Living as saints.... ?

Today as we celebrate All Saints Day our readings naturally concentrate on God’s love, his grace, on the many blessings that he gives to us every day, and ultimately upon the victory which he has already won – the victory over everything that is wrong in the world and in our lives today.

In the reading from Isaiah (25:6-9) we are given a picture of an incredible feast – good food, good wine, no worries about anything, tears removed forever… And there’s a similar feeling in the reading from the Book of Revelation (21:1-5). The reading tells of the new Jerusalem, a city fit for God to live in, a city where mourning and crying and pain are no more. 

And then in the gospel of John (11:32-44) we have the account of Jesus weeping as he hears of the death of his friend Lazarus, but then performing the miracle of raising him from the dead. 

These three readings are useful tools as we think of All Saints Day, because I think there are 3 elements to the day – the first is a look back at the past, as we remember those saints who have gone before us; the second looks at the future, and the promise that one day we will be reunited with all the saints in heaven to sing God’s praises together in a perfect fellowship; and the third is to look at the here and now and to remember that we are amongst those called to be saints today. 

In the reading from Isaiah we can think of what has been – the people who have helped us and who have shaped our lives, the people who have helped to build our Churches and to share the faith that we know today. We are reminded that God has laid out in those lives a huge feast of knowledge, of influence, of prayer and devotion, and of commitment. 

The incredible feast talked about in that reading has already been prepared for us by Jesus and his victory over death. He has offered to take away the shame of sin – he has offered to recognise us as saints in his kingdom. 

And that is one of the great lessons of saints of the past – whether they be people we know or any other saint – that God has taken their imperfect lives and cleaned them, changed them and helped them to live according to his will. 

There are many people who suggest that we should never look to the past but always to the future – it’s a foolish concept though. The past is a place where we can learn so many lessons, perhaps from successes, but perhaps from mistakes that have been made. The past is the place where we can reflect on the things that have helped to shape our lives, but looking to the past is also always the place to look as we remember that there is a future. 

Generations ago people built our Churches – those people today are nameless – we probably don’t know them, but they have helped to shape our lives. Over the years the buildings and people and society in general have changed so much that they are perhaps even beyond recognition, but that doesn’t lessen the influence of those saints of the past, who have helped to shape us. 

And so we celebrate today the saints of the past and we rejoice that their place in God’s kingdom is secure for evermore and that they enjoy the eternal fellowship of God. 

But we must never remain in the past – so many things change and they continue to change and so do we and so must the church. I heard this week a true story of someone preaching at a chapel. At the service were the 8 Deacons of the church all seated on the platform behind the pulpit – the only problem was that they were the only ones there – when the preacher asked if he should turn and face them they said ‘No – the pulpit is where the sermon is preached’. 

And so the preacher spoke to an empty chapel with 8 people sitting behind him – just because that was what had always been done ! 

And then the reading from the Book of Revelation helps us to look to the future – we look back at the saints of the past and we look forward to joining them in that new Jerusalem. The picture of heaven is one that’s never painted in the Bible really clearly – but this is about as close as it gets – the new Jerusalem is a place prepared as a beautiful bride prepared for her husband, a place where God’s radiant light shines, not just hiding darkness, but completely destroying it. 

The victory of God has been won and all of our earthly fears and worries, and sadness and grief and pain will be gone forever – tears and mourning and pain will be no more, and we will join in that most perfect fellowship of saints. 

Everyone longs for a perfect Church, and everyone recognises that there’s no such thing this side of heaven, but as we look to the future, we can perhaps also have a little more confidence in the present, because we know the glory and the peace that God has prepared for us. We know that he has already cast aside the silly niggles that sometimes divide people, and the worries about things that in no time at all we realise we should never have even worried about. 

But that does bring us to the present and having looked at the past thankfully and looked to a future filled with promise, we must also think of today, and the saints that are here with us. In the gospel reading Jesus is faced with a situation which many of us have faced – the death of a loved one, and Jesus reacted as we do with tears and with sadness. 

Jesus knew all about resurrection, he knew that he would see his friend again, but he would miss him, he would miss his earthly presence – he would miss the things we miss when a loved one dies – the smile, the chance to talk to them, the chance just to touch them or hold them, the chance just to spend time in their company.

But Jesus then did what we can’t do, and brought his friend back to life – as Lazarus rose Jesus said, ‘unbind him and let him go’. 

But whilst we may not be able to literally do that we can recognise those words of Jesus which are for everyone – Jesus has released us from all that holds us back from enjoying a relationship with him. Jesus has provided for us the freedom to know that we can live here and now as people who are made worthy to serve him, people who are made worthy to call ourselves his friends, people who are ready to live out his life on earth today. 

That is the call for us as saints of today – looking at the past or the future is pointless if we ignore the present, the here and now… Because that is where God has placed us, it is where God has called us to serve… it is where we are called to reflect some of his glory, to share some of his love, and to enjoy his peace.

And it’s worth reflecting on that fact that God is prepared to let us be saints – with all of our faults, all of our weaknesses. His grace and mercy and love is so great that he calls us to be his saints – and so we’re called and challenged to respond as we try to live lives with the qualities of Jesus clearly on display. 

It’s a calling, it’s a challenge but it’s also a responsibility – are we truly trying to live up to that title or is there something stopping that – bitterness, dislike of someone, gossip, petty minded quarrelling, point scoring, power seeking, lack of care for someone – a lack of love for all… We won’t always get things right but that doesn’t mean we don’t have to try. 

There’s a story about a couple of brothers who had led a gang who had caused all kinds of trouble and raised money through lots of immoral activities. When one of the brothers died, the other went to see the Vicar and asked if he could have a church funeral. 

The Vicar paused for a moment and then agreed – the brother then asked the Vicar if he would be prepared to say his deceased brother was a saint. The Vicar paused again and the brother offered £50,000 for the church if he would do it, and so the Vicar eventually said he would. 

When the funeral came it began with hymns and readings and prayers and then came the eulogy. The Vicar spoke of how evil the deceased man had been, how he had robbed people, and assaulted people, and how he’d raised money through all kinds of immoral earnings. 

The living brother was beginning to get a little uncomfortable thinking the Vicar had lied to him, but as he was thinking that the Vicar concluded the eulogy – he was a dirty rotten scoundrel, but compared to his brother he was a saint ! 

So let’s look at the past with thanksgiving; look at the future with hope and even longing as we await that time of no mourning, no pain, no tears, but let’s do the work of Christ today, learning from the past, but not bound by it, confident of the future, but not just waiting daydreaming for it to happen, but ready to look for God’s vision today, and with his power and his strength to transform a world that is waiting to hear his good news and waiting to share in the joy of his everlasting kingdom. AMEN