F. Harry Daniel
Second Presbyterian Church
Sermons: November 5, 2006

"A Few of My Favorite Saints"

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses ...
Heb. 12:1

"Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses…" What does than mean? What is the writer talking about? He is referring to the reality expressed in that phrase the "communion of the saints" which occurs toward the end of the Apostles’ Creed.

Our text sees us enveloped, embraced, held, supported, educated by the body of Christ through the ages, we are in the company of those who are in the past and those contemporary with us, all those throughout the centuries and in all places who have embraced the gospel. These people, these saints are God’s gifts to you and to me and to each other as we journey toward the kingdom of God. They have grace gifts to give to all of us and amazingly we have grace-gifts to give too.

Saints are witnesses to the grace of God at work in Christ though the power of the Spirit. They are human beings who have responded to God’s wonderful, diverse grace. That includes you and me (hard as it is for some of you to believe!). Saints are not perfect people who possess great virtue and are far above us in accomplishment. The New Testament does not know that kind of saint. That there are saints who are given extraordinary gifts there is no doubt, but the scriptures do no elevate them in a category superior to other Christians. Saints are those open to God’s light and it shines through them.

When the New Testament speaks of saints it is always in the plural and inclusive. We are all in this together. We need one another and contribute to one another’s well being. Some do it better than others. Some saints have made us what we are and what we are becoming. You and I are profoundly shaped by the impact, gifts, loves, challenges of others. All of us have our list of special saints, those who are a part of us. As I share some of mine, think of those who have been instrumental in your own life, and whose gifts are precious to you.

I suspect that when you think of such people, you think of those you can see and know. That is too confining for you will miss the rich diversity of human beings God has created down through the ages. History is full of them. My office is filled with books and notebooks, they all are a means of dialogue with significant saints, eager to teach, inspire, commune spirit with spirit. To live in communion with them is to live in communion and confrontation with their God. We need to get the doors of history open for these saints wrestled with the great questions of Christian faith and discipleship. We were never intended by God to live on the meager resources of our immediate groups or in the narrow compass of our local church. Time and place do not separate us from the saints of the past thanks to the Spirit of God Their numbers are legion as are their gifts. John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Julian of Norwich, Dorothy Day, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

An early Christian went into the desert seeking guidance and wisdom. There he asked a famous teacher: "What should I do about my soul, because it is insensitive and does not fear God?" The teacher said, "Go, and join a man who fears God, and live near him; he will teach you, too, to fear God." That advice has been proven in so many ways. I love to teach. If I have any teaching ability it was shaped by Leander Keck, Professor of New Testament at Vanderbilt, Emory, and Yale who was the best teacher I ever had: knowledgeable, passionate, clear, challenging, able to communicate, caring. I knew him at Vanderbilt; he has retired as the Dean of Yale Divinity School. He is why I transferred to Vanderbilt.

Another such teacher for me, this time through the medium of books (I have at least twelve of them) is Jurgen Moltmann, a German theologian who has had a powerful impact on contemporary theological thinking. He is a human being who lives and talks about theology with such clarity. He understands human and divine pain and doesn’t trivialize either. For his faith was born in the caldron of the destruction of the German Reich and as the result of the love and grace of some wonderful Scottish Presbyterians who ministered to him in a prisoner of war camp.

There are some saints who are so passionate about the presence of God in all of life and who fervently believe that God is able to do far more abundantly that all that we ask or think – they inspire and shape this world. A pope, John XXII, was that inspiring for me. A compromise candidate, not expected to do much, he changed his church more than any other pope in the last thousand years. The winds of the Spirit blew through his pontificate into the world challenging us all. Desmond Tutu is another such saint.

Some saints join us and travel with us for a while encouraging, discerning, learning, sharing gifts and talents with us. One such was Mary Stewart Duerson. She taught Latin for 45 years at Atherton High School in Louisville. Retired when I knew her, she was a gracious, avid learner all her life. She’s in the preface of my doctoral dissertation. Her red lead pen was used freely sharpened by correcting so many papers.

Some saints we admire from afar. John Lewis is my Representative in the US House from the Georgia 2^nd District. Talk about a clear sense of justice and what is right, and the function of the political process.

Some saints have a literary impact and create characters and stories that move and inspire. J. R. R. Tolkien is one for me. I am still moved every time by Frodo and Samwise Gamgee as they struggle to destroy the one ring of power, and by the compelling wisdom of Gandalf the wizard.

Some saints are mentors. One of mine is Wade Huie, professor of preaching at Columbia Theological Seminary. He taught me that you never stand in the pulpit and say anything that you have not paid the price for in struggle and hard work.

There are so many more. That is true for you too, isn’t it? We are surrounded! Praise the Lord!

Every time I come to this table, I don’t come alone and neither do you. They, our saints, come too. In my mind’s eye I see, feel and know their presence. There are two new ones now at this table for me who have been given into the care of God. Word has come from 1^st Presbyterian in Tupelo, MS that Jim Ingram and George Walsh, two good friends, died on Sept. 22 & 24. Jim was one of this interim’s strongest supporters and George was a genuinely good man. In the words from the 4^th verse of the hymn The Church’s One Foundation "there is mystic, sweet communion with those whose rest is won."

We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses! Praise the Lord!