Saints Among Us

Today is Halloween or, as it used to be known, All Hallows’ Eve. 

It’s the eve of All Saints' Day -- the traditional time of year for us to remember and celebrate the saints in our lives. Who are these saints we celebrate? As my dad noted in a sermon he preached one All Saints’ Day, you “[m]ention the word ‘saint’ and usually it conjures up a picture of a not-quite-human figure in stained glass or carved in marble representing the type of person we have never seen and certainly never expect to be – a human being oozing spirituality, practically perfect in every way, incapable of sin.” Dad was convinced, though, that we need to take a broader view when we think of saints:

“Basically, as I see it, Christians fall into two categories: First, there are those who recognize their sinfulness and accept it. For them, the Gospel is the Good News that they can come again and again to the Cross and have their slate wiped clean. They never expect to get any better; just periodically cleansed.

Second, there are those Christians who recognize their sinfulness but do not accept it as inevitable. Oh, they know that they will always sin, but they also believe that God does more than forgive; God renews and empowers them toward greater and greater righteousness. They see the Christian life not just as a periodic cleansing, but also a moving on, a becoming more that they once were – all by the power of God working in them. This later group knows God not just as forgiver, but also as a provider of power. They don’t just accept what they are. No! Until the day they die they struggle toward Christlikeness. When folks look at them, they don’t want them to see human sin; they want them to see the power and love of God forming a new creation in them.

People like this – ‘saints’ if you will – like to spend time with each other. … They get together because they must. It’s not an option. These folks know that the power for Christian growth lies not in hearing true doctrine or sound teaching, as important as those are. Strength to journey on in the Christian life doesn’t depend on great sacred music. Progress in the Christian pilgrimage doesn’t require a silver-tongued preacher or a captivating teacher. None of these are necessary. But what is required is encountering and sharing with other persons who have Christ living in them – the ‘communion of the saints.’

The Church can have the worst choir in the world and Sunday school teachers who bore you to tears. Its paint may be peeling and its preacher may get tongue-tied. But if it has just two or three people who really believe Christ is alive in them, it can be more of a church to you than the one that is polished and professional, but hasn’t the slightest idea that people really can be saints, full of God’s power.

What good is it to know that Jesus stilled a storm on the Sea of Galilee, if there is not someone here right now who can testify that Jesus recently stilled a raging storm in his/her life? What good is it to know that Jesus cast the demons out of a man, if there is not someone among us who knows what it means to be freed from the demonic forces that you and I are prone to?

[When I think of my growth in the Christian faith,] what I remember is not the sermons or anthems I’ve heard, not the Sunday school lessons I sat through, not the films I watched, the campfires I sat around, the retreats I attended, or the tens of thousands of prayers I closed my eyes for. What I remember, and what impressed me most was the Rev. Dr. Ehrhart, and how he used to cry when he preached because he so strongly believed what he was saying; skinny old Mrs. Graver, one of my early Sunday school teachers, whose faithfulness far outshone her effectiveness; Mr. Lloyd Lefever, a farmer, who taught us senior high boys with obvious sincerity; the Rev. Dr. Peiffer who took a personal interest in me and encouraged me to pursue the ministry; a mother and father who each in their own way encouraged and affirmed me; a loving wife who receives so little and gives so much; and many others in every church I’ve been privileged to serve.

If you ask me how I know about the power of God and how it can work in a human being, I can do nothing more than point to these people – the ‘communion of saints’ as I have known it, as it has touched me.  The saints aren’t in stained glass windows, and the saints aren’t always perfect, but once in a while – and especially when they’re together – the Son-light shines through and you know, you just know, that God is there.”

So, who are the saints in your life? Who are the people -- past and present -- who make God real for you? This is the perfect weekend to thank them, and to thank God for them. Happy All Saints’ Day, my friends!

From “The Communion of the Saints”

Scripture: Ephesians 1:11-23