I never really understood zombie movies. Once, when my brother and I were in high school, he and several of his friends and I drove the hour to the south side of Indianapolis at about 9 o'clock p.m. to get in on an all night "Zombie Fest" at one of our few remaining drive-ins. I wasn't really keen on an all-night Zombie-fest, crammed into a mustang with five--yup, five other teenage males. But one of the guys had heard that there'd be free hamburgers for those that stayed till the end. So, we went. And even after 8 hours straight of zombie movies--I still didn't get it. And we also didn't get free hamburgers--evidently we were at the wrong drive-in--it was a different one that was giving away free food. But you would've thought, after all that "zombie"--I would've gotten it. But I didn't. In those old timey zombie movies, maybe there wasn't anything to get, about it. No real plot, no real meaning, just zombies terrorizing the countryside. Until recently, when I saw a zombie movie that actually meant something--and caused me to think more deeply about this, shall we say, "genre" of film. There were actually two zombie movies out recently--one that was a serious attempt, and another that was more "tongue-in-cheek"--a satire of zombie movies, if you will. The serious one is titled, "Dawn of the Dead"--whereas the one I saw was, "Shawn of the Dead". Shawn of the Dead is kind of bizarre, even for a zombie movie, because for the whole first part of the movie, as Shawn, the main character gets up, goes to work, goes about his daily activities--you can't really tell whether folks in the background are zombies or not! You see people walking around, crossing the street, going into buildings, and you think, oh, there's a zombie--but then they turn and you see, "no, just someone with a blank, empty look on their face". And that's when I got it--I don't know if all the zombie movies had a message, but the point of this one is to challenge the viewer to question whether he or she is going through life fully alive, living life fully, or whether we are, in any way, just zombies, the living dead, going through the motions, but without life and vitality.

     Now, you might find that an odd thing to think about in a sermon for All Saint's Sunday. Granted, the usual focus, the more popular focus for the Festival of All Saints is to give thought both to those saints who the Church recognizes as saints--St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Luke and the like, as well as to those beloved loved ones, like these at the foot of the altar who have died in the Lord and who are now in the presence and keeping of the Lord in heaven. And it's good and it's right for us to take some time, to take one day in the Church year to remember and give thanks for those folks--especially those who lived and died faithfully, but who do not have their own big festival day in the church calendar. But All Saint's Day is not just about those folks. In fact, that, in a sense, should be the lesser focus. Because truly, as we talked about last Sunday, while it's valuable to remember those saints who have already passed from this life, there's nothing more we can do for them. The lessons and the liturgy and the message of the Word of God today, really have to aim at us--at us saints of God who are still in our pilgrimage on earth, and who may benefit, both from the example of the lives of the departed saints, but also, from being challenged to think about what it means for us to be saints--disciples of Jesus Christ who have been called out of the world, called to be set apart from the rest of the world, to live, indeed, saintly lives--lives full of the faith that is in us. And that focus is important for us to hear, this All Saints Sunday, because there is such a temptation for us not to live fully, as Christians in the world today. Because life, with it's fear and it's pressures and it's burdens and it's trials, can leave us trudging through life as the walking dead--little more than zombies shuffling here and there, but without focus, without purpose, without meaning. Just look around sometime, at the mall, or the grocery, or as you walk down the hall between cubicles at work. Or, even more frightening, look into a mirror sometime. Do you see persons, a person, full of the joy and excitement and direction that comes from being a saint of God? Do you see persons, or a person, who lives life passionately, with discipline and purity and faith? Or do you see people walking through life, head down, eyes glazed over, tired, worn, depressed, disheartened, with no hope and no joy and no peace? You may feel, at times in life, that there's no real reason for you to be hopeful, and joyful, and at peace. You may be struggling in your marriage, or struggling with your kids, or your job--you may be struggling with illness or pain or shame or loneliness, and find yourself concluding, "What is there to be worked up about? It's all I can do to trudge through another day." But just look what Jesus says to disciples and about the lives of disciples in our gospel lesson for All Saint's Day. Jesus was talking directly to his disciples who were themselves, poor, hungry, weeping, hated, persecuted, reviled. And Jesus doesn't say, "poor you--you're really having a time of it, aren't you." No, Jesus says, "Blessed are you! Blessed are you, even when you are poor, downtrodden, struggling in life!" In fact, Jesus says, "When these things happen to you, rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for surely your reward is great in heaven..." Jesus doesn't say, here, "You can rejoice when you get to heaven--because then you will have cause for joy." Rather, Jesus says, "when you are experiencing difficulties and challenges in this life--rejoice in THAT day"--rejoice TODAY, Jesus is saying to us, because TODAY, we have reason to live with meaning and purpose, because already, today, we have the promise of a great reward in heaven. And that hope for the future, that assurance that victory is already won for us, that promise, that no matter what happens in this life, no matter how seemingly bad, or unfortunate, or difficult--the victory is ours! It will all turn out okay! We already know the rest of the story, and our story, your story and my story, has a happy ending--better yet, our story has a blessed ending! The hope and promise of resurrection unto eternal life means in this life, we don't need to be desperate housewives, or desperate husbands, or desperate people, any one of us! St. Paul writes in our second lesson from Ephesians, "In Christ, you have obtained an inheritance, having been destined according to the purpose of him who accomplishes all things according to his counsel and will--so that we who have set our hope on Christ, might live for the praise of his glory. In Christ Jesus, you have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation and believing in Him, you are marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit--which is the pledge--the promise of our inheritance toward redemption as God's own people--to the praise of His glory."

     Because we have received this hope--this hope of redemption, of salvation, of new life in Christ, there is nothing in this life that can, or should keep us from living fully, as the saints of God that we are. The pain and shame of a difficult childhood, a broken marriage, an abusive parent, trouble with alcohol or drugs, sin of any kind, long term unemployment, a life that hasn't turned out the way we wanted it to--none of it should keep us from living lives fully as God's own children. For, as St. Paul writes, "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, has given you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that as you come to know him, he eyes of your heart will be enlightened, and you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us who believe, according to the working of his great power...the same power that God put to work in Christ, when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places..."

     Why would we walk around like zombies, when the same power for life that was at work in Christ Jesus when he was raised from death, is at work in us, now, today, this moment? Why would we shuffle aimlessly through life, burdened by shame and guilt and broken-ness, when we share in the riches of his glorious inheritance, living among the saints, because we are saints, blessed--blessed with a spirit of wisdom and revelation, having the eyes of our heart enlightened, so that we might know the hope to which he has called us? Brothers and sisters in Christ, fellow saints--you were not created, and redeemed, to trudge through life as the living dead--you were created and redeemed, to be full of hope and joy and peace--that bursts forth in our lives, for the praise and glory of God. Even in the worst of times, even in the most dire of circumstances in life, remember, blessed are you--blessed, even to point where you can love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, give unselfishly, do unto others as you would have them do to you. Together with St. Luke and St. Peter and St. Paul, together with our sainted loved ones who have died in the Lord, you too, are saints--because, you are blessed. So, live, as the blessed saints you are.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.