1-november-2015-all-saints-evensong-fr-daniel-dries

A sermon preached by the Rev’d Dr Daniel Dries All Saints (Evensong) Christ Church St Laurence – 1 November 2015 May the words of my mouth and the meditations of our hearts be acceptable in your sight: O Lord, our strength and our Redeemer. Amen.

We read from the Twelfth Chapter of the Letter to the Hebrews: Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…

Former political prisoner and President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela said: “I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

All Saints’ Day is one of the ancient feast days in our liturgical calendar. It was instituted in the year 609 when Pope Boniface IV converted the Pantheon in Rome into a Christian Church. The word Pantheon is from the Greek, meaning “all Gods”. Pope Boniface claimed the existing pagan temple for the one God, and dedicated it to Mary and all the martyrs. To dramatically claim the Pantheon as a sacred Christian site, Pope Boniface is said to have moved twenty-eight cartloads of holy relics of Christian martyrs from the catacombs and placed them under the high altar. Pope Boniface did not do things by halves.

And so, the Feast of All Saints always had at its core the sense of transforming the secular into the sacred. Among other things, All Saints’ Day compels us to reflect on the meaning of sainthood.

“I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

Nelson Mandela’s quote certainly has an element of truth to it, although as a definition of sainthood, perhaps it doesn’t go quite far enough.  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…

It is generally believed that the Letter to the Hebrews was addressed to a group of Jewish converts to Christianity who had lost their sense of urgency and commitment to Christ. Hebrews dates from around the year 63, prior to the destruction of Jerusalem, and the devastation and displacement that followed.

Like all good teachers, the unnamed author of Hebrews is encouraging his audience to look back to their religious heritage, but also to look forward in faith to the promises of Christ. In naming heroes of the Jewish faith, such as David, the author of Hebrews could hardly suggest that such luminaries were perfect people, but the writer of the letter is emphasising their great faithfulness, endurance and perseverance as he seeks to encourage a struggling Christian community.

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The author of Hebrews affirms that we can obtain great encouragement even from these imperfect people, but that we must always look beyond them to Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. 

As most of you would be aware, we are in the midst of a restoration project focussing on our historic stained glass windows. We are very grateful to those have supported this important process.

However, there is some element of danger in beautiful stained glass windows. If we misinterpret them, we could start to believe that the saints depicted in them radiate with a perfection of their own.

As they literally glow before us, we must always look through the saints to Christ who illuminates them.  

I have already issued a warning about inevitable travel stories, so here is Reflection Number 1 from recent travel diary… The ancient city of Assisi is dominated by a massive medieval basilica dedicated to the city’s most celebrated son, St Francis.

I know that many of you have visited Assisi and the magnificent Papal Basilica that welcomes thousands of tourists every day of the year. The upper basilica is an architectural and artistic marvel, richly decorated with frescoes painted by Giotto and other artists of similar importance.

Below the upper basilica sits the lower church or crypt, which is equally beautiful and slightly more prayerful. Lower still is the tomb of St Francis, which is a very moving shrine of prayer and devotion.

In a simple room below the Basilica, far fewer tourists take the time to look at a simple glass case said to contain the habit worn by St Francis himself. This humble garment contains so many patches that it is difficult to see where the original habit begins and ends. In contrast to the magnificent splendour of the Papal Basilica in Assisi, I was rather moved by the tattered habit of St Francis—particular as a metaphor for Sainthood. Reflecting on the lives of great saints like St Francis, we see that a saint is more than a sinner who keeps on trying. Rather, a saint is someone who perseveres until their life is completely transformed by Christ. A saint is like a stained glass window through which Christ himself is permitted to shine.

As a seventh century Pope transformed a pagan temple into a Christian Church, he was making a bold statement about the transforming power of Christ. His bold gesture would not sit very well in our politically correct age.  However, as Pope Boniface instituted All Saints’ Day, he was affirming that Sainthood goes beyond putting in a good effort. Rather, it is about handing over our battered and bruised lives in the hope that Christ will transform them and make them complete.  Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith…

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At Mass on any saint’s day, this passage from Hebrews forms the basis of the Introduction to Confession. As we prepare ourselves again and again to receive Christ into our lives, we firstly acknowledge our flaws and imperfections. And we derive tremendous encouragement from the saints; not as perfect stained glass windows, but rather as other flawed human beings who allowed themselves to be completely reshaped by Christ. Rather like a moth-eaten friar’s habit, saints are ordinary sinners who allow themselves to be patched up again and again, to the point where it is difficult to distinguish where they end and Christ begins.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

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