Evensong at Saint Thomas, Fifth Avenue

ALL SAINTS' DAY; NOVEMBER 1: EVENING PRAYER:

My first experience of Saint Thomas came about 11 years ago. When I first walked through the door I stood– like most people I think – and just stared at the amazing raredos. To this day I think its one of the most breathtaking and beautiful pieces of art that I have ever seen.

I want to talk a little bit this evening about how we identify the saints. At Saint Thomas, you can pick up an official pamphlet that identifies everyone on the reredos. In the real world its often not so simple.

In the passage read tonight from his Revelation, Saint John refers to those who enter into the New Jerusalem as those who are written into the book of life. In a passage that is read at Mass on All Saints’ Day, he speaks about 144,000 who are marked with the seal of God. Sometimes Christians view passages like this as a way to identify who is saved and who is not.

One night years ago after answering the door my mother was greeted – as probably has happened to many of us – with the question of whether she had been saved. When the woman pressed her about her salvation, my mother asked a question. “Doesn’t your church believe that only 144,000 people are saved?” “Yes”, the woman said, “It says so in the Book of Revelation.” “And how many members does you church have?”, asked my mother. “10 million”, the woman answered proudly. “Well, why are you trying to recruit more members when there isn’t enough room in heaven for the ones you already have?”. The woman had no response.

Its important to note that Saint John also sees a multitude from all nations standing before the throne of God. A multitude so large that it is beyond reckoning.

The church identifies as saints some people who have shown their love of Jesus by being merciful to others, by being peacemakers, by showing to love of God to family, friends, enemies and strangers. The Roman church and the Episcopal church have processes whereby the names and stories of these famous men and women are written down to be remembered for ages to come. But the church has never claimed to have identified all of the saints. That’s why we celebrate All Saints’ Day. Most of the saints are people that have faded into history. Most are people who take up the cross yet remain part of the unnumbered and unnamed multitude following Jesus on the way.

I think we can try to imitate the famous saints of the past. We can echo Saint Mary’s “yes” to God or boldly proclaim Jesus like Saint Stephen did. But I don’t think we should stop there. Often the best examples are offered by the people that we encounter each day. The people we live with, work with or worship with. The people who spend some time working at soup kitchens. The people who donate money to ensure that the church that was there for them will be there for others in years to come. People who give some part of themselves each day to show the love of God to someone else. Today we celebrate all of those wonderful examples of faith and we pray that the Holy Spirit fills each of us to see and to imitate these examples in our own lives.