Ephesians 1.11-23
Today is All Saints Sunday. The first Sunday of November is set aside each year to remember those who have gone before us in faith, and to be thankful for the people of God in every generation given life in Jesus Christ.
We remember the marquee saints: saints that churches are named after; saints included in church calendars; saints in stained-glass windows. We also remember and honor people from our own lives, names in our Book of Remembrance: parents and grandparents; spouses and children; mentors, friends, and countless others. We might not know each person that will be named in prayer, but we know something about them. Each is created in the image and likeness of God, each represents the work of God in the world—the small ways that they gave us hints and glimpses of the goodness of God and the large ways when we saw how they needed God’s forgiveness in their failings or God’s strength in their weakness, when they believed and when they struggled. As we remember the people who have gone before us, we give thanks that they are with Christ, counted among “the great cloud of witnesses.” This is the “communion of saints” acknowledged each time we recite the Creed.
And today, we give thanks that we are included among this communion and community of saints. In today’s reading from Ephesians, St Paul writes to people like us, people who are very much alive and trying to find their way through the world. He reminds them, and us, of who we are in Christ: heirs of a glorious inheritance, filled with the Spirit, sustained by the same power that raised Jesus from the dead.
So while All Saints Sunday is a day of remembrance, it is also a day of promise. You are included among the saints, even if ‘saint’ is not a word that you might use to describe who you are. After all, you know your failures, struggles, and shortcomings. When you look at your life reflected in the light of Jesus’ teaching, there is no halo circling your head, even if you have great lighting in your bathroom mirror. Yet we are made saints in Christ and because of Christ.
Today, Ephesians points us to the riches of God’s glorious heritage among all the saints. This, Paul says, is not only “the hope to which God has called you,” it is something you already have a share in. “We have also obtained this inheritance.” Past tense. The saints are not a separate class of Christians; they are the whole family of God—past, present, and future—gathered into one body in Christ. In the New Testament sense of the word ‘saint,’ every believer in Christ is a saint chosen by God, redeemed by God, and called to live, as Paul says today, “for the praise of God’s glory.”
That phrase, “for the praise of God’s glory,” sums up the purpose of Christian life. The church those words were first written to, the church in Ephesus, was a small community living in grim times. They were surrounded by idolatry and hostility; they themselves got drawn into anger, malice, dishonesty, and pride, even within the church. Yet Ephesians isn’t a letter about fear or self-protection; Paul doesn’t write to tell them to worry about their problems or act out of their anxiety, as real as both worry and anxiety can be. Instead, he reminds them of who they are in Christ and how to live in Christ. Without overlooking or ignoring the challenges, he turns believers to something greater than the difficulties they face, turns their attention to “the immeasurable greatness of God’s power for us who believe.”
This immeasurable greatness of God’s power is for them as their live in the present moment. How wonderful that Paul’s words are for us, too, for us who live in uncertain and anxious times, times when faith can feel fragile and hope hard to hold on to. Paul lifts our eyes to something greater. He wants us to see the “immeasurable greatness of God’s power” now already at work in us who believe. The saints demonstrate that this power is real. They show us what it means to live for the praise of God’s glory and radiate the light of Christ even in grim and dark times. What is important about them is not their goodness but the goodness of God at work in them. And maybe, through them and their example, we will find encouragement for our lives.
Consider Saint Augustine. Today he is a city in Florida, though pronounced differently. Fifteen hundred years ago, Augustine was a bishop in North Africa. He was a prolific writer and thinker and has greatly influenced the church to our day. He was also a prolific sinner with a mistress and a child born out of wedlock. In his autobiography, appropriately titled ‘Confessions,’ he describes his life before faith. He says, “Like water, I boiled over, heated by my fornications.” (Social media did not invent the problem of oversharing). Much of Augustine’s life was a scandal but God worked through him.
Behind Augustine was his mother, Saint Monica. She also is a city: Santa Monica. But she is much more than that. Augustine said his mother’s prayers and her tears shed over the problems of his life—her faithfulness, love, and persistent faith—led to his conversion. For any parent who has ever cried, agonized, and prayed over the challenges and missteps of their children, Monica is your friend; she knew what you know. She also knew the strength of God for her and because of that grace and strength, she was able to live for the praise of God’s glory.
In the saints we see the faithfulness of God giving people fresh starts and sustaining them with courage; the unchanging love of God making it possible to endure in an ever-changing world.
Polycarp of Smyrna was a bishop in the second century; his church is mentioned in the book of Revelation. Polycarp lived during a time of persecution. When he was an old man, he was arrested because of his faith, brought before the Roman governor, and told to curse the name of Jesus in order to save his life. Polycarp’s response? “Eighty-six years I have served him, and he has done me no wrong. How can I blaspheme my King and Savior?” Polycarp was sentenced and burned at the stake, yet he praised God to the end. His courage was not prideful defiance, but a life lived for the praise of God’s glory.
As for English saints, Julian of Norwich lived in the 14th century in a time of immense suffering. The Black Death decimated populations, creating fear and grief. The Hundred Years’ War brought instability and destruction. Famine and poverty were widespread. Social unrest grew amid economic inequality. The church was divided by schism and corruption, leaving many people disillusioned. In these grim realities, Julian received visions of Divine Love. And her words out of those visions continue to offer hope and consolation. “All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of thing shall be well.” This is not mere optimism that things are going to be ok. Julian’s faith did not deny the darkness of her age. Rather, the light of Christ gave her hope and radiated through her life. She did the work of a saint and lived for the praise of God’s glory.
The marquee saints and the names in our Book of Remembrance are people who, in their own time and place, in ways small and great, radiate the beauty of God’s grace both in their life and now in their death. We remember those who have gone before us in faith not because they were perfect people but because they trusted the perfect grace of God in Jesus Christ. They remind us of our calling to live for the praise of God’s glory. Today is a day of remembrance and a day of promise because, with all the saints, we are bound together in a common life, “knit together…in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of…Christ our Lord.” The scripture reading from Ephesians draws our attention past the clamor of the world to focus on Christ enthroned above all rule and authority. The window above the altar does the same, draws our attention to Christ with saints and angels singing his praise. And notice how the community seen there reaches down and out to include you; the people on the edges dressed in contemporary clothes represent your place in joining the praise. With the eyes of your heart enlightened, you can know the hope to which God has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints. God’s saint: that is who you are. The community and communion of saints is where you belong—struggling believers, believing strugglers—chosen by God, redeemed by God, and called to live for the praise of God’s glory. +
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