By R. Kevin Johnson
In a few days, many Christians in the Western traditions of the church will celebrate All Saints’ Day. This feast originated in fifth-century Syria to commemorate martyrs. It is celebrated on November 1 to correspond with the dedication of St. Peter’s Chapel. In 835 A.D., “The Feast of All Martyrs, Saints and Our Lady” (as it was previously known) was solidified in the calendar as “The Feast of All Saints.”
This day of celebration in the church, long rejected by many Protestants as “too Catholic,” is the day on the Christian calendar to remember the lives of Christians who have died. Central to the feast is a call to deeper commitment for those who are left behind. Our charge is to carry the Christian legacy we have inherited with integrity and to note the influence one can have on a generation of believers by recalling the lives and witnesses of those who have gone before.
On All Saints’ Day each year, I remember the ministry that others have modeled before me and find inspiration anew as I seek to join the “great cloud of witnesses” (Heb. 12:1) who do the Lord’s bidding on Earth. This ministry is one each of us inherits and claims when we identify ourselves as Christians. We are able to use our God-given gifts and talents to be Christ to others and to model Christ-like behavior for the next generation.
I was fortunate to grow up in a Christian home with parents who were intentional about surrounding their children with folks who shared their values. My father worked hard to provide for his family. He was a deacon who always showed concern for the well-being of the church, visited those who were homebound or in the hospital, taught both youth and adult Sunday school classes, and modeled for his family what a godly man should be.
My mother, who loved her children dearly and kept them in line, taught children’s Sunday school, insisting that all third graders should know the books of the Bible. It is impossible to count the number of adults who can recite the books of the Bible because of her. She read Bible stories with me and my siblings at bedtime and made sure we all arrived at Sunday school, church training, children’s choir, and youth group on time and ready to learn.
Dad and Mom both made sure that each of us had studied our Sunday school lessons and knew everything we needed to know before we went to bed on Saturday night.
This All Saints’ Day, I am celebrating my parents — saints who are still serving God on Earth — as well as several others whose work on Earth is done. These folks include a person who was able to share his faith verbally without much effort at all, another who carried meals to shut-ins every week through a meals-on-wheels program, a third who always had a kind expression on her face and had an encouraging word for others and a fourth who showed deep concern when others were in crisis and spent many hours praying with and for those people.
These saints of God worked hard for God’s Kingdom on Earth because they loved God deeply and sought to be a blessing to anyone who was lonely and needed a friend. Each one lived the message of the Scriptures, “Like good stewards of the manifold grace of God, serve one another with whatever gift each of you has received. Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God; whoever serves must do so with the strength that God supplies, so that God may be glorified in all things through Jesus Christ” (I Pet. 4:10-11).
As I have matured, I have come to understand this truth: The cloud of witnesses that surrounded me when I was growing up did not seek to instill in me a love of service to the church, care for those who are less fortunate or a desire to help nurture others along the way so much as they introduced me to the Savior and helped me realize the joy that comes from salvation. How can I keep from serving a God who knew me in my sin and loved me anyway, who recognized my need for a Savior and provided his son as the ultimate sacrificial lamb, who holds me in his arms and keeps me in his care? How can I keep from passing along the message of this Good News to the next generation?
I am looking for ways to use the gifts God has given me to serve him faithfully. It is my prayer on this All Saints’ Day that my example will inspire the next generation of believers to do the same.