Isaiah
25: 6-9; Psalm
24; Revelation
21: 1–6a; John 11: 32-44
This is a homily by Fr. Gene Tucker, given at St. John’s Church, in Huntingdon,
Pennsylvania on Sunday, November 1, 2015.
“OF
SAINTS AND SAINTHOOD”
(Homily texts:
Isaiah 25: 6–9, Revelation 21: 1–6a & John 11: 32-44)
Each year, the great feast of All Saints comes around on
November 1st. This year, the
actual day happens to coincide with the first Sunday in November. (In other years, when the date falls during
the week, the observance may be moved to the first Sunday in November.)
So, today, we cast our eyes on the saints of old, and on
the saints who are alive and who are working out God’s plans for the people He
loves today. We think about God’s “holy
ones”, for that is what the word “saint” actually means, coming from the Latin
word for “holy”.
Perhaps it’d be good for us to examine the matter of
saints and of sainthood a bit more closely this morning, since – I suspect –
there are some misconceptions about both topics.
So, let’s begin at a very good place, the three
lectionary readings for this day.
Each one of our readings asks us to see the bigger
picture of God’s working and of God’s plans for the world….these three readings
are well chosen for this great feast. In
Isaiah, for example, the ancient prophet casts a picture of the time when God
will provide His people with a rich and sumptuous feast. Revelation puts before us the image of a new
heaven and a new earth, that time when God will wipe away every tear, that time
when God will make all things new. And
then, finally, our gospel reading from the eleventh chapter of John recounts
Jesus’ conversation with Mary as they both stand before the tomb of Mary’s
brother, Lazarus. Jesus is about to
raise Lazarus from the dead, and Jesus asks Mary if she believes in His power
to conquer even death. (Of course, we
know that the raising of Lazarus is a prefiguring of the Lord’s own
resurrection from the dead.)
Taking from these three readings, and applying the
overarching theme they present to us, we might say that saints are those who
hold before us God’s great, big plan for the people He loves.
Now, let’s turn our attention to the matter of saints and
sainthood.
We should begin by noticing that the path to sainthood
begins at baptism. For in baptism, a
person dies to their old identity, and is raised to a new life in God. Indeed, baptism represents God’s power to
make all things new.
But the marks of sainthood won’t be fully evident until
the baptized person begins to exhibit the signs of new life, the signs of God’s
great, big plans for each of us. For it
is in the ways in which the baptized behave that we can discern the marks of
sainthood.
Next, we might dispel some erroneous notions about the
saints:
1. Saints are only those who lived in ancient
times: It is normal, I think, for we
humans to look back with fondness on the “good, old days” that have gone before
us. Alas, we often think of saints in just
that way, too, thinking that saints existed only in the times that are now long
gone. But the truth is that saints are
alive and well today, for they are the ones who hold God’s great, big plan
before us. They are beacons of light in
an otherwise darkened world.
2. Saints with an upper case “S” and saints
with a lower case “s”: We often tend
to idealize sainthood by focusing only on the great and important figures in
history. Saints Peter and Paul are good
examples. Saint John, who is our patron
saint, is another. But though some of
the saints’ lives are major examples of God’s truth, the fact is that lower
case “s” saints have been with us from the beginning of the Good News of Jesus
Christ, and lower case “s” saints are being made today, just as they have
always been created. That is good news
for us, for it means that we, too, can become saints (with a lower case “s”!).
3. Saints’ lives are free from anxiety,
challenge and worry: I call this the
“stained glass” image of the saints, you know, that image that casts the great
saints of old in frozen poses which lack emotion. But the truth is that, oftentimes, saints are
most noteworthy for the struggles they faced in their lifetimes. A good example of this is St. Athanasius, who
was Bishop of Alexandria (in Egypt) in the late fourth century. Athanasius, at times almost singlehandedly,
took on the Arian heresy which was infecting the Church in his day. Though often nearly all alone, Athanasius
eventually defeated the Arian heresy. We
have him to thank for the enormous struggles and difficulties he faced (he was
exiled by the emperor a number of times during his tenure as bishop), for if it
hadn’t been for his faithfulness, the Church today might well have remained
Arian.
4. Saints’ lives are marked by perpetual
holiness: Along with the “stained
glass” image we often carry of the saints is another, related one: The idea that saints have always been models
of holiness. Again, this notion is wrong.
A good example is the great fifth century bishop and theologian St.
Augustine of Hippo. Augustine lived a
pretty immoral life before God got hold of him and brought him to faith. But once that had happened, Augustine went on
to exhibit God’s holiness and to hold before God’s people and the world the
great, big plans of God.
As we dispel some of the notions that surround
the matter of saints and sainthood, we can begin to capture a sense that there are saints
who are among us today, God’s people who have been claimed by Christ in
baptism, redeemed people who then live out their baptismal covenants, showing
to the world by the things they do and by the things they say that God’s great,
big plans are still being worked out.
For saints and for sainthood, we give thanks to God!
AMEN.
