Do you remember the first table grace you learned? You can join with me if you want.
God is great, God is Good
Now we thank Him for our food.
By His hand we all are fed,
Thank you Lord, for daily bread. Amen.
Where did you learn that prayer? Who taught it to you? Your folks right? Who taught it to them? Their folks. I have no idea when that little ditty of a table grace was first written, but almost everybody knows it. It's the standard at many family meals. It's been passed on from generation to generation by faithful parents and grandparents.
That's how our faith has been handled as well. It's been passed on from one generation to another, through faithful preaching and teaching of those called by God. Listen to how the Apostle Paul addresses the church at Ephesus. He writes:
Ephesians 1:11-23 (NRSV)
[11] In Christ we have also obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will,
[12] so that we, who were the first to set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory.
[13] In him you also, when you had heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and had believed in him, were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit;
[14] this is the pledge of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people, to the praise of his glory.
[15] I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason
[16] I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers.
[17] I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him,
[18] so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,
[19] and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power.
[20] God put this power to work in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,
[21] far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the age to come.
[22] And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things for the church,
[23] which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
Did you hear how proud Paul is of the church at Ephesus? News of their great faith and their love for one another and the entire community of faith spread to point where Paul was hearing about it from others. As a result, he gave thanks to God for them every time he remembered them in his prayers.
And he spoke of the community of "all the saints." Today we are celebrating All Saints Sunday. A day to remember those who have influenced our lives and our faith. A day to celebrate who we are through who they were and how they touched us and the church.
I. Who They Were
A. John & Charles Wesley, Zwingly, Martin Luther, Augustine, Billy Graham, Iranaeus, St. Patrick, Martin Luther King, Jr., Richard Allen, Harry Hoosier, Franics Asbury, Peter Cartwright, John Calvin, Abraham, Isaac & Jacob, the Disciples, Mary & Joseph, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, St. Jerome, Constantine, Saul of Tarsus, Stephen, Spurgeon, Theresa of Avila, Meister Eckhart, Bob Core, Albert Outler, Karl Barth, Detrich Bonhoeffer, Friedrich Schleiermacher, Fanny Crosby, Isaac Watts, C.S. Lewis, Pauline Cruze, Beulah Miller, Pauline Swearingen, Tom & Vera Goodrum, Ruth Terry, Jo Cater.
What do all of these people have in common? They all said "Yes!" to God. They are the saints of the church. They are the ones who taught us by word and example to be who we are today.
B. The movie Amistad is about African slaves who taken captive by Spanish slave traders. In the long voyage, these slave overtake their captor's ship but then they are seized and brought to the US where they are tried for murder.
There's a scene toward the end of the movie where John Quincy Adams (played by Anthony Hopkins) is arguing before the Supreme Court for the freedom of Cinique and others from the Mende tribe who simply want to go home. Seven of the nine Supreme Court Justices are Southern slave owners.
Adams stands up to address the Supreme Court. Instead of arguing, he simply talks to the court and says: "Cinque was at my home. He shared with me that when members of the Mende tribe, that is the tribe he belongs to, encounter a situation where there is no hope at all, they invoke their ancestors for help. Its tradition. He believes the wisdom and strength of his ancestors comes to his aid."
As Adams speaks, he walks by statues and paintings of the fathers, leaders and framers of America and says their names. "James Madison. Alexander Hamilton. Ben Franklin. Thomas Jefferson. George Washington." He pauses at the last statue, that of his father, "John Adams. We have long resisted asking for your guidance," he says.
Then he then turns to the court to make his argument for freedom by saying, "We understand now that who we are is who we were."
Who we are today, the faith that we have and the way we live it, we owe to those who were faithful before us. Those who passed on their faith, to us.
They were "the first to set [their] hope on Christ and live for the praise of his glory." And because they set their hope on Christ, we "heard the word of truth, the gospel of our salvation, and believed in him, [and] were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit" so that we could attain "the pledge of our inheritance, redemption as God's own people."
The Saints, those people who influenced our faith did all this simply because "They said: 'Yes!'" To God. We are who we are because "They said: 'Yes!'"
II. Who We Are
A. And we are who we are because "We said: 'Yes!'" At some point in time, we said:
"Yes!" to God. And when we say "Yes!" to God then like the Saints before us, "marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit."
And that's the only thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world. We have said:
"Yes!" to God through Jesus Christ just like the Saints. We've said "Yes!" to God because Jesus said "Yes! to us and gave His life on the cross so that we could be forgiven and know that forgiveness with comlete certainty. And so we could have life eternal.
And because of our saying, "Yes!" to God, we have been "marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit" through the waters of our baptism.
B. In the movie, Evelyn, Pierce Brosnan portrays Desmond Doyle who's in a courtroom battle to overturn one of Ireland's longest-standing family-court laws, in order to win back custody of his children. Doyle is being questioned by the government's attorney about his suitability to have his children, since he is a single father.
The government's attorney belittles Doyle because Doyle had grabbed and threatened a nun who had beaten his daughter. The lawyer questions Doyle about his fitness to have a family as a single father. He says, "Even as a very dubious kind of Catholic, who finds himself throttling a nun, you must know the fundamental building block of our society is the family. Whose very model is the holy family; Jesus, Mary and Joseph. How can you, as a single father and as a Catholic, possibly claim to bring up your children without a mother? There is absolutely no precedent for it in the religion you eligibly believe."
There is a long pause. The lawyer says: "Cat got your tongue, Mr. Doyle?"
Doyle is thinking and finally responds: "There is. There is a precedent as you like to call it."
"What are you saying?" asks the attorney.
Doyle speaks up saying, "The fundamental building block of our faith is not the holy family, it's the Holy Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When my mother died, my father brought us up on his own with only the Holy Spirit to guide him. He used to say the Holy Spirit is love. Doesn't the Holy Bible say 'Faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.' Well I've given up the drink. I've worked all the hours God sends. I've become a better person to try and fill myself with the Holy Spirit so I can bring my kids up surrounded by love. That's all I can do. No man can do more."
The courtroom audience breaks in applause, as the judge yells for silence in the court.
And Doyle was right. He won, by the way. He was right. "The fundamental building block of our faith is the Holy Trinity. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit."
It is the Holy Spirit who: "enlightens the eyes of our heart."
It is the Holy Spirit who: "helps us know the hope to which we have been called."
It is the Holy Spirit who: "helps us know what the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints really are."
It is the Holy Spirit who: "helps us know the immeasurable greatness of God's power for us who believe."
We learned all this from those who went before us. Those who lived their lives "to the praise of God's glory." Through their lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the faith has remained alive. Through their lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the faith was passed on to us. Through our lives, empowered by the Holy Spirit, the faith will be passed on to future generations. We are the saints of the future.
To quote John Quincy Adams: "We understand now that who we are is who we were."
Our inheritance is the same inheritance of all the saints before us.
Conclusion
Normally when we think of a "saint" we think of some stylized human figure depicted in stained glass, or of a person long dead who has been officially declared as a church relic. However, one of the clearest definitions I've ever read says "A saint is sinner, revised and edited." (1)
I like that because the only difference between a Saint and a Sinner is that the saint has simply said: "Yes!" to God.
Today as come to celebrate the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper, I want us to take a moment to remember those people who have been significant to our faith journeys. You will have an opportunity to lift them up for everyone to hear or simply to remember in your heart.
And as you remember them; remember: The only difference between a Saint and a Sinner is that the saint simply said: "Yes!" to God. Today is your chance to say "Yes!" to God.
1. The Autoillustrator, P.O. Box 336517, Greeley, CO 80633 1-877-970-AUTO (2886)