Hebrews 11:32-40,12:1-2 (NRSV)
And what more should I say? For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.
Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, without us, be made perfect.
Hebrews 12 (NRSV)
Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.The history of this great celebration of All Saints has a history that dates back to the middle ages. The history dates back as far as 270 as Christians wanted to: "celebrate the intercommunion of the living and the dead in the Body of Christ by a commemoration of those who, having professed their faith in the living Christ in days, past, had entered into the nearer presence of their Lord, and especially of those who had crowned their profession with heroic deaths..." (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 662).
Vicki K.Black writes in her book: "Welcome to the Church Year: An Introduction to the Seasons of the Episcopal Church:"
It is a day for remembering our loved ones who have gone before us, it is also a day for celebrating our fellow Christians in the pew beside us. On this day we rejoice in the communion of all the saints, here and now, from before time and forever.
Celebrated on November 1, All Saints' Day follows All Hallow's Eve (Halloween) and precedes all Souls Day, now rather euphemistically called the Commemoration of All Faithful Departed. In the Middle Ages "saints" were defined more narrowly than in the New Testament, which uses the word to describe all those who believe in Christ and are baptized in his name, so All Souls' Day was developed as an extension of All Saints' Day. It was a feast day for the rest of us, so to speak, not just the Christians who are recognized as exemplary witnesses to the gospel. But as the church has recovered more of the early church's vocabulary, theology, and liturgies in recent decades, the feast of All Saints has become a day for celebrating the ongoing communion of all believers, both those living today on earth and in eternity's heaven." (Page 122)
The cloud of witnesses that the writer to the Hebrews speaks of. includes those who carry the light of justice, inclusion and a message of hope for and with all of us today. If you read through the stories of most of the Saints we commemorate on various days, we will see that many of them like us today were far from perfect. They were not necessarily nice people. Many Saints had and have today as many if not more enemies within the Church as we have on the outside.
So it is no surprise that the Saints who are preaching the Gospel of inclusion for people of all races, immigration status' , genders, sexual orientations, gender identities/expressions etc are experiencing resistance from in and outside the Church. When people who are oppressed by society and the Church speak up, those who are so privileged resist those who are not so privileged. Human nature is at work in those who lead the many church communities within Christianity, as it is in our Government or the elections that we will hold tomorrow. The Outline of the Faith (also known as the Catechism) reminds us that: "The communion of saints is the whole family of God, the living and the dead, those whom we love and those whom we hurt, bound together in Christ by sacrament, prayer, and praise." (Book of Common Prayer, page 862). Many leaders within the Church still have not figured out that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people are saints whom the Church loves and hurts.
The LGBTQ communities are communities of saints who are alive and others who have gone before us. We are communities of diverse people with different belief's orientations, gender identities/expressions, sexual behaviors, body types, abilities, races, economic conditions etc. Yet, we are among the world wide communion of Saints that the Church celebrates today. Because in spite of all the persecution, hate, prejudice, violence, heart break and disappointment we have experienced, we choose to keep moving forward believing in who God has created us to be, and loving in the way we were made to love. That is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church calls the virtue of Fortitude. Even if the leaders of the Catholic church cannot apply their own teachings to diverse groups of people. The LGBTQ communities maintain our determination to keep on working for justice and equal rights even if President Obama has deeply disappointed us, or the Archbishop of Canterbury cannot see the danger of his rhetoric towards the Episcopal Church. Many of us continue to believe in a loving and inclusive God, even though many conservative Christians have falsely told us that God hates us or will reject us because of our sexual and gender diversity. It takes a saintly attitude to keep believing and trying, and hoping in the midst of such injustice.
Every one of us is a Saint of God. We have been given invaluable gifts by God and in others who surround us with love, support and community. Even if some groups of Christianists and/or arch-conservative Catholics/Anglicans think we should all die because of their own ignorance. The truth is God loves us the way we are, because God made us that way. Most of us who have spent part of our lives running from who we are, know the pain and near death experiences we have had trying to change what is natural about ourselves. The fact that so many of us have come out, found love or keep on searching no matter how many times we get burned, means that God has blessed us as Saints. Today, each of us needs to celebrate that.
Almighty God, you have knit together your elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of your Son Christ our Lord: Give us grace so to follow your blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living, that we may come to those ineffable joys that you have prepared for those who truly love you; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Collect for All Saints Day, Book of Common Prayer, page 245).
O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
yet all are one in thee, for all are thine.
Alleluia, alleluia! (Hymn 287, Hymnal 1982).
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