Did you Know…COS holds firm to the belief that remembering those who have gone before us is an important part of grieving and living the Christian faith.
A Cloud of Witnesses –
Why We Should Celebrate All Saints Day
The following excerpts from an article by the above title that appeared in Reformed Worship magazine in June 2008, written by Len Vander Zee. You can read the whole article at the following link: https://www.reformedworship.org/article/june-2008/cloud-witnesses
An acquaintance who has two sons in the Marines marveled at their loyalty and commitment to the unit and the Corps. One of his boys recalls the whole barrack yelling in one voice at bedtime, “I want to be a Marine like Chesty Puller.” General Puller, a veteran of WW II and Korea, is one of the Marines’ greatest heroes.
People need heroes. We need them as examples of the kind of life to strive for, as common ideals around which the community coheres. Recently I heard Trygve Johnson, Dean of the Chapel at Hope College, preach on the “heroes of faith” passage in Hebrews. That passage ends with the stirring call, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders… and run with perseverance the race marked out for us” (Heb. 12:1).
Trygve recalled a troubled time during which he often sat in the college chapel early in the morning, struggling to pray. As the dawn broke, a panorama of stained glass images began to glow—heroes of faith from Elijah to Mary, Augustine to John Wesley. This literally glowing cloud of witnesses buoyed Trygve’s faith and spurred him on to take the next slogging steps in his own journey.
Chesty Puller and the virgin Mary—heroes of a different sort, but heroes nonetheless. Each uniting a community, calling it to “strengthen the feeble arms and weak knees” (12:12).
In the Roman Catholic tradition, November 1 is All Saints Day, the commemoration of the “official” saints, apostles, and martyrs. This is followed on November 2 by All Souls, the commemoration of all the faithful departed.
Protestants don’t like to separate the big-name “official” saints from the ordinary, garden-variety ones. We have our own hymn for the day, and it’s “For All the Saints.”
But even more problematic is the Protestant suspicion that recognizing the saints is a spiritually dangerous form of hero worship.
However, in trying to maintain a few degrees of separation from medieval Roman Catholic practice, the Reformers lost something terribly important. It is important that the dead are not forgotten. We stand on the shoulders of men and woman—distinguished and ordinary, recently deceased and long dead—who fought the battle and kept the faith. God used their life and faith to give birth to ours.
When we remember the dead, now with the Lord, we receive new strength for the battles we face every day. We realize again that we do not exist for this life only. We remind ourselves that the daily grind, the regular struggles with temptation, the tough decisions we have to make, are part of a battle in which we will finally triumph. We remember our ultimate destiny in God’s kingdom.
Remembering those who have gone before us is also an important part of grieving. An All Saints celebration isn’t just about the heroes of the past, the Chesty Pullers of the church. It’s also about those much closer saints—parents, grandparents, spiritual mentors, uncles and aunts—who have strengthened our faith by their words and examples. Remembering them, we continue to give significance to their lives and offer thanks for the way the Holy Spirit works to strengthen faith from generation to generation.
At COS
At COS, we have two consistent ways for us to remember our saints. The first is a special All Saints Day testimony service on the Sunday evening closest to Nov. 1. This service includes testimonies from a few people about a person who has modeled the Christian life for them. There is also a time to remember the saints in all our lives with candle lighting.
The Memorial Table is the second way to regularly remember our saints. The Memorial Table is the counter and bulletin board on the west wall of the Tree of Life sanctuary. Members of the church are encouraged to display pictures, little mementos, or flowers in remembrance of loved ones. The remembrances can be placed on the table near the anniversary of the loved one’s death, or near another special date. Unlike All Saints’ Day, the Memorial Table can be used year-round and can help us remember the saints that have gone on before us at any time of year.