All for One, and One for All
Ephesians 1:11-23
Luke 6:20-31
The Rev. Andrew W. Walter
Grace Church, Silver Spring
All Saints’ Sunday
November 3, 2013
Growing up, I was always captivated by stories of action and adventure. I loved reading
books like The Last of the Mohicans and Treasure Island; and watching movies like The
Adventures of Robin Hood with Errol Flynn or The Mark of Zorro starring Tyrone Power.
In that entire action-adventure genre, though, my absolute favorite story was almost
certainly The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas.
Most of you are probably familiar with The Three Musketeers. It takes place in France
during the 1600’s and tells of a young man named d’Artagnan whose greatest ambition in
life is to be a Musketeer of the Guard. To pursue this dream, d’Artagnan leaves his home
in Gascony for Paris where, through a series of unusual circumstances, he is befriended
by three Musketeers who take him under their wing. Their names: Athos, Porthos and
Aramis.
Together, D’Artagnan and three musketeers thwart the plans of Cardinal Richelieu who
was plotting to overthrow the king and place himself on the throne. Along the way, the
four men confront all sorts of challenges and obstacles, but through it all, they stick
together, no matter what. They have a bond which cannot be broken. Their relationship,
their fellowship, their community of musketeers comes above all else, and their
commitment to each other is reflected in their motto: “All for one, and one for all.”
I often think of the three musketeers on All Saints’ Sunday because today is the day we
celebrate our community, our fellowship. This place which we call Grace Church is truly
special. It is unlike any other church I have known. Our vision is to be that “city on a
hill” where people of all races and cultures come to build their relationships with God
and others,1 and we are living into that vision. No matter who you are or where you
come from, you are welcome here. Grace is like one big family. This is a place where
you can come putting your best foot forward or dragging both feet behind you, and we
are just glad to see you. This is a place where you can come bringing both sides of
yourself: the repentant side and the other side which never seems able to repent, and we
still love you. You can come in sickness and health, in joy and sorrow, knowing that you
will be both seen and loved by God, by Jesus and not least of all, by all of us.2 That is
what Grace Church is all about.
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2
Grace Church Vision for the Future, as adopted by the Vestry in 2010.
William Sloane Coffin, The Riverside Years, Vol. I
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The community which we celebrate today, though, is not just those of us gathered here
and now. It also includes what we call the communion of saints, all those faithful people
who have gone before us, some of whose names we know and hold dear, others whose
names are now forgotten and are known only to God. These are the people who shined a
little light into our lives; the people who showed us the way; taught us what it meant to be
a good person, exemplified what it meant to be a Christian. These are the people who
made us think – if I could be like them, just a little bit…
In our Gospel reading today, we heard one of the greatest sermons of all time and some
of the best known words of Jesus:
Blessed are you who are poor…
Blessed are you who are hungry…
Blessed are you when people hate you…
Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for
those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other one also… do to
others as you would have them do to you.
The communion of saints embodied those words. That does not mean they were perfect.
The saints I am talking about were not perfect, not by any means. They were ordinary
people, like you and me, with their own shortcomings and faults, but they tried to do their
best, to be the best person they could be, to love and follow the Lord, to do to others as
they would have done to them. They were our parents and grandparents, husbands and
wives, friends and neighbors. They were regular people with regular names like
Elizabeth and John, Glen and Paul, Tom and Missy, Ann and Helga. These people are
the saints of God. These are the people we love but see no longer.
Saint Paul called them a great cloud of witnesses that surround us,3 but since today is also
the NYC marathon, I think of them as a great cloud of onlookers, a great cloud of
onlookers who have already finished the race and are there encouraging us. We may not
be able to see them, but they are there. We are bound together through Christ, and it is a
bind which cannot be broken, even by death. The saints are alive, and they are standing
there at the finish line, jumping up and down, waving their arms, energizing us and
reassuring us, giving us strength, because they are not finished until we are finished. 4
Together, we are one community. We are one family, the family of God, and in our
family we love each other and support each other and care for each other. Together, we
revel in our victories and our triumphs, and together, we mourn our losses and
heartaches. Through it all, we stick together, no matter what, praying for each other,
supporting each other, cheering for each other.
At my last church, most of my work focused on our families, youth and children,
including all of the children in our parish nursery school. On rainy morning, I walked
into the parish hall and came upon the nursery school children playing inside – there was
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Hebrews 12:1
Peter Gomes, All Saints’ Sermon, exact date unknown.
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a sea of 3 and 4 year olds everywhere. Some were riding little plastic bicycles and cars;
others were throwing a small ball back and forth; others were just running around.
As I walked into the room, a group the 10 or so children playing right inside the doorway
came running up to greet me: “Reverend Andrew! Reverend Andrew!” So, I bent over
and gave them all a high-five.
“Reverend Andrew, Reverend Andrew, watch us do somersaults.” Well, I couldn’t say
“no” to that so I stood there as each child did a somersault. They were using a plasticlooking gymnastics mat that was shaped like a ramp. The children would bend over, put
their head and hands on the top of the ramp, and then teacher would then lift their legs up
and over – gravity would do the rest.
After each child had gone, I started to walk away. “Reverend Andrew, Reverend
Andrew, now you do one!”
Now, I don’t know about all of you, but it had been a while since I had done a somersault
in a while, probably 30 years, but the children were all gathered around me, asking me to
do one. I quickly determined I wouldn’t do one on the ramp because I was afraid I
wouldn’t tumble straight and I might hurt myself. So, I found a large clearing on the
floor and bent over. The children were cheering and encouraging me. I put my hand on
the floor, gave a push with my legs, and over I went.
Life is full of challenges and obstacles, challenges and obstacles which can be much
tougher than just doing a somersault, but through it all, our family is here – we are here,
the communion of saints is here, and Christ is here, just like those children in the parish
hall – encouraging us, cheering for us, praying for us, walking with us, giving us strength
and courage. After all, that is what a family is supposed to do.
In just a moment, we will welcome some new saints into our family. Once the water has
been poured over their heads and the sign of the cross has been made on their foreheads,
there is a beautiful prayer of welcome that the entire congregation will say together: we
receive you into the household of God, confess the faith of Christ crucified, proclaim his
resurrection and share with us in his eternal priesthood. To which we could all add: all
for one and one for all.
Amen
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