A Legacy of Saints

Today is All Saints Sunday. All Saints Day is November 1, a holy day in the life of the church. Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, started because people knew that All Saints Day was holy, so they believed ghosts and ghouls would have to stay hidden, and people would be safe to go out the night before. The unspoken truth was that Christians knew they would have to be on their best behavior for All Saints Day, so they went out the night before to party and get it out of their system. This mixture of partying and ghosts and ghouls is how we get our modern day celebration. 

All Saints is the day we remember those who have gone on from the church on earth to the church triumphant. This is part of our legacy. The church is always just one generation away from extinction. It is handed from one generation to the next by how we share hope and good news through our words and especially through our actions. If a generation decides they will not carry that baton, then the church suffers. All Saints Day is when we recognize how generations before us have carried the baton of Christ and his church faithfully, and have passed that baton on to the next generation. In a few moments we will remember those from our church who have passed away in the last year. It is especially appropriate, though, for us to remember who specifically carried that baton to us: parents and grandparents, Sunday school teachers and youth leaders, pastors and church staff, family and friends. This day brings to mind so many who formed me, who were patient with me, who helped me to be who I am. So we recognize those who brought the gospel/who were the church to us. But in recognizing their legacy, we also have to recognize that they pass that legacy on to us. We are called to take the baton and run the race until we reach our finish line. 

I said the church is one generation away from extinction and that is true. HOWEVER, let’s flip that. Because of the church and the power we have at our disposal through the Holy Spirit, WE—the church—can also be one generation away from eradicating hunger. We can be one generation away from ending homelessness. We can be one generation away from ending this divisiveness and hatred we see so much of in our world today. WHAT AN AMAZING LEGACY THAT WOULD BE. 

In our text for today, we pick up at the end of what is known as the heroes of faith chapter: Hebrews 11. In this chapter, it talks about the legacy left to us because of the faith of people like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, and so many others. These Saints moved the work of God forward to God’s perfect timing when God came to earth in human form in the person of Jesus. The names listed in Hebrews are a roll call of the saints, but it is not exhaustive. The roll also includes the Saints we will name today and all of the saints whose legacy brought the church to us to steward. 

Then as we head into chapter 12 of Hebrews, it carries one of my favorite images that has sustained me so many times in my life when I was tired or beaten down or felt defeated. This image has encouraged me so many times to get back up and keep going. It says SINCE WE ARE SURROUNDED BY SO GREAT A CLOUD OF WITNESSES, LET US THROW OFF EVERYTHING THAT HINDERS AND THE SIN THAT SO EASILY ENTANGLES, AND LET US RUN THE RACE WITH PERSEVERANCE. 

I love this image that these saints, these heroes of faith, not only ran their race and handed off their baton to us, but now they are this great cloud of witnesses cheering us on as we are the ones running the race. I’ll tell you there are times when I want to give up. There have been times when I wanted to quit, to tap out, to go do something else. Sometimes that is called MONDAY. But I imagine that great cloud of witnesses. I can see those who have poured into me and taught me and taken the time to help me. Truthfully, I feel the responsibility and burden of continuing on the legacy they have passed on to me, but more than that I feel the encouragement and support that was shared with me and brought me to this point continuing to encourage me to get back up and keep going.

I love the final piece of our text for today: LET US FIX OUR EYES ON JESUS, THE AUTHOR AND PERFECTER OF OUR FAITH WHO ENDURED THE CROSS AND THE SCORN OF THE OPPOSITION AND THE SIN OF THE WORLD SO THAT WE WILL NOT GROW WEARY AND LOSE HEART. 

Church, the greatest legacy we have to offer is from those who have finished the race whose legacy we stand on, a legacy we now steward as we run the race—as Jesus said, to deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow him. 

THANKS BE TO GOD
AMEN