A sermon preached at Trinity-Mount Rainier on the Feast of All Saints (Observed), November 3, 2019.
If You’re Happy, You’re In Christ
Matthew 5:1-12
(Other Readings Appointed: Revelation 7:9-17; 1 John 3:1-3)
In the minds of some, it may seem strange for a church who arose out of the Reformation to be celebrating a feast day in honor and memory of All Saints. After all, was not one of the issues that the Reformers had with the Roman Church the abuses which surrounded the “invocation of the saints”, that is calling on the saints to hear one’s prayers rather than making one’s prayer directly to God? Another issue revolved around who exactly decides who is a saint. Was it to be only those whom the Pope decrees, according to the Roman Church’s determination, as being in heaven and worthy of remembrance and intercession; or is the number of the saints much larger and broader, perhaps really only known to God?
The Lutheran understanding concerning the saints was stated clearly from the beginning in the Augsburg Confession. There it was said that the saints are to be remembered “in order that we imitate their faith and good works, according to our calling”, but that “Scripture does not teach calling on the saints or pleading for help from them. For it sets before us Christ alone as Mediator, atoning Sacrifice, High Priest, and Intercessor. He is to be called upon, and He has promised that our prayers will be heard” (AC XXI, Latin). In the spirit of this confession, we keep this day to remember those who have gone on before us in the faith of Christ, who now rest from their labors awaiting the Day of Resurrection, and with whom we too look forward in sharing in the never-ending peace and bliss of eternal life in the presence of God in that new heaven and new earth which will be revealed.
Yet that question, “What makes a saint?”, is one which we should not run away from too quickly and not try to answer. While the Roman Catholic process of canonization of saints has given us somewhat of a “standard list” which many Christians can use as a starting point for knowing “who’s on the list”, this list can also be a little less than satisfying. Yes, the list of canonized saints lifts up many Christians who should be recognized for their “heroic virtues”. But we also know other Christians, perhaps known only to ourselves, whose lives have also reflected faithful life and witness and living. And lastly, although some of us may not want to claim the title of saint for ourselves, we might just wonder, “Is there a chance that I could make that list too?”
Perhaps it is for this reason that the Gospel which has always been connected with this Feast of All Saints are the words of our Lord Jesus that begin His “Sermon on the Mount”—the Beatitudes. In eight or nine statements, depending on the tradition of counting which one follows, Jesus makes declarations about different conditions of people, both calling them “Blessed”, and revealing what reward they receive for their “blessedness”. Some preachers, including myself, have sometimes taken these words as a sort of “Job Description of the Saints.” And while the text does lend itself to such an idea, it is more than this as well, for it does not just tell us what a saint does or looks like, but more importantly Who it is that makes a saint a saint.
Looking at the words of the Beatitudes, we see that the bar of the standard of sainthood is set rather high. And this is perhaps not without good reason. The ones whom Jesus declares as blessed seem to need to have a high degree of holiness, one which perhaps you and I as “mere Christians” may not feel to be even obtainable. Looking at the Beatitudes, we may see ourselves as having some of these qualities, but falling short on others. Many of us have known times of spiritual poverty—those times when our faith has been not all that strong. And because of those times, we have “hungered and thirsted for righteousness”—looking for the strengthening of the faith we lacked. We have known times of mourning, especially over the loss of those dearest to us. And the rest of the list? Meekness? Perhaps not so much of a strong suit. Showing mercy? Perhaps not on as regular of a basis that God would expect of us. Pure in heart? We already know that God knows the impossibility of that one. Peacemakers? Sure, if it helps us to get our own way. Persecution? Thanks, but no. By this sort of counting, it could be said that most of us can only be “one-third saints”, and as one hears later in Jesus’ teaching, this misses the mark of “Be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” (Mt. 5:48).
But there is another way that these Beatitudes can and should be understood. Instead of seeing these as statements of attitudes or qualities for which God’s saints must and should strive to possess through their own work and effort so that they can be called “blessed”, perhaps we should see each of these qualities as things which we receive as gifts from our God which mark us as His own because we have been blessed by Him. One thing which helps us to understand this idea is to use the translation of the Beatitudes from the Good News Bible, where the word translated “Blessed” is rendered instead as “Happy”. While happiness is something we feel within ourselves, it is created usually by things outside of us which shape and form us. And for the child of God, we know that our blessedness, our happiness, comes from our God who has made us for Himself and who has forgiven and set us free from sin, death, and hell through the cross and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.
So when we hear, “Happy are those who know that they are spiritually poor”, we know to rejoice because the One who gives us the kingdom of heaven also will give us the strength and faith we need to abide in Him. “Happy are those who mourn” is not a contradiction because we know that our comfort is in the One who has assured us of the victory of life over death. And then there’s the rest of the list—
“Happy are those who are humble”
“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires”
“Happy are those who are merciful to others”
“Happy are the pure in heart”
“Happy are those who work for peace”
“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires”—
All of these things become not things we do, or things that we seek to show in our lives. Instead, we see that these are qualities which God creates in us because we are, by faith, in Christ. In and of ourselves we could never perfectly be any of these things, or that we would even desire to have some of these things as a part of our lives. But because our lives are about Christ who is alive and lives in us, His humility, His righteousness, His mercy, His purity, His peace, and even His persecution, is ours as well. And in it all and through it all we are indeed happy and blessed, not because we do any of it, or seek it out, but because we are in Christ.
By our being in Christ and not by our own effort or merit, all of us—created and redeemed by God—are saints who are holy, who are blessed, and yes, who are happy. And even though we know that we live in this life within a vale of tears, filled with its share of sorrows, of mourning, of grief, and of suffering—we are still a people who are truly blessed and happy, not because we somehow pretend that these things “just don’t exist”, but because since we are in Christ, even in the midst of all that may afflict us, Christ is our Life, our Hope, our Joy, and our Peace who leads us through this life, assuring us that He is our All-in-all, until we stand eternally with Him in His everlasting kingdom.
As saints of God, we are a truly happy people and we know it because we are a people who are both now and forever in Christ. Therefore, “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven.” Thanks be to Christ! Amen!
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