November 2, 2025
From this vantage point (pulpit) I have a great view of the icons on the wall beneath the choir loft. At the center of the icons Christ is enthroned. On either side of Christ you’ll find Mary, with the child Jesus; the great prophets Jeremiah and Isaiah; the archangels Michael and Gabriel; St. Stephen, the first Christian martyr; the great apostle St. Paul; and the Gospel writer St. John. These icons are intended to assist us in prayer and worship. They are like windows we look through to experience the sacredness of God.
On the wall to my right you will notice stained glass windows where St. John is depicted in the window at the far end. Next to John is Mark and then two windows over is a depiction of Luke, and finally Matthew. These windows depict the four Gospel writers or Evangelists. There are windows on this side, too, (to my left) and one of them pictures Paul preaching in Athens.
To my left is the Marian chapel with windows depicting three important stories involving Mary – the angel announcing the birth, Mary’s visit to Elizabeth, and Mary, along with Joseph presenting the child at the temple.
With all of these icons, windows and portraits, do you ever get the sense that we are surrounded by saints?
These are actors in the biblical story, God’s story and our sacred story. They surround us and may I add they support and uphold us. To use words from the book of Hebrews, “we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.” We remember their witness and we are connected to them still.
We can name many more in that great cloud of witnesses: Miriam, Moses, David, Esther, Deborah, St. Thomas, St. Mary Magdalene, St. James and more. Beyond the biblical figures, there are those throughout the history of Christianity distinguished by their witness to the Gospel: Francis of Assisi, Julian of Norwich, Luther, Calvin, Wesley, Bonhoeffer, Sojourner Truth, Oscar Romero, Mother Theresa, to name just a very few.
Many of these famous saints were martyrs. Their witness to Jesus cost them their lives just as Jesus’ words and deeds cost his life. Others, though they may not be martyrs, bore scars of suffering like Jesus. This often happens to truth-tellers who witness to the things of God.
It is a great and diverse cloud of witnesses from every age and we remember them for their witness to Jesus. These were not conquering heroes but vessels of God’s love often at odds with a world that is enamored with heroes. These vessels of God’s love help ground our faith, inspire us and teach us.
Yes, we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
To my right behind the chancel wall is the Chapel of the Resurrection. It is the parish Columbarium. There you will discover more saints whose names are engraved on the cover of the niche where they have been put to rest. I suspect several of you know these names and even if you don’t it’s a good place to visit and be reminded that we are surrounded by the saints who preceded us in this congregation. This past year we added a niche cover for Dorothy Ryder who passed several years ago and we added those saints whose names were read at the font who died this past year, Mona Ayer and Louis Landino.
These saints are as much a part of the great cloud of witnesses as the famous people I mentioned. Today we celebrate all the saints, both the famous and forgotten, knowing that whoever they are, they are not forgotten by God. God does not make such distinctions about who is more famous or more holy. We tend to do that sort of thing but God regards us and holds us all the same.
We are surrounded by a great cloud of unseen witnesses. And let’s not forget the witnesses we can see – those sitting next to you today or in front of you or behind you and you yourself. Even as we live and breathe we are part of this mystical body of Christ, the communion of saints.
How is that possible? How can the church on earth and church in heaven be united as one? It is a communion that no only encompasses the entire world, it is a communion that includes saints both past and present, both in time and out of time.
None of this stands to reason. Rather, it is a great mystery that evokes wonder and awe.
Only God can keep something this awesome together and connect us all. It is God who connects the church on earth and in heaven. It is Christ Jesus who is the cornerstone of the mystery we call church.
St. Paul acknowledged the work of God in today’s second reading where he reminds the Ephesians: “you were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.”
You were marked with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit.
At baptism you were washed, you were anointed, you marked and you were sealed by the Holy Spirit. Forever. The cross traced upon your brow is indelible. It will never goes away. God has done this. God marked you at baptism and you belong to him and he will never forsake you.
This work of God boggles our minds but I wonder if there is something more about this mystery we call the communion of saints that is just as mind boggling if not more – that all the saints who make up this vast company of saints past and present, living and dead are conduits of God’s love.
Perhaps that boggles our minds most of all because saints – you and me and too many to count – are real people with real sins and imperfections. Real people who live in the messy world, in real life. I am often awestruck that God chooses to work through us.
Lutheran Pastor Nadia-Volz Weber says it this way: On All Saints Day we celebrate “God’s ability to use flawed people to do divine things.”
Being a saint isn’t about heroic acts or huge accomplishments. We remember them for their lives of mercy and love, the very attributes that got them and get in trouble. We are broken, earthen vessels and the light of Christ shines through the cracks.
This boggles our minds or vexes us because it is common in life to be judged for and pay consequences for our flaws, but God who majors in forgiveness and chooses to meet us in human and earth ways, reveals himself in ordinary and broken people like you and me.
God makes saints and God places us in the body of Christ, setting us apart to bear witness and in this company of saints no one is the same yet we are all the same because at baptism we were marked with the cross and sealed by the Holy Spirit. Forever.
Our lives and the lives of those who have gone before us are lives lived with the seal of God’s love and protection as we live life through peaks and valleys, troubles and sorrows as well as joys and triumphs. We do not turn our backs to life with all its changes and chances. We are right there with our neighbors in the messiness of life but march to a different beat. The witness of saints are not thought wise by the standards of the world and Jesus was more than aware that those who followed him were not set up for popularity.
In fact, he declared the poor blessed and blessed the hungry and those who weep. “You are blessed” says Jesus even when you excluded, reviled, defiled and defamed for being one of his followers. And with these blessings come the good news that God has not abandoned us and that we carry on with the promise that one day the things of God will be fulfilled. The saints we remember today and all the saints we grieve are enjoying what was promised to them.
Those who were poor and hungry are now are filled.
Those who shed tears of mourning and sadness are now laughing.
Those whose faith caused them to excluded, defiled, defamed,
and reviled are now leaping for joy.
Today we come here with heavy hearts because our human loss of the saints we mourn is real. Grieving is important. We must grieve. It is a way we express our love for those who have died. And, at the very same time, we know and trust that they are among the great company of saints in heaven, forever in the arms of God.
Friends in Christ: take heart in what God has done and continues to do and rejoice that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Amen.