It's tough being a saint
This morning comes the day after All Saints day and this is what our readings this morning have referred to. In our readings we have been reminded that in every situation God is there for us and this is certainly something that we can think of when we look at the saints and consider our role as saints today. In the reading from the book of Revelation (7:9-17) we heard of the saints in heaven who have been through trials and tribulations but now reside in glory – what a promise - reminding us that even when things seem tough if we rely on God He is there. Then in our gospel reading (Matthew 5:1-12) we were reminded again in the beatitudes that even when things don’t make sense in earthly terms if they are causing us to rely more on God then we will be blessed.
We are saints and this morning I want us to think about what it means to be a saint. Last week I was talking to someone about the All Saints dress up parties I used to go to as a child. From children dressed as angels, to children wearing choir robes and serving robes to fairies (I assume they were meant to be angels) there was a lot of white and strangely not much chocolate cake!
At that age I couldn’t decide on a favourite saint and so I would dress well enough to cover all the saints. When we think of All saints we may think of people who we have read about in the Bible, churches and the saints they are dedicated to, patron saints of countries or even saintly people.
There are a few things that I would like to say about saints this morning.
Firstly, as we heard in the reading from the book of Revelation (7:9-17) to be a saint can mean suffering, there may even be martyrdom and of course there is often a giving up of wealth.
I once went to Padua in Italy to visit a friend who was living there at the time. The Cathedral in Padua is dedicated to Saint Anthony of Padua and if you ever get the chance to go to Padua and the Cathedral you will be able to see the vocal chords of Anthony. I’m not sure how many of you would actually want to, but they’re there !
Anthony in his life went through some very difficult circumstances but God used him and Anthony clearly affected people which is why his vocal chords are on display !
Anthony belonged to a very wealthy family, however he decided that it was right to give everything up and follow God instead and so he set sail to join a monastery, however on this journey he was shipwrecked. He ended up having to go to a different monastery which refused to accept him because he looked too ill. Someone eventually let him in, as long as he promised to stay away from everyone else !
Talk about a tough time but he was later ordained, and had to preach the sermon at his ordination - he was so good he was sent to preach around the whole of Italy. Being a saint is not easy but in the depths of despair God is still there.
For us when we go through difficult times we can remember the promises of the Beatitudes that even when things seem to make no sense in the eyes of the world God is in control. St. Patrick ascot was kidnapped and taken to Ireland, and he was held to be responsible for the Christianisation of great chunks of Ireland – God is always in control.
The second thing I would like to say is that we are part of a communion of saints. This means that there are saints in heaven – people who have allowed God to use them, who are worshipping God in heaven, as we worship here. This means that every time we pray and worship God, we can remember that we are part of that great community of Christians throughout the ages who are worshipping God.
This is incredible, and I remember as a child that for me, I understood this as meaning that every time someone decided to follow Jesus there was a huge party in heaven. I like that idea, it reminds me that God is being worshipped continually and He has a concern for us all, and wants us all to be a part of an eternal party !
Finally we are all saints and in the New Testament there are 62 references to saints. 44 of these refer to us, the Church now. This means that we are all saints, which reminds me of a time I spent working in a Christian bookshop. Just before I left the bosses had decided that it would be good to sell little carvings of saints, when I left my former colleagues found a St.Helen not to present to me but to live at the front of the display cabinet so that they would not miss me too much! The carving, I should add, looked nothing like me !
The word saint comes from the New Testament Greek hagios which means holy ones. Now to know that we are all saints and therefore we are all to be holy is a huge responsibility. However, the responsibility is nothing to do with us in some ways.
We only become holy by the presence of God with us, it is God with us, working through us that changes the world. It is God working through us who brings light and hope to a dark world. Basically we are just the vehicles through whom God can work.
There is a story of a child who was being shown around a Church and she looked at 4 stained glass windows. The first stained glass window was really red, the next blue, the next green and finally yellow. The child noticed that the sun was shining through all these windows and when she was told that the stained glass windows were all pictures of saints she announced that a saint was, ‘somebody that lets the light shine through.’
We are saints, we are to be holy by being people who point the way to God by our words and actions. It is a huge task but from the lives of those before us we can remember that God is always in control and that He is always being worshipped.
God has promised to always be with us and He will wipe every tear from our eyes, in the Psalm (34:1-10) we remembered that God is always with us and He protects us and most of all we remembered that God always loves us.
We are the people who bring the holiness and love of God to this world, by being the people who are seeking to be more like Him.
St Teresa of Avila, famously said that,
“ Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth but yours. “
No hands, no feet on earth but yours
Yours are the eyes through which He looks
compassion on this world
Christ has no body now on earth but yours. “
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