Sermon - All Saints' Sunday

                                       JUST WHO ARE THOSE SAINTS ANYWAY?

The children's sermon has already given you a hint as to lesson I want to leave with you this morning.  But just in case I was talking too softly or you didn't quite understand - the question for us on this All Saints' Sunday is:  "Just who are the saints of the church?"  Because what we want to do today is honor all of the saints, not just some of them.  On this Sunday we remember the saints of old, we recognize the saints who have recently died, and we want to encourage the saints who are struggling to become comfortable with the title.

On this day we honor all of the saints, not just some of them.  That is why the name is written in the plural possessive.

All Saints' Sunday is a day dedicated to St. Peter, St. Anne, St. John, St. Tecla, and St. Matthew.  It is also a day dedicated to Sts. Faye Moss, Katherine Ruff, Thurl Amick, Larry Clark, and Ralph Mellom.  But as we celebrate the gifts of these saints, we also want to say a few words about Sts. Howard and Cynthia, Sts. Honnalorie and Richard.

If nothing else is remembered from today's worship, I hope you will remember that on All Saints' Sunday it’s not nearly so important that we remember those to whom statues and memorials are erected.  The essential thing is recognizing and honoring those who still struggle to become comfortable with the title:  saints like you and me.

Regardless of the role one makes of saints in their own spiritual life, most folks have grown to be quite comfortable with the first group of saints.  This group consists of the heralded saints of old, the men and women you think of as Saints of the Church:  Matthew, Mark, Mary, Lydia, Peter, Paul.  We paint portraits of them and hang them in honor­able places.  We use them for lessons in Sunday Church School.  We stamp their images onto medals and wear them around our necks.   While each saint in the church has his or her own day of observance during the liturgical year, on All Saints' Day we honor them as a group, acknowledging, as a whole, their contribu­tion to the life of the Church.

In American religious experience, saints have sometimes gotten a lot of bad press.  Contrary to what some Protestants are told, it is not true that Roman Catholics and Orthodox churches "worship the saints."  Saints are an aid to worship - no less than repeat­ing The Apos­tles' Creed or praying the Our Father.  While there are differ­ences between the official teach­ing of the church and the prac­tice of one's indi­vidual piety, it is not true that venera­tion of the saints is "worship of the saints".  It is veneration, adora­tion, the establishing of a beneficial relation­ship.  There are some who have over-emphasized the roll of the saints, but we should never allow this to form our full opinion or prevent us from learning from those who call upon the saints in their prayer life.

The relationships between living Christians and departed saints began quite innocently.  A member of the congregation would go to their pastor and ask the pastor to pray for them.  If there were particular concerns of great importance the pastor would ask other pastors to share in this process of offering prayers.  They prayed hard and diligent­ly.  Somewhere in the process, someone asked, “What are the saints, already in heaven, doing with their time?"  The answer had to be that they are praying too, but what do they pray for?  They must be praying that God's will be done on earth.  So..... why not ask them to join us in our prayers for that particular concern which is weighing heavy on our hearts?  Good idea!

As time passed, a particular saint came to be preferred.  If there was a saint who shared some earthly characteristic with me, it seemed natural to ask that saint to pray for me.  Saints who were miners become the one whom miners ask to pray for them.  Saints who were doctors are asked by other doctors to pray on their behalf.  It was from this preference among the saints that patron saints begin to emerge.

Calling upon the saint in prayer had nothing to do with any notion that these saints had the power to save, they were simply in a good position to offer prayers on behalf of those still working out their salvation on earth.

How many times have you asked someone to pray for you?  In so doing, you were doing nothing different than those millions upon millions of believers who stand before the statue of a beloved saint, asking her to pray on their behalf.  They are asking her to pray with them; enlisting their aid as they lift their concerns before God.

The second group of saints we want to honor on All Saint’s Sunday is also rather obvious.  These are the persons within the Church who have died in the current liturgical year.  On All Saints' Sunday we make it a point to remember the members of our parish and community who have served as examples and models for us.  We remember those who have died in the faith. 

The list of names printed in our bulletin represent those who have had a profound impact upon our pilgrimage of faith.  We list their names as a way of remem­bering the Saints who have nurtured us in the faith, those who have served the church, those whom it has been our privilege to know and to love.  We remember them as saints, as those who have now experienced in full the resurrection of Christ.

This group of saints is very important to us.  They are the saints who have had the most direct impact upon our lives.  In many cases, they are the ones without whom we would never have come to have faith.  There is no greater witness to the saving power of God's Word than those who live by it.  We look to their witness and from that witness we see how we should live.

Which brings us to our third group of saints: The saints of today.  This is the group of saints who are most often over­looked, too seldom consulted, rarely even noticed.  These saints are you and me.  We are the saints of the church present.

"Sainthood" is not limited to those who are venerated with their own day on the liturgical calendar.  "Sainthood" is not a title conferred only upon those who make a tremendous sacrifice or do some unimaginable deed.  Sainthood is the name given to all those who live in the reality of God's forgiveness.  The pastor who guided my home congregation during my formative years was a man named Aaron Lippard.  Pastor Lippard defined a saint as a “forgiven sinner.”  He ­insisted that Saint be the title of recog­nition given to all those who struggle to live their lives in faithfulness to God.

Great leaders are wonderful for the life of the church; we couldn't get along without them.  But they do nothing unless they inspire the masses.  Of what good would Martin Luther's reform have been if it did not reach out to those who were in the pews?  In reality, one of the reasons Luther began his reform was his frustration with those in leadership.  He saw that the leaders of the church were living cloistered lives, cut off from the peas­ants and having very little interaction, let alone impact, on the vast membership of the Church.  The bishops were inaccessible.  The priests were locked securely in their monasteries.  And the teachers spent their time in private study.

Luther's reform had the effect of getting the saints out of the church and into the world.  His intention was to illustrate that Christian faith, if it was to be true to its roots, must be a lived faith and not a field of study.  Unless the leaders of the church took seriously the responsibility of educating the members and assisting them in living the faith - they were not doing the will of God.

The task of all the saints is to proclaim through word and deed the saving message of Christ.

All Saints' Sunday is our day.  It is our day to celebrate the wonderful gifts we have received from saints of old and the saints of recent years.  It is also a day for us to recognize our status as saints, to see ourselves as forgiven sinners upon whom Christ's church now depends.

You and I are the saints of today.  When future generations call upon the name of Christ they will do so because our witness has inspired them.  When future temples are built and statues erected, it will be a result of our faithfulness, our praying on behalf of those who are struggling to understand themselves as chosen by God.

On this festival of "All Saints'", I pray that you will remember those who have inspired you, those who have loved you.  But I hope you will give more attention to those with whom it is your good fortune to share the love and acceptance of Christ.  As Saints of Christ, this is our role, this is our duty, and this is our honor.

Amen.