To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints… 1 Corinthians 1:2

Well, like it or not, November has come! Can the holiday season be far behind? Actually the “holiday season” has indeed already started. November 1, All Saints’ Day, is our memorial day. Since the very earliest days it has been a holiday in the church and has been a very holy day to remember those who have passed from us and give thanks.

For years, we in the Protestant churches have neglected “All Saints’ Day,” muttering that we don’t believe in saints anyway. When we think of saints, we think of marble statues in great Roman Catholic cathedrals, reminiscent reminders of persons whom that denomination holds in a special esteem. We don’t venerate saints, so we have never had a place for All Saints’ Day. The fact that All Saints’ Day (or All Hallows Day) is mentioned brought the name Halloween from All Hallow’s E’en.

Well, the abandonment of All Saints’ Day has been our loss! By allowing the word “saint” to be defined so narrowly, we have overlooked the biblical intent of the word. When St. Paul talked about saints, he was not referring to merely the likes of St. Patrick, St. Theresa, or St. Andrew. He was referring to the devoted disciples of Christ we call the church.

I have known more than my share of saints! Thank God for this day to celebrate the effect that they have had upon my life. Like any good disciple, some of those “saints” were teachers I had in college or seminary. Some were teachers in Sunday School, too. I have known saints who were full-time church workers, and saints who were full-time homemakers. I have known saints who have died, and I see saints in the Lord who are very much alive and serving Christ’s church today.

Look around you some Sunday morning. What makes some of the faces you see so extra special? Is it because of something special they said? The eloquence of words? Probably not! What makes most of the saints special is how they live their lives, the degree of commitment they have for the church, the genuine caring they exhibit toward the people around them, the example they present of Christ’s love in action.

In almost any way that counts, we are part of the church not because of anything we have done to gain the measure of faith we have, but because of the hard work and devotion of other saints who have taken the time and given of their treasure to pass the message on to us. It is the saints who have gone before as well as the saints still alive and serving, giving of their hard earned time, talent, and treasure, that have passed the gospel along to us. That is what Paul was speaking about when he used the word “saint.”

Hebrews refers to our life as being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses, and so we are. All Saints’ Sunday is “The Christian Memorial Day.” It is a unique day in the life of the church to pay tribute to those who have meant a lot to us over the years. It is a time to remember in prayer those who represent to us faith at its best. Some of those we remember on All Saints’ Sunday are gone now. We celebrate their contribution and what they did to assure that Faith Church would be around for us to enjoy. Some of the saints still live and worship God here. They sit in pews near you. Let’s remember and pay tribute to them, as we commit ourselves to being one of God’s saints, too. For, above all, the message of All Saints’ Day is that we each are called to be one of the saints of God.

So, who are your saints?