Who’s A Saint?
Who is the saint who has made the biggest impact on your life? Often when we cele- brate our mid-week services we remember the lives of those who lived in ages past and who have modeled for us life in Christ. So which saint jumps out to you? St. Christo- pher who fought a dragon? St. Francis who gave all things away to follow Jesus and proclaim the Good News to the poor? St. Mary Magdalene who courageously journeyed to the tomb only to find life in the place of death? Who is it?
When I ask people to name saints they admire often the answers do anything but shock me. Mostly people name legends of our faith, like Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Tere- sa, or some other spiritual giant. No doubt, these stalwarts stand out as saintly figures who deserve our laud and praise; however, quite often their lives stand so tall that we have a very difficult time imagining how we might live up to their standards. In other words, if we believe that only people like Oscar Romero, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, or So- journer Truth are saints we will not be able to live up to their lives’ accomplishments! Because of this mistake our hagiology, that is our understanding of the saints, needs a little help, especially on All Saints’ Day.
When I ask, “Who is the saint who has made the biggest impact on your life?” think of someone who lives his or her life in close proximity to your own. Now this does not mean we need to have a low standard of who saints are, as this does a disservice to all those vessels of God’s grace who reside in our own town, in our own church, and maybe even in our own home. Still, saints are not just the people we like or think are really great. Instead they are the ones who live a godly life such that through their lives we catch a glimpse of what God’s Kingdom was, is, and will be! These holy ones are folks just like you and me! As saints are not just the most popular figures in our church, though we need a little help in laying out what a saint (from sanctus or holy one) looks like.
In the All Saints’ Day Gospel reading from Luke we hear Jesus bending down in front of his disciples to lay out those who are blessed by God. What he says sounds shocking! The poor, the hungry, the weeping, and the persecuted for the sake of the Son of Man are those who are blessed. Perhaps even more shocking for us Jesus bids woe upon the rich, the full, the laughing, and the well-respected! So if we take these terms into our cri- teria for who are the saints we come up with a different set of results. Perhaps even more outlandish Jesus invites his followers to love enemies, do good to the hate-filled, bless the cursers, and pray for abusers. If we are to verge into the realm of the saints, this shocking map guides our path. To be a saint means caring without any hope of reciprocity. To be a saint means loving in the face of hate. To be a saint means peaceably resisting the violence not by becoming a doormat, but through standing with the oppressed. To be a saint means offering not just what is left over, but our first fruits to care for those on the margins. To be a saint means doing to others as you would have them do unto you!
Today is All Saints’ Day, and we are invited to be “knit together” into the “mystical body” of Christ (as today’s collect says), so that through God’s grace we may become saints too! We will make mistakes in our journey and that is to be expected. All those saints we know and celebrate messed up along the way too! Still what Jesus described for us in the Beatitudes was not just for the few lofty ones, but for every one who hears his saving call to follow. Who are the saints? Look around, as together with God’s help we are invited to live bold, counter-cultural, Jesus-loving lives that will be filled with ineffable joys and lead others to God’s loving embrace as well!
In the name of our living, loving, and life-giving God who is Father, Son, and Holy Spir- it!