It was true for me as a youngster and I suspect it is also true for many youngsters today, but one of the fun things about trick or treating is the surprise at the variety of candy one receives. One never knows what is going to be tossed into your bag at the next house. A lot of the fun would be lost if everyone gave out a Hershey or Milky Way bar. While I no longer go out trick or treating on Halloween, in a similar fashion, one of the reasons I like to browse antique shops and malls, is not because I really need another thing to stuff into our house, but because it is so much fun to see what may be displayed. Maybe I will spot a chair just like my grandmother used to sit in; a picture like the one that hung over my great aunt’s old radio; some unknown gadget; or something I had read about in history books or seen in an old movie, but never had a chance to actually handle it. I suspect for others of you, going to a new art exhibition or the discovery of a new gallery brings the same type of pleasure.
All Saints’ Day reminds us that God surprises us with the variety of people who have the potential to bless our lives. There is no stereotype of a saint. Saints both lived in the past and are living around us today. I have had the privilege of knowing many of the people we remember in our prayers for the departed today and no two were ever alike. To us, a saint may be a favorite teacher, coach, neighbor, a good and faithful friend, co-worker or a person one first met here at St. John’s.
The best thing about finding a nice antique shop isn’t about finding a treasure I can purchase for a trifle, but finding something that sets my memory on fire. Oh, yes, I remember when and where I saw one of those before. A flood of memories and the many blessings I’ve received come rushing into my consciousness. I’m able to connect the past with my present and future as I’ve never been able to before. That’s what All Saints does as we listen to scripture and sing the traditional hymns.
All Saints also reminds us that we, too, are given many different opportunities to be a person of blessing, a special saint to others. We don’t have to be a super hero, or the smartest, richest or most talented person out there for this to happen. The blessings of love, hope, compassion, quiet listening, and loyalty are revealed in often quite ordinary, yet very touching ways.
It is easy for Christians today to view the church as being in a defensive state of weakened confusion, if not crisis. Its future as a main and vital institution of our society is being called into question. Formerly prosperous mainline churches are becoming afterthoughts at best and sideline remnants fit for display at museums or offered for sale at antique malls at worst. The feast of All Saints and the lesson from Revelation come just at the right time.
The last book (or nearly the last book) written in the New Testament, the Book of Revelation with all its colorful images, places a small, besieged community of Christians within a bigger picture, within the large movement of God’s mission of the reconciliation and reclamation of humanity. A virtual jumble of cosmic symbols – lambs, beasts with horns, angels, fire, trumpets, palms, crowns and blood are connected to the life of these ordinary Christian people. We don’t know the exact name, place or time of the community for which Revelations was written, but we do know it was during a time of persecution; when the church was being held up to ridicule, when the larger society suspected Christians as being seditious, weird, or worse. People were dropping away, attendance was down, and those who remained began to feel sorry for themselves and to play the blame game. “Wait a minute,” says this writer we call St. John the Divine. “Salvation belongs to our God. Yes, you are a small group under siege, but you are included; you are part of a great multitude. Of course, God remembers you. The number of insignificant people from every tribe, every nation, every language is virtually uncountable. Like you, they have come out of great trials and setbacks, but God has seen to it that they will be there for the banquet of victory. You and they will be gathered together; it will be a reunion arranged by God and it will be grand. You will forget about the tears and the times of despair, for you will be feasting and celebrating beyond words. Only poetry can attempt to describe it. You have been washed clean and made whole in the life, the blood of the Lamb. You will hunger no more for justice, and thirst no more for peace. The sun will not scorch your hope by day nor the moon extinguish your dreams by night. The Lamb at the center of the throne will be your protector and shepherd and will guide you to springs of the water of life and God will wipe away every tear from your eyes.”
The Holiday of All Saints is, to be sure, a special opportunity to remember those loved ones who are held in the embrace of God, and to let their examples renew our witness. But that is only part of it. All Saints also helps us to become aware that we are connected to them by a much larger picture of the future. All Saints is about us, too.
