The Saints & Martyrs of England

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Saints & Martyrs of England. The date when Christianity first came to England is not known, but there were British bishops at the Council of Arles (aal) in Southern France in the year 314 ad, indicating a Church with order and worship. Since those days, Christians from England have shared the message of the good news at home and around the world. As the world-wide fellowship of the Anglican Communion developed, incorporating peoples of many nations and cultures, individual Christian women and men have shone as beacons, heroically bearing witness to their Lord, some through a simple life of holiness, others by giving their lives for the sake of Christ.

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come.

One fond memory I have of my wedding with Carrie is at the reception, sitting at the top table and looking at all the people there eating before the speeches. There where about a dozen large round tables and each table held a moment from our lives. At one table sat my school friends, on another, the midwives from Carrie’s work, on another table my church friends, and the same for Carrie’s church friends. There were tables for our families, people we’d lived with, gone to university with, and grown up with. All these tables each represented an era in our lives, both in the groups of people who were physically present from each of those eras and the people who couldn’t be there but were represented by those present. It was odd seeing those moment from our lives which, for the most part, were quite bounded and distinct moments, it was odd seeing them all brought together into one room. As if our lives at school, university, family gatherings, church, work, home, as if all of these lives somehow had really happened together, at the same time. As if all these different groups of people really had known each other. But what really struck me there was how all these different groups of people represented the lives which Carrie and I were bringing together that day. All the people, times, events, memories, all the things which made us the people we were and all that we could offer each other.

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come.

John’s vision in the book of revelation is an uncovering of reality as it really is. John sees Jesus as the bridegroom with the saints as his bride, dressed in a white fine linen which is the righteous deeds of the saints. In this marriage, in the union of Christ and his Church, many lives are brought together. All the lives which make the church what it is, all the saints and martyrs who have gone before, with their righteous deeds sifted and draped over the saints. The saints which are to comprise the new Jerusalem which then comes down to earth at the end of the book of Revelation. All those righteous deeds, those moments, times in the lives of the saints here on earth are what make the church the church, the bride that is brought together in union with Christ. The bride who will come down from heaven in the bridal procession, adorned in the radiance and splendour of those moments in her life, to be herself the home of God in the new creation. The home of redeemed history and redeemed time.

Today we celebrate the lives of all those who have made good contributions to the life of our Church here in England. All those who have helped shape the best parts of who she is, hundreds of years ago and in her life today. How can we celebrate the righteous deeds of the saints and martyrs in her life? Who are the people who have shaped us, whether directly or indirectly? How can we be a saint for the bride of Christ today? How can we contribute to the lives which are making the bride of Christ who she is?

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, amen.