Honor the Saints by Voting

 WE GATHER 

PRELUDE 

BRINGING IN THE LIGHT OF CHRIST 

WELCOME & ANNOUNCEMENTS 

*HYMN For All the Saints UMH# 711 v 1, 2, 6 

*CALL TO WORSHIP 

L: Come, let us praise the Lord! 

P: Let us shout our songs of thanksgiving to Almighty God! 

L: For God has done wonderful things for us. 

P: God’s love and blessings have been showered upon us. 

L: Come, let us praise the Lord! 

P: Let us sing songs of great joy to God. AMEN. 

*OPENING PRAYER (IN UNISON) 

Lord, we gather here this day in praise and thanksgiving for all the wonderful things you have done for us. Help us to be faithful disciples in all that we think, do and say, that your great love may be revealed and offer healing to all people. AMEN. 

*HYMN Marching to Zion UMH# 733 v 1, 2, 3 

WE PROCLAIM GOD'S WORD 

CHILDREN’S CHAT 

OLD TESTAMENT READING 

Isaiah 25: 6-9 

On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples

    a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines,

    of rich food filled with marrow, of well-aged wines strained clear.

7 

And he will destroy on this mountain

    the shroud that is cast over all peoples,

    the covering that is spread over all nations;

8 

    he will swallow up death forever.

Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,

    and the disgrace of his people he will take away from all the earth,

    for the Lord has spoken.

9 

It will be said on that day,

    “See, this is our God; we have waited for him, so that he might save us.

    This is the Lord for whom we have waited;

    let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”

MUSICAL INTERLUDE AND OFFERING 

NEW TESTAMENT READING 

John 11: 32-44 

32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

MESSAGE “Honor the Saints by Voting” Pastor Natalie 

Friends, this, the first Sunday of November, is a day we set apart to observe All Saints Day. A lot of congregations spend this day lifting up their members who passed in the last year, which is a huge part of what this day means. But it’s also so much more. On All Saints Day, we honor friends and family who passed in the last year alongside ancestors who died a century ago alongside spiritual foremothers and forefathers who were contemporaries of Jesus, and the eternal connection every one of those people have to us, sitting here today, alive. We are all part of the Communion of Saints, and, while we’re separated by this earthly division between the dead and the living, we’re all held together in the Divine hand, as souls with no beginning and no end.

We carry all the saints within us, in everything we do. Some of us have memories of very precious saints top of mind today, and I’m with you there. And some of that is just because of the timing, with this day always falling at the beginning of November. The saint I’ve carried the closest to my heart has been my Grandma, Clarice Zatterburg Gulbrandsen, who passed in October of 2002, when I was 16. Her birthday was November 6th, and sometimes this beloved holiday falls right on her birthday.

Not everyone is so fortunate to spend so much time with their grandparents, but Sean and I both were, because we lived with ours. As a small child, Grandma still had her own house in downtown Chicago, but as she got into her eighties, the work of caring for a big house, and the challenges of living alone, became too much for her. So my parents asked her to sell the house downtown and move in with us. I was 8. Grandma was there for the big, little, and small moments, like anybody who lives with you would be. She was there when I was 11 and trying to figure out this whole “makeup” thing, and put on enough blush to look like either a clown or some kind of sideshow performer. And she showed me how to tone it down a notch. She was there the day my dad tried to warm up frozen peas in the microwave without a woman’s help, and didn’t put any water in the bowl, and nearly burned the house down. She picked up the pea-charcoal, shook her head and said “ugh, men”, and showed me how to do it the right way. She talked to me in German, and connected me with the stories of her own Grandmother, who was an immigrant. She showed me how to fold a fitted sheet. Seriously, that’s knowledge from our ancestors we gotta hold on to, I don’t know any living people who can do that, we all just roll it in a ball and give up. When she was sitting next to someone really annoying and wanted to tune them out, she’d switch off her hearing aids and then smile and nod periodically. Of course, that ruse would only last as long as she could hold up her end of a conversation with smiles and nods. And there’s something very precious to be said for a woman who taught me both how to sew, and how to swear. In German. Because it’s scarier that way.

“Eternal life” means so many different things, I can only begin to fathom it on this mortal sphere. It means that Grandma has always been loved by the same God who loves me. It means whenever I tell you all stories about my Grandma, she lives. It means that when I use what she taught me in this world, she lives. It means that when I see things in the world that remind me of her, she lives. And it means when I see her in my kids, she lives. No one’s ever really gone.

I would tell you that eternal life also means that Grandma is waiting for me on the other side, but I was reminded a few years ago when I was interviewing to get ordained that John Wesley’s thoughts on heaven were a touch more complicated than that. Wesley didn’t teach what I’m inclined to, that Grandma is in heaven right now, on her very own Lazy Boy, with an unlimited supply of crossword puzzles and chocolate chip ice cream. Instead, he taught that those who have passed are waiting at heaven’s door. When Jesus comes again, all believers, past and present, will go straight to him, and then he’ll open up heaven once and for all. So, if he’s right, then maybe my Grandma is sitting in the waiting room right now exchanging small talk with George Washington. Mysteries of the universe. Someday I’ll understand.

Someday, like the prophet Isaiah taught, God will forever do away with death, with sorrow, with tears, with hunger. Someday everything will be radically transformed, both by our human work toward perfection and by Jesus’ saving grace.

But in the meantime, we live this life, where we lose one another, and it feels so crushing. Our Gospel provides us with a tender story of Jesus’ grief, visiting the home of three people he cared about very much. Three adult siblings who live together. Guys, it says a ton about the bond Mary, Martha, and Lazarus have that they live together. I love my sisters. I don’t want to live with them. Mary and Martha sent urgent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick, and he needed to get to him immediately. But Jesus took his time, something that was as painful to Mary and Martha as it is to us, and, in the meantime, Lazarus died. 

I adore this window into Jesus’ experience of grief when he finally gets to Mary, Martha, and Lazarus’s home. Mary and Martha both rip into Jesus for taking too long, and he has no problem with their anger. He can take it. We don’t always have to say nice, flowery things to Jesus, especially when we’re hurting. He loves our authentic selves, our open wounds. Then Jesus visits Lazarus’ tomb, and, depending on which translation you’re reading from, we get the shortest verse in the entire Bible: Jesus wept. Our early church forefathers who broke the Bible into chapters and verses, which weren’t originally there, made those two words stand alone because they knew how important they were. Jesus cries. Jesus hurts with us. Jesus’ heart breaks with ours. He absorbs our pain.

And then the miracle happens. But, stay with me, I don’t think the miracle is what we’re inclined to think it is. It’s an easy conclusion to think the miracle comes from Jesus praying to God, and then reviving the dead body of Lazarus. 

But I don’t think that’s it.

Jesus is all about life. He came that we may have life and have it abundantly. He gave his life for ours. He is the way, the truth, and the life. Whether Jesus would value this life was never in question, we know how much Jesus loves Lazarus. Whether Jesus can bring about vitality and hope where all seems lost isn’t in question. Or at least it shouldn’t be. Jesus never fails us, and the Divine nature is to create new life, and keep creating, forever.

The miracle here doesn’t rest in Jesus. It’s in Mary and Martha, and what they do next. Jesus’ last words to them is this: untie Lazarus, and let him go.

Don’t bind up your engagement with the saints who have passed in their death. Don’t relegate them to the past, to the grave, to the cemetery. When they shed their skin and bones you needed to find a resting place for those, and they may be in the ground now. But our saints aren’t locked up in a tomb. They did big things with the time they had on this earth. They had dear friends. They fell in love. They raised children, nieces, and nephews. They made schools, hospitals, churches, and businesses. They made their mark, they left a legacy. And every ounce of love they ever shared we get to keep forever. 

The miracle is not in how Jesus keeps them alive, but in how we do. Do we build on their accomplishments? Do we learn from their mistakes? Do we grapple with their visions for this world, and try to pick up where they left off? Do we want to manifest realities that were impossible in their time? In short, do we keep their love alive?

And that brings me to the reason why this week is going to be such a big deal to all of us, whether or not you had a Grandma whose birthday was November 6th. The election. The most contentious one in my lifetime. And I’ve said that about, like, the last 5 elections. The stakes just keep getting higher and higher with each passing year. And maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe the stakes are so high right now because we’re so, so close to bringing love and justice to this world. 

When my Grandma was born, in 1911, women still weren’t allowed to vote. Voting was a new liberty for her mother, for her grandmother. And she lived into that the best she could. She was a sharp lady, and very politically active. She voted in every election, and I was never puzzled as to her opinion about our government, because, trust me, she shared it. 

To honor her, and the vision she saw for this world, and the love she taught me, I early voted last week. I took my daughter into the voting booth, and showed her what a ballot looks like, and she thought the whole process was fascinating. And she’s right.

Don’t sit this one out because you don’t think your voice matters. So, so many eligible voters make that mistake in every election, and the sad reality is that they’re such a large group that if every one of them cast a write in vote for Tom Cruise to be our next President, he’d win.

Your voice matters. Just like the voices of our ancestors mattered. Your voice has the power to elevate all of us, and lift us all closer to God. Your voice has the potential to construct a loving and just world. Don’t give it away. If you do, we haven’t learned enough from our saints. If you want to honor them, please go vote on Tuesday.

Amen.

*HYMN Hymn of Promise UMH# 707 

WE RESPOND 

APOSTLES CREED (UNISON) UMH# 882 

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
      creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,
  who was conceived by the Holy Spirit
  and born of the virgin Mary.
  He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
  was crucified, died, and was buried;
  he descended to hell.
  The third day he rose again from the dead.
  He ascended to heaven
  and is seated at the right hand of God the Father almighty.
  From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
  the holy catholic* church,
  the communion of saints,
  the forgiveness of sins,
  the resurrection of the body,
  and the life everlasting. Amen.

COMMUNION 

THE LORD’S PRAYER 

Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory forever. Amen. 

JOYS & CONCERNS 

PASTORAL PRAYER 

Living God, in whom there is no shadow or change,

we thank you for the gift of life eternal,

and for all those who, having served you well,

now rest from their labours.

We thank you for all the saints remembered and forgotten,

for those dear souls most precious to us.  

Today we give thanks for those who during the last twelve months

have died and entered into glory.

(Names may be mentioned here….)

We bless you for their life and love,

and rejoice for them “all is well,

and all manner of things will be well.”

God of Jesus and our God, 

mindful of all those choice souls who have gone on ahead of us,

teach us, and each twenty-first century disciple of every race and place,

to follow their example to the best of our ability:

      to feed the poor in body or spirit,

      to support and comfort the mourners and the repentant,

      to encourage the meek and stand with them in crises,

      to affirm those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,

      to cherish and learn from the merciful,    

      to be humbled by, and stand with, the peacemakers.

Let us clearly recognise what it means

to be called the children of God,

and to know we are to be your saints

neither by our own inclination nor

in our own strength

      but simply by the call

      and the healing holiness

      of Christ Jesus our Saviour. Amen!

~ written by Bruce Prewer, and posted on Bruce Prewer’s Home Page. http://www.bruceprewer.com/DocA/61SAINTS.htm

*HYMN I Sing a Song for the Saints of God UMH# 712 

SENDING FORTH WITH BLESSING 

POSTLUDE