Isaiah 25:6-9
Revelation 21:1-6a
This is a “saintly” weekend. Last night was Hallowe’en, today is All Saints Day and tomorrow is “All Souls Day.” We’re not used to thinking of Hallowe’en as a “saintly” day—we associate it more with ghosts and goblins and all manner of scary creatures—the biggest costume trend this Hallowe’en is vampires, after all the vampire movies that are so popular right now. But the name Hallowe’en, as many of you know, is a contraction of three words, “All Hallows Eve”—the eve of the day for those who are “hallowed” or holy or saintly, the eve of All Saints day. In some cultures—in Mexico and the Caribbean, for example—All Hallows Eve is still, as it began, a time for honouring the dead. And people have feasts in the cemeteries, around the graves of their ancestors.
All Saints Day, November 1st, was begun by the church in times long ago—in the 8th century, by Pope Gregory III—as a day to remember all the known saints—people who have been recognized by the church throughout the centuries and whose stories are lifted up in Christian tradition. We probably know, at least by name, many of these: Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint Mary, St. Luke and so on of the Bible; St. Augustine of the early church; St. Francis, St. Joan, St. Theresa of Avila and so on.
And some saints aren’t so well-known. St. Maximilian, for example, the first conscientious objector. He was drafted into the Roman army but refused to serve. His only loyalty, he said, was to the army of God. This was a great shame and sadness to his father, a veteran, who knew that his son’s decision meant certain death. And sure enough, Maximilian was sentenced to die by beheading. At his execution, he noticed the shabby clothing of this executioner and, calling to his father in the crowd, he asked that, after his death, his own new clothes be taken off and given to the man.
And then there is the day called All Souls Day, November 2nd. This has been the day set aside to remember all the faithful who have died—whether they are famous or not—the saints known to God alone, and perhaps to those of us who knew them best—or perhaps not; it’s hard to credit those we know as being saints. In latter years, especially in Protestant churches, All Saints Day and All Souls Day have been metamorphosed into one celebration—of both known saints and all the millions who live out their Christian faith in their everyday lives, the “practical saints,” as some have called them. Another name for them is “communion of saints.” Or, as the writer of the book of Hebrews says: “such a great cloud of witnesses.”
There are two things I want to say about this three-day time-span in the Christian year calendar. And the first may be kind of “out there” for some here today. And the second may be just as strange.
First of all, the whole Christian festival of honouring saints, dead and alive, comes, as do many of our festivals, on or around the time of ancient pagan festivals. So often, in an attempt to win people from pagan celebrations, our ancestors in the faith created a Christian celebration or remembrance on the same dates—for example, Christmas at the time of Saturnalia and other festivals that commemorated the winter solstice. The reasoning was that, if people were celebrating anyway, it was the responsibility of Christians to make sure they celebrated Christian holy things rather than pagan remembrances.
The pagan festival most closely linked with the October 31 to November 2 remembrance of saints is Samhain—a Celtic feast held to mark summer’s end, the end of harvest. Celts believed that the veil between worlds became especially permeable at this time. It is a time of “thin space,” a time when the next world and this world are not separated by an impenetrable wall, a time when the distance between heaven and earth shrinks and the veil between the two worlds is so “thin” you can actually perceive something of heaven itself, a time when those who have gone before are very near.
For Christians, this is a time when the “great cloud of witnesses” surrounds us and when we can more appreciate and understand the claim in Hebrews that these witnesses are constantly there supporting us as we “run with perseverance the race that is set before us.” Many of us have those in our past who have left a lasting influence on us, who have given us inspiration for our own lives. A few years ago Deer Park church celebrated All Saints Day by asking people to submit hymns they would like to sing in honour of the “saints” of their lives. And the whole service was remembering those who had gone and those who were still with us by joyous singing. The space was very thin that day.
And, really, when you think about it, there is not that much space between heaven and earth, anyway. In our reading this morning from Revelation we heard: “See, the home of God is among mortals. And he will dwell with them as their God and they will be his people.” And, if God is among us, then heaven must be here, too. I’m reminded of the movie “Field of Dreams” when one of the dead baseball players comes back to play once again and asks Ray, the owner of the field, “Is this heaven?” And Ray replies, “No, this is Iowa.” Heaven is also on earth. The great cloud of witnesses whom we honour today is very close.
And the second thing about this time is to say that saints are not just those whom the church has declared saints, nor are the saints only those who live lives that are almost impossibly good and holy. For the truth is we are all saints. It’s a mistake to think that saints are only those with plaster statues in churches or pictured in stained-glass windows. It’s a mistake to think that only the shining examples of holiness or piety qualify to be saints.
When we look at the use of the word “saint” in the Bible, we get a different picture. In the letters of Paul, he most often begins with the words “To the saints in such and such a place. And Paul isn’t addressing just a select few, a spiritual elite. He’s referring to all the believers. And, as you read the letters, you discover that the people he is addressing often had feet of clay and minds of mush and sometimes hearts of stone. They were not necessarily miracle workers or ideals of a perfect life. They were ordinary folks. A later generation would call them what we are called: Christians. But that word didn’t exist when Paul was writing so he called them simply “saints.” They were the people, like you and me, who lived the faith.
You probably know the story of the young girl looking at the stained glass windows in a church—all of various saints. It was a bright sunny day outside and, when she was asked, “What is a saint?” she answered, “A saint is someone the light shines through.” Saints are those who reflect God’s light.
Our reading from Isaiah today paints a picture of the future. In a scene reminiscent of the movie, Babette’s Feast, the writer describes an amazing banquet. But what makes us think of the movie is not the abundance of food and drink, but the fact that everyone is invited. Just as Babette did not leave anyone out—even the most dour and rigidly arrogant—so God will leave no one out of the banquet. “On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a feast of well-aged wines.” God is not preparing this abundance for just the chosen people, the people of Israel. God is preparing this abundance for all people.
And the passage goes on to say that God will lift the “shroud,” the shadow of despair and anxiety, that “is cast over allpeople…all nations.” And, further, God “will wipe away the tears from all faces.” All the saints of God, all of us, are invited to sit at that banquet table. It’s not just the named saints or the very good that are invited to the party. We are all cherished guests.
In a few minutes the choir will sing the old hymn, one of my favourites, “Shall we gather at the river.” We sang this at my mother’s funeral in June and Ian, who led the service, said, in his meditation: “On the banks of the river we will encounter the saints of every time and place, the souls of the long dead, those lost to memory, those saints who lived to be a great age and those who died in infancy, the saints we loved and those we found difficult to love.”
This day we remember all the saints who stand at the river, named and unnamed and all the saints who have not yet come to the river. People we have known or know about, people we have loved and admired, people who have given so much to the church, to the world, to our own little corner of the world. Some of them have gone so recently from us that the flowers have almost not withered. One of them, Stella Myles, is remembered with flowers and tapestries today. Another, David Mullin, will be remembered in a memorial service after worship today.
We think of people who encourage us when we feel our own lives to be of little worth. People who affirm our humanity or the humanity of others. People who have gone down in history, remembered by thousands and people who have left no historical record except the record in our own hearts. Parents, children, spouses, lovers, teachers, friends, even strangers. People on whom the world has been built and is being built, and in whom the goodness of the world is manifest. People through whom the light of God shines. We shall allgather at the river.
God calls us all to sainthood. Who are your saints? For whom are you a saint?