Remembering the Saints
11/04/07
All Saints Sunday
Nov. 4th, 2007
Dear friends in Christ,
We’ve now entered the month of November. For those of us living in this part of the world, November is very much the end month. It’s the end of the warm seasons of spring, summer, and fall. It’s the end of the growing season, the time of harvest. It’s the end of longer hours of daylight. This weekend marked the end of daylights savings time. In the church year, it’s the end month of our cycle of readings, as we begin a new cycle in Advent in December. Now, to be sure, there are also beginnings in November. This weekend is the beginning of the firearms hunting season for deer. With Thanksgiving we begin the holiday season. We will very likely begin the snow season sometime this month. But the month does mark an end, before we enter something new.
Our focus in the church in the month of November is also on end things. Our faith has a lot to say about these end things, in fact one could probably argue that is what religion is most about, helping us cope when things come to an end. This morning we’re going to begin this focus by remembering the saints.
For centuries, the church has set aside one day, November 1st, and the Sunday closest to that day, as a time to remember all the saints that have gone before us. Now for many, and I must admit this has been true for me from time to time, this emphasis has been met with a big yawn. It seems so old fashioned, a nice sentiment perhaps, but that’s about it. If it’s mentioned at all, it’s widely misunderstood. It’s like the old joke about
the five year old girl who was visiting her grandfather one Saturday afternoon. Grandpa said, “Amy, I wish you could stay the night so you could go to church with me tomorrow.” Amy asked, “Why are you going to church tomorrow, Grandpa?”
“Because it’s All Saints’ Sunday!” answered the grandfather.
“But Grandpa,” Amy said, “we’re not saints, we’re Lutherans!”
Well, Lutherans actually are saints, by God’s grace, as well as sinners. And we do still recognize this special day in the church.
All Saints Sunday is often brushed aside as no longer relevant. But the tragic events of this past week have caused me to take another look, re-think this day, and shown me vividly the relevance and meaning of All Saints.
On Thursday, October 25th, 24 year old Katherine Ann Olson responded to a Craig’s list ad for what she thought was a couple seeking a nanny for their child. As you know, that turned out not to be the case, and she was murdered at a home in Savage, shot in the back. A suspect is in custody. Her mother, Nancy, was a high school classmate of mine and she was a friend of Melissa’s going way back to campfire girls. She teaches high school in Oakdale. Her father Rolf, is an ELCA pastor who has served four congregations, most recently at Richfield Lutheran in south Mpls. Our paths have crossed over the years on many occasions. Katherine and our oldest son, Matthew, are just 3 weeks apart in age. Katherine was co-valedictorian of her high school class in Cottage Grove and a graduate of St. Olaf College. She was fluent is Spanish, an actress, a singer, a reader, a bright light to everyone she met.
I attended her funeral on Wednesday, with an estimated 1600 other people, and there were countless others from across the country and the world who could not attend, but were thinking of this family and supporting them in prayer. And what was so abundantly clear to me, in the midst of this tragic and senseless death, was the community of faith that came together to surround this family with love. And that’s what All Saints Sunday is truly all about. It is saying that nobody goes it alone in the Christian community. It’s a celebration of that fact. Martin Luther put it this way, “a Christian is never alone, for he is baked together with Christ and all his saints into one loaf."
On All Saints Day we remember first of all, all the believers that have gone before us and are now in the church triumphant. We think especially of those that made an impact on our lives, whether that was in big or small ways. Were it not for the believers that have gone before us, we wouldn’t be sitting in this church today. Katherine’s funeral was gut wrenching at times, when you think of the taking of this young life with all its potential, and the suffering this has caused for her family and so many others. But it was also comforting to hear the stories and to learn of the kind of impact she made on so many others in her 24 short years. Hers was not a life lived in vain. She made a positive impact on literally thousands of people.
I think of my own father, who died on December 14th, 2005. He was not a flashy man. He never served as president of a congregation, rarely served on a committee of the church, didn’t talk much about his faith, which is kind of the Lutheran way. But he was faithful. He supported the church. He along with my mother saw to it that we had a church home and supported us as we got involved as children and youth. As a result, we met other people and pastors that then had an influence on us and were models and mentors of faith. All of us have been touched and influenced by others along the way, some of whom have died and are now with the Lord. As we take communion this morning, I’d encourage you to light a candle in memory of one such person, a way to remember that, as it says in Hebrews, “we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses,” all those that have died in faith.
In Revelation 7 there is this vision of heaven, “After this I looked up, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the lamb.” Katherine has joined that multitude, as have Bud and Delores and Frank and Devon and John and Diane, members of this church that have died in the past year. All Saints is a day to remember and give thanks for all that have died in faith and for their witness to us still on our journey.
When the news of Katherine’s death became known, the outpouring of love, support, and sympathy was truly remarkable. At the visitation on Tuesday, people were waiting up to two hours to greet the family. 1600 people filled Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina where the service was held and where Katherine had been involved in a young adult theater group. On the internet, over 1500 people became members of a group on Facebook memorializing Katherine, many of whom didn’t even know her or her family but were just so saddened by what had taken place. People young and old, from across the country poured out their hearts and tears and love.
This, too, is a vivid reminder of why we set aside a day we call All Saints. There are Saints that have died, and saints very much alive and continuing the work of the gospel today. The church is the living body of Christ and you could not help but see and feel that as people rallied to pray for and support this family. It’s unfortunate that it takes such a tragedy to see this, and we wish such pain on no one, but it certainly makes clear the strength and scope of the body of Christ at work in the world.
I am well aware that this body of Christ is far from perfect. It is a broken body, divided by theological issues, social issues, and just plain human imperfection. But our Lord is present in this body, leading and guiding by the Holy Spirit, continuing to gather, call, and enlighten believers. We go forward, remembering that God has made us all his saints, despite our differences. As God has guided the church in its many expressions over the centuries, today we remember that we are still that body and that God will use us to carry out God’s work in the world.
On All Saints we remember those that have gone before us in faith. We remember that we who believe are part of the saints on earth today, and we remember that we are called to pass on our faith to those that will follow.
In the Cloister’s Museum in New York, there is a beautifully carved Romanesque lintel, the post over the doorway from some ancient French church. It has a beautifully carved Palm Sunday Procession. This was a sculpture that welcomed people into the church. You can tell it is Palm Sunday because everyone is holding branches.
At the head of the procession is, of course, Jesus, riding a donkey. Behind and around him, you can see the little children waving their palm branches, followed by a few adults. All of them are dressed in the first century near Eastern dress of the day.
Surprisingly, just behind these adults, blending in with the procession, is another group of adults. They are not dressed in first-century Near-Eastern garb. Rather, they are wearing 12th-century European clothing. There is someone who looks like a shopkeeper, also a butcher, a bishop, a priest, and a number of women.
The point of the sculpture is this. Here is what it is like to enter the church. To come into the church is to take your place in a centuries long procession. Others are marching before us, others will march behind. We do not disregard those who have gone before, but receive whatever wisdom they might offer us. And then by God’s grace, we pass that on to our children and friends and others we meet, so that they might also join the procession.
Someone once said, “A saint is someone who leaves the world a better place.” That’s not too bad. Katherine Olson certainly did that. So have countless others. All Saints Day may seem dated and sentimental to modern ears. But it is not that. It’s a day to remember that when we say yes to God, we enter into an amazing community. It’s a community that includes the multitudes in heaven, a great cloud of witnesses that has gone before us. It’s a community that includes the living saints, made up of the people sitting around you in church today, and of countless living saints throughout the world. It’s a community that passes on the faith, to the young ones that follow, so that others may know the joy of God’s love and the promise of eternal life. There’s no way to fully make sense of Katherine’s death. But I do know this. It has reminded many of us of the importance of the communion of saints as a source of strength and support. May we honor Katherine and her family by always remembering this. Amen
Nov. 4th, 2007
Dear friends in Christ,
We’ve now entered the month of November. For those of us living in this part of the world, November is very much the end month. It’s the end of the warm seasons of spring, summer, and fall. It’s the end of the growing season, the time of harvest. It’s the end of longer hours of daylight. This weekend marked the end of daylights savings time. In the church year, it’s the end month of our cycle of readings, as we begin a new cycle in Advent in December. Now, to be sure, there are also beginnings in November. This weekend is the beginning of the firearms hunting season for deer. With Thanksgiving we begin the holiday season. We will very likely begin the snow season sometime this month. But the month does mark an end, before we enter something new.
Our focus in the church in the month of November is also on end things. Our faith has a lot to say about these end things, in fact one could probably argue that is what religion is most about, helping us cope when things come to an end. This morning we’re going to begin this focus by remembering the saints.
For centuries, the church has set aside one day, November 1st, and the Sunday closest to that day, as a time to remember all the saints that have gone before us. Now for many, and I must admit this has been true for me from time to time, this emphasis has been met with a big yawn. It seems so old fashioned, a nice sentiment perhaps, but that’s about it. If it’s mentioned at all, it’s widely misunderstood. It’s like the old joke about
the five year old girl who was visiting her grandfather one Saturday afternoon. Grandpa said, “Amy, I wish you could stay the night so you could go to church with me tomorrow.” Amy asked, “Why are you going to church tomorrow, Grandpa?”
“Because it’s All Saints’ Sunday!” answered the grandfather.
“But Grandpa,” Amy said, “we’re not saints, we’re Lutherans!”
Well, Lutherans actually are saints, by God’s grace, as well as sinners. And we do still recognize this special day in the church.
All Saints Sunday is often brushed aside as no longer relevant. But the tragic events of this past week have caused me to take another look, re-think this day, and shown me vividly the relevance and meaning of All Saints.
On Thursday, October 25th, 24 year old Katherine Ann Olson responded to a Craig’s list ad for what she thought was a couple seeking a nanny for their child. As you know, that turned out not to be the case, and she was murdered at a home in Savage, shot in the back. A suspect is in custody. Her mother, Nancy, was a high school classmate of mine and she was a friend of Melissa’s going way back to campfire girls. She teaches high school in Oakdale. Her father Rolf, is an ELCA pastor who has served four congregations, most recently at Richfield Lutheran in south Mpls. Our paths have crossed over the years on many occasions. Katherine and our oldest son, Matthew, are just 3 weeks apart in age. Katherine was co-valedictorian of her high school class in Cottage Grove and a graduate of St. Olaf College. She was fluent is Spanish, an actress, a singer, a reader, a bright light to everyone she met.
I attended her funeral on Wednesday, with an estimated 1600 other people, and there were countless others from across the country and the world who could not attend, but were thinking of this family and supporting them in prayer. And what was so abundantly clear to me, in the midst of this tragic and senseless death, was the community of faith that came together to surround this family with love. And that’s what All Saints Sunday is truly all about. It is saying that nobody goes it alone in the Christian community. It’s a celebration of that fact. Martin Luther put it this way, “a Christian is never alone, for he is baked together with Christ and all his saints into one loaf."
On All Saints Day we remember first of all, all the believers that have gone before us and are now in the church triumphant. We think especially of those that made an impact on our lives, whether that was in big or small ways. Were it not for the believers that have gone before us, we wouldn’t be sitting in this church today. Katherine’s funeral was gut wrenching at times, when you think of the taking of this young life with all its potential, and the suffering this has caused for her family and so many others. But it was also comforting to hear the stories and to learn of the kind of impact she made on so many others in her 24 short years. Hers was not a life lived in vain. She made a positive impact on literally thousands of people.
I think of my own father, who died on December 14th, 2005. He was not a flashy man. He never served as president of a congregation, rarely served on a committee of the church, didn’t talk much about his faith, which is kind of the Lutheran way. But he was faithful. He supported the church. He along with my mother saw to it that we had a church home and supported us as we got involved as children and youth. As a result, we met other people and pastors that then had an influence on us and were models and mentors of faith. All of us have been touched and influenced by others along the way, some of whom have died and are now with the Lord. As we take communion this morning, I’d encourage you to light a candle in memory of one such person, a way to remember that, as it says in Hebrews, “we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses,” all those that have died in faith.
In Revelation 7 there is this vision of heaven, “After this I looked up, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the lamb.” Katherine has joined that multitude, as have Bud and Delores and Frank and Devon and John and Diane, members of this church that have died in the past year. All Saints is a day to remember and give thanks for all that have died in faith and for their witness to us still on our journey.
When the news of Katherine’s death became known, the outpouring of love, support, and sympathy was truly remarkable. At the visitation on Tuesday, people were waiting up to two hours to greet the family. 1600 people filled Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina where the service was held and where Katherine had been involved in a young adult theater group. On the internet, over 1500 people became members of a group on Facebook memorializing Katherine, many of whom didn’t even know her or her family but were just so saddened by what had taken place. People young and old, from across the country poured out their hearts and tears and love.
This, too, is a vivid reminder of why we set aside a day we call All Saints. There are Saints that have died, and saints very much alive and continuing the work of the gospel today. The church is the living body of Christ and you could not help but see and feel that as people rallied to pray for and support this family. It’s unfortunate that it takes such a tragedy to see this, and we wish such pain on no one, but it certainly makes clear the strength and scope of the body of Christ at work in the world.
I am well aware that this body of Christ is far from perfect. It is a broken body, divided by theological issues, social issues, and just plain human imperfection. But our Lord is present in this body, leading and guiding by the Holy Spirit, continuing to gather, call, and enlighten believers. We go forward, remembering that God has made us all his saints, despite our differences. As God has guided the church in its many expressions over the centuries, today we remember that we are still that body and that God will use us to carry out God’s work in the world.
On All Saints we remember those that have gone before us in faith. We remember that we who believe are part of the saints on earth today, and we remember that we are called to pass on our faith to those that will follow.
In the Cloister’s Museum in New York, there is a beautifully carved Romanesque lintel, the post over the doorway from some ancient French church. It has a beautifully carved Palm Sunday Procession. This was a sculpture that welcomed people into the church. You can tell it is Palm Sunday because everyone is holding branches.
At the head of the procession is, of course, Jesus, riding a donkey. Behind and around him, you can see the little children waving their palm branches, followed by a few adults. All of them are dressed in the first century near Eastern dress of the day.
Surprisingly, just behind these adults, blending in with the procession, is another group of adults. They are not dressed in first-century Near-Eastern garb. Rather, they are wearing 12th-century European clothing. There is someone who looks like a shopkeeper, also a butcher, a bishop, a priest, and a number of women.
The point of the sculpture is this. Here is what it is like to enter the church. To come into the church is to take your place in a centuries long procession. Others are marching before us, others will march behind. We do not disregard those who have gone before, but receive whatever wisdom they might offer us. And then by God’s grace, we pass that on to our children and friends and others we meet, so that they might also join the procession.
Someone once said, “A saint is someone who leaves the world a better place.” That’s not too bad. Katherine Olson certainly did that. So have countless others. All Saints Day may seem dated and sentimental to modern ears. But it is not that. It’s a day to remember that when we say yes to God, we enter into an amazing community. It’s a community that includes the multitudes in heaven, a great cloud of witnesses that has gone before us. It’s a community that includes the living saints, made up of the people sitting around you in church today, and of countless living saints throughout the world. It’s a community that passes on the faith, to the young ones that follow, so that others may know the joy of God’s love and the promise of eternal life. There’s no way to fully make sense of Katherine’s death. But I do know this. It has reminded many of us of the importance of the communion of saints as a source of strength and support. May we honor Katherine and her family by always remembering this. Amen