The Communion of Saints...

But he is depicted not so much as the fearsome judge as he is the one who is determined to welcome the whole church and indeed all creation to his embrace.

What a vision this is!

Outside the church, the visitor was confronted by the inevitable street vendor who was holding up a trinket with Christ's picture stamped upon it.

“Don't you want to take a little Jesus with you, mister,” he said.

“No, we don't take Christ with us,” the visitor replied, “he calls us, gathers us, and he takes us places together we wouldn't otherwise go ourselves.”

The street-vendor was rather confused by such a theological reply to his schtick.

Even though we would put all manner of things in God's way, including suffering, rejection, and the cross, his intention is not thwarted by us.

Perhaps we are a little more ready to hear this message after the terrible events of the past week.

Perhaps hearing about the welcome embrace of God is a good thing in the face of all of the anxiety and uncertainties of wind and storm that so many have had to undergo.

It is Good News to hear the words from Revelation: Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more...See, I am making all things new!

And from the prophet: we have waited for him, that he might save us...he will swallow up death forever.

And this embrace of God has not just set us free to wander aimlessly alone, but instead has placed us into a community of the faithful, his church.

Holy Baptism is the way that we are made a part of the missionary movement which is the ongoing nature of the church, bringing spiritual and physical care to every situation.

Whenever we think of it too much as an object, a thing, rather than an a living, breathing, community, it quickly becomes a pretty museum which one can visit, admire, leave, and then ignore the rest of the time.

But “the holy city, the new Jerusalem” of which John the Seer writes is peopled by those whom Jesus has already called to himself in the resurrection.

They are the first part of those numbered in the communio sanctorum, the “communion of the saints” which are named in the Creed: I believe in the holy catholic church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body....

We're talking about relationship much more than destination.

When we commune with Christ Jesus, we are also communing with the saints and martyrs of all those ages past.

They are already taking part in the great heavenly banquet and thus they are showing us the way:

there will be a place for us at the table in due time.

That is comfort for us especially on this day as we remember and name in prayer all those who have died in the past year.

Communion of the saints also means the participation in the holy things , the divine mysteries which mediate salvation and in which one has communion with the martyrs who are already sharing in salvation.

We kneel at the same communion rail where our parents and grandparents have knelt.

We have been baptized and made thanksgiving just as 75 or more generations of Christians have done before us and have shown us how to continue these holy ways.

That, too, is part of the communion of saints.

The Reformation churches took the phrase communion of saints to refer to all Christians of that present day.

For example, Paul, addresses the church in Rome a particular way: To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints.

And he starts others of his letters in similar fashion.

It is the congregation, the assembly of believers, who is the communio sanctorum, the communion of saints.

The nice thing is that the Latin term has a wonderful ambiguity which allows for this variety of interpretations.

We do not have to settle on only one of these nuances of meanings but can hold and use all of them at the same time.

Holy events, and holy people, in the past, and in the present....all of this together makes up the communion of saints.

Now that we have established that point, there comes the great.... So what?

What difference does it make that we are a part of the communion of saints?

Is there Good News lurking here anywhere?

On Wednesday afternoon we had a showing of the Luther film and we were reminded again that

Luther was searching for a gracious God.

People these days may be doing the same, or may be wondering if there is God at all.

The answer is the same in both cases:

--We should be quiet and listen to that which is truly worth hearing.

--We should let our inner restlessness be stilled by the word and promise of Jesus.

--We should open our hands and receive the bread of life.

We need to keep reminding each other about these things, because it is so easy to become discouraged and forgetful of them.

We need to be together, because standing alone, the problems of daily life can seem insurmountable.

If that is the case for us in normal circumstances, how much more will that be the case for those in New Jersey and New York in the coming weeks as the clean-up drags on and the enthusiasm wanes after the first few days of scrubbing and pumping and cutting and mucking.

Then there is the grieving, for which the communion of saints will be so deeply needed again.

Many will need to listen, to help the grieving name their sorrows and point them beyond themselves to God's future.

Even at a distance, we can be of assistance, even as Paul was able to bring aid to the suffering congregation in Jerusalem from people far away,

we can send financial aid to a pastor and parish I know right in the thick of the mess in northern New Jersey.

I'd like to do that tomorrow morning.

And in November and December, we have so many additional opportunities for sharing the hope that is in us.

We'll see them in the bulletin and newsletter;

we'll see them in the narthex and fellowship hall;

we'll remember them from long-standing customs.

Additionally, we'll remember with thanksgiving those who have walked this way before us and who have entrusted this treasure and this responsibility to us.

Finally, we also remember that we don't take Jesus with us on our adventures; Jesus calls us, he gathers us as the communion of saints in all the senses of that term, and as companions he takes us to places he knows that we need to be.

Let all the saints here say...AMEN.

Please note: The preceding sermon is provided as a resource for the thought, prayer, and meditation of the members and friends of St. Mark's. It is the residue of a verbal event, and thus it does not have academic footnotes and other details that would be expected in a written document. The writer gladly acknowledges the prior thought and work of many Christians before him.