The Price of Sainthood

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our Rock and our Redeemer. Amen.

Today we celebrate both All Saints Day and Remembrance Sunday.

Two years ago I talked about the three different ways that our tradition defines saints: those that the church names as special saints like St. John or St. Andrew; all who have died and gone on to the heavenly banquet; and finally every member, living or dead, of the Christian church.

Last year I talked about the relationship between All Saints and Remembrance. I talked about how we bring these two holy days together into one Sunday. How this combined Sunday brings our past and our future together in the present. This combined Sunday helps us to see how the roots of our tradition can help us to plan a vibrant future.

This year our Gospel is the Beatitudes. It is such a well-known passage that when Monty Python added extra verses – blessed are the Greeks and blessed are the cheese-makers – most people knew that these lines were a joke. And if you haven’t seen The Life of Brian you should. It has a lot to teach us about how Jesus would have been received in his time.

The Beatitudes have become so well known that they no longer surprise us. They should surprise us!

Earlier in Matthew, we have had a long series of stories setting up who Jesus is supposed to be. He is supposed to be the Messiah! In Jesus’ time, there were lots of “messiahs.” These messiahs usually played on the Jewish hatred of the Greek rule. They tried to cause any trouble from little bits of resistance to open rebellion. They were highly political and they worked to get the ear of the most influential Jews, those who held positions of power. So when Matthew is talking about the coming Messiah, this is what the people expect.

Then Jesus goes up on a hill and says “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.” Are these words supposed to rile up the powerful? “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Maybe. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy?” “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God?” I don’t see this inciting anything. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God!” “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

And then we have the real kick in the butt to those who want to cause trouble. “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven!”

These words are not what they were expecting and they shouldn’t be what we expect!

The Old Testament is full of scripture about a powerful God who steps in to make his people victorious. God fights on their side against all adversaries. The Messiah is supposed to be the one who will lead them to victory over their oppressors.

And what does he do? He tells them to suck it up and turn the other cheek. Don’t fight the oppressors. Let them keep their rule over you. It is not what is important.

Well, if fighting the oppressors is not important, what is? And what does it have to do with either All Saints or Remembrance?

We are called today to remember those who came before us. It is not enough to just remember their names. We need to remember their successes and their failures. We need to learn from them.

Jesus told the Jews not to rebel against the Greeks. He told them that being powerful only meant that it is harder to be close to God. For nearly two thousand years the Western world was ruled by Christian empires and governments. Did they get rid of hunger? or poverty? or oppression? -- No.

So if those in power, even if they are Christian, can’t make this kind of difference, who can?

In 1922, there was a poor school-girl in Macedonia named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Does any know what became of her? I’ll give you a hint. In 1948, at the age of 38, she was the principal of a Catholic high school in Calcutta.

…

You might know here better as Mother Teresa of Calcutta.

Our history shows that change doesn’t usually happen from the top. Change happens when people forget about trying to get power and instead try to make the things that they can see better. Change happens when ordinary people look for the needs around them and respond.

Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu was an ordinary girl who grew up to be an ordinary woman who saw people in need and went to work to help them. She did not try to overthrow the governments that allowed poverty to exist. She gathered people around her who saw the same need. She inspired people that never met her. She worked tirelessly until her death in 1997 to help those who had nothing in Calcutta and throughout India, and later in other countries. By the time she died, the order that she founded, The Missionaries of Charity, had 610 missions in 123 countries.

Saints are ordinary people who remember where they came from and refuse to give up just because change is impossible.

Are you ready to be a saint?

Remember the surprise of the beatitudes. Sainthood is not an easy road and the earthly rewards are not so pleasant.

Are you willing to pay the price necessary to make this part of the world a better place?