ALL SAINTS’ SUNDAY
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Readings: Revelation 21: 1-6a and John 11: 32-44
It’s an interesting thought that in this increasingly secular age, the saints still remain quite popular. People still call on the patron-saint of this or that, whether of Christopher of travellers, or Jude of lost-causes. We call on those saints because we feel an affinity with them, in that they were human, too, but came to be close to God, in their lives or by their deaths.
There is also an appreciation that some of the saints speak powerfully today, even though they lived in very different times and circumstances. St. Francis of Assisi, I imagine, remains one of the most popular of saints, partly because his love of creation and simple life-style resonates with those who are concerned about the future of the environment and the misuse of the earth’s resources. Hildegard of Bingen, the 12th-century ‘visionary’ – as we call her – composed much music which has increased in popularity recently, and was a herbalist.
At this season of All Saints we’re encouraged by those figures in Christian history who, because of their devotion to God, brought light into dark places; who dispelled the darkness of their own lives in many cases, rejecting the easy path and taking a more selfless way of life, so honouring God and loving neighbour. Through the saints the light of the gospel and the glory of God is revealed.
Some particularly honoured God by the way they led their lives – quietly, unobtrusively, unsung; some we know of through their deaths, making that decision to profess and live out the faith whatever the consequences. The saints challenge our way of looking at the world, our attitude to life, and our priorities. Many lived counter-culturally; they went against the grain. They were not people who diminished their lives in so doing, but who lived their lives to the full glory of God.
We think of the saints as displaying holiness, but maybe we are a little intimidated by that word ‘holy.’ You don’t hear it so much in these days, but there used to be the expression – a ‘Holy Joe’ – for somebody who wore their religion on their sleeve. The term ‘Holy Joe’ was not always complimentary, but was perhaps directed at a person of some ridicule, or who appeared to suggest that they were better than others. None of us wants to be considered ‘holier than thou.’ Of course, we may be afraid that in becoming holy we may have to lose some of our pleasures, or some of the elements of our life we consider beneficial to our happiness. Was it not St. Augustine who is said to have asked God, “Lord, make me chaste; but not yet.” I came across this on the website of a Catholic school recently: “Do not be afraid of holiness; it will take away none of your energy, vitality or joy.” In that vein, we may recall the words of Irenaeus of Lyons, that ‘the glory of God is a human being fully alive.”
Perhaps the key to some of this is to ask whose kingdom we belong to. In Handel’s Messiah we sing ‘the kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and his Messiah.’ We put our faith and trust in the person and life and teachings of Jesus, who said he had come that people might have life, and have it abundantly. If we live wholeheartedly in the knowledge and love of God, we will want to draw nearer to his heart of infinite love for us, and to live closely to the perfect way Jesus showed us.
St Paul wrote that God has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. “But”, he added, “we have this treasure in clay jars – or earthen vessels – to show that this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us.” People in the mature stage of life are often more aware of their ‘earthen vessels’, their limitations and failings as they consider their mortality and review their life past. But our journey towards God can only be enhanced by acknowledgement of who we are and then a desire to move closer to the goal of holiness in which we will find our true fulfilment.
There is much emphasis today on people realising their full potential; achieving their goals; being successful in their chosen line of work or pastime. There is nothing wrong with that, but as Christians, we would want to say something more. If we make our heroes from the world of sport, or the film industry, or those who have amassed wealth and seem to have wonderful life-styles, we may find we are not getting good examples of how to live. To be a good footballer or the world’s most celebrated cook does not guarantee the wisdom to lead a good life. We need the saints as examples of how lives may be lived to the glory of God.
Today we celebrate the light revealed in human beings who have followed a close path to God. It seems no accident that Jesus raised Lazarus from a dark tomb to find new life in him, as we hear in today’s gospel reading. As with so much in John’s gospel, some of the language is symbolic. So, when Lazarus comes out of the tomb, Jesus says, “Unbind him, and let him go.” For a while, Lazarus is to be freed from the constraints of earthbound human existence – from sin and death – to find new life in the power of Jesus. In the story, Lazarus represents all humanity – individually and corporately – and so shows us to what we are called. So to turn a well-known biblical phrase around – ‘in the midst of death, we are in life.’
The reading from Revelation which we heard reminds us that our lives here are a preparation for life in ‘the new heaven and the new earth’, where all things reach their fulfilment and completion. There, the first things have passed away, and God will be with his people eternally, and will wipe every tear from their eyes. There death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more. This consummation of all things lies beyond what eye can see or heart conceive; but in the vision human limitation is transfigured and fulfilled.
As Christians, then, we look to another life where love and truth and beauty are all-pervading. This is the life the saints encourage us to seek. We catch but a glimpse of it in our earthly existence, but are promised its fullness hereafter.
We all have our favourite saints – whether well-known figures from Christian history, or quiet individuals who have made an impact on us and showed us God in a special way. What is certain is that they didn’t start off as saints. In fact we often see God choosing people who were far from perfect. But as someone has remarked “Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.”
The saints found a much fuller life when they embraced the path of holiness to which God was calling them. It’s worthwhile stopping to ask what the meaning of ‘holy’ is. My dictionary says, “Dedicated to God for a religious purpose”, but it also points to the meaning being related to ‘whole’: wholeness and holiness seem to go together. By becoming completely what God intended for us, we become holy. Joyce Critchley says that in the new city, the heavenly Jerusalem, God will have new work for us; that we are not learning how to use his talents here in order to see them wasted when we translate to the next stage.
Our Lord took the saints just as they were, with all their frailties and weaknesses, and gave them strength, sincerity and power. So All Saints’ Day asks, “Why should we not be willing to receive the same grace?” And remember, ‘Every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future.’