From the Pastor’s Heart

Several years ago I was in my office preparing an All Saints sermon when two women and a baby came to the door. I had never seen them before or since that early Thursday morning in 2003. The moment they stepped into my office, we had a problem, a language problem—they spoke Spanish, and I do not speak it or understand it.

With much difficulty we began communicating. Maria asked if I was the “Father” of the church. I explained to them that I was the pastor. She began to pour out her heart, a heart broken with grief. She asked me if I would remember her son Alberto in prayer for one whole year. She explained that her son had died and that he had been found hanging in a closet. I offered my condolences and said I was sorry that her son had taken his own life. She corrected me and said it was not suicide, but murder. She said, “He was only twenty-three, he was my baby.”

As we talked, I learned that what she wanted more than anything was for her son to be remembered. It was important to her that the church would remember him. She could not find the English words to ask the church’s tradition. She was trying to ask of the church’s holy days for the dead. I don’t think it was a coincidence that this stranger came to my office three days before the church was to celebrate All Saints Sunday.

She said, “I know I will have to pay so you can remember him.” I reassured her it would not cost her anything for us to remember her son, Alberto, and in fact, we would add his name to our All Saints list.

I think she left my office with a tiny bit of comfort knowing her son would be remembered by the church on the church’s holy day for the dead, ‘All Saints Sunday’.

Remembering is so vitally important. The most common lament I hear from folks who have recently lost a loved one is: “No one will talk about (my husband, my wife, my mother, my father, or whomever it may be), because they think it will make me sad. In remembering, there is healing.

Sunday, November 6, at both the 9:00 am contemporary service and the 11:00 am traditional service, we will remember. We will remember those who have died since last All Saints Sunday. We will remember and give thanks for those who have touched our lives and left their imprints of love. We will lift up their names and cherish our memories, because they mattered and made a difference.

Maria told me that early Thursday morning as she was leaving my office: “It is a year later, and I still have so much pain.” Grief is a process that does not go away quickly or easily. On all Saints, we will also gather to share our grief and pain. Death is such a hard word, because it brings an end to what we have known and loved. Death turns our world upside down, and we discover we are left to carve out a new kind of normal for our lives. There is also healing in our ability to grieve together.

We will also gather on All Saints Sunday to celebrate. Even though death is a hard word, we can celebrate, because death does not have the last word. God has the last words, and those words are: “I am the resurrection and I am life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, yet shall they live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I hold the keys of hell and death. Because I live, you shall live also.”

This All Saints we will remember:
Carol Cooper
Ben Crimbly
Lydia M. Gibb
Bertha Latshaw
Phyllis Leahey
Lucinda Nicholson
Busola Ramos
Linda Seagren
Margaret Schwogel
Hui Yuan

When it comes to death, the world speaks a common language.
I pray you will join me as we remember, as we grieve together, and as we celebrate.

Blessings,
Pastor Russel

Recently I’ve noticed a new ice blue Chevy Cruze parked in front of the parsonage. I have commented to Nancy and a few others how ‘sharp’ I think the car looks. This morning as I was returning from walking Louie, the Chevy Cruze pulled up and took its usual parking space. The owner was about to walk across the street when I said to him: “I like your car. It is very nice looking.” He glanced at me and then turned his head without saying a word and started across the street. And then I heard the sound of the car’s horn. Suddenly I was insulted as I realized the sound of the horn meant he pressed the automatic lock on his key chain ensuring the car was locked. All I was doing was offering a sincere compliment. Did I some how give the impression I was up to no good? Did he think I was going to steal his car? Did I look like a thief?

This made me wonder, how many times have I jumped to conclusions not giving time or opportunity to get to know someone? The verdict was mine to make and my judgment was harsh and final without gathering any of the facts. This judgment thrust others to the class of “Outsiders.”

Over and over again we read in the Bible how people quickly and harshly judged others. Judgment was rendered without getting to know one’s heart and soul. They were judged as worthless and an outsider to be ignored and feared. This snap judgment meant many were excluded from the “inner circle.” However, this was not Jesus’ way. Jesus often got himself into trouble over his “open arms” approach to all people. In Jesus’ eyes, there were and are no misfits or outsiders.

This experience reinforced my thankfulness to God for God’s grace and mercy. I am so thankful that God does not judge me as worthless, someone to be excluded and feared. I am so thankful God does not exclude anyone from his gifts of love, mercy and salvation.

We as United Methodist celebrate Open hearts, Open Minds and Open Doors. This does not mean, “open” for a chosen few, it means all are welcome here that seek to be in relationship with God and with one another. I invite you to check out the welcome letter on our Web Site that the Administrative Council endorsed, which enthusiastically and adamantly welcomes all of God’s children to worship, fellowship, and ministry at the Sewickley United Methodist Church.

God claims each of us as His own. May we claim and embrace one another as brothers and sisters in Christ.

May it be so…. may it always be so!