So you want to be a saint, but you’re not sure how to do it. Turns out you’ve got a couple of choices, at least.

Option One takes longer. It’s called “canonization,” but you won’t feel like you were shot out of any cannon. It’s not that fast. Got a few centuries to spare? This is the plan for you.

A recommendation to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints (in Rome, naturally). Now you get to be called “Venerable.”

Eventually, you receive “beatification” which means you get to be called “Blessed.” And after all that, if you’re patient …

A pope (not yet born) will canonize you and declare you a Saint (capital “S”).

Oh, I nearly forgot a crucial step. You must also submit two verifiable miracles – one of which you will do after you die.

It’s a slow road to sainthood, and hard work.

Is it worth it? Yeah. It comes with a guarantee of an eternal place in heaven. Plus, you get to have your likeness carved in marble or etched in stained glass. Churches will be named for you – maybe cities too: St. Paul … St. Louis … St. Francis … San Diego.

Just believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and do what he says – that’s all –

No dying required, and no miracle … though putting up with other people will feel like a miracle at times. Or even worse than death.

As for a first class ticket to heaven that comes with the other plan? Sorry. It’s not included with this shortcut method.

That’s because sainthood, for Presbyterians and others, isn’t about earning your way there. It’s a response to the gift of heaven already given. It’s a way of living life now.

For the Apostle Paul, sainthood is present tense, not future. That’s why he could write to the “beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints” … and why he could exhort them and comfort them about daily life in the world.

Kenneth Woodward [in Making Saints] defines a “saint” as “someone through whom we catch a glimpse of what God is like – and of what we are called to be.” (Present tense, again.)

So there are saints of earlier generations – like Francis of Assisi. Or Aquinas and Augustine. And biblical saints like the disciples, John the Baptist, Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus.

What makes them saints is the way they lived, not the fact that they died.

The same goes for the people we name in our Service of Remembrance today. Consider …

·        Mark S. living life with passion and gusto, and a great circle of friends.

·        Bette S. conveying dignity and grace in health and sickness.

·        Lois R. – a champion of justice for the poor and illiterate of Milwaukee.

·        Joe M. whose greatest achievement was caring for his son Bob.

·        Carol K. – a tireless volunteer for the homeless, and an ever-inquiring student in our Adult Enrichment programs.

·        Richard P. who loved singing the faith.

·        Franklin W. He adored family, church, and God … and showed it.

·        Esther C. served meals to friends and strangers as if all of them together were seated at table in the kingdom of heaven.

·        And Phil G. did things for others, day after day, quietly – offering rides to people who don’t drive and taking food to the local food pantry.

These folks are saints in that they gave us glimpses “of what God is like – and of what we can be.”

They sacrificed and shared, labored and loved. And we noticed.

These are strange and difficult days. It’s not the best of times for the church or businesses, or most anyone. So who would you nominate as the right saint for today? Who is a paragon of virtue that might inspire us?

Would it be someone who threw off all belongings and carried a bowl into the street to beg for pennies? Or someone who did eye-popping miracles in dire circumstances?

Maybe. But maybe what we need is a big spending saint, someone who is intent to build and create communities that the world cannot live without.

For that work, I nominate St. Hedwig [recommended by Stephanie Paulsell, “A saint for hard times,” Christian Century, 4/7/2009]. Yes – the one with the same name as Harry Potter’s owl – the owl that lays down her life for her friends in the last book of that series. (Not that’s a glimpse of God for you!)

Hedwig – the one I’m talking about, not the owl – lived in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries. Biographers claim that she was given in marriage at age 12 to King Henry I of Silesia (in present-day Poland). The marriage was arranged to form a union with Germany. But Hedwig was no mere maid of political convenience.

She was strong in her own right, and had clear ideas about her newfound power and influence. And she spent that power and influence – and considerable fortune – forming communities centered on prayer, learning and service. A saint for our time.

She convinced Henry to help her build monasteries and hospitals, care for lepers, and provide endowments that the work would continue after their lifetimes.

She made sure that women as well as men had time for prayer and study, and devoted herself to showing care and attention to each person she met.

Today our nation is intent on fixing a broken health care system, improving schools, restoring honest banking, selling houses and getting “clunkers” off the street in favor of energy efficient vehicles.

But there is no bailout plan for the church. Institutions devoted to prayer and worship, mission and service stand on their own. No check is forthcoming from the government to help us provide for the homeless and neglected, invisible ones. 

So we need Hedwig as a saint for our time. We need her to be model for us … a person who offers a glimpse of God … and what we too can be.

If we want Wauwatosa Presbyterian (and places like it) to have a future, teaching our children, counseling the grief-stricken, visiting the sick, taking food to the pantries, speaking hope to a frightened world, showing fairness to all and singing God’s praise, we’re going to have to take the bull by the horns and do it ourselves. So thank God for Hedwig, who shows us it can be done … generously. Faithfully.

And thank God, we have the the people we name(d) this All Saints morning – ready and willing to show us the way …

I’m talking about people who made use of the power and resources at their disposal – both large and small resources, so that others (such as us) could get a good glimpse of God.

The path they chose to sainthood wasn’t easy or quick. It took their entire lifetime. But I swear it beats waiting for a miracle to occur after you die.

So I ask you to join me, and join saints alive all around us, visible and invisible. I ask you to make a personal commitment to be a saint with them. And I ask for your financial support, whatever you can afford – and nothing less – as a reflection of your commitment … a sign of the power and resources at your disposal.

The Stewardship Committee would like you to return your pledge card on or before next Sunday (November 8) showing what you intend to offer in 2010 through this congregation so that others might glimpse God through you … and through all of us together.

The book of Revelation says “a new heaven and a new earth” is on its way to us. Then it adds that the cowardly won’t inherit these things, but those who are children of God (i.e., saints).

A friend of mine (outside the church) likes to say, “If someone says something unkind about me, I must live so that no one will believe it.”

I agree. I’d hate to have to die for people to find out the truth about me. Much better to start be a saint now, while I can. I invite you to join me, as Saints Alive.