WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:00.540 Be seated. 2 00:00:03.160 --> 00:00:07.120 In 1962, historian Daniel Boorstin offered 3 00:00:07.200 --> 00:00:09.700 a memorable definition of a celebrity. 4 00:00:09.780 --> 00:00:13.240 "A celebrity is a person who is known for their 5 00:00:13.280 --> 00:00:14.120 well-knownness." 6 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:19.020 And that was written well before social media, Facebook, Instagram, before the 7 00:00:19.140 --> 00:00:22.700 age of influencers. But we know exactly what he 8 00:00:22.760 --> 00:00:26.320 means. We live in a world where someone can become 9 00:00:26.380 --> 00:00:29.400 famous simply because they are famous. 10 00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:34.140 This celebrity's qualities, or rather lack of qualities, 11 00:00:34.220 --> 00:00:37.840 illustrate a peculiar problem. He's neither good nor 12 00:00:37.900 --> 00:00:40.780 bad, great nor petty. He is the human 13 00:00:41.100 --> 00:00:44.360 pseudo-event. He has been fabricated on 14 00:00:44.420 --> 00:00:47.600 purpose to satisfy our exaggerated 15 00:00:47.700 --> 00:00:50.320 expectations of human greatness. 16 00:00:51.800 --> 00:00:55.760 However, the Church, in her great wisdom, insists on a 17 00:00:55.820 --> 00:00:57.780 different measure of greatness. 18 00:00:59.340 --> 00:01:01.080 Those are who we call saints. 19 00:01:01.900 --> 00:01:05.860 Those in whom the grace of God is revealed, those who 20 00:01:05.880 --> 00:01:09.780 have earned that distinction by taking faith seriously and 21 00:01:09.820 --> 00:01:12.420 at great cost, and who heroically 22 00:01:12.560 --> 00:01:16.760 live 23 00:01:16.880 --> 00:01:20.800 out their adoption into the family of God, and who 24 00:01:20.880 --> 00:01:24.220 as examples to us are all worthy of emulation. 25 00:01:25.940 --> 00:01:29.880 They show the world what all who would follow Christ 26 00:01:29.960 --> 00:01:31.900 are called to be. They 27 00:01:33.160 --> 00:01:33.740 show us 28 00:01:35.400 --> 00:01:38.280 what we are called to be in this family of God. 29 00:01:38.660 --> 00:01:42.240 We honor them because they show us something of the good life in 30 00:01:42.300 --> 00:01:42.800 Christ. 31 00:01:43.680 --> 00:01:47.460 And as we welcome Sam into this body of believers, 32 00:01:47.600 --> 00:01:51.420 into Christ's body in baptism this morning, and on this 33 00:01:52.060 --> 00:01:52.960 All Saints' Day, 34 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:57.920 the difference between a celebrity and a saint is 35 00:01:57.980 --> 00:01:58.660 significant. 36 00:02:00.040 --> 00:02:02.920 See, the saints aren't merely heroes that we admire. 37 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:05.280 They are a family we belong to, 38 00:02:06.120 --> 00:02:08.081 and a people we are called to become. 39 00:02:09.301 --> 00:02:12.080 So firstly, they're not merely heroes to admire. 40 00:02:12.960 --> 00:02:16.660 If you'll look around at the stained glass here in the church and in 41 00:02:16.740 --> 00:02:17.760 Ascension Chapel, 42 00:02:18.620 --> 00:02:22.400 you'll notice that we're surrounded by this great cloud of witnesses, 43 00:02:22.660 --> 00:02:24.520 and not just for decoration's sake. 44 00:02:25.680 --> 00:02:29.160 The light by which we see in this church first 45 00:02:29.240 --> 00:02:32.680 passes through the stories of saints from 46 00:02:32.800 --> 00:02:34.060 scripture and history. 47 00:02:35.380 --> 00:02:39.280 The stained glass invites us to think about the connection between the story 48 00:02:39.340 --> 00:02:41.720 of Christ, the life of the Church, 49 00:02:42.540 --> 00:02:44.960 and our own story in that life. 50 00:02:47.500 --> 00:02:51.240 When bright white light shines through a prism, as you know, it's 51 00:02:51.300 --> 00:02:55.120 refracted. It breaks apart into many individual colors. 52 00:02:56.800 --> 00:03:00.560 Think about what happens here when the light comes through our 53 00:03:00.640 --> 00:03:04.460 stained glass. It doesn't just break apart, it shines through the images of 54 00:03:04.520 --> 00:03:07.980 this diversity of saints, fracturing through their 55 00:03:08.060 --> 00:03:11.880 individual lives and stories. They are examples of 56 00:03:11.940 --> 00:03:15.720 following Christ in different times and circumstances, 57 00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:18.120 various places, callings. 58 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:20.600 The following of Christ 59 00:03:21.420 --> 00:03:23.760 is not just one kind of life. 60 00:03:24.760 --> 00:03:25.820 As we heard in the 61 00:03:26.740 --> 00:03:30.600 St. John's revelation this morning, a great multitude that no 62 00:03:30.680 --> 00:03:31.400 one could count, 63 00:03:32.320 --> 00:03:36.300 John saw. From every nation, from all tribes and all peoples and 64 00:03:36.340 --> 00:03:38.780 languages, they have come out of the great ordeal. 65 00:03:39.040 --> 00:03:42.920 They have washed their robes and been made white in the blood of the 66 00:03:42.980 --> 00:03:46.180 Lamb. In other words, they have gone through the baptism. 67 00:03:46.380 --> 00:03:50.080 They have gone through baptism and been washed in the blood of the Lamb. 68 00:03:51.340 --> 00:03:54.680 Through the light of Christ shining through them, we are given 69 00:03:54.760 --> 00:03:58.300 concrete images of the diverse ways 70 00:03:58.380 --> 00:04:01.840 Christ's light illumines the human person and 71 00:04:01.920 --> 00:04:02.980 shines through them. 72 00:04:05.200 --> 00:04:08.840 A monk praying in solitude, a mother raising her children, 73 00:04:09.260 --> 00:04:13.060 a teacher, a bishop, a person caring faithfully for a neighbor whom no 74 00:04:13.140 --> 00:04:16.839 one else notices. Not everyone is called to imitate 75 00:04:17.380 --> 00:04:20.721 directly the life of St. Benedict or Julian of Norwich, 76 00:04:21.820 --> 00:04:24.320 but each bear witness to the same Lord. 77 00:04:25.240 --> 00:04:29.100 The point of their lives, the point of the lives of the saints, is not to draw 78 00:04:29.160 --> 00:04:31.900 our attention to them directly. 79 00:04:32.900 --> 00:04:35.100 It's to turn our eyes toward Christ 80 00:04:36.060 --> 00:04:39.960 and his image in us, and that which he is aiming to form 81 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:40.560 in us. 82 00:04:41.900 --> 00:04:45.660 So the real purpose of this feast, the Feast of All Saints Day, is not only to 83 00:04:45.700 --> 00:04:49.560 remember what God has done in others, it's a declaration of 84 00:04:49.620 --> 00:04:52.780 what God intends to do in each one of us. 85 00:04:54.080 --> 00:04:57.680 We are expected to become like them in their 86 00:04:57.760 --> 00:05:01.660 obedience, in their trust through suffering, in their looking to 87 00:05:01.720 --> 00:05:03.000 Christ, the light of life. 88 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:08.200 Leon Bloy once wrote, "The only great tragedy in life is 89 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:10.240 not to become a saint." 90 00:05:11.360 --> 00:05:15.100 Often we think of sainthood as a lofty and seemingly unattainable goal 91 00:05:15.880 --> 00:05:19.360 that only the most holy and extraordinary men and women can 92 00:05:19.420 --> 00:05:22.800 achieve. However, that's not the measure of a saint at all. 93 00:05:23.360 --> 00:05:27.160 It's those who through the small obedience, the small sufferings, the 94 00:05:27.260 --> 00:05:30.680 small demands to trust in the provision of Christ, 95 00:05:31.420 --> 00:05:35.380 give of themselves and allow his light to shine in and 96 00:05:35.420 --> 00:05:39.160 through them. To be refracted through their unique person 97 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:42.340 and to shine that light throughout all the world. 98 00:05:42.580 --> 00:05:45.460 Just as in our collect says this morning, "Give us grace 99 00:05:46.380 --> 00:05:50.160 to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and 100 00:05:50.220 --> 00:05:54.200 godly living." Or in the epistle, "Beloved, we are 101 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:57.880 God's children now. What we will be has not 102 00:05:57.940 --> 00:05:59.580 yet been revealed." 103 00:06:00.740 --> 00:06:03.180 Notice two things in that line from the epistle. Two things. 104 00:06:03.480 --> 00:06:05.700 One, we are God's children now. 105 00:06:07.208 --> 00:06:09.308 And we are not yet what we shall be. 106 00:06:10.728 --> 00:06:14.628 Irenaeus understood our life with God as one of constant growth and 107 00:06:14.668 --> 00:06:15.288 maturity. 108 00:06:16.528 --> 00:06:20.488 Our life is to be transformed into that likeness 109 00:06:20.528 --> 00:06:24.048 of Christ so that his light is refracted 110 00:06:24.508 --> 00:06:28.188 through us. Friends, that is the good life that the 111 00:06:28.288 --> 00:06:29.548 saints show us. 112 00:06:31.508 --> 00:06:34.708 It means sainthood is not a prize for the unusually religious. 113 00:06:35.048 --> 00:06:37.968 Holiness is a vocation of every Christian. 114 00:06:38.688 --> 00:06:42.588 When Jesus blesses the merciful and the peacemakers, he's not giving us 115 00:06:42.668 --> 00:06:45.988 a list of impressive people to applaud for from afar. 116 00:06:47.088 --> 00:06:50.968 He's showing us the kind of people his grace is making us 117 00:06:51.048 --> 00:06:51.488 into, 118 00:06:52.528 --> 00:06:54.948 and the true standard of a hero, 119 00:06:55.848 --> 00:06:57.948 and the mark of that good life. 120 00:06:59.268 --> 00:07:02.788 Today, we baptize Sam into this great communion of saints, 121 00:07:03.388 --> 00:07:06.988 but we don't imagine that the work of God will then be complete when he leaves the 122 00:07:07.048 --> 00:07:07.388 font. 123 00:07:08.428 --> 00:07:09.648 Just as with you. 124 00:07:10.488 --> 00:07:14.188 The baptismal life, our baptismal life, is just 125 00:07:14.248 --> 00:07:18.028 beginning. A lifetime of being molded into the image of Christ 126 00:07:18.448 --> 00:07:21.268 through love, forgiveness, prayer, 127 00:07:22.068 --> 00:07:23.608 pain, repentance, 128 00:07:24.608 --> 00:07:28.528 and a learning to allow the light of Christ to be refracted 129 00:07:28.588 --> 00:07:29.228 through us. 130 00:07:31.008 --> 00:07:34.928 But God hasn't just given us that calling and then left us on our own to accomplish 131 00:07:34.988 --> 00:07:38.588 it through our own striving and our own significance, 132 00:07:39.708 --> 00:07:43.608 or our own working or scheming. The good news is that through the 133 00:07:43.648 --> 00:07:47.548 baptismal waters, we have been born into this great communion 134 00:07:47.628 --> 00:07:51.388 of saints, a family to which we belong, a great 135 00:07:51.468 --> 00:07:55.108 cloud of witnesses who continues to pray for and strengthen us. 136 00:07:56.188 --> 00:08:00.108 As the collect says, "Lord, 137 00:08:00.328 --> 00:08:03.708 knit together your elect in one communion 138 00:08:04.268 --> 00:08:07.648 and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son, 139 00:08:08.008 --> 00:08:11.948 Christ our Lord." Notice the word that's used there in that collect, knit 140 00:08:12.028 --> 00:08:15.848 together. That doesn't just mean that we're doing this life 141 00:08:15.928 --> 00:08:19.228 alongside or following someone else's 142 00:08:19.288 --> 00:08:20.368 example, or 143 00:08:21.268 --> 00:08:25.068 serving someone that is distant and separated from us in this good 144 00:08:25.128 --> 00:08:25.968 life in Christ. No. 145 00:08:26.988 --> 00:08:29.108 God is knitting us together. 146 00:08:30.088 --> 00:08:32.548 Knitting us together in this great communion, 147 00:08:33.389 --> 00:08:36.928 this one fellowship in the mystical body of Christ our Lord. 148 00:08:38.028 --> 00:08:40.048 And for that reason, we carry one another 149 00:08:40.869 --> 00:08:42.828 as Christ carries us, 150 00:08:43.688 --> 00:08:45.388 his body, the church. 151 00:08:46.488 --> 00:08:48.688 It begins in baptism, but the truth is, 152 00:08:49.508 --> 00:08:53.308 we never entirely outgrow the need for the support and 153 00:08:53.368 --> 00:08:57.288 the fellowship and the knitting together of the community that we've been 154 00:08:57.348 --> 00:08:58.948 born into. We never outgrow this. 155 00:08:59.968 --> 00:09:02.788 There are days, of course you know, when we struggle to pray, 156 00:09:03.748 --> 00:09:07.648 when belief seems difficult, when the sorrow and pains that 157 00:09:07.688 --> 00:09:10.748 we experience in this world leave us without words. 158 00:09:12.008 --> 00:09:15.948 But notice at the baptism today. Notice how the creed is carried 159 00:09:16.028 --> 00:09:17.428 out. Notice that 160 00:09:18.388 --> 00:09:22.168 Sam or any baptizan, that as they emerge from the water, they don't then 161 00:09:22.208 --> 00:09:24.048 proclaim this faith on their own, 162 00:09:25.328 --> 00:09:27.568 saying it out of memory as a solo voice. 163 00:09:27.628 --> 00:09:31.588 No, we all join in together. Every Sunday when we say that creed, 164 00:09:31.908 --> 00:09:34.068 we believe. We're saying that together. 165 00:09:34.108 --> 00:09:36.608 There are days when we can't say it on our own, 166 00:09:37.508 --> 00:09:40.188 and the church gathers around us and prays for us. 167 00:09:40.248 --> 00:09:43.908 That communion that we've been knitted alongside, knitted 168 00:09:44.008 --> 00:09:44.448 into, 169 00:09:45.268 --> 00:09:48.628 that the church carries our faith and our sufferings and our burden. 170 00:09:49.808 --> 00:09:53.548 So here in a moment, we'll say, "Will you who witness these vows do all in your 171 00:09:53.608 --> 00:09:56.868 power to support this person in his life in Christ?" What will we say? 172 00:09:57.028 --> 00:09:57.588 Should we practice? 173 00:09:58.648 --> 00:10:01.248 We will. We will. We proclaim this. 174 00:10:01.728 --> 00:10:04.988 And then the celebrant will turn and say, "Therefore, I beseech you to join with 175 00:10:05.048 --> 00:10:08.628 those who are committing themselves to Christ and renew the 176 00:10:08.808 --> 00:10:12.348 solemn promises and vows of holy baptism." 177 00:10:13.808 --> 00:10:17.648 And in those moments, the church prays with us and for us. 178 00:10:18.308 --> 00:10:21.868 When our own voice falters, we are surrounded by the 179 00:10:21.948 --> 00:10:24.548 prayers of the saints that have gone before us. 180 00:10:25.988 --> 00:10:29.488 See, we're not made holy alone 181 00:10:30.048 --> 00:10:34.008 in our own power. We're being welcomed into the great communion that 182 00:10:34.088 --> 00:10:38.008 John saw, that great communion that though a great chasm of death separates 183 00:10:38.068 --> 00:10:40.228 us, it's really only a narrow stream. 184 00:10:40.828 --> 00:10:44.108 They're here among us and closer than we imagine. 185 00:10:44.988 --> 00:10:48.448 This great family spanning Earth and Heaven, a people being made 186 00:10:48.548 --> 00:10:50.408 holy by the grace of God. 187 00:10:51.868 --> 00:10:54.288 Where is your faith this morning faltering? 188 00:10:55.128 --> 00:10:59.028 Where is your strength struggling? Lean on your family. 189 00:11:00.188 --> 00:11:04.128 So when you look at the saints in these windows, as the light 190 00:11:04.208 --> 00:11:08.188 streams through and you see the various diverse colors, don't see only 191 00:11:08.248 --> 00:11:11.908 heroes of the past. See the family to which you belong, 192 00:11:13.188 --> 00:11:17.048 by which the light of Christ is being shown forth 193 00:11:17.088 --> 00:11:19.848 throughout the world. See the calling placed upon your own life, 194 00:11:21.088 --> 00:11:22.708 and look to the one whose light 195 00:11:24.948 --> 00:11:28.168 is a refraction, the light that comes to those saints. 196 00:11:28.748 --> 00:11:29.968 Look at that refraction 197 00:11:31.028 --> 00:11:34.788 as an image of that eternal light of life that Christ is 198 00:11:34.848 --> 00:11:35.668 forming in us. 199 00:11:36.908 --> 00:11:37.268 Amen. 200 00:11:40.648 --> 00:11:40.728 Amen.