|
All Saint's Sunday - The Twenty Fifth Sunday after Pentecost
All Saints’ Day celebrates those blessed saints who have gone before us, those who stand beside us today, and those who are still to come. We remember and celebrate them because they remind us of how closely we can come to following in the footsteps of Jesus.
We can name a lot of blessed saints from the past: St. Peter, St. James, St Paul, St. John, St. Patrick of Ireland, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Julian of Norwich, St Absalom Jones, St. Maximilian, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Teresa, and these are just a few.
Who are some of the saints that you would name today? I know that I would name Archbishop Desmond Tutu for his amazing understanding of what it means to experience God’s healing and forgiving grace. He has taught us what it means to forgive, reconcile, and restore a broken people. Desmond Tutu has often been called the Prophet of Forgiveness which is a title given to him in the book, "Glorious Companions, Five centuries of Anglican Spirituality" by Richard Schmidt.
Desmond Tutu won the Nobel Peace Price in 1984 for his steadfast and effective work toward the liberty of people suffering from apartheid. Then in 1990 a miracle occurred when the South African president, F.W. de Klerk announced the end of apartheid. There was much work to be done for the victim’s of apartheid and he continued with this work tirelessly and profoundly. God’s work in the world continues to be manifested through prophets like, Desmond Tutu.
Just consider for a moment as another set of examples, the people who came to the rescue of the victims of 911, or more recently hurricane Katrina. So many people put their lives on the line, or lost their lives, or worked tirelessly and unselfishly day and night in order to rescue their fellow neighbors who were in harms way. We can name so many others who are saints in our eyes and our lives, and God knows them beyond our comprehension.
Let us not forget that the world is full of saints, and if we try, if we are intentional every day of our lives, we all can be one too. At the close of our service we sing Hymn 293: "I Sing a Song of the Saints of God. As you sing along ponder the words carefully, and may we all come to share in God’s heavenly kingdom. In Jesus name, Amen.
Pastor Sandra 