FROM THE PASTOR
How Do You Make a Saint?
Have you tried to row a boat across a lake? The rowing takes work, to be sure. But I think rowing is the easiest part. The hard part is staying on course so that the boat does not drift this way and that, all over the lake. To row hard, and in the right direction, so that the destination is reached, that is what rowing is all about. And the interesting thing is this: In order to find your future direction, you must look back. Rowing is accomplished by facing backward and keeping your eyes on a fixed point of the receding shoreline as you steadily pull forward. That is the spirit of All Saints Day.
How do you make a saint? Just add water. We become a saintsin the waters of baptism. A saint is a sinner redeemed by Christ, and baptized into the death and resurrection of Jesus. My name is Saint Stephen. And yours also are named Saint and we will remember those who have been baptized as saints this past year. And we will remember those on the far shoreline. As we see them we are encouraged in the faith, we are comforted in their company. I once asked a Sunday School class if they could tell me what a saint was. One of the little girls, thinking of the images on the stained glass windows of the church, said, “Saints are the places where the light shines through.” As we look at the far shore this morning, who are fhe faces, the persons, through whom the light of Christ shined through for you? Today we will also remember those who died in Christ this past year, and whom we now see on the far shore, guiding us home. Remember that in God’s time we also will join them on the far shore, a great communion of Saints, and others will look to our example, with the light of Christ shining through us.
Pastor Stephen Bouman
