For All The Saints...

This past Sunday, November 1^st marked the observance of All Saints Day—if you will, the Church’s memorial day. It is the day we remember those who have gone before in the faith of Jesus Christ. It is the day we celebrate the faith of those who lived their lives declaring Jesus is Lord and Savior in every aspect of how they lived.

Tertullian. Polycarp. Augustine of Hippo. Julian of Norwich. Martin Luther. William Wilberforce. John and Charles Welsey. Amy Carmichael. Johnathan Edwards. Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Oscar Romero. Aimee Semple McPherson. Mother Teresa. John Wimber. Martin Luther King Jr. Brennan Manning. Ray Anderson. 

 

These are names of a just few saints, a few heroes of the faith that perhaps we have forgotten over the years. They are countless others lives to celebrate. You may find yourself thinking of a parent, a spouse, a family member or any other person who inspired and guided your faith in Christ.

On All Saints Day we do more than remember the people who have gone before us in the faith. We celebrate who they lived for, the One before whom they lives still—the author and perfecter of the faith—Jesus Christ. The reason we set aside a day every year to reflect on the saints is so that we might be reminded and encouraged about God’s call in our own lives.

 Because the thing is, saints aren’t special or unusual people. Saints aren’t just two-dimensional figures imprinted on stained glass. Anyone who gives their life to Jesus, anyone who seeks to live their life for the sake of the Gospel and out of the power of the Holy Spirit is a saint. The men and women we remember this Sunday were and are ordinary people like you and I who did extraordinary things because they let the light of the Son shine through their lives.

That same possibility, that same light, this same Jesus, seeks to work and shine through our lives too. Saints aren’t the exception when it comes to following Jesus—they are the rule. In Christ, all are saved sinners—saints in the making. More than this, we are saints TOGETHER, never saints alone. Fifty-seven times in the New Testament the word "saints" is used. But never is it used in the Bible to designate any particular person. Always the term is used to describe those who belong to Christ. And always it is used in the plural. No specific person is ever called a "saint,” the reference is always to the many: to the holy ones of God. We are God’s dear ones who need one another, who must lean upon each other, and who are called by Him to share our life together.

Even though the official celebration of All Saints Day s beihind us, I encourage you to remember and reflect on those who have gone before us! Together let us listen to the voices of those who are cheering us on as God writes the next chapter of the story of the Body of Christ through us. Surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses let us discover that we are a part of the race they were running. There is a baton in our hands now—a great tradition, a grand story of which we are a part. It is our turn to run the next leg of this marathon—to point the world ever closer to our shared destiny in Jesus Christ!