All Saints Sunday 2019 Ephesians 1:11-23
As always, on this Sunday of the church year we remember loved ones who have gone before us—whom we now regard as saints in heaven. Also—along with the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox—we sometimes recognize some of those who have made an exceptional difference in the life of the Church. One of them was Pope Gregory the Great, who, after the fall of the Roman Empire, helped to preserve manuscripts and libraries, and thereby Western civilization itself. Among other things, he’s known as the patron saint of teachers.[i]
In some respects, we might give the same title to one of his namesakes, that is, Gregory VII, because during hispontificate, he taught a valuable lesson to the Holy Roman Emperor of that time—King Henry IV of Germany. This is the story of that lesson.
Henry was engaging in a practice highly frowned upon by the pope, namely, he was choosing who got to be bishops in various places. Gregory claimed that that was the prerogative of the pope and the pope alone. Henry was unconvinced. So Gregory undertook a daring act: He excommunicated the king, declared he no longer had authority over the empire, and announced that all his subjects were released from their oaths of allegiance. Henry was in big trouble. He could lose his throne.
Princes and bishops were called to a great assembly to be held in Germany—where such a decision could be made that would enforce the pope’s edict. Somehow Henry needed to get absolution and be reinstated in the Church. So in the middle of winter, he crossed the Alps into northern Italy to meet the pope, who was making his way to the assembly. Not knowing his intentions, the pope “sought refuge [in a] castle.” There, for 3 days in a row, Henry stood before the gate of the castle, standing barefoot in the snow and wearing nothing more than a tunic of coarse haircloth, asking for mercy. For him it was an occasion of both humility and humiliation. Finally, the pope relented, lifting his ban of excommunication. In turn, however, Henry taught Gregory a lesson. Three years later he announced that he had deposed the pope, then invaded Rome. Gregory was indeed removed, spending the rest of his days in exile.[ii]
I share this story because it’s emblematic of a period in the history of the Church—in the Middle Ages—when it was at the height of its worldly authority. It seemed as if it had almost come to be what we read in today’s passage in Ephesians:
…you…know…the hope to which [God] has called you,…the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints,…the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe… God put this power to work in Christ when he…seated him at his right hand…, far above all rule and authority…and dominion, and above every name…, not only in this age but also in the age to come. And he has put all things under his feet and has made him the head over all things…
A very bold statement by Paul, for—like others in the early Church—the Christians in Ephesus had very little power, politically or economically. On the other hand, might Paul have been
writing about Jesus’ authority only as it exists “in the heavenly places,” while people who run what happens down here on earth are free to do whatever they want—whether it may or may not be God’s will as they understand it?[iii]
In the history of our own land, Christians often have had great influence on society and government—and a fair amount of it good:
- Abolitionism before the Civil War—in the North, that is,
- The founding of hundreds of colleges and universities.
- The building of hospitals, orphanages, and halfway houses.
- Resettling refugees after both world wars and ever since.
- Standing up for the rights of workers being taken advantage of by industrialists.
- And especially the roles of some in the civil-rights movement, including Martin Luther King, Jr., and many other church leaders and dedicated Christians.
By the same token, there have been occasions when Christians in America, especially us Protestants, have just flat-out done what we’ve known not to be right. For example, using religion to justify being anti-Catholic or anti-Semitic or anti-Muslim, or anti-whoever else we don’t like or are afraid of.
And last, there have been times when the Church has meant well, but still screwed up—like supporting Prohibition. People had the best of intentions, but, in the end, it brought more harm than good.
Sadly, Christians have sometimes been manipulated by those in positions of power. I think of the man who was once called “America’s Pastor”—who died in February of last year. I’m talking about the evangelist Billy Graham, who served as a spiritual advisor for perhaps as many as ten presidents. He was especially close to one of them, Richard Nixon, who some historians say used Graham to project himself as a strong, moral leader. Then, when the Watergate tapes were revealed and our thirty-seventh president resigned, the Rev. Graham was devastated—
absolutely devastated.[iv]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
In his Letter to the Ephesians, Paul wrote: “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints…” That most likely means not only saints who by that time had passed through death into eternal life, but also those who were still alive in this world. What Paul wrote, then, could also read like this: “I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward…the other saints in addition to yourselves.” Remember, in our particular heritage, we understand ourselves as both saints and sinners, that is, while we still live in this world. In the world to come, we will fully be saints. But for the time being, we have—so to speak—a foot in each realm.
So what do we do with that? Certainly, God wants us to focus on the life to come. That should
always be part of our spiritual devotions. Yet God also wants us to keep paying attention to what’s going on in this life and trying to make a positive difference in it. But it isn’t easy. The challenges seem so great, so overwhelming.
For example, here are some statistics I saw just last weekend—about the number of homeless children in York County. In the school year of 2015-16, there were officially 826; in 2016-17, 1,214; and in 2017-18, 1,615. In just 3 years it went up 100%. And those numbers don’t even include children who are not yet in school. It seems more and more often that people are calling the church office for assistance in finding a place to stay, or to pay part of the rent or part of a utility bill. And I feel—as many of us—helpless to do much about it.[v]
I don’t know whether it’s always been that way. I’m guessing at one time that mainline Protestants could do much more. But in recent years, as some commentators have put it, the mainline churches have become the sideline churches. We no longer have the numbers to pack the same punch as we used to.
Yet the Church, the Body of Christ, is always able to do something. We sometimes do it directly—with our own resources. And sometimes we do it through the business community, which, of course, includes many Christians—through acts of charity, and more importantly through finding ways to create jobs, to create new opportunities.
And, as always, sometimes we Christians as citizens can make a difference. We can appeal to our elected officials to find better ways to give a leg up “for the least of those” among us.
Before Billy Graham and Martin Luther King became household names—before they ever stood up on the national stage—was another person who made a great impact on American religion in the twentieth century. My guess is most of you have not heard of him. His name was Reinhold Niebuhr. Growing up in the Midwest, he belonged to the then German Evangelical Church. After school, he pastored a parish in Detroit and, among other things, supported workers in the auto industry. Later, in New York, he taught theology for over thirty years. A well-known speaker and public figure, he was most influential from the 1930s through the 1950s. He wrote frequently about religious ethics in American life. He knew only too well that Christians practicing their faith in a sinful world is often a messy affair—especially when they do it in groups.[vi]
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Now I said that most of you probably never heard of Reinhold Niebuhr. However, I bet you’re familiar with at least one thing that he wrote. It’s a prayer he first composed sometime in the 1930s. A version of it was then included in prayer books for U.S. servicemen in World War II. Last, it began to be used in Alcoholics Anonymous and many other twelve-step programs. It’s known as the Serenity Prayer. In closing, I’m going to recite it, but in the plural—not “I,” but “We.” And after doing so, I want us to take a moment to think quietly about what long-lasting,
positive differences we might, as God’s saints, be able to make in today’s world. Let us pray,
God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
Courage to change the things [that] we can,
And [the] wisdom to know the difference.[vii]
(Time of reflection)
In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
[i] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Gregory_I.
[ii] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invesiture_Controversy; Williston Walker, A History of the Christian Church, 3rd ed., revised by Robert T. Handy (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1970):208-10; and Kenneth Scott Latourette, A History of Christianity (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1953):470-73.
[iii] For this perspective, I am indebted to Emerson Powery, “Commentary on Ephesians 1:11-23, in https://www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=4269.
[iv] See, for example, Jeff Greenfield, “When Richard Nixon Used Billy Graham,” Politico (February 21, 2018).
[v] https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u+http-3A_www.education.pa.gove_K-2D12 Homeless-2520Education_Pages_default.aspx&d=DwIGa@&c=dXExZTjGJCKIGVuOpvLOS&r=i00LSbKD6sgqZnCgJo4gRVyK14MpI51INylxH-tiOnc&m=VwHWIPkf3Nt8YRqIUuD33YTICZCVBG4laEj512DsFo&s=-DbrDVg_8LamF2h_xnCG50Xppf3oaKCqBOS3JnW45UI