All Saints Day - Part 3

This Sunday, Christian Chuches all over the world  remembers the saints who have touched our lives.


I have long advocated that every preacher should read John Irving's book, A Prayer For Owen Meany.  

The book begins with these words:
     "I am doomed to remember a boy with a wrecked voice – 
      not because of his voice,
      or because he was the smallest person I ever knew...
      but because he is the reason I believe in God; 
      I am a Christian because of Owen Meany."
 
That sentence is the seed of the book's story and, in a curious way, it is the seed of our story as well, isn't it?  

All of us believe in God because of someone.  
Christ haunts us in the face of someone. 
We see God in the walk or word, deed or dare of someone. 
We believe in God because of some "Owen Meany",
or some group of "Owen Meany's" in our life. 
We all believe in God because of someone. 
We are all here today because of someone.
Today, think about who that is for you. 

There is no greater power than that of calling forth such belief in another. 
There is no greater power than enabling another person to see life in a way that gives hope and comfort and gladness.  

Each of us has sensed the power of someone who has helped us find our way a little, not so much by their pointing it out to us as by the way they themselves walked –  or walk –  in this wondrous, awful world.
 
Think about those people –  those saints –  who have touched your life – 
maybe unexpected people from unexpected places. 
People who have called forth in us belief and hope and strength.
 
Today is a time for remembering those people.


The Congregation of Christ Presbyterian Church in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, heard these words as part of a sermon for All Saints Day in 2006.