Peace and grace to you from our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ.

On All Saints' Day a Sunday School teacher at St. Paul's Lutheran Church was explaining to her second grade class about various Saints. "And why do you suppose," she asked, "we have such a special place in our hearts for St. Paul?" One of her students answered, "Because he's named after our church."

Even though we have special days in the church year where we commemorate particular saints, the Lutheran church doesn't pay much attention to saints, though we use the appellation 'saint' with many people from the New Testament, such as St. Paul, St. Mark, St. Matthew, St. Luke, St. John etc. And when we speak of saints, we tend to think of them as very holy, having had some sort of conversion in their life that led them to lead very humble and self-sacrificing lives for the sake of Christ; and we think of saints as being dead.

When we call someone living a 'saint,' it's because we see them as leading a good and selfless life dedicated to Christ and the Gospel. Saints, however, are both living and dead, and are saints not because of their selfless actions, but because they are believers in Jesus as the Christ, the son of God, one person in the Trinity.

St. Paul in his writings refers to members of the various communities of Christ as saints. So, we gathered here today in the name of Christ, and those gathered in other places around the world, and those not gathered, but who believe, are all saints. We saints are the church on earth, and the deceased saints are the church in heaven.

Today's Gospel lesson from Luke is a wonderful piece of Scripture which begins with what we call "The Beatitudes." In Matthew, "The Beatitudes" are the beginning of Jesus Sermon on the Mount. Matthew has nine and they're addressed to people in general. Here, Luke has four and they are in the second person, speaking to those who are gathered to hear his words.

I am focusing on two parts of today's Gospel. The part right after the four Beatitudes that says, "Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you, revile you, and defame you on account of the Son of Man. Rejoice in that day and leaf for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven…" and the last part of the reading that says, "But I say to you that listen, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.…Give to everyone who begs from you"….and ends with what we know as the "Golden Rule": Do to others as you would have them do to you. Jesus directs his words to the saints of every time and place. Jesus doesn't suggest, he doesn't ask, he commands us to DO. Even if what he says seems paradoxical, he says, do it anyway.

A 'paradox' is an idea that is contrary to popular opinion, something that seems to contradict common sense and yet is true. Many things Jesus said to his followers back then, and to us, his followers now, and those that are to come, are paradoxical. When I read the lesson for today I immediately thought of a wonderful little book entitled, Anyway, The Paradoxical Commandments, by Kent M. Keith. I'll read them all but make comment on only two because of time.

We tend to see the Scripture quoted today as an ideal, something that we should strive for but not something we can actually achieve. I think the Paradoxical Commandments that Mr. Keith puts forth in his book, Anyway, say that we CAN achieve what Christ is commanding us to do in today's Gospel lesson.

In the "Introduction" to his book Mr. Keith says, "I laid down the Paradoxical Commandments [to my students] as a challenge. The challenge is to always do what is right and good and true, even if others don't appreciate it. Making the world a better place can't depend on applause. You have to keep striving, no matter what, because if you don't, many of the things that need to be done in our world will never get done.

"I had heard lots of excuses, and I wasn't buying them. OK-maybe people are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. So what? You have to love them anyway. And maybe the good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. So what? You have to do good anyway….I know that if I do what is right and good and true, my actions will have their own intrinsic value. I can feel good about who I have helped. I don't need any rewards. In the doing, I have already been rewarded. I am liberated and at peace. In the doing I am rewarded. I already have a sense of meaning and satisfaction that comes from doing a good job. The meaning and satisfaction were mine, whether or not anybody gave me recognition…. I am convinced that no matter how crazy the world is, people can find personal meaning. I am also convinced that the world would make more sense if people lived paradoxical lives, focused on personal meaning instead of recognition and applause. While finding meaning in our own lives, each of us can make the world a better place for all of us." [end of quote] Don't you think that pretty much catches the meaning of the Gospel lesson today? Jesus commands us to DO certain things regardless of how others interpret our acts; regardless that it goes against what is termed, 'reasonable thinking.'

So, now, here are Mr. Keith's ten Paradoxical Commandments: