Called to Love 2 Timothy 1:1-9a 11-01-09

That's the image I think Paul had in mind when he wrote to his young protégée  Timothy, saying "For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;" [2 Timothy 1:6] Perhaps Paul had received word that Timothy was losing heart, experiencing a "dark night of the soul", that his faith had become a barely smoldering ember incapable of providing the warmth and the energy needed to respond to God's call. Or perhaps Paul had heard reports that Timothy was becoming lax in doing the things that would keep his faith burning brightly and he wanted to call Timothy back to what really mattered. But whatever the case, Paul issued his call by subtlety inviting Timothy to remember the faith that LIVED in his grandmother Lois and his mother Eunice.

What Timothy had evidently experienced in his mother and grandmother was a living faith -not just belief, but rather belief that grew into trust and flowed into concrete deeds of love and compassion, healing and grace. In response to God's love, they grew in love by trusting that God would support and guide, strengthen and empower them to do what needed to be done to bring light into the darkness and hope to the despairing. "For this reason," Paul writes "I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands; for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline." [2 Timothy 1:6-7]

Today is All Saints Day, so I want to say a word or two about saints. When we hear that word most of us think of those within the Catholic tradition who have been canonized as saints; there are some 10,000 of them. Many have their own special feast day; a day to remember the ways in which they lived their faith so that their life might serve as a witness to rekindle the flame of faith in us. Originally All Saints Day was to remember all the saints known and unknown. In the Protestant Tradition, where it is believed that we are all called to be saints -that is we are all called to live in such a way that our lives become a witness to God's Love alive in the world- All Saints Day became a time to remember and honor those people who died in the past year. But, if we let it, All Saints Day can become a time to remember all those people, living and dead, whose lives have testified to God's love.

As we do so, I'd like to share with you a story from one of the saints of this congregation that continues to inspire me, every time I remember it.  It began just after the decision was made to accept the generous donation of this property and begin to raise money to build a new church building. As one of the members of the Fund Raising Committee, Bill Peel came home from a committee meeting and told Dorothy the amount of money he had pledged for their family to contribute over the next three years. "How in the world will we ever come up with that much money, Bill?" Dorothy asked, shocked by the number he had reported. As they talked, they remembered that there was an old chicken house on one of their farms. So they decided to step out in faith, buy some used equipment and some pullets (that's baby chicks for those of you as uninformed as I was) to raise and sell. It was quiet a project and the whole family got involved, taking turns checking on the chicks to make sure they were OK, feeding them, and doing all the other chores needed to raise healthy chickens that would bring a good price. Remembering those days, Dorothy said "On Christmas Sunday that year, we all went to church with our check from selling the chickens. We were so excited that we had made the amount we needed for the first year's pledge. We let the kids put the check in the offering. We kept it up for three years," she went on. "We all learned some amazing lessons, especially our children. But we did it. We raised the amount of money that Bill had pledged. As I think about it," she said, "I know the money helped build the church building, but it did far more for our family than it ever did for the church. It was a true blessing."

As we talked Dorothy went on to tell me stories of other saints in this congregation; Grandpa Brisbin, Cliff Stewart and John Noble who made the cross that hangs in the center of the chancel; Dorothy Cryder who used her gift of floral arranging to beautify the sanctuary for weddings and special services; the many women who served Chicken Pie Suppers for the community and held bazaars to raise much needed funds for ministry and mission; Bob Dewar who taught Sunday School for many years and gave a teddy bear to each new child who came to church. So many saints, so many stories of faith put into action; stories of willing answers to God's call to be love alive in this world; stories of people who made it possible for us to hear God's call today. I wish we had time to hear them all, but I hope that you will remember the saints are in your life. Give thanks for them. Follow in their footsteps and rekindle your flame and tend your fire, so that your life will be an answer to God's call and a witness to God's love. Amen