Monday, October 23, 2017

Saints Across Time:
A Homily On All Saints Day (Hebrews 11:1-12:3)
By Griff Martin
For the Beloveds of First Austin: a baptist community of faith
October 22 2017

By faith Abel, by faith Enoch, by faith Noah, by faith Abraham, by faith Sarah…. “Each of these people of faith died not yet having in hand what was promised, but still believing. How did they do it? They saw it way off in the distance, waved their greeting, and accepted the fact that they were transients in this world… You can see why God is so proud of them and has a city waiting for them…. By faith Isaac, by faith Jacob, by faith Joseph, by faith Moses, by faith Israel, by faith Rahab… I could go on and on but I’ve run out of time. There are so many more- Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepphtha, David, Samuel, the prophets…. Not one of these people, even though their lives of faith were exemplary, got their hands on what was promised, God had a better plan for us: that their faith and our faith would come together to make one completed whole, their lives of faith not complete apart from ours…”

(This is the word of the Lord…. Thanks be to God.)

One of my favorite worship spaces is Saint Gregory’s church in San Francisco, this church is known among other things for it’s artwork of the Dancing Saints. This congregation worships in a space that has been filled with artwork of their Saints. Their ceiling is painted with Saints of the Faith. It includes everyone from King David to Isaiah to more recent leaders like Sojourner Truth and Patrick of Ireland and Thomas Merton.

These saints literally surround the congregation during their worship services. These saints are the men and women who have deeply influenced their faiths and they dance above them in their sacred space.

This is what we are creating today, painting our saints using our words and flowers and nets, which seems appropriate since they brought us life and they held us up.

So who are they?

Close your eyes and imagine with me…. the small but committed group of 7 folks writing the covenant that became our charter in July of 1847, pastors like William White and Carlye Marney and Browning Ware, staff members Bob Downer and Don Searles, our first female deacons Jerry Moore and Vi Marie Taylor, leaders like Volma Overton Sr. and Judge Steakley, Jack and Helen Goodman, Jack and Collen Hightower….

So who are they?

Imagine this with me… that saint who taught you that God truly loved you, that saint who made you believe in yourself, that saint who held your hands during a time you thought you would not make it, that saint who just kept showing up out of the blue and won their way into your heart, that saint who stepped into your life for a short time but saved your life, that saint who helped you see the world anew, that saint that made you believe your were lovable, that saint who called you further on your spiritual journey….

It does not take long in an exercise like that to find the truth of William Faulkner’s words: “The past is never dead, it’s not even past.” Which is just another way of saying what one of our sister denomination prays each time they take communion, in what is known as the Great Prayer: “Therefore, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we laud and magnify thy glorious name.”

The past is never dead, it’s not even past, we are in the company of heaven.

All Saint’s Day is a celebration where we are reminded that the veil between past and present, living and dead, is so much thinner than we are truly aware. We pause and we pay attention and we find in our hearts….

An image of Pat Luckett crawling up on a table in the fellowship hall to lead the deacon body in one of his favorite hymns…

We think of Baby Jayce and how his smile warmed our hearts, how his charm captivated us…..

We see Natalie Daily taking our children into her beautiful tattooed and outstretched arms, embracing our kids as we imagine Christ would have embraced them…. And in my mind I see Natalie Daily rushing to hold Baby Jayce in her arms and saying to whoever is in charge, “This is a First Austin kid- I’ve got this one”

We hear the wisdom of our pilgrim, Browning Ware and how his words and his being kept us on the Way….

We think of Don Moore going to a Juvenile Center on Sunday afternoons to hand out Gideon Bibles…

We think of Mryt Balch standing at the back door handing out worship guides and the relationships she formed with us doing so….

We see Charles Eady’s strength in the midst of adversity, how he refused to let a diagnosis define him but lived to the fullest….

We see Bill Milligan pushing us to remember our manners and to do our very best, to remind us to be the best we can…..

We see Bob Downer somehow fading into the background of an incredible Sunday morning worship experience that he created because he knew it was not about him….

I think of my Granddaddy and his fudge he made and took to everyone he knew each Christmas, I think of the years he gave himself to taking care of my grandmother, I think of how he always told me that was a great sermon even though I knew well he did not hear a word of it because his hearing aids were turned off.

I think of my GranGran, my Saint this year, and I think of how she believed in me more than maybe anybody else ever has, of how she would remind me that I was perfect and how on her deathbed she called me her favorite (which was good because when I first got there she called me the devil). I think of how she taught me to care for everyone and how to make folks feel special.

Our Saints are dancing all around us. Pay attention, they are leading the way for us.

An old Hasidic tale tells of a disciple who asked his rabbi the meaning of community one night while they were sitting around a campfire. The rabbi sat in silence, pondering the question as they fire died down to a simple pile of burning coals- still orange hot, still glowing. Then the Rabbi got up and simply took one of the coals and set it on a stone away from the other coals, away from the fire. Before long the coal had lost it’s glow and it’s warmth had died away. The rabbi simply pointed and said, “That.”

Those are our saints, the coals who keep us afire, who warm our hearts, who light our lives, who keep us going.

All Saint’s Day is the reminder that we are all being formed into one, nothing will be lost. It is the reminder that every one of us have a role in this story and none of us will be forgotten. It is the hope of resurrection. It is the promise of More.  It’s a celebration of the cloud of witnesses that live among us. It is the call to live a life that matters. It is an invitation to the story. It is a reminder of God’s purpose and plan.

Once the author of Hebrews finishes the By Faith Hall of Fame, the subject turns to us and the letter continues: “Do you see that this means- all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running and never quit.”

All Saint’s Day is the picture of all who have gone before us, who have mattered in big ways and small ways, fully in communion with God and with one another. All Saint’s Day is a celebration of those who have taught us to live and the grace of all Saint’s Day is this, those that you are celebrating have left you a job description, a vocation, a calling….

It’s simple: go and do likewise.


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