Sunday Message

"Church is the House for Sinners and a School for Saints"

“CHURCH IS THE HOUSE FOR SINNERS AND A SCHOOL FOR SAINTS”

by Rev. Nilanga Gunasekara

on 01.11.2009 at 7.30a.m. service


“I saw a new heaven a new earth; the first heaven and the first earth disappeared, and the sea  vanished”.  Rev. 21: 1

ALL SAINTS SUNDAY

According to the Church calendar, today we celebrate All Saints Sunday. So, Let us thank God for all the Saints, their Faith, and example and try to be absorb every good thing of theirs’ in to our lives.

So, I would like to discuss this very important concept from perspectives,
1)    Historical information of all Saints.
2)    Connection with the Blood
3)     The churches response today  to the Saints and their contribution to the Christian life is, because one of the early church Fathers Turtulian has said that “Blood of the Martyrs’ is the seed of the CHURCH”  which meant that by  the  shedding of the blood of martyrs  gave birth to the growth to the church.

These are 3 points that I want to  share with you this morning.
There has been an All Saints’ Day from at least the beginning of the 3rd century, and probably even before that, from almost the beginning of the church. The Western Church( for your information, the Christian Church of  the 10th century  has been in 2 parts: that is the Western Church and the Eastern Church) settled on  the present date of 1st November, in the 9th century , adopting the practice of the “Irish Branch” of what we call today “ the Anglican Communion”. So, let us continue as  there is much modern confusion about the meaning of the word “SAINT”. This confusion is due to the “canonization of saints”, about the books written about the “lives of the saints”, and the painted pictures of the saints. But in reality, a saint is a simple   human being, living or dead, that God had chosen for eternal life, upon whom God has lavished his grace.

All Saints’ Day was begun as a feast, not to honor human beings, but to honor God for his work of Salvation and Sanctification. But during the middle age forgetting the  past history, they gave their own interpretation. But we should find comfort in the continuous keeping of a holy day as we consider our God has given hope in  our call to the saintliness in Christ. We should remember with joy and thanksgiving the generations before us that answered Christ’s call and received the grace to become his saints. When we are afraid, we can ponder  on the fact that there is no trial or tribulation that we can face in our own lives so long as the power of the Risen Christ is  in us.

How blessed are those who know their need of God  ( Matt. 5. 2)
What is the secret of the exemplary life of a Saint?  
The secret is that they came to know their need of God; this is a very important matter and as Christians we all should search for, and work for a  recognition of our deep need of God “ Like as the hart desires the water brook; so longeth my soul after thee O God”

Friends, we are living in a world of fragmentation and increasing confrontation; where confusion and anxieties are abound; and where there is much fear about the future. Therefore we feel to ask this question – Where is it all going, where suffering and seekers abound? Here in the lives of the saints we have sure signposts for the church in the present and in to the future. Therefore friends, we need to ask our selves Is it our Church( HEC)? ( Church means not the building, not only the priests and wardens, but itis each one of you who are worshipping here as one family of God) The  Church is truly  signposts for the poor and needy, marginalized and harassed. If not we need to  re think about our Christian calling need to search for  our spirituality. The secret that kept behind the exemplary life of all saints was that they knew their need for God, I feel if all of us can realize that need for God, I am sure we can celebrate the 150th Anniversary with great joy.
 
CONFUSION ABOUT SAINTS
We know that the present trend is that there is confusion about Saints, due to various interpretations given by different people, but let me clarify this issue-

The saints are no roll call of past heroes. Rather they are our sisters and brothers; they  are with us on the way- alongside us as companions and guides, sustaining us with their prayers and guiding us by their example. We don’t need to worship them or pray through them to God, because with Jesus we have a direct and closer relationship with God. Therefore we don’t need to seek other channels to talk to God, because our only way is through Jesus.

Friends, we desperately need to recover this vision of the Church which is of God  and not ours; and we recognize readily the brokenness and sinfulness of our frail humanity – knowing our need of God – yet at  the same time rejoicing in the abundant mercy and grace of the God who in Christ has come among us and alongside us; who accepts us just as we are, and whose Holy Spirit is already at work in and through each one of us in this sacramental celebration, for transformation and change

Friends, we are the witnesses in this society or in this context in which we are living for this truth are really and only one truth, just as God is one God, and he is God alone.

So, If you want to become a saint in Christ Jesus, then we need to think seriously about the following points.
 

*. We must feel that need of God in our day to day lives
*. We need to share God’s love with others through the word and deed
*. We must understand that Holiness is a gift from God..
*. We are made Holy by Christ, as he pours out his own Blood to cover our sinfulness and weakness   

So, dear friends, let me finish this short reflection with a few words taken from book written by Arch Bishop David Hope about the Saints. It says;

“The thrust of this Eucharist is to go out , to go forth, to love and serve the Lord, to go with confidence and joy in the name of the Risen and Living Lord Jesus Christ and for ourselves to live in his risen life, surrounded as we are by so great a cloud of witnesses, and ourselves to be the instruments of the Lord’s love in bringing others to our faith, to a knowledge and love of the Savoir; yet all the time keeping alive that the vision of the Church which was so dear to those who have gone before us and with whom in these holy mysteries we are united in that love which knows no end, that vision of the church of Jesus Christ as a divine society, as a wonderful and sacred mystery is truly a home for sinners and a school for Saints.
 
So, let us make our Church truly a home for Sinners and a school for Saints. Amen
 

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