We are in the season of ghosts, goblins, jack-o-lanterns, and trick-or-treaters. For all practical purposes, Halloween has become for us a secular holiday of spooky fun and kids gorging on candy. The name Halloween comes from the phrase “All Hallows Even” or “All Hallow (Saints) Eve.” Halloween is the evening before All Saints’ Day on November 1. This was a time for the ancient church to bring to mind all its saints. On this day the dead and their contributions were remembered, and the “communion of the saints” was experienced in a special way.
We are all saints because we have been hallowed/made holy by Christ. It is Christ who has made us holy and not we ourselves.
We Protestants don’t go in for saints, at least not in the sense that we see among our Roman Catholic brothers and sisters. But perhaps we should remember that from a biblical perspective, anyone who follows Jesus is a saint. The New Testament does not use this term for a privileged few. We are all saints because we have been hallowed/made holy by Christ. It is Christ who has made us holy and not we ourselves. Perhaps we should take time to remember the saints who have gone before us and who now live in special communion with God. Remembering the dead should not be a morbid practice. It has life-giving implications for the present and for the future.
One of my favorite theologians is Jurgen Moltmann. Moltmann is a German who lived through World War II. As a teenager he was drafted into the German military, surrendered to the first Allied soldier he met, and was kept in a series of Allied POW camps. An American chaplain gave him copy of the New Testament which also included the Psalms, and he began his remarkable journey not only as a Christian but as one of Europe’s leading theologians. Today at the age of 93 he is the Distinguished Emeritus Professor of Systematic Theology at the University of Tubingen.
The sufferings of WW II and especially the Holocaust weighed heavily on Moltmann’s heart. Those experiences have also exerted a great influence on his theology. He was the primary initiator of the “Theology of Hope” movement which took seriously the resurrection of Jesus and its implications for both the church and the world. Faced with the carnage of the 20th century, Moltmann realized the importance of hope for both faith and ethics. He also realized how important it is for God to be understood as being in solidarity with humanity and creation. A distant, apathetic God untouched by the pain and misery of millions of tortured and murdered men, women, and children is not an option for credible and redemptive faith after Auschwitz. So Moltmann challenged the church with his book entitled The Crucified God. In this book he demonstrates that God identifies with our pain, suffering, and sin—so much so that God as suffering love takes all this upon the Divine Self and redeems it. Moltmann has a very different understanding of the cross from what many of us grew up with, but I firmly believe that his understanding more faithfully reflects the perspective of the New Testament.
From his experiences during WW II we can see why Moltmann is concerned about remembering the dead. In his inspiring book entitled The Way of Jesus Christ he writes these words:
Anyone who forgets the rights of the dead will be indifferent to the rights of his children as well. Anyone who enjoys his present at the cost of the dead will also burden the future of those who come after him with a load of debt.
Anyone who is cynical towards the dead will be cynical towards the living too. To acknowledge a hope for the common “resurrection of the dead” means preserving our fellowship with the dead. In the ancient church Easter morning services were held in the graveyards where the dead are buried. This practice recognized the communion of the saints—of those now present on earth and those who are with Christ in glory. Properly understood every Sunday service can be lit by a spark from Christ’s resurrection, every service is held in the presence of the dead.
In Steven Spielberg’s powerful movie Amistad we have depicted the true story of a mutiny of Africans on a slave ship in the Atlantic. They are eventually captured and are waiting for their fate to be decided by the courts. The lower court decides in favor of the Africans and demands they be returned to Africa. Because of complications in both national and international politics, that decision is appealed to the U. S. Supreme Court. All but one of the justices on the Supreme Court are slave owners. A charismatic and formidable man named Cinque emerges as the leader of the Africans. Former President John Quincy Adams, who became the only President to serve in the House of Representatives after his term as Chief Executive, is one of the lawyers who will argue on the Africans’ behalf. Prior to the trial, Cinque tells Adams that he (Cinque) will not be alone when he is brought before the United States Supreme Court. John Quincy Adams misunderstands what Cinque means and assures him that along with himself and another lawyer, truth will be there with him. But Cinque explains what he meant. He says that all of his ancestors will be there in that chamber with him. He will summon them, and they will give him courage and strength. They will come because at this time he is the whole reason they have ever existed in the first place. John Quincy Adams looks deeply into Cinque’s eyes as he realizes that in this African there is a far more profound wisdom and faith than Adams has thought possible in such a man. And when Adams argues before the Supreme Court, he repeats Cinque’s words and applies them to those in the courtroom as he walks around looking at the busts of past statesmen like Washington, Franklin, Hamilton, and his own father John Adams.
In a very real sense, every generation which has gone before us has existed for only one reason: to prepare the way for us to be faithful, courageous, and truly alive with integrity in our own time.
I find in Cinque’s words a powerful image. In a very real sense, every generation which has gone before us has existed for only one reason: to prepare the way for us to be faithful, courageous, and truly alive with integrity in our own time. How can I say that? Because right now the only time which exists is the present. The past is gone. The future which will be shaped (at least in part) by our intentions and deeds does not yet exist. The only present reality is the here and now. Those who have gone before us had their time on this earth. They have prepared the way for us. As the Book of Hebrews puts it, “they have already run the race.” And now, like a cloud hovering over us, they are present to cheer us on knowing that, in this moment, it is our faithfulness which matters. In this moment—our unique moment—we are the only reason they have existed at all. They are here waiting for our response. And when we join them at our deaths, the only reason we will have existed will be for the benefit of those who will come after us so they can be faithful in their time—their unique now. When we think in these terms, the communion of saints takes on a powerful and life-affirming meaning.
The hope of the resurrection we have in Christ reminds us that the dead are not forgotten by God. And if our children’s future is to be free of such catastrophes as World Wars and Holocausts, the dead must not be forgotten by us either. By the grace of the Living God, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord’s—we are in God’s hands on both sides of death. Those who have gone before us surround us like a great cloud—in a sense they are a very real part of the very atmosphere we breathe. And we can trust this communion of the saints to be a foretaste of God’s great homecoming of all creation when all of our efforts, hopes and dreams over the centuries will come to fruition and bear incredible fruits of love, compassion, joy, and community.
So I hope in the midst of the ghosts, goblins, and trick-or-treaters during this season, you will remember the saints of your life and sense that they and you are kept in the same heart of God—for now is our time on the stage of history to play our part in the greatest story ever told.
