Of Senators and Saints...

There are two issues that are on my mind as we begin the month of November. I was planning on writing on the election exclusively this month, but I figure I spent enough time on that topic for the last two weeks in worship. The bottom line summary. Look up Romans 13. Government is to restrain and punish evil and promote good. Vote for the candidate who you believe, after praying about it, will do the best job of this Biblical purpose for human government. Consider how their policies, and any influence they may have in the choice of judges who will interpret our constitution, will fulfill this task. Set aside issues of race, sex, cost of their clothing, net worth, celebrity status, or what you heard in an email. Instead pray and think, who will work hard every day to resist evil and promote what is good.

Yet the talk of “celebrity” on both sides of the presidential debate reminds me of another topic in the late October air: Halloween. Now if you're expecting an article telling you how Satan will steal your soul if you trick-or-treat you'll be disappointed (or not.) Instead I am reminded by an article I read this morning at WORD FM's website that Halloween is for all our purposes as Christians, Hallows, that is Saints', Eve. (see http://www.wordfm.com/parenting/11583351/page1/ for the article) The writer, who is not Roman Catholic, to my knowledge, reminds us that Halloween was for the Church, the eve of a feast day to celebrate all the Saints.

And who were the Saints. The were people like you and me who after being “vetted” through extensive investigation by the Church, were determined to have exemplified some virtue of Christlike living as to warrant the status of Christian Celebrity. Unlike today's Christian Celebrities who only need a bestseller, a hit song, or a TV Ministry. These folks withstood the test of both the church's scrutiny and the test of history to be granted the status of Saint. While we Presbyterians don't pray to, of “through” the Saints because we do not believe, with Christ as our mediator, we need their virtues to mediate or “supercharge” our prayers; and we don't decorate our churches, yards, or homes with their images; we would do well to know who they are and look at their examples.

They were not perfect. They may only be a Saint for one thing that they got right. We might even debate if they got it right. I am reminded of the Saint I read about in college who threw herself from the roof of her house, dying to preserve her virginity in the face of marauding soldiers. Some of them, history has questioned whether or not they exist, yet the virtue of their legend still points to a higher good and so they are preserved in the catalog of Sainted Celebrities for what they may have represented. The point is we can look at their lives and see how ordinary Christians chose to live in their time so we might consider how to live in ours.

So before you get caught up in the hype of politics and celebrity. Take time this All Saints Eve, and consider the lives of Saints ,whether the capital S ones or the lowercase ones of your own family and friends, now gone on to join the Church Triumphant ( a neat name for heaven from our dusty theology books). Consider how our lives may better reflect Jesus Christ who they sought to follow when we look to their examples. Have a Blessed All Saints Day.
In Christ and on the Shepherd's Path,
Mark