The Society of the Holy Cross, a religious order of Anglo-Catholic clergy, decided to have their annual meeting in downtown Sarasota. On Sunday they decided to split up and each one visit a different church in town. The hotel provided a driver, who happened to be a member here at Redeemer . The first priest got in the car and said “St. Wilfred’s, please.” The next priest got in the car and said, “St. Boniface, please.” The next one said, “St. Mary Magdalene, please.” The next said, “St. Margaret of Scotland, please.” After all were comfortably seated, the vehicle went just a few blocks, stopped, and the driver said, “Here you are, gentlemen.”
“What church is this? Which one of us leaves you here?”
“All a yuz,” said the driver. “This is Church of the Redeemer. He died for all the saints, and for you, too.”
As we celebrate All Saints’ Day, I’d like for us to think about some of the saints in ages past, for we remember the saints in order to emulate them in their love for and devotion to our Lord Jesus Christ. Let’s think about a few of the particular saints, building a wall of saints, if you will, imagining statues of them on the front wall of the church, as many churches have. It’s called a reredos. So we’ll build a reredos in our imaginations.
In the upper left corner of the front wall put a man. He’s holding a book, for he wrote two books of the New Testament, the Gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Put a small bull with wings at his feet, for that’s the symbol most often associated with Luke. Luke was a physician, and his writings show his compassion for those who are suffering.
Right next to St. Luke imagine a beautiful woman who married the King of Scotland in 1069. She was intelligent and a devout Christian. Through her influence the Scottish court achieved a higher level of civilization and the Church in Scotland was reformed, for it had been in great need of reform. She took a prominent role in establishing churches and monasteries and hostels for pilgrims.
Her name is Margaret and her private life was devoted to prayer and reading, lavish giving to the poor, and to ecclesiastical needlework. Her influence over the king was considerable. Initially rough in character, he came through love for her to value what she valued. He saw, as her biographer wrote, that “Christ truly dwelt in her heart… What she rejected, he rejected… What she loved, he for love of her loved too.” She was named the patron saint of Scotland in 1673.
Next to Margaret picture another woman. She’s the daughter of a peasant farmer and she lived during the time of the Hundred Years War. She heard voices, specifically the voices of Michael, the Archangel, Catherine of Alexandria, and Margaret of Antioch. The voices told her to save France. Eventually she convinced the Dauphin of France that her revelations were truly from God through the saints. France was losing the war. She led the army against the English in Orleans, wearing white armor, and the French won the battle. Later the Dauphin was crowned, with Joan of Arc standing at his side with her standard. This completed her mission, but her voices had warned her that she would not live much longer. In fact, she was captured by the English, who attributed her success to witchcraft and spells. She was tried, found guilty, and was burned at the stake.
About 20 years after her death Joan’s family asked for her case to be reopened and reviewed. It became clear that she had been falsely accused and unjustly executed. A few hundred years later she was beatified by the pope and in 1920 she was canonized as a saint. She responded with complete integrity and courage to what she believed to be the revelation of God’s will for her, and she endured persecution and death with heroic fortitude. Not only is she popular as a saint in France, but also in England. Three Saints on the left side of our reredos: Saint Luke, Saint Margaret of Scotland, and Saint Joan of arc.
Now let’s build the right side of the reredos. The first saint on the right will be Martin. Martin lived in the fourth century and was born in what is now Hungary. His father was a pagan officer in the Roman army and he, too, became a soldier. Martin became a Christian and decided that to be a follower of Christ meant he could no longer be in the army. He was put in prison when he tried to leave military service, but eventually was released. He’s famous for cutting his cloak in half to clothe a nearly naked beggar, and that act was followed by a dream in which Christ appeared to him, wearing the cloak he had given away.
Later, Martin was made Bishop of Tours and as Bishop he destroyed heathen temples and sacred trees, and visited tirelessly his diocese on foot, by donkey, or by boat. He had the reputation of being a wonderworker in healing lepers and even raising a dead man to life. That’s Saint Martin of Tours.
Next to Saint Martin is John Donne, who died in 1631. Donne was a priest who was well known for his excellent preaching. His most famous appointment was as Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, where he drew large crowds to hear him preach. Today he’s still remembered and revered for his poetry. This is my favorite poem by John Donne:
“No man is an island, entire of itself,
Every man is a piece of the continent,
A part of the main.
If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less.
As well as if a promontory were.
As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
Or of thine own were:
Any man’s death diminishes me,
Because I am involved in mankind,
And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.”
Next to John Donne, picture Ignatius of Antioch, who died in the year 107. He was a bishop who refused to deny Christ and so he was condemned to death by the Roman government. He wrote several letters in which it’s clear that he was ardently devoted to Christ. He called himself both a disciple and the bearer of God, because he was completely convinced that Christ’s presence was in him. He was thrown to the lions in the Colosseum and died almost immediately.
On the left, a doctor, St. Luke, a queen, St. Margaret, and Joan of Arc, a shepherdess. On the right, a soldier, St. Martin, a priest, John Donne, and one slain by lions in the Colosseum, St. Ignatius. That’s our reredos. You could almost write a song about them. “And one was a doctor and one was the queen and one was a shepherdess on the green…. And one was a soldier, and one was a priest, and one was slain by a fierce wild beast.”
It’s a beautiful reredos we’ve built, don’t you think?
Why do we remember and venerate the Saints? They’re part of our family, the family of the body of Christ. Secondly, we want them to pray for us, for we believe they are in the very presence of God. And finally, we remember and venerate the saints because we want to follow their example in their devotion to Christ and in holiness of life. The Saints remind us that we are called to give nothing less than our all to Christ, that the goal of our life is to be a saint.
And that’s the point of course, of that wonderful children’s hymn that provided the substance of my sermon. “They lived not only in ages past. There are hundreds of thousands still. The world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus will. You can meet them in school, or in lanes, or at sea, in church, or in trains, or in shops, or at tea, for the saints of God are just folk like me, and I mean to be one too.”
Sermon preached by the Rev. Fredrick A. robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota Florida
All Saints’ Day
1st November 2018