Considering the Saints
In the Philippines on this day, people tended to the graves of their loved ones, cleaning them up and remembering the dead. It is All Saints Day.
I, Ezra, saw on Mount Zion a great multitude that I could not number, and they all were praising the Lord with songs. In their midst was a young man of great stature, taller than any of the others, and on the head of each of them he placed a crown, but he was more exalted than they. And I was held spellbound. Then I asked an angel, ‘Who are these, my lord?’ He answered and said to me, ‘These are they who have put off mortal clothing and have put on the immortal, and have confessed the name of God. Now they are being crowned, and receive palms.’ Then I said to the angel, ‘Who is that young man who is placing crowns on them and putting palms in their hands?’ He answered and said to me, ‘He is the Son of God, whom they confessed in the world.’ So I began to praise those who had stood valiantly for the name of the Lord. - 2 Esdras 2:42-47
Though not one of our more traditional books of Scripture, the reading for today's reflection is taken from 2 Esdras, he work of a scribe, possibly from the Fourth Century.
It speaks to the belief that living a life in Christ will bring us to salvation, a belief that still holds true today. But there is even a greater reward for those whose commitment to Christ result in persecution and torment in this life. They will become the saints.
I was raised in the tradition where not all believers became saints. Only those through whom God worked miracles ascended to that honor. So, it was surprising for me to learn that in the Anglican tradition, we celebrate all the believers who have passed on this day.
But our reading today seems to support that concept. Those who confessed the name of God are crowned as saints.
To Christians, that means we declare Christ as Lord, the Son of God, part of the Trinity, one with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
Who would have thought back in my early days of Catechism that saying those words could lead to persecution and death in modern times?
It seems the path to sainthood is alive and well in this age, with beheadings, crucifixions, and torture.
All we are missing are the miracles, not the least of which would be a stop to all this hatred and evil.
I ca understand that some would feel such a confession of our faith is blasphemous. That is a matter of personal belief. But how can one justify taking matters into their own hands through condemnation and murder?
If you believe I am on the road to damnation because of my faith, please do not feel obligated to take any action to save me. Leave that up to my Lord and Savior. Focus on your own salvation, and I promise that I will let you live according to your own beliefs.
If we all did that, perhaps we could make this day a remembrance of persecutions of the past and not of the present.
That would be something.
Praise God from whom all good things flow.
More to come...