"Communion of the Saints"

by The Rev. William G. Lamont, Pastor

November 1 is All Saints’ Day.  As church holidays go, it’s not particularly large…but it is definitely old!  All Saints’ Day can be traced back to the 4th century AD when the early church wished to honor the memory of those witnesses to the faith who had died in the Lord. The church had plenty of martyrs to remember in the first 300 years because persecution of Christians was so prevalent then.  It was an especially violent time in church history.  So a special Mass was held each year called Feast of All Martyrs where all living Christians would celebrate all the saints who had passed on into the presence of the Lord. Some of these saints had been canonized and the stories of their witness to the faith were well known and recounted each year, others were known only in name, and still others had names and stories known only to God.  But this service was a celebration of all the saints, those known and those unknown.

The feast of All Martyrs was originally celebrated the first Sunday after Pentecost, but on November 1, 741, Pope Gregory consecrated a new chapel in St. Peter’s basilica to all saints, and so November 1 became the new day for the feast in Rome.  About a century later the pope universalized the date for All Saints’ Day for the entire Catholic church, and we’ve celebrated it on November 1 ever since.

Halloween (hallowed eve), the night before All Saints’ Day has apparently been celebrated as long as the feast itself.  In ancient days people would dress up in costume as ghosts or demons as a way of mocking evil.  Over time Halloween has developed into what we now call “Trick or Treat”…a community wide parade of costumed children going door to door to collect candy.  It is one of those holidays where much of its religious significance is now lost.

 All Saints’ Day, however, is still with us, even though it isn’t well marked by Protestant congregations.  Why not? Perhaps because there isn’t the same emphasis on saints among Protestants as Catholics.  We don’t name our schools after saints, we don’t name our children after saints, and even our churches tend to take on more secular names like Hidenwood.  So All Saints’ Day has become one of those church holidays that most Presbyterians aren’t sure how to celebrate.   

 
In recent years, some churches, Hidenwood included, have used All Saints' Day as a memorial for members who have gone to their reward over the past year.  The bell is tolled for each one and sometimes we’ve even had a single rose laid on the communion table in their memory.  This is a good start, but it doesn’t really redeem All Saints’ Day to its former glory.  The original purpose of All Saints’ was not just to honor the dead, but to uplift the living.  It was to bolster the living saints to keep the faith.  And it did this in two ways – first by telling the stories of the faithful witness of the saints who had passed on to their great reward, and secondly by pulling back the veil of heaven and giving us a glimpse of just how big and beautiful God’s plan of salvation truly is.  If all we can see of God is what he is doing here and now, in our lives, or on the corner of Hiden and Madison, then it’s easy to develop spiritual myopia… a diminished vision of God. We need to be able to step back and get the big picture…to glimpse salvation history – what God is doing and preparing for all the faithful.  And All Saints’ Day is an opportunity to do that – to lift your eyes above the horizon of today to glimpse the glorious plan of God for all the saints…those living and those dead.

And today’s scriptures have that purpose in mind.  Wisdom of Solomon chapter three begins with this triumphant statement:  “The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God and no torment will ever touch them.” Now the foolish don’t think so; they think their death as a disaster and their parting from us as destruction…but they are at peace.  Not only that, it says this:  “In the time of their visitation they will shine forth…they will govern nations and rule over peoples, and the Lord will reign over them for ever.  Those who trust in him will understand truth, and the faithful will abide with him in love, because grace and mercy are upon his holy ones, and he watches over his elect.”  Who can say the Jews don’t believe in the afterlife when you read this?  Wisdom of Solomon helps the faithful lift their eyes above the gravestones of their loved ones to see the glorious future God has prepared for the righteous.

And John writes the book of Revelation to a congregation of persecuted Christians at the end of the first century.  It too offers hope and inspiration to the people.  How?  By getting them to lift their eyes above the here and now to view what God is doing in salvation history.  And in chapter 21 we see the culmination of God’s plans…a new heaven and a new earth, a New Jerusalem more glorious than the first.  And a voice from heaven says “see, the home of God is among mortals…He will wipe every tear from their eyes.  Death will be no more; mourning and crying will be no more…”  John gives them a glimpse of God making all things new.  The Alpha and Omega…bringing to an end death and pain and suffering, and beginning something glorious and new.

You can endure anything when you know how it will end.  Even a long sermon, if you know the noon hour is coming you can endure.  And people can endure persecution, distress, poverty, loneliness, and loss…hardship of every kind knowing that the end is coming and is in God’s hands and will be glorious.

I have a good friend who lost his two children in a car accident at Christmas a number of years ago.  It was a most tragic accident and such an incredible loss.  I think most people of faith would have given up, but my friend seemed to hold on to his faith throughout.  Perhaps his friends helped in some measure, because I think faith can be carried by more than one person.  One of his friends had a dream where she saw Jesus leading the two children hand in hand, across a body of water to the other side.  She awoke and painted the picture of her dream and gave it to my friend as a gift of comfort.  That painting was used on the bulletin cover for the funeral service of those children.  That picture was a glimpse of God’s glorious salvation for his children…and it was a source of solace to the parents.

And isn’t that what Martin Luther King, Jr., was doing when he preached that sermon in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1960 when the sanitation workers were on strike for better pay?  Here’s how he ended his sermon that day:

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the Promised Land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

When our eyes see the glory of the coming of the Lord…there is hope for the weary, sustenance for the hungry.  And where that glory is seen best is right here at the table.  This is more than a memorial – a looking back to the Last Supper.  This is a celebration, a looking forward to that great banquet we will all share with Christ when we feast in glory.  So lift your eyes and see this loaf and this cup.  Come partake of the bread of heaven and sip from the cup of salvation and live.  Come share in the feast that Christ has prepared for all the saints. This is the communion of the saints… let us break bread together with the saints in heaven and on earth…till we feast together in glory!

Amen.