So, here we are, All Saints Sunday. The beginning of the ending of the church calendar and the beginning of the beginning the the holiday season. And yet, somehow, even when we mark this day every year, it sort of get not much more than a passing nod of our time as we read off some names in church and go about our way.
And it's easy for this to happen when we sort of conflate “SAINTS” in capital letters, those folks that the church particularly names as having been either miraculous folks or people especially close to God – the famous saints – and simply everyone that's been baptized – the communion of saints in heaven – the Church Triumphant. It get's cloudy and fuzzy. And it's hard to tell what we really mean on this day, sometimes.
But I think it's always been that way. Ticking all the boxes of baptism, confirmation, etc. certainly makes you part of good Christian society, but saintliness? Lately, with the rise of White Christian Nationalism in our country, I've been revisiting this. And, yeah, I can't stop thinking that it's always been this way.
And I think it's important that All Saints Sunday always falls within a few days of another important event. This year, All Saints Sunday begins the week, and the other event closes it out.
Eighty-five years ago this week, Adolph Hitler gave his personal followers and tag-along militias orders to sweep out of their dark, evil caves and holes and start of pogrom of smashing and looting of Jewish synagogues and shops through out all of the territory occupied by Germany. This should have come as no surprise to anyone.
Nazi propaganda, orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels, played a key role in shaping public opinion, using fear, scapegoating (especially of Jews and communists), and a sense of German victimhood, and the collapse of the German economy. Hitler portrayed himself as an outsider who could overthrow the ineffective ruling class and establish a stronger, more decisive leadership. He emphasized a Germany-first philosophy of nationalism, and a key element of Hitler’s rhetoric was blaming Germany’s problems on specific groups, particularly Jews, whom he framed as a threat to German society, who were poisoning the blood of good Germans.
So on this week, 85 years ago, in 1939, Kristallnacht (the night of broken glass) was witnessed by the world because the Nazis proudly filmed their crimes. Jews were herded out into the streets while their livelihoods were destroyed and their faith burned. They were beaten and ridiculed, rounded up and carted off...
...as good Christians supported this...or stood by in silence.
A few days later, Hitler's government issued a series of proclamations prohibiting Jews from owning property or business or from working in any sphere where Germans might come into contact with them. And Christians stood by.
After that, because so many Jews were now unemployed, the Nazis told the nation that, in order to reduce the Jews' burden on the struggling German economy, they would be carted off to special concentration camps where they would labor for the Third Reich.
And Christians stood by.
This was not just a German problem. Across the world, good Christians of all nations were considering the words and actions of Herr Hitler as perhaps something appropriate for their own lands, too. And, y'all, America was not immune.
Three months after Kristallnacht, in Madison Square Garden, thousands and thousands of American Christians, under the guise of celebrating George Washington's birthday, poured into the stadium to hear speaker after speaker denounce Jews, denounce blacks, denounce immigrants as vermin. Echoing Hitler, they decried the poisoning of the nation's pure white blood.
And the thousands upon thousands of Christians in attendance cheered.
They rose to their feet as one as a parade of young boys, beating their drums in Nazi uniforms, and young girls dancing in Nazi uniforms came down the center aisle in praise of Hitler. These Hitler youth were members of Camp Siegfried, a Nazi youth camp and training ground located on Long Island.
As this Madison Square Garden gathering was being held, Adolph Hitler was finishing construction of his sixth concentration camp.
And American Christians stood by.
But not everyone.
In 1940, a movie was made, starring the world's most famous silent screen star. It was called the Great Dictator, a spoof on the Nazis. Charlie Chaplain starred as the Hitler wanna-be, and was to be his only speaking role after a lifetime in the silent movies. At the end of the film, things became serious as he looked directly into the camera and spoke to everyone in the theatre, to all of us:
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an emperor. That’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone - if possible - Jew, Gentile - black man - white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness - not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone. And the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way.
“Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical. Our cleverness, hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery we need humanity. More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost…”
Shortly after that, America was drawn into World War II when Japan attacked pearl harbor.
You see standing by, remaining silent, going along and hoping you can ride the tiger when you catch it by the tail, almost never, ever works. We as Christians will always pay the price for standing by. And the world will be that price.
Y'all now more than ever, we need saints. Now more than ever, we need to be saints.
Look, we all know what's happening Tuesday. And as a priest I can't stand up here and tell you how to vote in that election. I don't want to do that, and I won't do that.
But, y'all we are Christians. And I can tell you how I think we should act in that regard. Because as Christians we are given a ballot every single day. Every day you decide who you will serve and who you will follow. Vote on that! Every day we are offered a choice between justice and injustice. Vote for justice! Every day we are offered a choice between love and hate. Vote for love! Every day we are offered a choice between selfishness and greed versus giving of ourselves to God and God's creation. Vote for generosity! Every day we decide whether to love God and our neighbor, or love idols and dictators while rounding our neighbors up. Vote for compassion! Every day we are given the choice of looking at the people around us and seeing vermin or children of God. Vote for dignity! Vote for respect! For God's sake, Vote on those things!
I saw a quote the other day. It said, “Vote your hope, not your fear.” I loved it, at first. I don’t want my life ruled by fear. I want hope to be a defining characteristic of me and my nation. But also, there’s real fear behind the urgency of my preaching today. This real fear is that our leaders will use a distortion of Christianity to control, target, and eradicate. This is not empty fear mongering; this is the reality of the choice we face.
For we’ve seen this evil before, and we know the fruits. There’s every indication that those fruits will only get more rotten, and with them, our personal freedom and safety, perhaps even the religious freedom to say what we believe is and should be true will get tainted with that rot.
Y'all want to know who the saints are? They are the people in this world, in this nation, in this state, and in this church, who resist the darkness because they are sealed by the Holy Spirit in baptism and marked as Christ's own forever. They are those who take their baptismal vows seriously, in spite of the will of the world, not because of it. They are those who will listen to Jesus and take his two great commandments to heart. They are the ones who will stand up and not stand by. Who will resist and not collaborate. Who don't just await the coming Kingdom of God, but who live for it here, today. I hope and pray that this includes all of us here. It would break my heart to believe otherwise.
So, look around you. Do you want to see saints? Look at each other. And see All the Saints.
Amen