Our "All Saints" Cheering Section

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

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