All Saints' Day 2020

As we said at the top of the service, today the church celebrates the Feast of All Saints, for this is All Saints’ Day. If you are like me, and you were not raised in a church tradition that followed the church calendar, you may not know what that means, and that’s perfectly okay. We will talk about it some this morning. All Saints’ Day is the day the church sets aside to remember those who have gone before us to be with Jesus. It is the day that we remember the Christian dead.

And it may seem a little out of place, but it is often the case that the church celebrates baptisms on this day as well. But as we talk a little more about it, you’ll see that this is a perfect day to welcome our newest members of the church family through baptism. Because the family of God that welcomes Penelope this morning is both here on earth, but also countless members of her family are living now with Jesus, where he is.

Now, when it comes to bringing our children up for baptism, you’ll find that our understanding of baptism as Anglicans is a minority view in our local community. Our area is heavily influenced by the theology of the Baptist church, and they have a different perspective then we do on what the nature and purpose of baptism; which is fine! Some pastors will get defensive about their baptism theology, and make a big deal about convincing everyone that their practice of baptism is right, but I am not one of those pastors, and Redeemer is not one of those churches.

And to be honest: I find that a lot of folks in our area actually do understand why we bring up our babies for baptism more than they may first realize. A couple years ago, Coach Kirby Smart, Head Coach for the Georgia Football Team, was asked in a post-game press-conference if he had ever, at any point in his life, been a Florida fan. And he didn’t think about it at all, it was a quick, decisive and dismissive answer: “No. Never a gator fan.” He’s been a Georgia fan is whole life. He was born in Georgia. Grew up in Georgia, and his parents said when he was born, “You are a Georgia fan.” And I can relate to that first hand. My son, 8 months old on Tuesday. He’s a Georgia fan because he’s been born into a Bulldog family. This is our team. This is how we do things. This is what we cheer for as a family, which Peter is a member of.

And this morning we’re coming alongside Michael, Ashley, Melody as their covenant-family, as their siblings in the family of God, to welcome Penelope to the team. And many of you have probably heard my hope for our kids that we welcome for baptism here at Redeemer, many of you have heard my prayer that I say over them as their family comes up to receive the Lord’s Supper - “May you never know a day, when Jesus is not your Lord.” Our hope is that as we raise up our children in the faith, as team members right from the start of their lives, and to be sure, at some point Penelope will have to take ownership of her faith, and you’ll hear promises that will be made over her, commitments that her family and we as her church will make to see to it that she is raised in the teachings of the church, but our hope is that when they get to be Kirby Smart’s age, and they are asked, “Have you ever in your life not known that Jesus loves you?” My hope is that they’d be just as quick to say, “No. I’ve always known his love for me.” My prayer is that if Penelope were asked 50 years from now “Have you ever in your life not been a part of God’s people?” She’d confidently say, “No, I’ve always been a child of God. Even before I could walk or talk, God brought me into his family.”

Baptisms are all about family, and that is why they are so common on All Saint’s Day, because today we celebrate the strength of the Christian family. Today we remember that what unites us as Christians is stronger than death itself - because we are united by the Lord of Life, the Resurrected King, Jesus the Christ. Today we remember that “great cloud of witnesses” that the writer to the Hebrews describes, or as we read in Revelation this morning, the “great multitude that no one could number.” These are our brothers and sisters, our mothers and our fathers, our heroes who have died and are now with the Lord. Many of us have loved ones who are part of that multitude, praising Jesus with us this morning. Though we do not now see them, we remember that they are alive and well with the Lord, and in some mysterious and beautiful way, we are still united with them in Christ’s everlasting family.

This is what we mean when we confess our belief in the communion of the saints, which we will do later on in our service. We would even say that the saints in glory are worshipping alongside us this morning. We are joining their everlasting song of praise today. During the liturgy of the Table, I acknowledge this with great joy: “We praise you, joining our voices with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven who forever sign this hymn to proclaim the glory of your name.” We’re worshipping with the whole company of Christ, those gathered across the earth and those gathered before the throne of God in heaven.

Alastair McGrath, an Anglican theologian writes this about the communion of the saints:

“The church is not a static building, but a dynamic pilgrim people who are constantly moving in faith and obedience. It includes those who have gone ahead of us and those who will follow. It is a great fellowship of faith spanning the ages and continents.”

This is the church. The creation-spanning supernatural family of God. Those who are alive on earth , and those who live today with Jesus. And this is the family that welcomes Penelope today.

Now, when you think about a saint, you might be a bit misled; because who comes to mind? St. Paul? Mother Teresa? Billy Graham? Maybe your mind goes to one of the martyrs of the faith? Our minds tend to go to the most holiest of people we can think of in Christian history. But in the New Testament, the name saint is applied to every Christian. Everyone who is in Christ is a saint. When Paul writes the church in Corinth, a church that is a mess, filled with messy people who have all kinds of issues going on, and he address his letter to who? To the saints in Corinth. But you read the letter and you’re left wondering, how could he call these people saints?

And the reason is because their being a saint is not primarily about their own righteousness or holiness or any good deeds they’ve done. Their status as saints has been given to them, gifted to them by Jesus. They are a saint because they are clothed with his righteousness, his holiness, and his good deeds. It is a gift from God to be called a saint, and all of us who are in Jesus are so blessed.

And this is the beautiful reminder that we have this morning as we welcome Penelope into this heaven-and-earth spanning family of God. We come into God’s family having earned nothing, bringing nothing to the table. We haven’t figured it all out. We haven’t mastered following Jesus. But like Penelope this morning, we receive the grace of God as a pure gift. And we are invited into his family, into the church, as saints. In Christ we have died to sin, and in Christ we live in glory. In Christ we are united to those who have gone before us, and in Christ we are united to those who will follow us.

Today we all have the opportunity to celebrate the family of God, and remember the grace of our God. In baptism, we see his grace at work. A grace that is the gift of Christ and the foundation of the church both on earth and in heaven. Amen.