Readings
Revelation 7:9-17
Psalm 34:1-10, 22
1 John 3:1-3
Matthew 5:1-12
Like every first Sunday in November, we once again find ourselves celebrating the feast of All Saints. This is a day when it is commonly understood that we remember the saints of the church and the faithful in every generation. And it is traditionally one of the four Sundays each year that is set aside as most appropriate for baptisms.
But this day, as it does every year, begs the question, what is a saint?
Growing up I always thought of saints as heroes of the faith. These are men and women whose lives are so marked by holiness and faith that they stand as shining examples of what it means to be a Christian. Often too, these saints are associated with miracles either in their lifetime or following it. These are people to be treasured and revered. These are people who have all but perfected their faith. They are worthy of admiration. Or to put it in the idiom of my much younger self, these are people whose images on holy cards are worthy of collection, much like bubblegum cards of sports heroes.
But as I have matured, my understanding of what a saint is has shifted over time. While there are saints who we hold up as heroes of the faith, there are many saints both past and present who we might not recognize as such. In fact, there are many saints who so quietly go about their faith that it is almost guaranteed that they will not be noticed.
The word “saint” is an English derivative of the Latin word “sancte,” which is often translated as “holy.” When we name someone as a saint we are, in fact, recognizing that they are a “holy one;” a person whose life manifests the grace of God. Another meaning for “sancte” is “blessed.” And so, we can say that a saint is someone who is blessed and is a blessing to others.
Now that’s interesting, isn’t it? Nowhere in the word “saint,” in terms of its original meaning, is implied the idea of perfection. Nowhere in the word “saint” is the idea of hero. Now it is understandable how and why some saints have become heroes, but that doesn’t mean that you have to be a hero to be a saint. Nor is it implied that you have to be a perfect example of humanity. In fact, many of the saints we hold up as heroes of the faith were just as flawed and prone to brokenness as any of us. So, if saints are not necessarily heroes or perfect, then what does it mean to be a saint?
Well, at the risk of sounding like a broken record, saints are those persons who faithfully work to make the shape of their life match the shape of Jesus’ life. They, like the ones Jesus names as blessed in today’s Gospel, work to be faithful, merciful, pure, and to be peacemakers. They do not shy away from the difficulties of the human condition but embrace them. They recognize that their faith will not always bring them acceptance and joy, because at times the world will reject their faith and, by extension, them. And yet they continue to love both God and neighbor and they continue to be one’s who manifest the church in their generation so that the next might receive it.
You know, that’s the great gift and mystery of the saints. They are the ones who manifest the church to both us and to future generations.
If we stop and think about it, the church would not be here today if someone had not manifested Jesus for those who came before us and if someone had not done so for us. In the truest sense of the word, those who did that were saints in their own generation. And those who do so now are saints among us. It is our calling to be the saints of the present age. It is our calling to manifest Christ and the church for others so that the Gospel is once again proclaimed and received.
This is why we remember the faithful departed on this day. This isn’t some kind of memorial service to help us in our grief. No, today is a day when we recognize that, whether it was a parent, or a friend, or a spouse, or even perhaps a child, there were those who came before who made Jesus real for us; who embodied the love and the grace of God for us; who helped to draw us into the life of faith and into the heart of God. These, as much as any hero of the faith, were saints, were ones who were a blessing to us.
And today (at the 10 am service), we are baptizing a child into the life of faith. Her parents and godparents are consciously and intentionally promising to be saints in the life of Emily Rose Hefty. But we too are promising to do so. Whether physically present or not, the whole of this community is doing nothing less than committing to being a blessing to her; to make real the love of God to her, and to shape her in the life of faith. Why? Because Emily isn’t just being washed in the waters of baptism, she is being grafted into the Body of Christ which is made real in all of us.
And young Emily is also being invited to join with all of us to be a saint this day. She is being called in her own life in the years ahead into the blessing of God through Christ. She is being called to be faithful, merciful, pure, and a peacemaker. She is called to lean into the fullness of her life, both good and bad, and be a blessing to others.
The truth is that all of us have the potential to be saints, and many of us already are. We need not be heroic or perfect to do so. Through our baptism and through our faith we are simply called to accept the blessing of God and to be such a blessing to others. We are called, like little Emily, to be a people who embody faith, mercy, peace, and justice. We are called to be Christ in our own day and to manifest the church for one another and for the generations that follow us.
May we praise God for those in every generation in whom Christ has been honored. And may we have grace to glorify Christ in our own day.