Plymouth Congregational Church of Fort Wayne, UCC
November 1, 2009
Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost
All Saints Sunday

Scripture Lesson:  Mark 12:28-34

IN THE ABSENCE OF ANGELS

"... When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said
to (the scribe), `You are not far from the kingdom of God.'"
 (Mark 12:34)

Prelude

I'd like to tell a story.

It speaks of an experience

none of us has had.

It speaks of an experience

we've all had.

Background.

Three weeks ago I attended a performance of

"Quilt - A Musical Celebration,"

a Fort Wayne Civic Theatre Off-Main production

at the Allen County Public Library.

The "quilt" is in reference to

the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt.

The memorial quilt consists of panels,

conforming to pattern but singular in design,

naming a person lost to AIDS. 

Each panel becomes part of a block,

then each block becomes part

of a section of the quilt.  As last reported,

more than 47,000 panels were part of the quilt,

which is considered to be the largest on-going

community arts project in the world.  

Panels continue to be stitched and sewn.

"Quilt - a Musical Celebration" is framed around

a "block" of 32 names, the dead being remembered

by the living in story and song.  One story, from

among the many, caught my attention.

It was the real-life story of Elizabeth Glaser. 

In 1981, Elizabeth was pregnant with her first child.

It was a difficult pregnancy; and during labor,

Elizabeth began to hemorrhage.  A blood transfusion

was ordered, and she received seven pints of blood.

It was a lifesaver, and Elizabeth delivered her first born,

a daughter by the name of Ariel.

Four years went by, and Ariel was joined by a brother.

And then Ariel got sick. Elizabeth discovered

that the transfusion received at the time of her

first delivery transmitted the HIV virus.

Through the nursing of her first born

and with the subsequent birth her son,

mother and children were infected. 

Ariel was diagnosed with AIDS.

So many years ago.  We remember the

slow growing awareness of HIV/AIDS. 

And such a stigma.  So much fear.

What do you do when you have illness,

and no one is wanting or willing to help;

when illness is met with fear or ignorance?

What do you do when life is under assault?

And not only your life,

but also the lives of those you love,

those to whom you are tied,

and for whom you are responsible?

The circumstances faced by Elizabeth Glaser

were uniquely hers, and unique to her children.

Their journey has been their own,

and it is like no other.  

We cannot begin to fully understand.

And yet we can understand. 

For Elizabeth prayed for a miracle.

I assume we have all had

desperate hours

and prolonged days -

when our only hope was

prayer bound and heaven sent.

She petitioned for intervention.

She pleaded for life,

even as Ariel

slowly wasted away.

Mother was eager and wanting to work,

to combat the disease.  She discovered

no one was fighting for the children. 

And so, in company with two friends,

the idea was conceived of creating the

Pediatric AIDS Foundation. 

The child Elizabeth Glaser nursed,

Ariel, died in '88. 

Elizabeth died six years later (1994).

But the Pediatric AIDS Foundation lives on. 

This past summer they held their 20th Annual

"Time for Heroes."  From the beginning, this has

been the banner:  "Time for Heroes."

The title sponsor was Disney; the headliner

was teen idol, Miley Cyrus. 

They raised $1.3 million,

added it to the pot of over $30 million that has

been raised in the foundation's 20 years,

all the while seeking to prevent infection,

to eradicate pediatric AIDS through

research, advocacy, and prevention and

treatment programs.

The full story of Elizabeth Glaser's life,

her fight for her children, and her fight for life,

is told in the book, In the Absence of Angels.

In the epilogue it is written:

"In the beginning I felt there were no angels to help us.

I felt alone in a fight to save my children's lives.  But over

the years, angels have come into our life.  Real live angels

who reached out to help.  One at a time.  Slowly at first, but

they came and I believe they will continue to come for a

long, long time."

          *****                   *****                   *****                  

Today is our time to remember saints,

to invoke the names of church members

and friends who have passed from life

to life through death. 

It is a time for us to consider:

what makes a saint?

And to ponder:

just what constitutes the sanctified life?

This is not common language in our daily

discourse; it is easily neglected.

Sanctification is the extension,

the expression of salvation;

if salvation is attained by faith in the

the favorable expression of God's grace

at work in our lives; 

then sanctification is power that follows God's pardon

and push into new and reconciled life. 

If asked:  have you been saved?

Plymouth Church members should all respond

with delight:  Yes, thanks be to God! For God so

loved the world ...

But then, we might pause; furrow the brow,

look intently, speak softly; and continue

the conversation (as confession).

We could all say:  "Saved and sanctified;

sanctified being the tough nut to crack.

Sanctification is our continuance in the way

cross carved by saving grace. 

If salvation is deliverance.

sanctification is continued devotion.

If salvation is beginning life in Christ,

sanctification is growing up in Christ.

Jesus saves - which prompts our praise.

Jesus summons to serve, and bids us follows -

which gives us pause to pray:  Lord, help me.

Life becomes heroic

when we, in the church, recognize that

God sends saints to meet the need

where there is an absence of angels.

In my early studies, it was expressed this way:

"the true saint will prove discipleship ... not by severing

oneself from the world, but by special intensity and

concentration of spirit ... (evident) in an outpouring of

loving service to one's fellow human beings."

(Brunner, Christian Doctrine, Vol. 3, p. 293)

Well, saints, in this service so full,

what can we make of this?

As Plymouth people,

how best might we configure

this immersed life,

this outpouring of loving service (neighbor),

this holy communion (with God)?

A couple of suggestions.

          *****                   *****                   *****

SAINTS ARE BUSY

This weekend we watched the film, The Wizard of Oz.

Seem appropriate somehow for a Halloween weekend.

Early in the film when Dorothy, still in Kansas, is

pestering Auntie Em, and Auntie Em doesn't want to be

bothered, she dismisses Dorothy with instruction:

"Go find a place where there isn't any trouble."

Dorothy can't conceive of such a place, except over

the rainbow!  And so it is for us.  Where can we go

to find a place where there isn't any trouble?

Bill Moyers has been working on a project for the past

couple of years, trying to address the growing disparity,

the widening gap between rich and poor in this country.

We are in a second "gilded age."   His comment:

"Don't get angry, get busy."

Saints are preoccupied with loving service. 

Get busy - and pray.

Get busy - fix.

Get busy - mend.

Get busy! 

          *****                   *****                   *****

SAINTS ROCK

This past summer at a General Synod workshop

I heard mention made with regard to the church:

"We are in the boat-rocking business.

The gift (the present) is always subject to revision

(the future/goal/God's intent-will)."

Saints do not sit on their salvation.

They rock. They possess

"special intensity and concentration of spirit."

They know about trouble, they know about death,

they know about the absence of angels, and they

insist, they persist, in serving as called, as inspired by Christ.

This really is the great challenge of our stewardship:

these are testing times, changing times, contracting times. 

The invitation is: immerse yourself in life, ministry, in community.

The gift of God is today, the present; but the opportunity

is  "to revision" what is God's will for us and to rock until we,

together, can make it so.  

          *****                   *****                   *****

CONCLUSION

A closing word.

We are in a tradition that incorporates

liberal use of the term "saint." 

We lather paint upon brush

and broadly make application.

We diverge from those who tend to limit

use of the term, who make saints exceptional;

we prefer that saints be the rule.

We opt for the broad understanding,

that if you be possessed by Christ,

if we be immersed in the mind and ministry of Christ,

if we follow the way of Christ,

if we are prompted by Holy Spirit to pour out our lives in

loving service, then we may not be angels,

but we surely be saints.  We submit as evidence

our transformed lives.

The morning lesson is a helpful guide to

increased appreciation and cultivation of faith pursuits.

A scribe has an interesting exchange with Jesus.

The scribe understands what is "much more important."

The scribe applauds the teaching that speaks of loving

God, loving neighbor, loving self.  Jesus saw and credited

the scribe with being wise, saying:  "You are not far from

the kingdom of God."  This is Jesus, making provision

for the absence of angels.  This is Jesus, equipping the saints.

The world, yea, the church, is much in need of

saints just like this:  wise, engaged, enthusiastic.

In his own way, the scribe is rocking the boat.

And the scribe is not far from the kingdom. 

"O God, help me to be one too."

(NCH, I Sing a Song of the Saints")