November 10, 2022

Last Sunday was All Saints Sunday. We gathered, prayed, sang, lit candles, joined with the church in every time and place in sharing the heavenly banquet – the body of blood of Christ in Holy Communion.

One of my favorite things about the Christian life of faith is that we are not in it alone. We are part of a new humanity in Christ. We are accompanied by the advocate and comforter, the Holy Spirit. Christ promises to be with us to the end. We are part of the church. We are surrounded by the communion of saints.

Saints. Those people who have lived a life of faith that shows us what it is to live God’s love, to follow the way of Jesus, to live out the great commandment and the great commission. I love learning from the saints. They, as images of God, show us what God is like. Like John the Baptist in the wilderness, saints in the point to Christ who was and is and is to come. Saints give us someone to imitate.

And you are a saint, too. That’s part of the good news of All Saints Day. You have been raised to new life in Christ and are now a saint. Not just later, not just if the church sets up a special feast day for you. Saints are normal people who lived trustworthy lives trusting in God. We are normal, ordinary people and yet, by the grace of God in Christ, we are part of the communion of saints.

Who are you learning from? What saints ancient and modern, from Ambrose and Ignatius to Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King, Jr are teaching you what it means to love God and neighbor?

What are you modeling and teaching others? When other members of the body of Christ look at your life what are they learning about who God is and what it means to follow Christ?

Whether we realize it or not, our lives are preaching a sermon. You, you beautiful saint, are proclaiming the gospel. What good news are you sharing with the world around you?

Grace & Peace,
Pastor Drew