Did you know that Halloween comes from “All Hallows’ Eve” or the eve of All
Saints' Day? On the Christian holiday of All Saints' Day -- celebrated November 1st -- we remember what we profess regularly in the Apostles’ Creed: “I believe … in the
communion of the saints.”
My father once
explained the communion of the saints this way: “The Church of Jesus Christ is
the locus of a deep and abiding eternal communion which exists between all true
believers, living and dead. Our loved ones do not leave us when they die; they
are translated into an existence that is more real than the life that we know.
There they live and rejoice as the Church Triumphant, a constant source of
strength and encouragement to us who continue here as the Church Militant.
This is not just a
pious platitude, at least on my part. From time to time I am refreshed and invigorated
as I remember persons, now dead or living far away, who have been significant
guides on my own faith journey; and not just as I remember them, but as I sense
their real spiritual presence looking over my shoulder, chastising, forgiving,
encouraging, cheering me on.
- I think of Eleanor, a woman who taught me that it really is true, in the words of the song, that you can ‘take this world’s goods and give me Jesus.’ Jesus was literally all that Eleanor had, and she was completely satisfied. It is because of her that I know that spiritual truth to be true.
- I think of Donna, now living in California, who has a unique gift of leading others in small group ministry. She just knows how to help people open up to each other and to the Lord Jesus Christ. It is because of her that I know it is possible to be fully dedicated to Christ and open to the Spirit, and yet to bring all sorts of people together rather than to repel or divide them.
- I think of Paul, a man of God who cared for his mentally ill wife for over 40 years rather than institutionalize her, and still gave of himself in amazing ways as a church leader, a fraternal leader, a business leader. But what he did for me, and still does from the heavenly gallery, is to encourage and affirm me in my ministry. His ministry to me was that precious one of honest and loving feedback. It is because of him that I know that God can use me to communicate the Gospel and to touch lives with God’s love.
The saints who surround us give us enormous energy to persevere in the race of the Christian life. One of our most serious enemies these days, individually and as the Church, is apathy, fatigue, depression. As those of us who lead the Church see our supply of willing volunteers and workers and contributors get sucked away by competing activities and institutions of the secular world, a dark pall settles over us. We feel alone. We are tempted to give up.
But if we have any
spiritual sensitivity left at all, and if we can get to a quiet place away from
the din of the world, and if we listen carefully, we should ‘hear’ their
pulsating cheers – low and distant at first, but gradually louder and close by:
‘Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!’ These are the voices of those who have gone
before us in the battle and who have fought against overwhelming odds and have
triumphed. They are Abraham and Sarah and Moses and David, and my Eleanor
and Donna and Paul, and your Frank and Mary and other saints. They surround us
even now like a great cloud of witnesses, chanting the victory they know
through the Risen Christ, enjoying the hope that once kept them going through
dark days and thin times – the hope that is still set out there before us!
When I look only within
myself to overcome the sadness and depression, I sink deeper and deeper.
But when I listen to their voices – that great cloud of witnesses – I know that
I must persevere; I can persevere by grace until He takes me home."
“So let us not grow
weary in doing what is right, for we will reap at harvest if we do not give up.”
– Galatians 6:9
From: "Run with Perseverance"
Scripture: Hebrews 11:1-39; 12:1-4, 12-14
Preached at Paoli U.M. Church
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