The Feast of All Saints
November 1, 2020

O God of all saints, grant us the strength, the wisdom and the courage to seek always and everywhere after truth, come when it may, and cost what it will.

Today we observe the Feast of All Saints in the Church, with a special celebration of “A Saint for All Saints, The Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray,” the first Black woman ordained to the priesthood in the Episcopal Church, sponsored for ordination by Emmanuel Church before any woman had been ordained in the Episcopal Church. I hope that you will be able to join our webinar program at 4:00 this afternoon about her life and legacy – there’s still time to register by going to Emmanuel’s web page. You may also want to download the program booklet.

I have found that focusing on Pauli Murray’s legacy in social justice, the law, in poetry and prose, and in the Church to be just the right medicine for the time leading up to this year’s election and the antidote for my sometimes overwhelming anxiety about the aftermath of the election, whichever way it goes. Long ago, a wise colleague of mine taught me that anxiety is the feeling that one will not have adequate resources to cope with imagined scenarios. What I want to tell you is that, while individually I might not, you might not – indeed, we probably don’t, have adequate resources to cope with what might happen, I know from experience, that as a community we do have adequate resources – more than adequate really. All Saints’ Day reminds us that our community comprises both the living and the dead. Pauli Murray and countless others are still teaching us, still showing us that there is an abundance of love, creativity, and capacity to respond to whatever comes our way when we pool our resources and call on our Saints.
There is an abundance of capacity when we choose to live honorably, to live with integrity, no matter what. That is what our Gospel of Matthew portion is about this morning. In Matthew, Jesus began his public ministry with this radical idea that people who are not treated with honor in society, are honorable according to him. They deserve honor and not just tolerance. This passage is Jesus’ version of chanting “Black Lives Matter.” His teaching is not about the pursuit of comfort or safety, not about being a doormat, and certainly not about happiness or contentment with suffering. This teaching is about non-violent, active resistance with honor, with dignity, comparing the Empire of the Holy One (in Matthew, referred to as heaven) with the Empire of Rome, [1] (referred to in the Revelation to John as hell) Many people prefer Matthew’s version of what we call the Beatitudes to Luke’s version, especially on holidays, because Luke includes woes. But Matthew has woes too – they just don’t come until the end of Jesus’ teaching in chapter 23. They bracket the beginning and end of Jesus’ public ministry.

The Greek word makarioi is typically translated “Blessed” or “Happy,” leading us to imagine that people described this way are to be envied, or this is the way people ought to be, or a vision of how it will be for those who are suffering now. This has always troubled me, though. So instead, I return again and again to theologian K.C. Hanson’s teaching that the “makarisms,” [2] (as they are called in English), are not meant to describe circumstantial advantage or emotional happiness of people whose spirits are utterly spent or exhausted, or who are mourning, or who are gentle and sincere, or humble, or who are starving or parched for right-relationship, or who are merciful (rather than pitiless), or who are naïve, or who are making peace – a just peace, not peace with oppression, or who are persecuted, reviled, and maligned for goodness’ sake (which is another way to say “for righteousness’ sake”).

Hanson suggests that instead of understanding these teachings as blessings and curses or as promises of union with God (aka heaven) and threats of separation from God (aka hell), they are primarily descriptions of honor and dishonor, with an expected response. This perspective is easier to see if we compare this with non-Biblical Jewish and Christian religious writings of the time, to get a clearer sense of their cultural context. Makarisms show up in a wide variety of diverse communities over the span of a couple hundred years at the time of the dawn of the Common Era. For example, a first century Jewish writing from north Africa called 2 Enoch, has a list of makarisms and accusations in pairs that address ethical issues having to do with honor and dishonor.

In 2 Enoch, it becomes more clear that these are affirmations about honor and revelations of dishonor. Listen to some of the pairs from the list in 2 Enoch: “How honorable [are] the ones who open [their] lips for praise of the God of Hosts, and praise the LORD with [their] whole heart. How [dishonorable] is everyone who opens [their] heart for insulting, and insults the poor and slanders [their] neighbor; because that one slanders God. . . How honorable—whoever blesses all the works of the LORD. How [dishonorable] —whoever despises any of the LORD’s creatures. . . How honorable—whoever cultivates the love of peace. How [dishonorable] —whoever disturbs those who are peaceful by means of love. How honorable—whoever, even though [they] do not speak peace with [their] tongue, nevertheless in [their] heart there is peace toward all. How [dishonorable] —whoever with [their] tongue speaks peace, but in [their] heart there is no peace, but a sword.” [3]

The “how dishonorable” declaration is not in itself a punishment, but rather, a challenge to the presumed honor of people who had status, respect and power in the community – an unmasking of behavior that doesn’t match appearance. The “how honorable” declaration is a pronouncement of esteem and respect upon those who are least and last, who struggle to live lives of integrity in the community without status or material resources. These are not about psychological values but social values, and they call for an ethical response.

The expected response is to lift up and support those who are struggling – to encourage them to pick up their heads and for others to treat them with reverence and respect. The expected response to the unmasking of those in positions of authority who do things that make Jesus mad, is repentance. And what makes Jesus mad? According to Matthew, it’s people who try to lock other people out of the Realm of God. Jesus says, they don’t want to go into the Realm of God themselves, and yet they block others’ paths. They swear by sacred things and sacred space rather than by what makes them sacred (which is Love, or Who is God). They follow small rules and make token offerings but neglect justice, mercy and fidelity. They strain out gnats and swallow camels, is how Jesus puts it. They posture in ways that mask their greed and self-indulgence and other kinds of pollutions of the soul. Jesus exposes such hypocrisy and lawlessness and calls for repentance, return to the Holy One. What is the way home for those called to return? The Gospel of Matthew is clear – it is for the peoples (the nations) to care for those who are most vulnerable: refugees and prisoners, people who are impoverished, those lacking adequate shelter, food, drink, health. Honor them. Offer them respect. Treat them well.

We are all in different places on our spiritual journey. On this All Saints’ Sunday, I want to encourage you to do three things. From wherever you are on your spiritual journey: take whatever the next step is for you in acknowledging yourself as a full member of the communion of saints, the whole family of God. Take the next step in living honorably in the days and weeks to come, even, and especially, if you are dispirited, mourning, meek, famished and completely parched for right-relationships, if you are foolishly merciful, naïve, peace-making, or persecuted, reviled, and maligned because of your loving-kindness to others.
If you are none of those things, then turn around and see that the gates of the Empire of God are wide open and waiting for you. Jesus is teaching: “Rule yourself, beloved, after my will (which is loving-kindness) and believe I will remain your soul’s friend for ever and ever, who delights you and places you in heaven out of your suffering body.” Take the next step of honor, of dignity, of integrity. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, carry this last stanza of our final hymn today with you into this week: “My soul bear thou thy part, triumph in God alone; and with a well-tuned heart sing thou the songs of love. Let all thy days ‘til life shall end whate’er God send be filled with praise.” [4]

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