Cheeky Saints

Many Christian families and churches dread the end of October as the days draw closer to Halloween.

I spent a good deal of time in Halloween blog post advocating for Christians to reclaim Halloween as Christian celebration. For those of you who follow a lectionary or liturgical calendar, November 4th is All Saints Sunday.  I’m sure that there are Christians trying to make sense of these events for churches.  Seeing Halloween through All Saint’s Day, Christians can remember loved ones and thank God for those who labored as saints of Christianity. There are a number of churches that hold fall festivals, trick or trunk events, or other safe trick or treat events.

Instead of drawing attention to Halloween as our culture does, through scary movies, gory displays, and haunted hay rides, we are going to spend some time honoring our loved ones who passed away on this All Saints Sunday.  We will have a special time of remembrance for our personal ‘saints’ who have passed away. We did this last year in worship and it provided a very meaningful time of reflection.

Historically, All Saints Day was a way for Christians to remember martyrs and saints.  Most protestants are uneasy with using the word “saint” because of Catholic theology and veneration of saints. The New Testament mentions ‘saint’ over 60 times. This Sunday, we will be talking about ‘cheeky saints.’  What is a cheeky saint?

The Gospel reading and remembering our ‘saints’ lend to this concept of cheeky saints.  Luke 6 reads:

27 “But I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, 28 bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. 29 If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat do not withhold even your shirt.

Christians who can do all these things in my opinion are saints.  To love enemies, love those who hate you, give away your coat, and to let people strike you?  Wow, that is a tall order.

Based on this, are Christians called to be push overs?  I often hear from Christians how they “turn the other cheek” by letting people get their way in a conflict.  Does this scripture direct us to let people slap us in the face?  Does Jesus want us to be cheeky saints who never do wrong?

On All Saints Sunday, during worship, we remembered church members who died and we had a time of remembrance for our loved ones who we lost.  People come forward and light a candle, which can help us remember loved ones. Being a cheeky saint is about remember past pain but moving on into new life.