because we need to live our own lives to the fullest.

            Jesus opens his Sermon on the Mount with the Beatitudes honoring the saints and at the same time challenging the living.

            Blessed are the poor, those who mourn, the meek and the merciful.  Blessed are those who hunger for justice and peace, who are persecuted in the cause of love.

            In a world that counts its blessings by the size of our bank accounts and stock portfolios or the college degrees hanging on our walls, Jesus defines “wealth” by our capacity to love one another and love God.

            Jesus closes the Sermon on the Mount with an admonition for all people at all times; “You are the salt of the earth…you are the light of the world…live like it!”

            Methodists do not have a canonization process for sainthood.  We do not distinguish certain individuals as saints over and above others.  But we do recognize those who live saintly lives.

            Today we think of Bob Brown, Bob Young, Harlan Engen, Ruth Kelly, Olive Speakman and Elizabeth McCartney.  Members of our church who made significant contributions to our community and remain dear in our hearts.  They would be the last people to consider themselves as “saints” but those who knew them and depended on them recognized the saintly within them.  These were salty, light shining people.

All of us have the capacity to live ‘saintly lives’, as intimidating as that may sound.   Saints aren’t flawless people so much as common, ordinary people who live their faith out in common, ordinary ways...and in so doing may on occasion accomplish extraordinary things.

            When we come to our sacrament of Holy Communion this morning for All Saints Day, we will be asked to take a moment of silence and name to ourselves the saints in our lives.  Consider “the blessed” in your life who taught you how to love, who generously shared their wealth of gentleness, laughter and forgiveness.  Consider those who inspired you to make a difference in the world.  Name in your heart those whose faith was so real that it taught you how to pray.

            It is our belief that the spirits of those saints who have gone before us guide us who live even still; “…since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders…and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” (Hebrews 12:1)   Take a few moments to remember those who are no longer with us who left us a legacy on which to build our own lives.   And give thanks to God for the saints.

            A friend once toured the genocide museum in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.   During the tyranny of Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge in 1975 an estimated 2 million Cambodians were killed.   Our friend wrote her parents, “…the trip has been really intense, very emotional.  We started with the genocide museum which completely took my breath (and heart) away.  The [survivors] we have been meeting have such painful stories to tell.  Every person we meet has a story…” Our friend’s life will never be the same as a result of such memorials.

            There is healing in telling the stories of our past.  There is inspiration to empower us as we dedicate our lives to a better world.  On All Saints day we remember the stories of those who could speak and those who could not.  That is why it is so important to memorialize the dead because it reminds the living to live blessed lives.   

Amen.