All Saints Day

All Saints Day has a long history in the Christian Church. In the early church, Christians would celebrate a martyr’s death for Christ, and this was known as the Saint’s “birth day.” In some cases, there was an all-night vigil, and the communion was celebrated over the tomb of the saint, or at the place of the saint’s martyrdom.  During the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletion (284-305), there was a general persecution of Christians throughout the Roman Empire. Estimates are that more than 3000 were killed and others tortured and/or jailed because of their refusal to deny their faith. It was during this time that the idea was developed to have a single day in the church each year when those who had been martyred for their faith would be remembered. In the western church (Roman Catholic and then Protestant), November 1 ended up being the day when all the saints of the church (Christians who had died) were remembered and commemorated.

I believe this is a good thing to do. Our lives of faith – our beliefs and actions – are not simply our creations alone. Instead, they are dependent on all we have been given by those who came before us. Isaac Newton, whom some people consider the greatest physicist or scientist of all time, once said in a letter to a friend: If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants. As brilliant as Newton was, he knew that all his scientific work was based on the work of those who had come before him.

The same is true for us in the church. Certainly the practice of faith enacting itself as acts of love in the world is a tradition which was part of this church before most of us were members. And the fact that this church does enact its faith as love in turn influences the faith of the members. That’s just one small example. Of course, in our personal lives, there are also many people who helped us learn about and develop our faith.  Sometimes parents or other relatives share stories about the ways their faith has influenced their lives. Our faith may also be affected by a Sunday School teacher, or a friend of our parents, or other people.  But however it developed, it did not develop in isolation. In many ways, our faith is a gift from people who influenced us.

In worship on Sunday morning, we will read the names and remember the lives of members of our church who died in the last year. We will list in the bulletin bequests made to the church, people in whose memory memorial gifts were made to the church, and a list ways memorial money was spent during the year. 

Also, there will be tables set up in the front of the sanctuary with white paper table cloths on them. There will be magic markers on the tables. You are encouraged to come to worship early enough to write the name(s) of people you remember from your past – family members, friends, teachers, others – who had a significant role in forming you in some way. Also, please consider bringing some article or object which reminds you of that person and place it on the table during worship. Both of these actions are ways of symbolizing the importance of particular people in our lives. (Those items will only be on the table for the duration of worship on Sunday.  They are to be picked up and taken home when you leave.)

Few of us will know all the people who have died in our church in the last year. Certainly none of us will know all the people whose names are written on the white table coverings or whose lives are symbolized by objects placed on the table before worship. Their presence is for personal remembrance and honor from the person placing the object or writing the name. But for all of us, it might stimulate our memory and our thanksgiving for those known and unknown people who blessed us with their presence and teaching.

I hope to see you in worship on Sunday morning.

Curt Anderson