All Saints Sunday – November 6, 2022

Luke 6:20-31

Well…there’s the To-do list:

There’s the inventory list:

There’s the brainstorming list.

There’s the check list:

Like the list I check off when I am getting things ready for worship on Sunday mornings.
Just a list.

There’ the shopping list:

There’s the bucket list:

Irene is a person I found while visiting folks in a nursing home several years ago.

She was all alone. Elderly. No family. Homeless. On Medicaid. No one to visit her.
The head nurse in the facility shared with me that Irene was found in a nearby park…homeless.
During the next several months I got to know Irene. I loved talking with her. She liked sharing her past with me.
She had a large photo album of much of her past. Pictures of her mother and father. A sister and a brother. All gone now.
She had been a well-known star…her name shone brightly on numerous marquees…on Broadway.
Irene passed a year or so after I met her. She was placed on our All-Saints Sunday list that year.
It’s not just a list!

Jerry was a dear friend of mine…a member of the church I retired from.

He was from Texas. A hard worker. When I met him…he was 81 years old.
He led numerous mission trips to Guyana and communities in Florida that had been hit by terrible hurricanes during the first decade of the 2000’s.
He received an engineering degree from Perdue University. Several tours in Viet Nam.
He led a team of men and woman at Wright-Patterson Air Force base in Ohio who invented radar for supersonic aircraft as well as the first flat screen TV.
Jerry was a wonderful churchman.
When he passed several years ago…he was placed on our All-Saints Sunday list.
It’s not just a list!

Jane was 92 years of age when I first met her at her home in Wilmington, NC where I was serving at the time.

She was bright and cheerful and full of life.
During our first conversation that day Jane shared with me that she had been a member of the Rockettes precision dance touring company in the 1920’s.
She went on to share with me how strict the show producers were with all the women.
She was such a delight and when she passed…she was placed on the All-Saints list that year.
It’s not just a list!

Richard was a guy who sat next to me in the church choir.

He was shy and introverted and quiet.
A kind gentleman. Knowledgeable.
And over the years sharing thoughts and ideas with each other I found out that he had a PhD in Biochemistry.
One day he shared with me…demurely…that he was on the team that developed the MRI…the magnetic resonance imaging machine.
He too was put on our All-Saints list.
It’s not just a list.

I met Mary at a church camp retreat I was leading.

The retreat theme was about redemption and redeeming moments and experiences.
At the outset I knew only that Mary was a certified public accountant and a proofreader for a local newspaper.
During the program Mary shared with the group that her husband had been shot and killed by a police officer…he had been mistaken for someone else.
And then a few months later her 6-year-old son was stabbed to death by gang.
And Mary…as you can imagine was devastated…broken.
At the time she was pregnant with her second child…a son.
She languished in a hospital from deep depression for weeks.
But then she got out of bed and promised her Lord that she would birth her unborn child and make that her life mission.
And after the birth Mary raised that son.
She took in laundry and cleaned houses…scrubbed floors and washed windows.
And then one day when her only surviving son had graduated from college he said:
Mom…now its your turn…and Mary went to college and graduated the same night that her son graduated with a PhD from the same university.
And a few years later she remarried…happily.
And when she died…her name was added to the All-Saints Sunday list.
It’s not just a list!

Jerry Belanger was a friend of mine…a brother.

When his wife died of a terminal illness…she asked me to promise her that I would watch over him.
And for 32 years we had coffee with one another once a week.
And if our politicians have not been able to solve our many issues…
Jerry and I solved them all.
Miss Susan and I had Jerry over for Thanksgiving dinner last year.
We had a wonderful time giving thanks for all that God had blessed us with during the previous year.
And Jerry joined the Saints of Heaven a few days later.
He is on our All-Saints Sunday list of those who have passed this past year.
It’s not just a list!

Today we celebrate all those who have shown us how to live abundant…God-centered lives.

All those Saints on that special list.
It’s not just a list!
We celebrate their love…their wisdom…their faithfulness…their gentleness…their power.
We celebrate the saints…the arms of Jesus…who have wrapped us in their love.
As we remember them…we pray for the wisdom and power to follow their example.
As we name those on our list during the prayers in a moment…we will remember.
It’s not just a list!