We may think of the people commemorated in the windows and statues of this building. St John Chrysostom, a 5th Century Greek Bishop famed for his preaching. St Bede, a historian of the English Church of the 7th Century. St Francis a reformer of the Church in the 12th Century. Or even Mary, the Mother of Jesus. If we come from Christian backgrounds which emphasise the saints, we may think of particular stories of saints which inspired us when we were younger. I grew up as a Catholic and in my early teens was confirmed. This sacrament is seen as an adult profession of faith - following on from baptism where other people made promises on my behalf. At confirmation Catholics take a saint's name; I chose Peter as he, like me, always seemed to be putting his foot in it.
Now all this is fine, but it doesn't really answer the question of what is a saint. If you were raised Catholic you would know that a saint is someone who lived a wonderfully holy life and has been recognised by the Church has having "heroic sanctity". They are in Heaven with God - a fact the Catholics try to prove by attributing miracles to the intercession of the saints. Mother Teresa, the nun who worked with the poorest of the poor in Calcutta is, now she has died, on the process to sainthood. The Catholic Church is looking at her life and writings and is assuring itself that she lived a holy life (and making sure there are no skeletons in the closet). She was found to be a morally good person and has been declared "Blessed". Now the Church is waiting for someone to ask Mother Teresa to pray to God for a cure or miracle. If God answers this prayer, so the logic goes, it proves she is in God's presence and must be a saint. She will then be recognised as a saint by the Church. In the 1970s the reformation martyrs John Fisher and Thomas More - whom Henry VIII executed for opposing his desire for a divorce - were declared saints without having performed miracles. The Archbishop of Canterbury at the time noted they had been let off the practical side of the examination!
So for the Roman Catholics a saint is someone who having accepted Jesus, lived a life of great holiness and is now in God's presence - a fact that is proved by their prayers leading to a miracle here on earth. Now all this maybe wonderful but it does rather get away from an important New Testament idea - an idea that we often forget. In the New Testament time and time again the writers refer to all God's people as saints. Paul writes to "the saints" in Rome. He asks for the prayers of "the saints" and he doesn't mean those who have died and gone to be with God. He means everyday ordinary Christians like you and me. You see - we are saints!
In the great Creeds of the Church we say that we believe "in the communion of the saints". We mean different things by this but, at the very least, it means that we are in relationship with one another because of our shared relationship with Jesus.
Now we are not a church full of Mother Teresas, Peters, Pauls or even John Chrysostoms. Are we? But there again, what stories will they tell about us in years to come? I suspect that if we knew John Chrysostom we may have found him grumpy, opinionated and quick to fly off the handle. Peter was always getting it wrong - one minute seeking to fight to save Jesus from being arrested and the next running away and denying knowing him. Mother Teresa did wonderful work but wasn't one of life's liberals and has been criticised for many of her approaches to her work. The great saints of the church are a mixed bag of people; they had human weaknesses prejudices and failings just as we do. They are held up as examples to us for just this reason - they managed to work through their human frailty to point to God; we are called to do the same.
I wonder in years to come whether we will think of Saint Moses who, like his Biblical namesake, escaped oppression and campaigned for freedom. Or Saint Smiley who believes more firmly in God than ever in spite of life threatening debilitating illnesses. Or Saint Neil whose faith is seen in every aspect of his life, at home, church and school. Or Saint Jill whose gentle presence in her school provides a welcome to children who have, with their mothers, escaped domestic violence? Or Saint Jenny-Anne whose own experience of being different led her to help hundreds of others who shared her difference? Or Saints Margaret and Gwen (we have to have a few paired saints) who have served in England and Africa helping women as they give birth?
We are a church of amazing people doing amazing things reaching beyond our own human frailty and weakness to respond to the call that God has given each of us to make a difference. Of course we don't think of ourselves as saints - we are too conscious of our own sinfulness. But there again I doubt that Peter, Paul, Chrysostom, Mother Teresa or any of the others had an idea of their own saintliness either.
They, like us, tried to live the beatitudes - the list of key qualities in a disciple of Jesus that Ben read to us from the Sermon on the mount. As saints we are called to live lives which become ever more holy - and holiness is not about looking like we should be in stained glass window! It's about living those beatitudes:
" Do we know we
are poor in spirit or are we proud and think we have nothing left to learn?
"
When we mourn do we give into despair, or allow ourselves to be comforted by
God's gentle presence?
" Are we meek or proud and haughty?
" Do we yearn
for justice or accept the status quo?
" Do we show mercy to others when they
offend us?
" Are we pure in heart or distracted with all the rubbish of the
world?
" Do we seek to make peace or help the world on its way to war and
separation?
" Do people get at us because of our faith - or would they never
know that we are followers of Jesus?
The saints lived those beatitudes, this blessed way of following Jesus. Sure they got it wrong a lot of the time, but they won through in the end and followed where Jesus called them to go. We too are called to follow Jesus in every aspect of our lives and to make those beatitudes, those blessings, real to those around us. If we do that, we let the light of Christ shine out in our dark world and we continue our journey to sainthood.
Amen
This sermon was first preached in the Metropolitan Community Church
of Manchester. Click here for further
information.