FIRST READING Revelation 7:9-17
9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
PSALM Psalm 149
1Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song; sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful. 2Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 3Let them praise his name in the dance; let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp. 4For the Lord takes pleasure in his people and adorns the poor with victory. 5Let the faithful rejoice in triumph; let them be joyful on their beds. 6Let the praises of God be in their throat and a two edged sword in their hand; 7To wreak vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; 8To bind their kings in chains and their nobles with links of iron; 9To inflict on them the judgment decreed; this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallelujah!
SECOND READING 1 John 3:1-3
1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
GOSPEL Matthew 5:1-12
1Seeing the crowds, {Jesus} went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
ARE YOU A VICTIM OF IDENTITY THEFT?
For those who watch the news, or programs like 60 minutes, you know that the crime of identity theft is a growth industry. A recent study found that 15.4 million people in the United States were the victims of identity theft in last year (2016) and in the past six years, identity thieves have stolen over $107 billion from ordinary, hardworking people like us. Now if you haven’t been paying attention to the news stories or have somehow never heard of this misconduct, identity theft is a very serious crime.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses guarded information about a person, without their permission, for either monetary gain or for other criminal activities. Identity thieves can use information such as your name, address, credit card or bank account numbers, Social Security number or even medical insurance account numbers to do a person harm. As I mentioned a moment ago, identity theft is a growing, billion-dollar plus business and these identity thieves have honed their skills in some low-tech as well as high-tech ways.
If you’ve watched the news in the last couple of months, one of the more common ways for identity thieves to steal your financial information, is to use credit card skimmers. These skimmers attach easily to either an ATM machine or a gas pump and whenever someone swipes their card, the card’s information is recorded. Thieves have even added miniature cameras in order to get your pin codes. Another high-tech way for thieves to steal your information is through RFID scanners.
With almost every credit card adding an RFID chip to your cards, thieves can simply walk beside you and scan your cards without ever touching you or the card. The easiest way to combat this type of theft is to keep your RFID chip cards in a protected sleeve when not in use. But there are other low-tech ways in which criminals can steal your personal information.
According to the U. S. Department of Justice, there are several ways somebody can steal your identity. In public places, for example, criminals can engage in what’s called “shoulder surfing”—that is watching you from a nearby location as you punch in your pin number–or listen in on your conversation if you give your credit-card number over the telephone. If you receive applications for “pre-approved” credit cards in the mail, but discard them without tearing them up or shredding the enclosed materials, criminals can retrieve the discarded offer and try to activate the cards for their own use without your knowledge. Additionally, if your mail comes to a place where others have easy access to it, criminals may simply steal your mail and then use the offers for their benefit. However, there is another, very subtle, way thieves can trick you into giving up your personal information.
Lots of people are misled into responding to “spam”–unsolicited E-mail–that promises some benefit, but also requests some identifying information. These very attractive offers look legitimate and may even appear to be from highly respectable companies. The crafty spammers will often “spoof” a website making the deceiving webpage look like a genuine retailer as part of their plan to obtain your personal and credit information. Once the thieves have your information, a criminal is then able to conduct a wide range of crimes. For example: False applications for loans and credit cards, fraudulent withdrawals from bank accounts, fraudulent use of online accounts, or obtaining other goods or privileges which the criminal might be denied if they were to use their real name. With all these ways unauthorized people can obtain your personal information, it’s enough to make anyone paranoid.
But this isn’t my intension this morning. I don’t want you living in fear of having your personal information stolen; that’s no way to live. I do however, want you to be informed, because all we have to do is learn a few tricks and remain vigilant, anytime we use our credit information, or in making sure of the websites we visit, or double checking the email offers we respond to are in fact legitimate. If you learn these safety steps, then it’ll be tough for someone to take advantage of you. We simply need to keep in mind that identity theft is a threat to all of us and that if we’re not careful, it could happen to any of us. Of course, you could be a victim of identity theft purely by mistake. A man named Robert Patton experienced this several years ago.
It began one day when Robert was stopped for a traffic violation. On a routine check, the police officer discovered that his name was listed as being AWOL from the Army. Although he protested his innocence, he was taken to the station house and locked in a cell. Two MPs came later and escorted him to the processing center at Fort Dix, N.J. He was then taken to what they informed him was his barracks, showed him his bunk and footlocker, and then told him to put on his uniform.
What complicated the situation further was the fact that, not only did the missing GI have the same name, but apparently Robert and the AWOL soldier looked very similar. Furthermore, they wore the same size uniform. His fellow soldiers assumed he was the same man. For the next week or so, Robert’s life was a living nightmare. His unit was still being processed, and he was required to go along. About a week later, he was told to report to the office of the Commander. The captain in charge told him the real AWOL soldier had been caught, but instead of apologizing, the captain treated Robert as if the mix up was his fault. He told him to be off the base within two hours. Robert, of course, was overjoyed.
The once again Mr. Patton raced back to the barracks, changed into his civvies and high-tailed it for the main gate. Just as he was about to step out the gate, he heard a voice calling his name. A private ran up and handed him an envelope that had been forwarded from his old address. When he opened it, he was stunned. It was his long awaited draft notice. Sometimes you just can’t win. No, Robert’s identity hadn’t stolen. His nightmare came about by a simple mistake, but it was still a frustrating experience.
Now, by this time, you may be asking yourself why I’m taking the time this morning to talk to you about a stolen or mistaken identity. It’s because I believe this is the most tragic thing that can happen to a human being–to lose his or her identity. Our epistle lesson for today is from 1 John 3: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world doesn’t know us is that it didn’t know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has yet to be made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.” We have an identity, one that cannot be stolen.
Who are we? When we place our faith in God and make Him the Lord of our life, then we are indeed a child of God. And we should never forget that. I want to share a story that some of you may have heard before. It’s a story worth being repeated. It’s a story first told years ago by retired seminary professor Fred Craddock while lecturing at Yale University. It’s been repeated by many great speakers and preachers. Zig Ziglar, as a matter of fact, used to tell it in many of his motivational rallies. Craddock told of going back one summer to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to take a short vacation with his wife. One night they found a quiet little restaurant where they looked forward to a private meal–just the two of them.
While they were waiting for their meal they noticed a distinguished looking, white-haired man moving from table to table, visiting with the guests. Craddock whispered to his wife, “I hope he doesn’t come over here.” He didn’t want the man to intrude on their privacy. But the man did come by their table. “Where you folks from?” he asked politely. “Oklahoma,” Craddock replied. “Splendid state I hear, although I’ve never been there,” said the white-haired gentleman. “What do you do for a living?”
“I teach homiletics at the graduate seminary of Phillips University,” Craddock answered. “Oh, so you teach preachers, do you? Well, I’ve got a story I want to tell you.” And with that he pulled up a chair and sat down at the table with Craddock and his wife. Dr. Craddock said he groaned inwardly. Oh no, here comes another preacher story. It seems everyone has one.
The man stuck out his hand. “I’m Ben Hooper. I was born not far from here across the mountains. My mother wasn’t married when I was born so I had a hard time. When I started to school, my classmates had a name for me, and it wasn’t a very nice name. I used to go off by myself at recess and during lunchtime because the taunts of my classmates cut so deeply.
“What was worse was going downtown on Saturday afternoon and feeling every eye burning a hole through me. They were all wondering just who my real father was. “When I was about 12 years old a new preacher came to our church. I would always go in late and slip out early. But one day the preacher said the benediction so fast I got caught and had to walk out with the crowd. I could feel every eye in church on me. Just about the time I got to the door I felt a big hand on my shoulder. I looked up and the preacher was looking at me. “‘Who are you, son? Whose boy are you?’ the preacher asked. “I felt the old weight come on me. It was like a big, black cloud. Now, even the preacher was putting me down.
“But as he looked down at me, studying my face, he began to smile a big smile of recognition. “Wait a minute,’ he said, ‘I know who you are. I can see the family resemblance. You, are a son of God.’ “With that he slapped me across the back and said, `Boy, you’ve got a great inheritance. Go and claim it.’” The old man looked across the table at Fred Craddock and said, “That was the most important single sentence ever said to me.” With that he smiled, shook the hands of Craddock and his wife, and moved on to another table to greet old friends. Suddenly, Fred Craddock remembered. On two occasions the people of Tennessee had elected the son of an unwed mother to be their governor. Yup, his name was Ben Hooper.
You see, I know who you are. I can see the family resemblance. You are a child of God. Terrible things happen to people when they forget who they are. Some of them forget their values. Some of them lose their sense of purpose. All of them lose their joy. Today is All Saints’ Sunday. Today is the day when we remember those people who have gone before us, who sought in their own time to live as children of God. Today three bells will be placed on our All Saints Banner in remembrance of those who have gone to their reward. No, they weren’t perfect people–though they are made perfect now.
Notice how St. John records it, “Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.” As both saints of God and sinners, we’re not perfect people in this world–though we will be made perfect when we come face to face with Christ. That’s the eternal inheritance that we’ve been promised. And why is that? Only one reason: because we are God’s children.
There was a very exclusive auction held several years ago. The money bid for the objects which were auctioned off was far higher than you would have paid in an ultra-nice department store. For example, the winning bid for a rocking chair that had been valued between $3,000 and $5,000 was $453,500. This was the case throughout the auction. A used automobile valued between $18,000 and $22,000 was sold for $79,500.00. A set of green tumblers valued at $500 sold for $38,000. A necklace valued between $500 to $700 went for $211,500. For four days articles of common, ordinary value were sold for wildly inflated prices. And why? The items auctioned were from the estate of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The value of the items auctioned sold on the basis of the one to whom they had belonged. Why are you and I valuable? It’s because of the One to whom we belong.
You and I may appear to be very ordinary to people around us, but God sees us as having ultimate value. Enough value that God gave His only Son in our behalf. It’s a fact that we must never forget. We all matter and don’t let anyone ever rob you of your identity. Don’t let anybody tell you that you don’t matter. Don’t’ let anybody rob you of your identity because it’s an identity that cannot be stolen. It was bought and secured with the blood of Christ. We are part of a great family and we can enjoy the promise of life eternal with God because we are His children and joint heirs with Christ in His kingdom (Rom. 8:17.)
So take heart today and remember the promise of God given through St. John: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! . . . Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
Amen
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