All Saints 2007

For all the saints, Eveyln, Mary, Dorothy, Herb, Patsy, who from their labors rest, to thee by faith before the world confess, thy name O Jesus be forever blessed, alleluia, alleluia.

Saints of the past seem larger than life while those we honor in our time are also models of faithful discipleship. If we examine the contents of Lesser Feasts and Fasts, we find among the saints: the apostles, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Mary and Martha, persons who died as martyrs for the faith: Perpetua and her Companions, martyrs at Carthage in 202; the Martyrs of Japan 1597, the Martyrs of Uganda 1886, Constance and her companions, the martyrs of Memphis 1878.

The faith we confess in the creed is that Jesus blessed human beings by being the Word of God incarnate. The feast of the incarnation is Christmas, but we have trouble putting all our attention on the incarnation with all the preparations we need to make for shopping and family celebrations at Christmas. If we can just manage to get to church we probably are satisfied. We believe that the power of life and love will triumph over the power of death but we are not so sure of resurrection so Easter is a day of church, fashion, eggs, and family meals. We want to believe that life is eternal but we are no so sure of eternity so in the fall season of spooks and saints and souls we spend more time on carving pumpkins and either collecting or distributing candy than we do on remembering and being inspired by the saints we know and those whose lives instruct us on how we might choose to live.

Our Jewish and Islamic counterparts have a faith that says God is one, God made all that is, God gave us rules to live by, and when we do we are blessed by God. As Christians we have a harder time of it because we are people whose faith is based on a person, Jesus, the second person of the trinity, the Son of the Father, the Lord of heaven and earth. That Jesus rose from death – real death of flesh and blood- by the resurrection is the compass point of our faith. The resurrection of Jesus is the grounding of our hope that there is life beyond this life and that we can stand for what is true and good even in the face of death. We dare to live as though there is a tomorrow and more – a place within which and a people with whom to share that tomorrow. That is why we need these precious days of All Hallows Eve, All Saints, and All Souls. We know how hard it is to look death in the face for ourselves or our beloved and say, “I’ll see you”. If our experiences of death give rise to renewed witness to hope then we becomes streams of living water to those who are thirsty.

The saints, ancient and modern, are those who confess Jesus in ways that others see and recognize. They trusted God for their well being, not for deliverance as much as for presence. To saints, God is real enough that they can “fight” for the faith regardless of the cost. I suspect that although many of us think our faith is a private affair, not something that ought to be used to draft legislation or policies, the saints by contrast saw no such distinctions.

On July 20 we honor Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner truth and Harriet Ross Tubman. These four amazing women, two white and two black, lived in very different historic times but shared one thing in common. Their faith in God taught them that God is a God of justice in the human realm. The beatitudes are not a series of be contents with your lot now so you can enjoy the joys and blessing of heaven. No, they saw in Jesus the continuation of life in God made flesh in man. The human condition took on a whole new importance when the very God of very God became one of us. When Jesus lived the life of a human being, God reached into our realm to teach us that this life does matter…how we live it….what it means to live faithfully…and that always means taking care of the neighbor as diligently as we take care to nurture our relationship with God.

“Elizabeth Cady Stanton challenged the church’s oppressive limiting of women to subordinate roles in marriage and church life. Amelia Bloomer took on the fashion mavens of the day, advocating for less restrictive clothing for women, whose health was endangered by the corset worn even by pregnant women. Sojourner Truth found affinity with the abolitionists and the advocates of women’s rights, both groups benefiting from her considerable gifts for preaching and oratory. Harriet Ross Tubman was a literal liberator, personally responsible for freeing over three hundred African Americans by securing refuge for them in Canada, where she had gone to escape slavery herself.” (p 118 of Brightest and Best, A Companion to the lesser feasts and fasts by Sam Portaro.)

These women did not blame God for the conditions of the world. They saw man-made evil, in forms of injustice and oppression and took Jesus example to heart. The welcome Jesus gave the sick, the outcasts, women, and foreigners were enough to encourage them to seek more inclusive community in their lives and the lives of their neighbors. They believed that God called them to struggle against the injustice of their day. They took responsibility and stood for justice in the name of God.

This week I visited with The Rev. Mary Glasspool as is expected of clergy before the scheduled bishop’s visitation to a parish. Helping ensure that all of the parishes in the diocese receive a visit, the Canon to the bishops takes on some of the visits as the delegate of the Bishop’s office. In her office, I was attracted to a painting which was familiar and in a few minutes I recognized it. In St. John’s church on the campus of Episcopal Divinity school there is a woven picture dedicated to a former student, Jonathan Myrick Daniels. You will find Jonathan Daniels among the saints listed in Lesser Feasts and Fasts, for August 14, in honor of his witness for civil rights. While in his second year at EDS, Jonathan could not ignore what was happening in the Southern states. Martin Luther King Jr was to march from Selma to Montgomery Alabama, a march that was viciously opposed by those who wanted to keep the status quo. With several classmates and several hundred other people from all over the country, Jonathan flew to Selma, stayed in the home of some black families and engaged in the struggle for equality in the voting polls. August 14, 1965, Jonathan was arrested for being in a picket line along with three others. Six days later they were released, but needed transportation to get away from a very hostile and explosive situation. As the group approached a small store to use a phone, Ruby Sales, a teenager stepped toward the door, when the door opened and the owner armed with shotgun began verbal abuse. Jonathan intervened, stepped in front of her and was shot pointblank in the chest. Jonathan died and the man with the gun was acquitted on a plea of self-defense.

Who is in bondage today that needs to be liberated? What made Jonathan leave a safe campus and travel south to take part in this fight? I believe that Jonathan Daniels saw the same injustice, willingness to fight to keep things just as they are, that Jesus saw in his own day and location. The Roman soldiers were fierce and oppressive rulers, taxing the people beyond their ability to pay and still have enough for a decent way of life. Women had no status in the society – were mere chattel property of males. A widow had no standing unless she had a son or some male relative that could take care of her. The religious practices were so rules based that mercy, justice and compassion were sorely lacking. Jesus knew the heart of the father was to fight fear with faith, greed with hope and hatred with love.

The saints in our lives are those who have keep the faith in all sorts and conditions of their lives. In their living and their dying, God has been and remains their constant companion.

O blest communion, fellowship divine. We feebly struggle, they in glory shine, yet all are one in thee for all are thine. Alleluia, alleluia!