Sermon for All Saints Day, 2020

Children’s Homily for All Saints Day

November 1, 2020 @ Christ the King Anglican

Fr. Tony Melton

Good morning! And children, good morning especially to you. This homily is for you. It is sometimes hard to understand what I’m saying in the sermon? Well today, you’ll have an easier time of it. So pay attention, okay? 

Today I’m going to talk to you about being a “saint.” Now some of you are Latin scholars, being classically trained. The word “saint” comes from the Latin word sanctus. What does sanctus mean? [Holy] That’s right. It means “holy”. So the saints are holy. Well, I want you to know how they are holy. In a little bit you’ll sing a song, and you say in the song, “I mean to…[be one, too.]” Well, if you want to be a saint, you need to know how one becomes a saint, right?

Well, I’ll give you the answers right up front. To be a saint, you are adopted by the Father, united to the Son, and perfected by the Holy Spirit. [Repeat with motions.] The first two happen at Baptism, and the 3rd begins at Baptism. So you are over 2/3’s on your way to sainthood, and this is why St. Paul calls you “saints”. Another way to understand this is to say that God has made you a saint, God is making you a saint, and God will make you a saint. 

How has God made you a saint already? In your Baptism, God has adopted you into His family and united you to Jesus. Let me explain. We have some dear friends, the Samplers. Kids raise your hand if you know the Samplers. Well for those of you who don’t know them, the Samplers are a precious family up until this week, they had 3 biological children and 3 adopted children. Right now, the Sampler family is in Columbia and have adopted 4 more children, all siblings. So  now that’s 10 kids. That’s a big family! That’s even bigger than the Tryon family, or even the Thompson family! But did you know that even the Sampler family is tiny compared to God’s family? 

The 4 children from Columbia, last week, were they in the Sampler family? [No.] But this week, are they in the Sampler family? [Yes.] You see, Mr. and Mrs. Sampler adopted them. They said, “I will take these children who were not mine, and I will be their Dad and Mom. And they will be my children just as much as the children that were born to me. All those children are now in the Sampler family. They were adopted.” Well, in a similar way, when you were baptized, you were adopted by God the Father. And Jesus is like an older brother, since He is the only begotten Son of God, and you are adopted into the family of God. 

Being part of a family means something. John Ezra, you are a Plowman, and just like your name suggests, your family will work hard and conquer the great wilderness of North Georgia. You and your two brothers will strong and brave, like your daddy and mama. Meltons, we are [church planters]. Being in a family means something. If you are born into a royal family, like Tink or Janner, or all the princes and princess that you read about, it means something. There are roles you must play, duties you must perform, things you must stand for because of the family to which you belong. Children, you have been adopted by Baptism into the family of God, and God describes this family like this: “a peculiar people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a multitude no man can number dressed in spotless robes singing praises to God.” You’ll spend the rest of your life figuring out what it means to be adopted into the family of God, but what I want you to know is this: Because you are adopted into God’s family, you are made holy. You are holy. Because Jesus died for your sins, God adopts you into His family and make you holy. And just like a prince is a prince and is also called to act like a prince, you are holy and also called to be holy, too. This is what it means to be in the family of God. We are and are to be a holy people. This is why St. Paul calls you a saint. Say, “I am a saint” [I am a saint] because I’m adopted [because I’m adopted] into God holy family. [into God’s holy family].”

When we speak of saints, we are usually referring to holy heroes of the Faith. I hope you know a lot of stories of the saints. Someone once said that the greatest proof that God exists is the lives of the saints. These holy men and women who lived their whole lives to please God, to do what He wanted them to do, even if that meant dying a terrible death. There is St. Perpetua, St. Francis, St. Beckett. There are “hundreds of thousands still, the world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus will.” There are stories upon stories of people who live exceptionally holy lives. When you read about these holy heroes, do you feel very holy, or heroic? Do you feel like a saint?” [No.] Me neither. 

Remember what I said, “God made you a saint. God is making you a saint. And God will make you a saint.” Right now, even as you sit there, God is remaking your heart, he is changing you into a holy hero, a saint. How many of you like fruit? What’s your favorite fruit? Have you ever seen a piece of fruit go rotten? It usually begins with a little spot, a rot spot, sometimes no bigger than the tip of a pencil. But what happens to the rot spot? [It grows.] Right, and soon the whole apple is soggy, moldy, and rotten. This is kind of how sin works. When we are born, our hearts are like an apple with a little, itty bitty rot spot on it. As we grow, the rot spreads. This is why we fight and tease our brothers and sisters, and disrespect our parents. Without God’s help, the rot will consume our whole heart, and inside will be a stinky, squishy mess. But when we are adopted into God’s family through Baptism, something else happens. We are united to Jesus and given the Holy Spirit. Imagine an apple, and on one side is a tiny rot spot and on the other is a tiny gold spot. The gold spot is Jesus. As you grow both spread. But what is more powerful: Jesus or your sin? Which one will win? Jesus or your sin? Throughout your whole life, God is making you so holy. When you walk with God, your heart becomes more like Jesus, a heart of gold. When you walk with God, you become more like the saints, those holy heroes. Have confidence that won’t let your heart be rotten. So God made you holy and He is making you holy. He will make you holy. He will make you a saint.

And God will make you a saint. What do you want to be when you grow up? [answers] Those are great answers. We can’t wait to see what you do in God’s world! When you think about that question, “what you do you want to be when you grow up?” I want you to add to your answer, “A saint.” I want you to aspire to be a great man or woman in the kingdom of God. I want you to strive to be as holy as you can be. God has something very important for each and every one of you to do. We don’t know what it will be. You may be called to devote your life to raising several children to be holy heroes for God. That is heroic and important work! God might want you to not marry and live your life in poverty and service to others as a way of showing the world that true joy comes from God. Maybe God will call you to start a business that is just and excellent, and to treat your employees with respect and fairness, and to lead them to Jesus. Maybe God will require you to die for your Faith, like St. Perpetua. A saint is someone who does whatever God asks them to do. That is what it means to be holy. To be like Jesus when He says, “Not my will, but Your’s be done.” “God, whatever you want from me, that’s what I’m going to do.” 

God has big plans for you. You are kings and queens in His Kingdom. You are adopted into a holy and royal family. And these plans are just for this life. God has big plans for you after you die, too. And this is part of what we celebrate on All Saints Day, that whoever is adopted into the family of God, and is united to Jesus in Baptism, and lives their life in the Faith, when they die, they are with the Lord, they are at peace. Their heart is made perfect. There is no more rot spot. They are filled with joy. They are in perfect communion with God, the holy heroes of the Faith, their relatives who have gone before, their friends who have died, and even some of their enemies, if they, too, die belonging to God. God will make you a saint. He will make you perfect. 

That you adopted into God’s holy family should be an amazing comfort. You belong to God. You are God’s daughter. You are God’s son. He loves you far more than even your earthly father and mother do, which is saying a lot because they love you very, very much. That you are united to Jesus, and that your heart is in the process of being made perfect should make you super focused. What can I do today to be more like Jesus? And the promise that God will make you a saint, and that you will live forever as co-rulers of the new heavens and new earth, should cause you great hope. 

Adults, these children are the churches greatest asset. There are 30 children under the age of 12 at Christ the King. It is essential that we ban together in life, that we notice and value these little ones. That we understand our role as godparents, all of us have that role in a general way. The church should be full of uncles and aunties. Together in Life must not be shallow social interaction. Together in Life goes hand-in-hand with Deep in Discipleship. Disciple them. Encourage them. Correct them. Notice them. Learn from them. Support them. Love them. We are all saints on a journey to become holy heroes of the Living God.