Sermon by The Very Rev Chris Yaw, 11/2/2025
All Saints Sunday | 11-2-25 | Luke 6: 17-31
Good morning Saints!
Let's begin with a story - a true story - about a sailing trip some 500 years ago - when the Spanish explorer Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain to find a shortcut to the Spice Islands - or Eastern Indonesia - it's a long way!
Magellan had about 200 men on board 5 ships - all of them hailing from a very religious society - so much so, that included on the ship's roster were not only these 200 Spaniards - but also a number of, shall we say, former Spaniards - dead people - saints!
Yes - listed on the ship's roster was Santo Adelmo, patron saint of the Spanish city of Burgos-
Santo Angoino de Lisboa, a popular saint of Lisbon who was reputed to rescue ship-wrecked sailors and provide favorable winds to their ships.
There was also Santo Barbara, whom the Spaniards invoked as a safeguard against violent storms.
And Nestra Senora de Montserrat, to whom a famous Benedictine shrine was dedicated.
Now what did these saints do - why were they listed on the ship's roles - and were they worth it?
Apparently so, as each one of these saintly personages was accorded a share of the fleet's profits in return for their divine protection! While certainly this was a clever arrangement so that the Church could get a cut of Magellan's loot –
It also tells us a bit about how our forebearers considered those who have gone before us - those earlier believers who were remembered by their piety, devotion, and ongoing concern for the living.
Let's not deny the role of superstition - but let's also not deny this persistent sense that life on earth is not the final curtain - that humans of many times and places have suspected that we live amidst the 'balcony people' - who mystically accompany us on our earthly pilgrimages - and whose ranks we will someday join.
And on All Saints' Sunday we recall this magical reality - that our full union with Love awaits us - AND that our union with Love also beckons us in the here and now.
This is what Jesus was getting at in our Gospel this morning -
Let's turn to it - it's Luke's version of what we call 'The Beatitudes’ - you will find the more famous version in the gospel of Matthew, but let's begin with the 17th verse of Luke,
"Jesus came down with them and stood on a level place with a great crowd of his disciples and a great multitude of people..."
Unlike Matthew's Sermon on the Mount - this is the Sermon on the Plain - where Jesus does not look down upon the gathered hearers - but he looks at them eye to eye - on a level plain -
If you look at your bulletin covers you can see the image.
The first thing to notice is that Jesus wasn't making a blanket statement of universal law - it's not 'blessed are those' - it's blessed are you!' He was talking eye-to-eye, seemingly with one person at a time - he's on the plain, not the mount - and he's talking to individuals.
And this is important as you and I interpret the first line:
Maybe he was looking one person right in the eye when he said: "Blessed are you, who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God."
Let's look at the Greek word for 'blessed' - it's Makarios - and it refers to a state of anticipation of what is to come. In other words - I might say 'Blessed is my brother Jake, the poor Ohio State fan, for he will one day inherit his family's estate.'
This speaks to Jake's one-day inheritance - but, more specifically, it speaks of Jake's present day status - that he won't just be blessed someday - but he is blessed now.
The word Makarios - 'blessed' - affirms a happy state that already exists.
So 'blessed are you who are poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God' is not meant as a prescription that we all need to go out and become poor to get into the kingdom -
Rather, no matter what our status now, we are blessed because we have come into the presence of Jesus - God - Love - and that has us blessed right now.
Blessed are you - regardless of your status - poor, hungry, sad, persecuted - your current reality, your present status is one of blessedness - now, because love is here, and in the coming Kingdom - where Love reigns.
We remember the words of St. Paul - who was imprisoned, in jail, just awaiting the warden's summons to the executioner's block - when he wrote, 'Rejoice always, again I say rejoice' -
How could he do this, unless he had that ingested knowledge of his blessedness - right now - and in the time to come?
This is what discipleship is all about: living as if the words of Jesus - God - love - were true - living with a present understanding of our acceptance, belovedness - that God actually does this - because that's what God is actually like!
The reason this is the most popular - best known - sermon in all of human history - is because it reveals this truth - The light that Jesus modeled, lived, and revealed - that comes from above and lives in your soul - is the light of love - here, and in the place to come.
And that is what he has identified on this plain - Which you and I can call, the plain of possibility - because once we understand this, everything changes.
As we live on that plain of love and light, everything changes.
Everything changes.
This is why we hear Jesus use such dramatic terms as born again, from darkness to light, from death to life. Jesus preached a cultural change - a revolution - the declaration that love is not weak - Love conquered Pilate, Herod, and death!
Love has founded the greatest movement the world has ever known -
He did this when he preached what our hearts witness to and what science may someday come to prove: that love is the fundamental fabric of the universe.
Time after time we learn: When we live in love, we flourish in connection and meaning.
When we're away from love we languish in chaos and rigidity.
That's what the 'Woe to you!' is all about –
Remember - this isn't just the disciples gathered - it's "a great multitude of people from all Judea, Jerusalem, and the coast of Tyre and Sidon..." that he was talking to.
And among them are those who already reaping the hollowness and the shallowness of materialism, hoarding, indifference, selfishness, and isolation.
It's the cautionary tale - meant to bid us ears to hear the advice of God: to live in love - to heed the voice of that Spirit Self inside of you that's bidding us to be kind, joyful, generous, forgiving, and relaxed in every situation. And as that love overflows - guess what happens?
We can love others - even our enemies - those who we don't like and who don't like us - that's how strong love is!
Does a gun work for that?
How about a bribe?
No, it's the love we kindle and fan in our hearts - until it becomes an enveloping flame first to us - then to others. It compels us to go back to seek reconciliation -
To Go back to seek forgiveness - and to go back to the negotiating table - no matter how much we've been wronged or maligned. It flows out of us to those who abuse us, ask for our coats, and even steal from us.
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One of the most touching stories I ever heard on this was from a woman I once knew.
She was coming out of a restaurant late one night when she was accosted by a rapist.
She was forced into her car - where the man had his way with her.
When the authorities were alerted - the perpetrator was caught - and the woman discovered she was pregnant.
And the hate she had toward her perpetrator was overshadowed by the love she had for the little life that was growing inside of her - as she made the very personal and very inspiring decision, to carry that child to term and bring that child into the world to be nurtured and cared for.
I realize this issue is political and personal - I'm not suggesting that her story become your story - what I am suggesting is that: my friend credited her decision to an overflowing love she had in her heart for not just friends - but for everyone. Love gave her the ability to bring light to darkness, and inspiration to tragedy.
And it's that same love that you have in your heart. Your Spirit Self has a voice that can be our dominant voice - or our most muted - we get to decide. But as a way to amplify that voice - I would like to ask you to move a bit out of your comfort zone.
On All Saints' Day we hear of Jesus declaring blessings upon the gathered crowd - and I would like each one of us to do the same. I would like you to turn to someone and bless them -
And here's what I mean –
I will choose as my partner - our Lay Eucharistic Minister - and I will look them in the eye - and I will bless them.
I may use words like this - "May God give you health, safety, comfort, and peace. May you be blessed with courage to overcome, knowledge to discern, and a settled soul to take everything in stride. And may you be blessed with the ongoing knowledge of your belovedness and acceptance."
Go ahead - stand up if you need to - pick a partner - and bless them.
(**** people bless one another****)
So do you feel blessed?
May this be just a sampling of the incredible blessings that await you and the days ahead - as we embark anew upon this plain of possibility - that God's love inside of us has been enlivened, rekindled, and made alive again - like never before!
Amen.