Saints and Sinners

Here's another "behind the times" post - this time from November 1: All Saints Day.


This Sunday, our church will honor the memories of loved ones who have died during the past two years. Their names will be read one at a time, and a bell will ring after each name is read. It’s a very solemn, but also joyful experience. We experience the grief of our losses – we miss these people tremendously! But we also celebrate that they have gone on to final victory – death has no sting for those who have faith in Jesus Christ!!

This celebration comes from the history of All Saints Day, which was November 1st. Some churches have special services on that day, no matter which day of the week November 1st falls. Our church celebrates All Saints Sunday on the next Sunday after November 1st. It is considered a “high holy day” along with other high holy days like Christmas, Easter and Pentecost. But the world in general, and many churches, pay less attention to this day that to the others – especially the “BIG” days of Christmas and Easter.

So what is All Saints Day and why is it considered “high” and “holy”? We have to reach all the way back to our early church history – back before the Reformation of the 16th century – to the times when people were martyred for their faith in Jesus Christ. In the early church under the Roman Empire, Christians were viewed with suspicion and hostility. Christian rituals were strange, their belief systems totally unlike the common worship of Roman deities. Rumors abounded that Christians were cannibals – they ate flesh and drank blood! They were immoral – engaging in “love feasts” where there was lots of kissing going on! They refused to worship the Emperer – making them enemies of the state!

So Christians were often rounded up and thrown in jails to make them recant their beliefs. Those who refused to recant were treated more harshly: they were brought into the “circuses” where they became lion food or were forced to fight against gladiators. Those early Christians were such firm pacifists that they refused to defend themselves. Death was the result. They became martyrs for their faith.

The Christian churches began celebrating the “birth days” of the martyrs – the day they were born into eternal life by leaving their earthly ones. They believed in Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:24-25: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.”

It didn’t take long for the number of martyrs to exceed the number of days in the year, and individual celebrations became impractical. A commemoration of “all martyrs” was held as early as 270 AD. Down through the centuries, the day became less about the martyrs – especially as the occasions of martyrdom decreased – and more about everyone who died in the faith.

This day points towards all Christian’s “birth day” of going to be with Christ. It reminds us that we are only visitors during this life; our true home is still on the other side of death. I think this is especially meaningful in areas with aging populations like southeastern Ohio. Demographically, Meigs County has a significant portion of its population older than 60. Just check the obituary section of this paper – there are nearly always multiple stories. Death is an undeniable part of life; but death does not have to be depressing! Death is NOT our ending, but our beginning!!

During life, all of us are sinners struggling to become saints. We face temptations of personal and communal greed, dishonesty and selfishness. We lose our tempers, we become unforgiving. In fact, without God’s help, the sinner cannot become a saint! But God chose to help – and continues to choose to help – all those who are willing to accept God’s help offered in Jesus Christ through the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

So celebrate the high and holy activity of God in the lives of these who’ve gone before us. But don’t stop there! We also need to celebrate the ongoing transformation that God is doing in this life to make us ready for the next one. And if you aren’t aware of any changing happening in your life, then you are likely resisting the changes God is willing to make – changes that will make THIS life better. Go to church. Discover how God wants to use you to help others. Seek forgiveness – and offer it to others. You never know when the bell will ring for you.