All Saints 2024 Baptism Homily

Unedited Transcript:

Name of God. The Father, the Son and the Holy spirit. Amen. Go ahead and be seated.

I'm beginning. What what's become? Or I wouldn't say I'm beginning. I am a part of what's become a discipleship. A group, it didn't really start that way. We were a group of people that were Uh that we're goofing around on a text message thread, a group of priests uh that goofed around on text message throughout how it started.

But it's grown into A really beautiful discipleship group. In our life. And and one actually had enough impact on me that I reached out to, uh, some of you guys about maybe piloting some of these groups, uh, starting an advent. So, uh, Just a way to connect with each other in a deep way and Um, one of the things that has grown out of that group is, uh, we decided to start, and we're just kind of testing it out, but The brothers, the brothers of Saint Lucie.

The little brothers of Saint Lucy. So our little order of the little brothers of St. Lucie now, St. Lucie Um, is a is often called a patron saint for the blind. Now, the reason she's called a patron, saint for the Blind, They always, they tend to make a lot of Martyrs the way that they died so that that can make us a little squeamish but like that's why you'll see icons of John the Baptist like holding his head.

Because he was beheaded, you know, and so you'll see icons of John the Baptist holding his head because their deaths are actually, um, A gift to us, right? Their deaths are a testimony to the goodness and for Saint Lucie when she died. Um, her eyes were gouged out so often in icons.

She'll be Holding her eyes and so she became the patron saint for the Blind for people that would be seeking, um, healing from blindness or seeking Vision, which is kind of interesting. So we're the little brothers of Saint Lucie One of the I think I shared with you guys last week, when we talked about the in the gospel of Mark, kind of the story of the blind man being healed.

The two Blind Men in two different spots in the gospel. Mark, I said, a lot of the goal. In life is to see God. Well, that came Uh, from The Sermon on the Mount. Blessed are the pure in heart. That they shall see God. The ones that are pure and hard are the ones that see God and that a lot of life, the goal is To see God and the Saints are people that Saw God, they saw And they they were able to look upon him and they're the ones.

Now that see God more fully than we do. Yeah. They they see God today in his throne room as they're with him. In our quest to see God. Yeah, I think that All Saints Day might give a couple just two lessons to train our vision as we attempt to see God.

And what are the one? What what an amazing attempt to embark on. As we? Five people beginning their life with Christ today. Um, just the goal of continuing to seek after and to see God. So one thing that we could train our eyes and our quest to see God do is to it is is don't look past the Saints.

We should train our eyes to not look past the Saints. Don't look past the Saints. See the Saints gave us a gift, you know, it's it's funny. We'll we'll talk often about Theology and things like that and Doctrine. But just the scriptures themselves. Our testimony from the Saints from the people who came before us.

So Christians that came before us, not only wrote the scriptures. So, a lot of the saints that we honor on Red Latter days, in our church would be, The writers of these scriptures Saint Paul. Saint Peter, Matthew Mark. It's like, we, we honor these writers of the scriptures. So not only are we relying on the Saints for the scriptures, because they wrote them.

But even we rely on the Saints that came before us to even determine What the Canon was that might make a squeamish. We like to think that we Just like receive the Bible like, Handed to us on tablets of some kind. Right? We like to but we like to think that that's how we receive the Bible.

Uh that's not how we receive the Bible. We receive the Bible as the people of God reflected on the words written by the people of God and saw the very words of God in them. And so we received the Bible, the reason that we read the gospel of Matthew and not the gospel of Thomas is because the people of God Who came before us recognized the gospel of Matthew as authentic.

And as the word of God and they did not recognize the gospel of Thomas as authentic and as the word of God, right? And so, even the, when we just open our Bibles, In that act. We're receiving a gift from the Saints. Who received the deposit of faith and passed that on to us, right?

So when just, when you're sitting alone with your cup of coffee, reading your Bible, you receive that inheritance from the Saints. Who pass that down to us? Right. And not only do we, Look not look past the Saints for the scriptures, but we also for the historic gospel, for the historic interpretation of those scriptures.

You know, it was it's interesting that today we were we're just reading through the book of Acts in the daily office. So The acts 8, which we read today. Uh, The story of Stephen uh are not Stephen of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch, the the story that we read today.

Um, It wasn't really because it wasn't like a cherry-picked one for All Saints Day, which is interesting. Um, it wasn't one that they're like oh because that was the first reading that we read today from Hebrews was cherry-picked for All Saints Day. It was picked because it was All Saints Day.

That's why we read it, but the second reading we read wasn't. It was just the next reading that we read. And what was really cool is. You have the Ethiopian eunuch, reading the holy scriptures and then Philip asked him. Do you understand what you're reading? And, what's he say?

How could I understand if no one tells me if if no one's there to teach me, how could I understand? And it says, Stephen starting with that scripture preach, the gospel to the Ethiopian unit, right? And so this is like, there's a big myth that if you just get people alone with the Bible, they can clear themselves of all their presuppositions and be like a computer and that it's so obvious and clear that everyone's going to get to the right interpretation but church history tells us, that's definitely not true.

And just walking down. The street should tell us. That's definitely not true. Um, when when

Bring with them. The historic Christian faith, the deposit of the faith that always went along with the Bible. When you're disputing with a heretic. In other words, it's not getting a Bible verse war with him. It's tell them. You don't believe the Christian faith, and this has always been the church's book.

Repent, and believe the gospel. So, when we're reading the scriptures, Not only do we not look past the Saints by just which books we're reading, but also By holding the Christian faith that they Faithfully passed down from generation to generation to generation. And every mom and dad. Before Ben praying, with their kid, who's scared because they heard that monster under the bed or whatever.

Is doing the very same thing. They're passing on the faith from generation to generation to generation and we received a gift and we pass it on. So when we're looking to see God, we don't look past the Saints for the scriptures for the historic gospel, but also for the example that they give us of a holy life, Yeah, they um People like to debate how much they see what's going on, you know?

And whether they can hear us when we talk to them, I'll tell there's nothing. Um, It was C.S Lewis. That I quote that there's nothing more natural than someone who talks to People who have passed on you. Do it too, right? Like Um, your mom, your grandma, your your the people who went before you every.

So every so often you'll catch yourself talking to them and assuming that they can hear you, right? And the same that that shouldn't surprise us that that's very natural for us because Our Hebrews reading from morning, prayer said that we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses. Who's he talking about other than the Saints?

Then the communion of saints, right? That we, that we Proclaim, we believe in that this cloud of witnesses and he says something so cool that apart from our walking out of the faith. Be perfected. But somehow, Us receiving that faith and receiving that way of life and walking in it.

Is. It perfects the work that they begun by passing down the faith to begin with. It's why when you go to a beautiful Cathedral, For a church for some Mainline denomination that has left the gospel. Just know. There are faithful Christians who gave their entire life savings to foundations, for the very buildings that they're meeting in.

And that they've left the gospel and those people are horrified. I can like, and because part like what we do on All Saints Day is we receive the gospel and we Faithfully pass that on and not just the gospel but the way of life that accompanies the gospel, we receive that gospel and we pass that on to the Next Generation.

And so in our quest to see God which is the goal of life, the pure in heart, see God. Don't look past the Saints. But also in our quest to seek God. Look past the Saints. Look further than Don't stop. Saint Augustine's, the most influential saint in my life.

You guys might know that I named my son after him. Um, I like to read his work. I I think he's the combination of like amazing intellect and love for God, like a heart set on fire for God. I I just never met anyone else in my reading like him.

But I guarantee you this. He wants me to keep looking past him. Um, he wants me to see him as a sign to the god that he loved. As a sign pointing toward the God who he loved. He doesn't want me to stop there and spend all my time.

Dwelling on him. He wants me to look at the god that he loved and worship the god, that he worshiped and press on toward the goal that he pressed on toward The Saints are nothing more and nothing less than a signpost pointing us on the way to Jesus.

You know, this might be a really important truth. Maybe most important for the people who are being baptized today. We have Ira. And a Leia and Connor and Mikhail. Today. U5. Looking for all of you. I think I I mean I'll contact all of you now. Yeah, you join the family of God.

You're joining the family of God, you're joining the communion of saints. And I'm so happy about this for each of you. For the Matt, since your family is right now, the most important signpost in your life parents and your family, most important scientists in your life, For Connor and Mikhail.

It might be others who have walked the faith who have been Christians already. They're the most important sign Post in your life. The entire company of the faithful though. Are going to be signposts. Hopefully, that point you Toward the toward the true God toward love of God towards seeing God.

And you should look at them, look at your family. Look at us. Look at the church. Look at other Christians. Let them point you but listen. Outgrow us. Outgrow us. See God better than we ever did. Love God more than we ever could. Chase after him and outgrow us, run past us.

Um, because apart from you, we can't be made perfected. That's what the Hebrews tells us that that the saint as they pass on the faith. They're watching and they're rooting. And I want and I'll tell you and messenger, parents want nothing more than you to love God. More than they do.

I promise and then chase after God and serve him with more fervor and and more passion than they ever could. And the same is true for you guys. You adults who are being, baptized that all of us want, nothing more than you to outgrow us. Outrun us outpace us.

And look at God and see God better than any of us ever did.

Because apart from us St. John's The people that have passed down the faith. Their work isn't made perfect but that worries it's meant to. It's not like we earn anything for them. But that they that it be completed that it made perfect, that it would be completed. Their work is completed.

As we walk out the face. So Saint John's and especially you being baptized Don't look past the Saints. Don't ignore the Saints. Don't ignore the gift that they have given. You don't ignore the treasure of the faith. The Treasure of the scriptures, don't ignore what the Saints have given us, but listen, Saint, John's And especially you being baptized, Look past the Saints.

Get past them. Outgrow them. Chase after God with everything in you. Make it your life's Endeavor to see God. And to follow God and find him to be a God who loves you. Who's drawing you? And your desires to live in communion and fellowship with you. Let us receive the faith humbly.

From the Saints. And then, let's pass that on Faithfully to others. Amen.