Sermon - All Saints 2005
By The Reverend Dr Sam Cappleman
We are God’s Saints
Today we celebrate All Saints Sunday, All Saints day falling on Tuesday 1
November
In our services we each declare, ‘I believe in… …the communion of saints’ as
we use the Apostle’s creed
Last Sunday evening the Bishop said in passing that one of the doctrines he
believed in more and more as he got older was the doctrine of the Communion
of Saints
We say these words so often, without perhaps thinking of what they mean, and
what they imply for our lives day by day
So what is it that we believe in? Who are the saints that are in communion?
It’s normal understanding to use the word saint as a title of honour for
those whose lies had exemplified the life of Christ, especially those who
had died for the faith, not just in the faith. This was the original context
of the word and the celebration of All Saints Day and the understanding that
many people outside the church have today
But as the Bishop went on to explain, the Communion of Saints is also about
our being part of the body of believers, past, present and future, who
confess the Christian faith
All Saints Day is also known as All Hallows Day and in the Lord’s Prayer we
pray ‘hallowed (or Holy) be your name
And therefore one of the key concepts that’s inextricably linked with All
Saints days and our being part of ‘that great crown of witnesses’ as Paul
calls it in Hebrews (Heb 12 v 1), is that of being a holy people, of us
being holy
As God calls the people out of Egypt He says to them, ‘…you shall be Holy as
I am holy’, and Peter in the NT explains, ‘…as He who called you is holy, be
holy yourselves in all your conduct’
As God invites us into a relationship with Him through Jesus, He calls us be
holy as He is holy. He calls us to be a special people, set apart,
sanctified and consecrated by Him for His work
He doesn’t expect us to be perfect - there are lots of saints who are not
perfect
He doesn’t call us to be necessarily consumed by activity – although our
Christian activity and mission is one of the ways we work out our holiness
He doesn’t call us to be just spiritual - no good being too heavenly minded
to be any earthly use
But He does call us to be holy, living in communion with Him as a holy God,
and in communion with the saints around us, those who have gone before and
those who will come after us
Being holy is something that we are, by the very nature of our relationship
with God. It is He who has called us and sanctified us and it is He who
makes us holy
Being holy is also something we are called to be as God’s people as we live
out that calling in our live
Being holy is about being open to His presence around us, open to be touched
and prompted by Him, guided by Him and His Holy Spirit, about our attitude
to God and how He can be in communion with each one of us and about our
praise and worship of Him as King of King and Lord of Lords
It’s about being open to experience more and more of Him in our lives in our
worship and in our service, it’s about something we are and something we
need to grow in throughout our Christian lives, a quest we are on
Our experience of God is what makes being holy different from being
spiritual. We are spiritual beings but as Christians we experience that
spiritual dimension of our lives through a relationship with a God who is
all holy
In addition to being called to be holy, being part of the Communion of
Saints also calls us to be in relationships, not just with God but with all
the other saints, who often seem very different to ourselves
Being holy and growing in holiness is a difficult concept to grasp in some
ways, and would probably be difficult enough if there were only us as
individuals and God to have a relationship with – as Adam and Eve
experienced
And it’s even more difficult when we have to be in a relationship with those
around us, our fellow believers, our fellow church members, never mind those
beyond
Because it’s often our relationships with others that seem to get in the way
of our relationship with God. It’s the way we can feel about others,
especially if we feel they have wronged us or are the cause of injustice to
us that can hinder our relationship with God and hinder us in our quest for
holiness.
There’s a real sense of power and unity in being part of a great crowd, or
cloud, of witnesses. I was at a Charity Ball on Friday evening; mainly we
all believed and supported the cause we were supporting
I was at Bedford’s match yesterday; and all the home supporters were
supporting the same cause and team and we believe that the cloud of
witnesses are supporting us and praying for us, for them and us being in the
Communion o Saints isn’t a spectator sport, its about participation
God calls us not just to be supporters of a common cause, but to be His holy
people and to do that we have to be in relationship with other believers
Letting go of the things that stand between us, letting go of the unjust
criticism and unsupportive remarks
As we remember All Saints Day, we remember that we are called to be part of
that communion of All Hallows, being in relationship the saints through our
relationship with a holy God
As we receive our communion we receive the elements of Christ into our
lives. Through Him we are both made holy and made whole
As we receive Him, we receive the touch of a Holy God, who wants us to be
holy and made whole
At our service of Prayer for Healing as we openly we receive Him and His
holiness, we can also receive His healing and His wholeness
Whether that’s for or relationships that have gone wrong or got off track,
for physical infirmities and sickness
On this day of all days, God invites us to come and receive His holiness and
His wholeness so that we can take our part in the Communion of His Saints