Saints in All Settings

Last Sunday was the celebration of All Saints in our congregation. We remembered them with a service of candle lighting and a tribute to all the folks in our congregation who have passed into glory during the past year. But just who are "the saints" anyway? Are they just the biggies like Saint Peter or Saint Paul? Oh, no; there are many more saints other than those we all know. This meditation might bring some of them to your mind.

The scripture reading that you just heard takes us directly into the heart of heaven (Revelation 7:9-17). We see God seated on a cosmic throne surrounded by a crowd of worshipers so big that it seems to be numberless! But who are all these worshipers? Why, they are the saints who live eternally in God’s glory!

Right now, those saints are too far away for us to be able to distinguish any individuals in that vast multitude; but we know who some of them are. They are the “Capital S” saints who are so well-known that the word “Saint” is a part of their name. Saint Peter is there, together with all the rest of the apostles. Saint Paul is there; and so are Saint Patrick and Saint Nicholas and Saint Valentine. There are at least three Saint Teresas, Saint Christopher, and Saint Francis of Assisi. There are Saint Catherine of Sienna, Saint Anne, and Saint Claire of Assisi. (She lived at the same time as Saint Francis, but he gets all the press!) Now, we wouldn’t recognize these saints if they ran over us; but we know that they’re in that crowd because they influenced the whole world for the better. They converted entire countries to Christianity; or they wrote books that have been read through the ages; or they ministered to thousands of people in the name of Christ. Of course, they’re in that crowd!

But there are millions of others rubbing elbows with them. Let’s use a spiritual telescope and focus on some of the faces in that crowd. As we look closer, we realize that we know some of them! In fact, some of them tucked us into bed at night when we were children. They are our mothers and fathers, our aunts and uncles, our grandmothers and grandfathers. They sang “Jesus Loves Me” to us before we even knew who Jesus was; and they read us Bible stories as we pointed to the colored pictures and turned the pages impatiently. Others aren’t relatives, but people who influenced us in ways that they will never know. They were Sunday school teachers and church camp counselors, choir directors and youth group chaperones. They were there for us when we didn’t even know that we needed them. Maybe there’s even a pastor or two in that crowd! And there are people in there who had nothing at all to do with church. Do you see the teacher who gave you extra help with your lessons even though it meant that she stayed after school to do it? There’s the coach who believed in you and in your abilities when nobody else did. And there’s your childhood neighbor who always offered you homemade cookies!

Yes, they’re all in there: “capital S” saints who changed the world, and “small s” saints who changed YOUR world. As we celebrate All Saints’ Day, let’s celebrate the saints in ALL settings, both large and small, because they all labored with love and patience in the name of Jesus Christ. And, God willing, one day we will join them around the throne. Thanks be to God for showing us love through the love of the saints in our lives!