Bethlehem Lutheran Church

1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12

So I'll be 56 next week. And I've finally come to accept the fact that I'll never play in the US Open Tennis tournament- even the seniors' tour...I'm not likely ever to be a congressman, or a senator, or sit on the Supreme Court...And I don't think I'll be playing rhythm guitar for Emmy Lou Harris, Nancy Griffiths or Shawn Colvin...Lots of hopes and dreams, and all the actuarial tables indicate that I'm well past the halfway point of my life... Heck, I can call myself middle-aged only if I plan to live to 112!

And I wonder, "What happened? I was going to do so much? Is this it???

And in a conversation with Pastor Quanbeck about this very issue some time ago, he made it worse, by sharing some thoughts he'd had as he was teaching years ago at Augsburg College:"If I died today, in the middle of the semester, someone would be teaching my classes next week. All my students would get their grades, and in two years (because he was teaching only juniors and seniors), there would not be a student on campus who had ever studied with me- or even know who I was..."

I remember thinking, "Oh great- not only do I have unlived dreams, now I've been reminded that I'm utterly dispensable at what I do now..."

And of course, this is true for every one of us!

This is the sort of thing of which midlife crises are made! These are the sorts of thoughts that result in pitching everything and everyone and heading to a beach in the South Pacific- Bora Bora, maybe- or a farmhouse in Vermont with my guitar- another dream before it's too late for that one, too...And sadly, we hear about, or know people who make decisions like that all the time, leaving spouses and children, running around with much younger people, in a desperate attempt to try their lives again, trying to relive, or recapture, their youth- and their dreams...

That behavior- or thinking about that behavior- is rooted in the questions we all ask (or will ask), at every age, as soon as we can think, hope or dream about the future- questions at the heart of the issues I am raising:Does my life matter? What difference does my life make? (Or has my life made? Or will my life make?) Who will care that I lived or not? Who, ultimately, will remember me???Some possible answers:

My family? Sure, for a couple of generations, but then?

My friends? Sure, as long as they live...

And if you're famous, or have done something "important," and someone writes it down, well, then, perhaps maybe longer. But this happens only to a very few, and even then, how you're remembered depends on the perspective of the historian, and on whether anyone else cares...

But the best answer, the answer that helps me make sense of my life in the vast context of history- the answer that helps me live every day with a sense of purpose, and reason- the answer that keeps me here, and not headed to the beach, or the White Mountains-

Is that God remembers me. God knows and will remember every one of you- by your very name, and not just now, today, but always- forever!

I read my Bible, and I read the story of God's remembrance- of God's love. God didn't just create the world and then cut us loose. God makes promises; God keeps promises!In Genesis, to Abraham and Sarah: "I will create from you a mighty nation, and bless all the nations of the world through you!"In Exodus, God remembered his people Israel and used Moses to lead them from slavery to the Promised Land...

And in Jesus, the enormity of God's love for each of us is shown- the incredible lengths that God will reach to bring us into his presence. Jesus, God become human, promises you and me that "Those who mourn will be comforted... that the peacemakers will be called ‘Children of God,' that the merciful will receive mercy...Jesus, on the eve of his death, tells us that he is going to prepare a place for us! (In my Father's house are many rooms... I am going to prepare a place for you that where I am, you may be also!")

Jesus promises forgiveness, remembrance to the thief on the cross as they both die- as Jesus dies the very death we try so frantically to avoid! ("Remember me," says the criminal, "when you come into your kingdom..." "This day you will be with me in paradise," answers Jesus..."

Jesus keeps those promises! That's what Resurrection is all about!

Those who mourn ARE comforted, because you and I know that death is not the last word in our existence; we shall be reunited with our loved ones!

In Jesus' willingness to die, there is no place where we can go where Jesus isn't- where he hasn't already been, and at the end of our earthly lives, he will be there with us!These promises are repeated through the rest of the New Testament: our reading from 1^st John tells us that "Jesus will make us like him! We shall see him as he is!"

And in the final vision at the end of Revelation, the saints- all of us- are gathered in the worship of God and the Lamb- no more tears or heartaches ever! What all this promises is God's remembrance- my future- your future is ultimately secure in the hands of our crucified and risen Savior, Jesus the Christ.

But there's more to the promise: my future is built not only on what will happen later- this same Jesus helps me live today! Jesus promised not to leave us on our own- in the gift of the Holy Spirit, we have the assurance of Jesus' presence in our lives every day! His presence in my life- in your life- offers us perspective: we can live in the light of eternity and see God's abundant love right now.

You and I can live the abundant life we are promised in Christ each and every day. And don't be confused- this abundance offered is not the temporary, not the transitional stuff that we often fill our lives pursuing...

Look back at the Gospel- look how we are blessed- happy: Those who are poor in spirit, those who mourn, those who are meek, who hunger and thirst for righteousness and so on...  Not once does Jesus refer to material possessions when he talks about being blessed. There is meaning- there is significance- there is blessedness- there is abundance in how you live your life.

That's why we are so excited about how the timing of this series has worked out. It might seem counterintuitive to talk about abundance as we are going into a recession- as we watch trillions of dollars disappear from the stock market. But our faith teaches us what and where we find abundance- what truly and ultimately matters, and as we rediscover this truth, we learn what it means to be blessed- and how much we truly have been given- and how much we can return!

There is meaning- significance and blessing in the love you share- the generosity you express, the service you perform in Jesus' Name, and this is true whether you're a banker, a server, a construction worker or carpenter, or teacher or student- whatever you are doing!

And God's Spirit- the Spirit of the Living Jesus brings us to each other- as brothers and sisters. We support each other, help each other, learn from each other, and we remember each other...

Today I remember Manju... I met Manju last spring in Bangalore at the Gershom Lutheran Church. Gershom Lutheran is a slum church- in a tenement in one of the poorest and roughest neighborhoods on Bangalore. Pastor Devamaher founded the congregation- he rented two rooms in the back of one of these tenements, each about 10 by 12, and built an (illegal) awning on the back of the building, and that was and is the church. Manju is fourteen years old- born into a very poor family and he was born deaf. His family didn't have the money to have him examined by a doctor- his condition was simply a fact of life- of a very hard life. He started coming to the church- it was a place- it was the only place where he was accepted for who he was, as he was, and he made himself the pastor's assistant- gofer and helper... And Gershom Lutheran, as poor as that church was, collected enough money to get him to a doctor, and after his diagnosis, to pay for a hearing aid.

For the first time in his life, Manju could hear- and he quickly began learning to speak. But do you know what he did with his hearing aid?  He shared it with his deaf friends- the small circle of three other boys who shared his disability. It wasn't HIS hearing aid, it was theirs- hearing was abundance- and there was plenty for everybody!

Can you imagine? I left the place in tears- and a sense that young Manju got what it was to follow Jesus in ways that I can't even imagine. I'm a better pastor- no, I am a better person because of my half hour with Manju at the Gershom Lutheran Church in Bangalore. I learned more about sharing- and generosity- and about abundance in that short time than I had in all my life- it's one of the reasons I continue to return to that country.

I don't know that I will ever see him again, but I will always remember him. And if I don't see him again in this life, I look forward to seeing him in God's Kingdom, because I know God remembers him- knows him now and always will!In your worship folder is a list of all the people connected to this congregation who have died since last All Saints Sunday- people whose names we shall hear in a very few minutes...

There are people on this list I knew well- people I loved. Others I hardly knew, if at all. I am sure that is true for you, as well. Yet we remember them all, because God remembers them! Because at this moment, they are in the fullness of God's presence- in the presence of the Jesus who has loved them- and you- from the beginning of time- and for all eternity!

Because God remembers, because God knows you, your life matters. Your life makes a difference in those whom God brings to you.

And God would say to me- and to you, that you don't have to be forever young- or have a high profile- or run away to a beach in Bora Bora to be important because in my eyes, you already are. That's why I gave you Jesus!

Come now to Jesus' table- for a meal of remembrance- for the Feast of Victory for our God.  Remember all the saints- but especially those who celebrate this feast in the Heavenly Kingdom- the saints who from their labors' rest. In Jesus' Wonderful Name, Alleluia! Amen!