So he came and proclaimed peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near, for through him both of us have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then, you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone…
- Ephesians 2:17-20 (NRSVUE)
This coming Sunday, November 1st, Is All Saints Day. It is preceded by All Hallows’ Eve, October 31st, which is now commonly called Halloween. The holidays we celebrate as Christians come form multiple sources, primarily scripture, All Saints Day is not one of those. Many pagan religions across Europe celebrated their dead, both honored and feared, at the end of October and the beginning of November. Many of those European traditions were brought to the New World by the Europeans who colonized the Americas. Thus we have Día de los Muertos (The Day of the Dead) still celebrated in Latin America in unison with All Saints Day. The Roman Catholic Church made a habit of appropriating pagan celebrations and turning them into Christian ones. That is the case here.
All Saints Day is our day of celebration and remembrance of all the faithful who have lived lives in service to Christ and His Church over the past 2,000 years of Christendom. It is both joyful and mournful. For just as many Christians have lived lives free from persecution and death for their faith, there are also many who suffered and died under persecution. I often feel sorry for those brought up in Protestant and Anglican traditions for their lack of awareness of the Saints of Christendom. We can lay that lament at the feet of the first Reformers like Martin Luther. The break from the Roman Catholic Church was so violent and hate-filled that for centuries afterward anything that smacked of “catholicism” was banned or destroyed. Luther hated the whole idea of “saints” as a denial of what reformers called the “priesthood” or “sainthood” of all believers. I myself was brought up with a distrust of anything Catholic. My father was raise Roman Catholic and I have often said, “I don’t know what those nuns did to my Dad, but it was permanent!”
I understand exactly what Luther’s concerns were in setting up one group of Christians over others by granting them the status of “sainthood.” But in writing to the church at Ephesus, Paul uses the term “saint,” not in reference to a “superior” Christian but as anyone who has access to the Power and Love of the Holy Spirit through the family that is The Church. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ. We are all part of the sainthood of all believers, not because of anything we have accomplished individually, but because of we are all part of the Body of Christ.
So in our devotionals this coming week, I will be celebrating the saints whom I have known and whose witness have deeply affected my life in Christ. As I do this, I hope each of you will meditate on those in your own lives who have inspired you, guided you, or loved you resulting in a difference in your Christian life and witness. I would also invite you to imagine how you yourself might take up the mantel of sainthood in each others lives, loving, caring and guiding each other on the path Christian discipleship.
My prayer for each of you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, is that you may discover the long line of Christian disciples of which you are a part. We are both curators and creators of the saints Paul was referring to. Look to the past for those who have shaped you. Look to the future for those whom you may inspire, who one day might look back to see you as one who shaped their future. May the Holy Spirit open you spiritual eyes and heart with those visions.
Blessings and Joy in Christ,
Rev Dr Jim McGrath
