All Saints

Did you know that All Saints was one of John Wesley’s favorite holidays? It also happens to be one of my favorite services of the year. All Saints Sunday is the service at which we celebrate the saints of the church who we’ve lost over the past year and who’ve joined the Church Triumphant.

All Saints Day is an opportunity to give thanks for those who have gone before us in the faith. It’s a time to celebrate our history, what United Methodists call the tradition of the church.

From the early days of Christianity, there is a sense that the Church consists of not only all living believers, but also all who have gone before us. For example, in Hebrews 12, the author encourages Christians to remember that a “great cloud of witnesses” surrounds us – encouraging us, cheering us on.

Charles Wesley, John’s brother, picks up on this theme in his hymn that appears in our United Methodist Hymnal as “Come, Let Us Join our Friends Above” (UMH #709). In the first verse, he offers a wonderful image of the Church through the ages:

Let saints on earth unite to sing, with those to glory gone,

for all the servants of our King in earth and heaven, are one.

On All Saints Day we can remember all those who are part of the “communion of saints” who surround us. We share stories of those “to glory gone.”

Retelling these stories grounds us in our history. These memories teach us how God has provided for us through the generosity and sacrifice of those who have come before us. The stories of the saints encourage us to be all God has created us to be.

On All Saints Day, we recognize that we are part of a giant choir singing the same song. It is the song Jesus taught his disciples; a tune that has resonated for more than 2,000 years; a melody sung in glory and on the earth. Our great privilege is to add our voices to this chorus.

On All Saints Day, let us give thanks for both the saints in glory and those on earth, who have led us to Jesus. As they have shared the gospel with us, may we add our voices so someone else may hear about the grace and love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thanks be to God for the lives of God’s saints.

* Partially drawn from an article by Joe Iovino, United Methodist Communications