Celebration of All the Saints
Daniel 7:1-3,15-18; Psalm 149; Ephesians 1:11-23; Luke 6:20-31
Liberty Bells are beginning to pop up throughout the Commonwealth, and I am sure around the nation, as we prepare to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, the 4th of July 1776. These are a few words from that epic document. The history of the present King of Great Britian is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States….
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice…
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone…
He has kept among us, in times of peace, standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures…
for cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world…
for depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury…
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people…
The Declaration concludes with And, so for the support of this Declaration, with firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.
And now, almost 250 years later the nation so charged is our strongest ally. In our Gospel reading we find these words, Love your enemy. We can do it. We have done it!
We are only 80 years from the conclusion of World War II, fought against Germany, Italy, and Japan. We helped them rebuild. Love your enemy. We can do it. We have done it!
We are only 50 years from the end of the Vietnam War. Love your enemies. We can do it. We have done it with tourism, with a strong trading partner. We can do it. We have done it!
While verses 6 – 9 of Psalm 149 speak of a two-edged sword and vengeance, these are not the words of Jesus. These are the words of the one we follow–
Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.
This is our standard, the Jesus standard.
We are the people of Jesus.
As Ephesians notes, we are marked with his seal, we are anointed at our baptism with the sign of the cross. We are marked with the cross as God’s blessing is pronounced.
As our proper collect notes, we are knit together by the Holy Spirit, we are knit into God’s elect, into God’s chosen.
We are not chosen, we are not elected, to dominate, to rule, to command, to gather riches. We are marked, we are chosen, we are elected to serve. We are to be public servants in every sense of the word.
As we move through the stages of life, so those avenues of public service may change. In our youth, we seek avenues of service. In our prime years, we seek additional avenues of service. In our senior years, we seek additional avenues of service.
As we lay our heads down at the close of each day, as the current saints of God, may we hear these words ringing in our souls,
Well done, good and faithful servant, well done.
Amen
