I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true, who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green: they were all of them saints of God and I mean, God helping, to be one too.
This is one of my favorite hymns, partially because I have been singing it my whole life, and it thus brings back many wonderful memories for me, but mostly because I love the message of this hymn.
“For the saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too.”
I mean to be one too.
I think too frequently being a saint is seen as more similar to being a superhero than being a human follower of Christ.
Think about it for a moment.
To achieve “sainthood” in the Roman tradition you must show evidence in your life of heroic virtue and that you achieved at least 2 miracles on behalf of someone who prayed to you for help after your death.
For me this brings to mind the superheroes who are so popular in our secular mythology today.
I understand the intent of this screening process.
The miracles are considered to be evidence that the person under consideration for sainthood is in heaven (presumably someone in hell or purgatory can’t perform miracles).
However, for me, it is unnecessary and actually leads to a way of thinking that I find troublesome: that saints are super human and therefore being a saint is not something that you or I can be.
Even though this is not our tradition, I think this way of thinking has crept into all of our minds over the course of time.
And, well, it isn’t scriptural.
The word “saint” is derived from a Greek verb hagiazo whose basic meaning is “to set apart,” “sanctify,” or “make holy.”
The noun is hagios which means “holy.”
This Greek noun was translated into Latin as “sanctus.”
The Greek word hagios appears 229 times in the New Testament and in all but one occurrence appears in the plural form and not the singular.
In the New Testament the saints are a group of people set apart for God. Scripturally there is no concept of a Saint John or a Saint Mark or a Saint Suzannah.
To be a saint, according to Scripture, is to be part of a larger community seeking to follow Jesus.
I can be a saint, but only in relationship with other saints.
This is similar to the concept of the body of Christ.
The Body of Christ cannot be made up of only a hand or an eye.
All the members of the Body must be present for the Body of Christ to be whole and healthy.
We need all parts of the body.
The word haigos is not always translated as saint in the scriptures either, it is also translated as holy or set apart, as in the Holy Spirit—or Haigos Sophia.
So, saints are God’s holy ones, God’s holy people and it is God who makes the saints holy.
God’s holiness becomes the holiness of God’s people.
Outside of the New Testament haigos was used to talk about those devoted to God.
Saints are holy people who are set apart and devoted to God.
And in scripture, none of the saints are dead.
Saints are living people with real lives, real families, real jobs, real needs, real struggles, real sins and real joys.
According to Scripture, saints are living people who belong to and are devoted to God.
And how do we know if someone or even a whole community belongs to God?
How do we know who the saints are?
Well, we simply have to look at our Gospel reading from Luke for today to know.
Blessed are the poor, the hungry, those who mourn, and those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and those who are reviled and persecuted falsely on God’s account.
When the holiness of God spills over into us and our lives and the life of our community and we begin to see with the eyes of God love becomes our primary language.
When God’s holiness overflows into our hearts and into our lives, it is next to impossible to see those in this world who are in pain or need and not to try to do something about it.
When God’s holiness spills over into our lives and into our community the world’s rules no longer make sense.
And allowing the holiness of God to spill over into our hearts and our lives, is not necessarily an easy thing.
The pull of the world is strong, and we need examples of people in whom God’s holiness has spilled over.
These holy people are not perfect.
Indeed, when their lives are carefully examined, we can often find countless flaws or the bias of a particular moment in history or ecclesial perspective.
When we examine the lives of the holy people who have gone before us, we can clearly see that they are not superhuman, but they have borne witness to their faith through their lives in ways that can inspire and instruct us.
Their mix of holiness and human imperfection should encourage us to realize that the saints, like us, are first and foremost redeemed sinners in whom the risen Christ’s words to St. Paul come to fulfillment, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
So today, All Saints Day, is a day when we remind ourselves, as we remember all the saints who have gone before us, that every single one of us here can be one of the saints.
I am sure that some here today already are.
But for those of us who feel we might not actually have become a saint yet, how exactly do we become a saint?
Well, if you are not already one, you are already on your way to becoming one, because you have taken an important first step.
You are part of a larger community seeking to join in God’s work in the world.
As a community and as individuals we may not always hit the mark, but we are gathered here to at least try.
None of us could accomplish God’s work by ourselves, but together we can do it.
And as we work together to join God in God’s work, we listen.
We listen for God’s voice.
Where do our God given gifts and the world’s hunger meet?
For where those two things intersect is where we will find God’s vision for us—both individually and as a community.
If you look closely at those we remember as saints, they were a people who were full of passion—passion for God, passion for other people, passion for life and they used this passion to join God in God’s work. That is our calling too.
And if you think you don’t possess any particular gifts, I say “nonsense.”
Everyone has gifts.
We may not all possess gifts that will make us famous or that seem splashy or spectacular, but we possess gifts, and God expects us to use them.
If you still feel you have no gifts, ask your friends and family.
I am sure they will help you see what gifts you have.
So, Scripture tells us that all who join in community to follow Jesus are saints.
Tradition helps us to remember people who particularly exemplify this following of Jesus in community.
And our liturgy today helps us remember people in our own personal lives who have been saints for each of us.
People who taught us about love.
People who taught us about God.
People who encouraged us to use our gifts.
People who passed their faith on to us.
People who were not perfect, but who were holy.
I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true, who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, and one was a shepherdess on the green: they were all of them saints of God and I mean, God helping, to be one too.
Amen.
