Five Practices of Saints

by The Rev. Kate Atkinson

A wonderful thing to remember when we celebrate All Saints Day is that the communion of saints doesn’t only inhabit the heavenly kingdom; it’s alive and well right here on earth – right here at St. Paul’s. 

Bishop Rob recently came up with “The Practices of the Episcopal Church of New Hampshire.”  It’s a list of five things which define us – as followers of Christ and as saints of God.

The first Practice is, “We show up.”  Showing up is important – it’s crucial; it shows that we’re committed to what we’re doing.

If we make the decision to go to church on a Sunday morning, our participation in that act of worship begins before we even leave our homes. That wonderful combination of dedication and anticipation, of expectancy coupled with certainty, that sense of familiarity and wonder and awe – those are some of the reasons why we get out of bed on a Sunday morning, or drive out in wintry weather, or choose church over some other option that presents itself.

People tell me how missing a service at St. Paul’s has an uncomfortable effect on them all week long. There’s a gap that nothing else can fill, a feeling of incompleteness, of unease, that isn’t resolved until they’re back in this place. Showing up in our faith community, worshipping with our parish family, is essential to our spiritual health. And it’s more than that – because when we

show up here, we’re renewed and nourished for the work we’re called to beyond St. Paul’s – in all the other places where we show up as Christ’s hands and feet and heart and voice in the world.

The second Practice is, “We tell the Story.”  The stories we hear from Scripture each week are only the beginning.  They teach us about the human condition and God’s saving acts, about our place in the world and the many people of faith who came before us.  They show us how easy it is to fall short of God’s ideal for us, and they encourage us to learn from our mistakes and to seek a better way.  Like the disciples, we receive our guidance from a divine teacher; like the apostles, we carry our own stories to others – sharing the wonder of lives transformed by God’s loving presence.

The third Practice brings to mind the sacrament of baptism: “We splash water.” When we baptize babies, children and adults, we splash them with water, symbolically cleansing them from the sin that can hold them back from a full relationship with God, and affirming God’s unfailing desire to forgive and renew us when we fall back into sinful ways. 

As we welcome the newly baptized into our church family, the water we splash on them is also a reminder of the source of life – the source that feeds us all and makes it possible for us to be Christ’s servants in hard places and painful situations. Baptism into the communion of saints assures us of eternal life but it doesn’t stop us engaging fully with the world we live in now, knowing that we’re strengthened by the Holy Spirit whose seal is on our head and our heart.

The fourth Practice is, “We share food”.  When we gather around the altar to share God’s holy meal, we receive sustenance unlike anything we consume at other times.  But the food we share at coffee hour or fellowship potluck or celebration meals – that too energizes us in a special way.  These are all ingredients of fellowship and community, calling to mind the gathering of the earliest Christians who shared everything they had and made sure that no one among them went hungry.

We share food with others too – with the clients we serve in the Friendly Kitchen, or in our Food pantry, or through our mission with Jamaica and other needy places in the world.  Our call to be a community of faith helps us to see that we have much more than we need.  As we recognize God’s abundance in our lives, we respond by sharing that abundance, and creating a banquet that anyone can attend.

The last of the five Practices isn’t something we do; it’s something God does.  “God surprises.” In the deep joy that fills us as we worship together; in the heartbreaking yet wondrous privilege of sharing another’s pain; in a life transformed because of a conversation or an invitation; in a new congregation growing from a tiny seed: God breaks into the life of saints like us, giving us tastes of the life that’s still to come.

The five practices link us to all the saints who’ve gone before us and all those who will come after us, as well as those who are with us now. As we continue to show up, to tell our stories, to splash water, and to share food, we are doing the work and living the life of saints by being true to our faith. But perhaps the most important thing of all about saints that we live our lives knowing that God surprises – and we notice it when God does!