Mebane UMC > Stories > Some Thoughts on All Saints' Day

Some Thoughts on All Saints Day

This week our communities will be filled with goblins, ghosts and monsters on a rampage for candy and treats. We call it Halloween from its original name of Hallowed Eve. It is the eve of All Saints Day which may be considered the chief of the Lesser Feast Days. I remember when I was of the age that wandered from door to door seeking to gain treats at the expense of our threatened tricks. I would say that Halloween is second only to Christmas in terms of anticipation for the children. My, how we go to great pains to prepare for Halloween!

But maybe this also stands as a commentary on us gathered together in Christ’s church. We Christians are often guilty of elaborate preparations for secular festivals but are ill-prepared for the great festive occasions of the Church. Even children understand what Halloween is about -- But how many adults understand All Saints' Day -- or even realize that it comes on November 1.

I suspect that many Christians stopped observing All Saints Day because they mistakenly believed that it was idolatry to do so. But John Wesley (who dearly loved All Saints Day) said, "How superstitious are they who scruple giving God solemn thanks for the lives and deaths of his saints!" Wesley said that "All Saints' Day is a day that I particularly love.”"

Some people might argue that All Saints Day is not observed in the Bible, so why should we observe it? That is a good question, but I have two things to say in response to it. First, we also have no evidence that Christmas was celebrated in the primitive church. Indeed it was much later before it was observed in the Church -- relatively lately has it come to be observed on the 25th of December. But we wouldn’t think of dropping the festive observance of the Incarnation just because the Christians of the Bible did not.

Secondly, we must take into consideration the development of doctrine. The observation of the lives of the early saints could only be done after their deaths and they were the ones who wrote the scriptures.

Let us take a look at a passage which I believe expresses simply and adequately the meaning of All Saints Day...

So then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but your are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”

Eph. 2.19-20 RSV

I think that these two verses from Ephesians teach us 3 very important points about this observance.

First, “you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.” When St. Paul writes his Letters he addresses them to the “saints” of the Church. We are all “saints” in a broad sense. All of us who were lost but then found... All of us who were nobody but are now somebody... All of us who were strangers and sojourners in God’s own creation but now have been adopted as his sons and daughters... Yes we all know what God’s grace is -- what his love is -- what his mercy is -- that he has accepted us and made us his own. We who were once plagued by all kinds of diverse infirmities have been made whole. We who were once hungry have now been fed. One of the most comforting lines in the 23^rd Psalm is “He preparest a table for me in the presence of mine enemies.” God protects us and sees to our real needs while keeping a watchful eye over us. Isn’t that a comforting thing to know and, yes, to be assured of?

We are “fellow citizens” with all the saints. This is part of what we affirm when we say those words in the creed: “I believe in the communion of the saints.” But sometimes we don’t live as though we were “fellow citizens” with the saints. Sometimes we find it convenient to “forget” our surname -- “Christian.” Christ is our Savior, our Redeemer, our God, our Exemplar, but He is also our Brother. In the saving act of Christ we are made part of the family of God -- the prototype, the paradigm of all human families. The family of God is the family that all our families are to imitate. God, the loving parent who cares for all the children’s needs. The family feasts -- the gathering together of all the family -- the family of love. Yes, we “are no longer strangers and sojourners, but are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Second, we the church are “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.” The Church is ageless because God has made her so. When we affirm that the Church is the gathering of the faithful we mean quite literally that -- the gathering of all God’s people. One thing we do as part of God’s family is to tell the stories of the family. How fondly I recall in my childhood the stories of my family -- about the saints and the “not-so-saintly.” About my ancestors who came to America from Germany in two shiploads on my father’s side. And there were the stories my mother told me about my ancestors on her side of the family -- my ancestors who fought for the Confederacy and those who fought against it -- both sides are from my mother’s ancestors -- my heritage. And so we as Christians should never forget to tell the stories of our family -- the stories of Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and the other prophets -- Stories about Peter, John, Matthew, and the other apostles -- Stories about St. Ignatius, St. Augustine, Martin Luther, John and Charles Wesley and all the other saints who have laid the foundation of our faith. These are the witnesses of our faith. As St. Paul said: “be imitators of me” so we can be imitators of all these as they point to the same thing -- Jesus Christ. We honor the saints because of how Christ worked through them. We can look to the saints for inspiration because they were people like you and me -- people who were sinners, and yet decided to have faith and trust in Jesus Christ and to follow him. It lets us know that we to can do it if we too allow God’s grace to work in us. As the author of Hebrews reminds us:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith...

Hebrews 12:1-2a RSV

We also need to remember to tell the more recent stories of our family; perhaps the stories of those men and women of the faith who went forth from this congregation. These are those saints who may be always on our minds as we are on theirs. St. John the Divine reports in his account of the Revelation that when he saw the altar of the Lord under which were all the souls of the martyrs and they would ask God “How long -- how long must the suffering go on in the world?” (Rev. 6.9-11) Yes, we the Church are “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets.”

Third, the cornerstone of that foundation is Jesus Christ. I don’t think that I need to dwell on the image of cornerstone -- it is abundant enough in the New Testament and we adequately used the image this past Easter season. The point of the expression is that Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. He is what brings our lives as Christians into focus! We have faith in Christ but we are also called to have the faith of Christ! In the lives of each and every saint you find not only faith in Jesus Christ but also the faith of Christ. There is a reliance and trust in the work of the Holy Spirit as he accomplishes these things in our own lives. This is what makes All Saints Day such a festive occasion -- because we actually see faith in Christ at work -- we actually see promises of God being fulfilled in these peoples lives and know full well that they can also be fulfilled in us.

This week, as we pray and sing praises to God, let us especially be aware of the fact that we are not doing it alone. We may seem like a small number gathered to praise God but we are joined by the Christian Church all over the world, and we are joined by the heavenly host when we say those precious words:

Holy, Holy, Holy Lord, God of power and might.
Heaven and earth are full of your glory,
Hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!
 

We join the saints everywhere in singing and proclaiming that Jesus Christ is Lord. We, the Church Militant, join the Church Triumphant, in their song of unending praise:

“Hallelujah! For the Lord of God the Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory,
For the marriage of the lamb has come,
And his Bride has made herself ready;
It was granted her to be clothed with fine linen, bright and pure,
For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.”
And the angel said to me,
“Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the
marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Revelation 19:6-9 RSV

So, like the Apostle Paul wrote...

“so then you are no longer strangers and sojourners, but are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone.”
 

And never forget that!

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

God of all holiness,
You gave your saints different gifts on earth
but one holy city in heaven.
Give us the grace to follow their good examples.
that we may know the joy you have prepared
for all who love you;
Through your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
 

Copyright © 1981, 2001 by Alan P. Swartz