In
a few minutes, the St. Paul’s Children’s Choir will sing “I sing a song of the
saints of God” as a part of the offertory in celebration of All Saints’ Sunday. At rehearsal last week, Jack Bearden asked
Claire, “How do you become a saint?”
Claire replied, “Well, everyone can be a saint.” Some more conversation ensued until finally
Jack said, “Okay, I’ll just look to the older people. They have the most experience.” (click here to see St. Paul's Children's Choir)
Regardless
of your age, as the hymn says, saints are those who love to do Jesus will. Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a saint in his own day, said
it like this, “Being a Christian is less about avoiding sin than about
courageously and actively doing God’s will.”
Simply put, saints of God, who are sinners themselves, are those who boldly
proclaim the good news of Jesus both in word and deed. They are those who inspire others to follow
Jesus.
The
Church, specifically the Episcopal Church, celebrates the life of the saints
using a publication called Holy Women,
Holy Men. And our Wednesday morning
Eucharist gives St. Paul’s a way for the witness of these saints to be
proclaimed even today within the context of worship.
Even more, through the
communion of saints, these holy women and holy men are active in prayer for us
and with us. They are companions who
join us along the way who support and encourage us in our own
faithfulness.
Some of these saints are
well known like St. Patrick or St. Francis of Assisi or St. Luke the Evangelist
who wrote the gospel text for this morning.
But there are lesser known saints whose contributions to the Christian
witness are just as profound. Take for
example, William Tyndale who was willing to be killed so English speakers could
hear the Word of God spoken in their native tongue.
Even still, there are saints of God who are
even lesser known, who are only known by oral tradition or in local contexts. There are saints of God among us even today
as we gather for worship. There are
hundreds of thousands still.
So
why do we need these saints? Why are
they so vital to our Christian witness?
Why do we devote a day in the Church to celebrate all the saints?
I’ll
never forget what one young woman said on a youth mission trip when she was
asked why she crawled under a house with snakes to clean up old trash. She replied, “Somebody had to do it. I was the smallest person so I figured that
person had to be me.”
I
know this story isn’t earth shattering or even newspaper material but it made
quite an impression on me as a young man.
Her willingness to do what no one else could or would is the essence of
the Christian witness. She inspired me
because of her willingness to do a job that no one else wanted to do. What job could I do that no one else wanted
to do?
Saints
are the ones who venture into unchartered territory. They go where few are willing to go in the
name of taking up the cross to follow Jesus.
Saints are not born out of committees.
Rather, the actions of the saints are usually singular.
But even then, the
actions of the saints are inspired by our Lord Jesus Christ, by the one who did
what no one else would or could do, by the one who is unwavering in his
commitment to bring about the good news of the kingdom even to the point of
death.
And the good news of the
kingdom, of course, is that fear and death and sin cannot kill and destroy but
are rather temporary road blocks that beg us to turn around and mind our own
business. The good news of the kingdom
says that we don’t have to turn back for we live in Christ – the one who is risen
from the dead.
For this reason, Jesus preaches, “love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who
curse you, pray for those who abuse you, if someone strikes you on the check
turn the other, do to others as you would want them to do for you.” Jesus isn’t simply telling us to do good for
goodness sake.
Jesus is telling us to do
good for the kingdom’s sake. The message of Jesus and the saints isn’t simply
about making the world a better place.
Like Michael Curry is fond of saying, the good news is about turning our
world upside-down which in God’s eyes is actually right-side up.
When proclaimed in the
spirit of truth, the good news of the kingdom will shock us and call us to live
differently for the kingdom of God is not of this world. For this reason, Jesus says, “Blessed are the
poor, the hungry, and the sorrowful...for the kingdom is yours.” For this reason, Jesus says, “Woe to the
rich, to those who are full, to those who laugh…for you will mourn.”
Our Christian witness will
put us at odds with society and culture whether it be a physical death or a
death of status or standing in the community.
As you read the history of most of these saints, you discover that they
were not popular in their day. Many were
killed, most were exiled from their communities or families, some were even
excommunicated from the church.
Saints play havoc on the
status quo and power structures when proclaiming the good news of the kingdom. Saints are convicted that our fallen world
and our fallen leaders will struggle to use their power for the common
good.
And once this fallen
world misuses its power, like it often does, these saints gladly go out on a
limb to point to the kingdom like Miller Childers did when he was one of two on
the Vestry who opposed St. Paul’s stance to deny entrance to those
participating in the Civil Rights Movement.
Even more, these saints
know that the only agenda worth following is the agenda of Jesus Christ which I
hope comes as good news to you as we prepare for the upcoming Presidential
election.
While the saints often
act on their own, they do so in accordance with God’s desire to draw the human family
to himself so that we may be one. At St.
Paul’s, we get to witness to the human family.
We get to be God’s instruments that draw people into the household of
God, a people who proclaim the power of God’s forgiveness and the hope of
Christ’s resurrection.
As we kickoff our annual
stewardship campaign, we are particularly reminded that we are members of the
household of God. We are not members of
an exclusive club. Rather, we are
members of a family where all are given a place at the table.
And as stewards of God’s
gifts, I invite you, over these next four weeks, to ask God to help you give
yourself to this mission through your time, talent, and treasurer.
I invite you to read the
reflections that members of this parish have written as a witness to how God
calls them to gladly give what they have for the extension of God’s kingdom on
earth.
I invite you to be
inspired by the giving habits of those who give 10% or more to the church for
the sake of the kingdom, for the sake of turning the world upside-down which is
actually right-side up.
I invite you to hold each
other accountable, including your clergy and staff, so that this parish family
puts to good use the gifts God entrusts us with.
For like the saints of
God, the witness of this parish family in this community of Selma, has and will
continue to inspire people to do and say those things that others cannot or are
not willing to do in the name of the One who lives beyond death and despair in
a world where joys will never end. And there’s
not any reason, no, not the least, that we can’t do this for Jesus has already
carved out the way. Amen.
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