Dr. John Tamilio III, Pastor

© 2021, Dr. Tamilio

This is one of those two-in-one Sundays: it is Reformation Sunday and, since tomorrow is All Saints Day, it is the day that we remember those who have passed — who are now part of the great cloud of witnesses.

This is the day that we remember the start of the Protestant Reformation when Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses on the door of the Wittenberg Church in Germany.  For those who are interested, you can read all 95 of these statements online.  (I’ll give you the web address later if you are interested.)  If you go to a different website (i.e., the one that belongs to the History channel), you will read the following: “Committed to the idea that salvation could be reached through faith and by divine grace only, Luther vigorously objected to the corrupt practice of selling indulgences.”  That’s why we are here.

The other claim that Luther made that is crucial for our spiritual development is that we are to base our faith on Scripture alone (solo scriptura).  This means that we do not have to rely on any ecclesial authority.  Anyone — scholars, clergy, and laypeople alike — can open their Bible and interpret it according to the dictates of their hearts guided by the Holy Spirit.  Not only is that a blessing, but it aligns with our understanding of God.  If God seeks to be in a relationship with us, and the Bible is God’s Word, shouldn’t it be available for all people?  Luther gave the Church an incredible gift.

He is now part of the great cloud of witnesses.  He joined the saints and martyrs eternally in 1546 — which brings us to the other thing this Sunday is about: All Saints Day.  You probably know that beloved children’s hymn, “I Sing a Song of the Saints of God.”  I was thinking of having us play it today, but I couldn’t find it in a key that I like.  I know, I could have had the great Richard Harvey transpose it, but I went with a few other selections instead.

Anyway, you probably remember that hymn.  The song celebrates the saints of the Church, but it never uses any proper names.  It doesn’t mention Martin Luther or John Calvin, Saints Augustine or Aquinas, or the apostle’s Peter and Paul.  It does mention some important people: “one was a doctor, and one was a queen.”  But it also mentions some common folk, like the shepherdess.  There’s a least one brave person in there: i.e., a soldier.  When we were kids in Sunday school, we wanted to know who got slain by the fierce wild beast.  (Hey, it’s Halloween.  We have to get a bit of horror in there.)  The point being?  Saints run the gamut, and they include people just like you and me.

Now don’t get me wrong: I am not asking you to put a halo over your head (unless that is part of your Halloween costume) and walk around acting like a saint.  That won’t make you a saint.  It will make you an obnoxious jerk.  I am, however, saying that you too can be a saint whether or not anyone ever makes a statue out of you or if our children’s children see your likeness etched into a stained-glass window.  Also, there are numerous people in the world today and throughout history, that lived a saintly life that we never heard about.  Not all saints become immortalized.

But back to what I said a second ago: you being a saint.  I am not talking about the characteristics that are required under Roman Catholic Canon Law to become sainted.  (This is Reformation Sunday, after all!)  I am talking about the job description for a saint.  What is it?  Do any of us qualify?

For All Saints Day last year, Tracy Earl Welliver wrote the following.  It is a bit longer than most quotes or illustrations that I use.

Growing up I thought saints were larger-than-life people with extraordinary stories.  The thought that I could one day be revered as a saint by anyone seemed crazy.  I wrote my essays on different saints every year in Catholic school right around All Saints Day.  These were stories about people I had never met, and I assumed I would never meet anyone like them going forward.

Now that I am older, I realize that I was wrong back then and my immaturity of both mind and heart did not allow me to see that there are saints among us all the time.  I have met many people in my life that I would call living saints.  They are holy people who give of themselves to God and others in profound ways.  Their relationship with Jesus is evident and they live their lives in ways that people witness the transformative power of love.

As a child, I was wrong about saints, but even more importantly, I didn’t fully realize that all of us are called to be saints!  Me, a saint?  Holiness is not something simply studied in books.  It is the way of life we are all called to live.  The call comes from Jesus Christ and each of us must respond.  If we are still thinking like children, we may choose to stay silent and live accordingly.  If we are more mature in our faith then we might not only respond, we might one day have a school child write a report about us.[1]

I don’t know about the school reports, but I agree with what she is saying.

We can become saints by remaining committed to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and by spreading the Gospel through our words and our deeds.  This is more crucial than ever.  A recent study shows that “43% of millennials stated they either don’t know, don’t care, or don’t believe God exists.”[2]  Millennials, by the way, are the generation of people (also known as Generation Y) who were born between the early 1980s and the late 1990s.  Forty-three percent?  Compare this to a recent Pew Research poll, which claims that 90% of Americans believe in God.  Forty-three percent is a tremendous number.  If they don’t believe in God, this suggests that life amounts to little more than the now and the self.  While that might seem liberating for some, it is terrifying to me.

This is the generation that needs saints to guide them.  Don’t get me wrong: this is not a “kids these days” complaint.  I actually think kids these days are smarter than the kids of my days.  They are.  They have more power in their hands than sent Apollo 11 to the moon.  They’re smart.  But intelligence isn’t all there is.  Your IQ is not going to save you.

The people who went before you who taught you the Good News were saints, not just because they were being nice, but because they knew how important the message was.  Nothing has changed.  It is still just as important — and is needed now more than ever.

Let it be said of you that you are a saint because your words and deeds conveying the Good News to someone who never heard it.  Let it be said of you that you never compromised that message.  Let it be said that you passed the torch on to those who followed.  You helped light the way — the way that leads to Jesus.  Amen.

[1] Tracy Earl Welliver, “Everyday Saints,” October 30, 2020, taken from: 4lpi.com.