The Unknown Saints to Whom This Day Also Belongs
21st Century Congregations – November 1, 2023
Canon Rich Simpson
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.
All Saints Day is one of my very favorite days of the whole church year. And count me among those who love I Sing a Song of the Saints of God almost as much as For All The Saints. You may remember the words to that first verse, without even looking at a hymnal:
I sing a song of the saints of God,
patient and brave and true,
who toiled and fought and lived and died
for the Lord they loved and knew.
And one was a doctor and one was a queen,
and one was a shepherdess on the green;
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean,
God helping to be one too.
The hymn was written by Lesbia Scott (1898 – 1986) an English woman who composed a number of children's hymns which she sang to her own children as a young mother in her twenties. In 1929 she published them in a collection entitled Everyday Hymns for Little Children, which she also illustrated. This hymn was included in the Episcopal Hymnal 1940 but was slated to be removed when the hymnal was being revised in 1982. Why? Some said it lacked theological profundity. Lord, have mercy! I love theological profundity as much as anyone, but sometimes I think we think a little too highly of ourselves. Perhaps we would do well to remember that Jesus said that we should become as children to enter the Reign of God. Thankfully (in my humble opinion!) a letter-writing campaign ensued and it was included in The Hymnal 1982 as Hymn #293.
There is a poem I read each year on All Saints Day as well, written by Amy Gerstler. No one would say that it lacks theological profundity! You can read the entire poem here, which I commend to you. But for this purpose I share the opening words, which go like this:
The holiday arrives
quietly like phrases
of faint praise
in Braille. Famous
saints bow at the waist,
then step back, making
room for scores
of unknown saints,
to whom this day
also belongs. Not
a glamorous bunch,
these uncanonized,
unsung ones, shading
their eyes shyly
in the backs of the minds
of the few who knew them.
So, take your pick! Or, like me, love them both! What I think they have in common goes to the very heart of the meaning of this day: the saints of God are ordinary folks just like us. You can meet them in church, or in lanes, or over a cup of tea (or coffee.) These uncanonized unsung ones, to whom the day also belongs.
We are not a glamorous bunch, to be sure. One of my favorite preachers is Nadia Bolz-Weber, the founding pastor of a church called The House of All Sinners and All Saints. We have parishes in our diocese called All Saints but none called All Sinners. That’s probably just as well. But what happens that we are all a mixed bag, and yet God’s grace is still more amazing than our sin? What happens when we remember that as we gather for worship, or a vestry meeting, or in the choir room: we are all sinners and saints?
Our culture is highly polarized right now. I can’t say if things are “worse than ever” or if there is nothing new under the sun. I know that the Civil War was a pretty divided time and the Civil Rights movement was as well. I am not one who naturally speaks of “glory days” through rose-colored glasses. We’ve always been a mess. We’ve always known sin.
But we are called, through Holy Baptism, to lean into behaving like saints. This has never meant being perfect, but rather it means we are healed, and loved and renewed. And called to treat one another with dignity and respect.
Does your vestry have a covenant of behavior, for how you speak with one another, especially when there is conflict? If we model the behaviors of New England Town Meetings we are all doomed. There is no place in our parishes for bullying behaviors, for fear or intimidation or control. We are called to follow the one who came among us one who serves.
There IS room for disagreement and conflict, but we can do that in love. We can do that knowing that we are among the saints of God. One was a doctor and one was a nurse and one was a retired teacher and one waits on tables. We are not a glamorous bunch, we uncanonized unsung ones. We are all sinners. But we are also all saints. May that realization be with us in the hard work that God has called us to in this time and place.
