1<\/sup>When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2<\/sup>Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: \u00a0(Matthew 5:1-12, NRSV).<\/p>\n In the Name of the Father, and of the Son +, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/em><\/p>\n Well welcome to Trinity on this All Saints\u2019 Sunday, we\u2019re delighted you\u2019re here as we give thanks for all the saints, all those who belong to God today. Earlier this month, one evening after Bible study, I decided to take a stroll across the New Haven Green. And as I walked past the back of Center Church, past the monuments to the Regicide Judges, I remembered that New Haven\u2019s founders set aside the Green not only for their church, and to graze animals, and not only as a burying ground, where tens of thousands of people still lie buried; but also as the gathering place for all God\u2019s saints, the place they believed that at the end of time all of God\u2019s redeemed would be gathered together to go and be with the Lord forever.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Except that when you actually walk across the Green today, you\u2019re not immediately impressed by all the saints in their glory.\u00a0 Instead you see folks who are poor.\u00a0 People who are hungry.\u00a0 People who are sick, and broken, and getting into trouble.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t look like saints at all, it looks more like a hangout for sinners. And likewise you and me, when we look at ourselves in the mirror this All Saints Sunday, even if we hope for glory, to be honest we see few halos, but just our old, broken-down, sinful selves.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But so it is this morning that Jesus sits down to give his Sermon on the Mount, and begins proclaiming the Beatitudes, his list of blessing the beata<\/em>, the happy, the blessed.\u00a0 \u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit,\u201d he says, \u201cfor theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.\u00a0 Blessed are you who mourn, for they will be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These are not a to do list, or a description of what we should become, but a description of the people Jesus is blessing and saving right now.\u00a0 Blessed are the poor in spirit, they are blessed, you<\/u> are blessed, and you are mine, Jesus says.\u00a0 The world says, \u201cif you\u2019re poor, or poor in spirit, too bad for you; if you\u2019re mourning, get over it, cheer up; if you\u2019re meek be more assertive and stand up for yourself.\u201d\u00a0 But Jesus says, \u201cBlessed are they, blessed are you, you belong to me, you are mine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And Jesus here goes through a whole list, a list of people who are identified by what they lack, by what they don\u2019t have or by what\u2019s been taken from them, those who in this world who are spat upon, sat upon, and ratted on.\u00a0 Because sometimes all the world can see when it looks at us is what you and I don\u2019t have, right?\u00a0 The world sees what we lack, sees how we fall short, sees what we don\u2019t have, and judges us as losers. The world doesn\u2019t say blessed are you, it shakes its head in pity and in judgment and says, \u201cPfft, too bad for you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 But in the eyes of God today, in the eyes of Jesus, we are not defined by what has been taken from us, we\u2019re not defined by what we don\u2019t have or no longer have or have lost, but instead Jesus says to you and I who lack, he says, \u201cBlessed are you,\u201d you are blessed whether you believe it or not, whether you feel it or not, as the old spiritual says \u201cI am what He says I am.\u201d\u00a0 And he promises, promises, that in his Kingdom you will be filled, you will be comforted, you will be restored, you will be made right, you will be provided for, you will be taken care of, you will inherit the earth, you will be given what is needed and more, for the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God is yours.\u00a0 God\u2019s Kingdom, of justice and righteousness and peace, that Kingdom where all is made right and new, that Kingdom that is coming to us in Christ: it\u2019s yours, Jesus says, you\u2019re in it, because you are mine!\u00a0 Because God\u2019s Kingdom is not made up of those who have it all together on their own, but his Kingdom is made up of that which on its own is unusable.\u00a0 Like a patchwork quilt, made from the leftover scraps, God takes you and me, in our situations, in our predicaments, with our pasts, in our brokenness, in our sins, we who seem of little or no use to any big master plan, God takes us and welcomes us and uses us right now, beginning today, for his Kingdom. \u201cBlessed are they, blessed are you,\u201d Jesus says to you and me today.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u201cSee what love the Father has given us,\u201d 1st<\/sup> John reminds us today, that amidst our poverty, grief, and pain, \u201cwe are called children of God, for that is what we are!\u201d\u00a0 Whatever tries to lay claim to us, to steal us away, or to tear us from God\u2019s care, cannot have the last word, \u201cfor we are called children of God, for that is what we are!\u201d\u00a0 What we will be\u2026that has not yet been revealed.\u00a0 But when he comes again in glory, when he is revealed, then we will be like him, we\u2019re told, and will see him as he is.\u00a0 For just as God raised up the crucified body of his Son in glory on Easter morning, so he will raise us up, taking dead sinners like you and me and making us like him, new and beautiful and healed, and in my flesh I shall see God, we shall him as he is.<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And so today we lift up and give thanks for every sinner made a saint by the blood of the Cross, we remember all who have lived and died in faith in Jesus Christ. And when we begin to pan out that wide, this room begins to get more crowded than even the New Haven Green can even handle, Revelation describes it today as \u201ca great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb,\u201d all God\u2019s people of every time and place, all who have been baptized and believe, all those past, present, and even future who have trusted in him, who\u2019ve been made saints by grace, who\u2019ve been called by Christ to follow him.\u00a0 Some are famous, and some are maybe just known to you and me.\u00a0 Apostles and saints of old whose names we all know.\u00a0 But also, our parents, our grandparents, our spouses, our children, our loved ones, the ones who have taught us, and led us, and comforted us, the ones we have held close in love and now ache for.\u00a0 The ones we\u2019ll remember out loud here in a minute, thanking God for them.\u00a0 And the ones maybe no one knows but God.\u00a0 And in Christ, in faith, in the mystical body of his Son they are all here this morning, we are gathered together: \u201cI believe in the Communion of Saints,\u201d we confess. I believe that a great crowd of witnesses surrounds us, is cheering us on, is encouraging us even now this morning, that we are not alone, for death does not have the last word for those who believe, in faith we have already passed over from death to life, so though it may not seem like it\u2019s very crowded here, it is jam packed in here!\u00a0 \u201cSee what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God, and that is what we are.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ve said this many times, but I love our curved altar rail, because this half-circle we kneel at here continues on through the wall, and makes a complete circle on the other side, where now we can only see by faith, where that great multitude too many to count\u00a0 joins us at the rail and completes the circle. And here in the Holy Communion, in the eating and drinking of the bread and wine, his risen body and blood, we join with all those saints who from their labors rest, all those we will hold again, we join together in this heavenly banquet with angels and archangels, in faith we receive with them every good thing that God has for us: \u201clook what love the Father has given us!\u201d<\/p>\n \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 And rising from this complete circle of heavenly communion, this complete circle of God\u2019s love, made saints again by the body and blood of Christ, well then you and I will go out, knowing we are blessed, knowing that despite ourselves we are saints, that we are children of God.<\/p>\n So come join in the feast of All Saints, come complete the circle around the throne, come and be blessed, come because you\u2019ve been made a saint.\u00a0 And blessed are you\u2026<\/p>\n And the Peace of God which passes all understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.<\/p>\n —<\/p>\n The Rev. Dr. Ryan Mills<\/p>\n New Haven, Connecticut<\/p>\n Pastor@TrinityLutheranNH.org<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" All Saints Sunday | November 5, 2023 | Matthew 5:1-12 | Ryan D. Mills | 1When Jesus saw the crowds, he went up the mountain; and after he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2Then he began to speak, and taught them, saying: 3\u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6499,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,157,853,108,110,150,3,109,212],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-19009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-matthaeus","category-beitragende","category-bibel","category-current","category-engl","category-kapitel-5-chapter-5","category-nt","category-predigten","category-ryan-mills"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19010,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19009\/revisions\/19010"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6499"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19009"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=19009"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=19009"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=19009"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=19009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n3<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
\n4<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
\n5<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
\n6<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
\n7<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.
\n8<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
\n9<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
\n10<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness\u2019 sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
\n11<\/sup>\u201cBlessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12<\/sup>Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you\u201d<\/p>\n