All saints sunday - enough

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November 6, 2022
Rev. Patricia Wagner
All Saints Sunday - Enough

​         I woke up with a song in my head this week,
                  It’s the line of a pop song whose chorus goes;
                         it will never be enough, never be enough
                           never, enough, never, never, never
 
I know why it was on my mind,
         Someone had very explicitly made a comment
                  about whether I’d earned my keep,
                           and believe me its something every pastor
                                    worth their stole, wonders about,
         We know that we and all our staff and this whole enterprise
                  keeps going by your giving. 
                             
I am so aware of my shortcomings
                  in my work, my family, for myself,
I am sure you are too,  
         And no matter what we do,
                  how hard we work over our lifetimes,
                           we wonder as came the words of our anthem
                                         was I faithful?
                                               with the life I’ve been given, Is it enough?
 
That anthem is drawn from Matthew 25, verses 31-39
          that offers a vision of the last day,
                  when people will appear before the king,
                      and faithfulness will be judged
                           not by what we have believed
                                           but how we cared for those in perilous need
                                                 for in them, says, the King, I live. 
 
         I was hungry and you fed me, or fed me not
                  I was thirsty and you gave me to drink, or did not,
                           I was without a home and you gave me shelter,
                                             or did not.
                                     Naked, and you clothed me, or clothed me not.
 
It is a moving, and haunting vision
         Christ is in humankind
                  and caring for them is caring for
                                  the divine heart of the universe
 
it has inspired the church for thousands of years,
       it inspired this congregation
         for all its 102 years,
  all that you and those who came before
              have been able to do here
                   because we have pooled our resources
                        and offered ourselves, and this place,
                           and have supplied food, clothing, and shelter,
                                   monies to those enduring war and flood and wind
                                    and crises of health.
                                                       
And we carry on that mission – in addition to all the education,
         and recovery groups and children
                  that have been cared for this week
         on Wednesday, 10 Ukrainian American women  
                           used our kitchen to make hundreds of perogies                                                 to feed those in line for food at CRC. 
             and yesterday Ugandan Christians met here to organize
                   their new, more inclusive congregation.      
And there’s more,
         This past winter, we ran a warming center and
                  provided meals for the unhoused and those in line for food.
         And in the new year we hope we can put our remodeled kitchen                      to use and provide a weekly meal for anyone who needs
                         the warmth of food and friendship
 
It’s inspiring! 
This passage has inspired me for as long as I remember
      it propelled me into working with the very poor and oppressed,
            here and abroad, meaningful, soul lifting work.
                  and became the banner for my ordination ceremony
 
And yet, I’m haunted by the ways I have fallen short,
         particularly the poor I could not help
            Irene, who died from breast cancer without me next to her,
              Quan, who I couldn’t save from a brutal abusive mom,
                  Wesley, who succumbed to his addiction
                      Our friend on the patio here who lost his toes to frostbite
                                for my father for whom I did not get morphine in time
                                    before he died in agony.
 
These and so many others for whom I have not been enough.
         it seems, and you may feel this, too,  it is never, never enough. 
 
I heard a veteran combat nurse who served in Vietnam
         looked back on her time
                  The only ones I remember
                           are those that died. 
                                    The ones she couldn’t save. 
 
Then she went to the Vietnam Wall in Washington,
         for a reunion of the unit she served with,
                  and someone came up to her,
                           spoke her name, it was a soldier she’d treated. 
                                    who said:  I came today to see you
She was seen,
         because she had been there,
                  willing to look into the face of suffering
                           to do what she could.
 
it’s a word of grace,
            and if there is grace in that soldier, in us
                  surely that reflects the grace of God.  
       
       When we doubt we are enough. 
                When we ponder what will happen at our death
                         when our life flashes before our eyes
                               and it is all somehow summed up
                                      will we be found wanting,
                                              scolded or enfolded into glory?
                           Will our obvious shortcomings affect
                                          God’s love for us?
 
To that, Paul says to the struggling church in Rome and to us:
 
No. 
         Nothing can separate you from the love of God.
                   nothing in life, nothing in death
         The Lord of heaven and earth sees us
                   comprehends us
 
The God in whom we live and move and have our being.
         who has nudged us
                  into every act of compassion
                                    every effort made with friend
                                             or family or stranger,
                                                      with the earth, and sky and sea
                                                               with all creatures here below. 
Divine Love that has given us eyes to see that
         the Christ who is present in every person
            of every station, every status, every condition.
                 lives, also, in us
 
And will bring our hearts to even greater compassion
         even more fulsome seeing in the days we have
                  and when our days are done. 
 
It is a good word. It is one to share:
                                   
This week, a miracle happened.
         After searching for 30 years,
                  The son of one of our unhoused friends
                              found her.
He did many things for her,
         but there was a limit to what she let him do,
                  and he had to leave, for now,
                            to go home to wife and children
He longed to do more, worried he hadn’t done all that she needed.
                  and it was my turn our turn to say, it is enough.
 
And I imagine the King of kings saying the same
         Remember, behind every good work
                  every loving action, received or not
                           successful or not, I am.
        
Together, faithful servant, we are enough.