"Are you in God’s grace?”

This is the question the English judges asked farm-girl-turned-military-leader Joan of Arc. It was, unsurprisingly, a trick question. If she said yes, they would have found her guilty of presuming to know the mind of God. If she said no, she condemned herself.

"If I’m not, may God put me there. And if I am, may God keep me there.”

Brilliant. Her answer reminds me of the way Jesus speaks - simultaneously strong, clever, and humble. There are also difficult questions stirred by her life and example - the uncomfortable relationship between Christ-followers and war, for one. Such are the saints that have gone before, and the saints in our midst.

It’s easy for me to want to weed out stories of complicated saints. Yet it is from the Spirit’s work in the lives and faithfulness of these complicated oddballs that the gospel came to me, to us - ourselves complicated and odd. They are our heritage, our family tree.

This Sunday we celebrate All Saints Day. We celebrate that extended family of believers who have gone before us and given us insight into the wonderful, dizzying variety of the Spirit’s activities with a singular aim of proclaiming Christ in word and deed.

If you are new to the tradition, consider learning about a particular saint before our time (consider Perpetua and Felicity, Irenaeus, or Yu Cidu/Dora Yu) and giving thanks for the saints in our time who led you to encounter or remain faithful to Jesus. Kids are encouraged to come dressed as a saint this Sunday!

We also get the profound joy of welcoming 14 children into this family through the sacrament of baptism! We will affirm their place in God's family, and remember our own. Join us!

Peace,
Sarah Smith+