ALL SAINTS DAY 2005  Year A  – 30 October 2005
The Ven. Dr. Sarah Macneil

In the name of God, whose beauty shines in all the saints.  Amen. 

Some weeks ago I had the rare (for me) experience of sitting in the congregation. It was the afternoon of Bronwyn’s concert and I sat, lifted in my spirit by the glorious sounds of Schumann, Ravel and others, and awestruck by the beauty of the Sheffield window and by the multiplicity of messages it contains.  

The window was originally in a church dedicated to St Clement, hence the figure of St Clement in the bottom left corner. But it is also particularly appropriate for a church dedicated to All Saints, for it contains within it images of many different saints from many different periods of the church’s history, and indeed of some who predate Christianity. Just in one relatively small window we are reminded of the story of Jesus, of his place in history and of the history of the church. 

So, let’s take a closer look. Along the bottom, we have St Clement, a bishop of the early church, Isaiah the prophet, St Michael slaying the dragon, King David and finally, St Peter, the rock on whom the church was built. Next we have Mary and John, the disciple whom Jesus loved and to whose care he confided Mary. In the window as it was originally installed in England, the Old Testament prophets, Daniel and Zechariah flanked Mary and John. There was not enough room for them when the window was installed here and so they are now over the vestry doors. 

Then, crowning them all, is the figure of Jesus on the cross. All the figures, in all their diversity – Old Testament, New Testament, supernatural being, apostle, bishop, prophet, mother, friend and disciple – are there because of their relationship to the central figure of our faith, Jesus, son of Mary, son of God.  

It is in Christ that they are united, and, I suspect, only in, through and because of Christ. There would seem to be few other points of contact, either in shared history, world view or any other significant matter.   

These very different people span many centuries, many languages, many backgrounds. Michael brings in the symbolic world, showing how Jesus links not just humanity with itself but all the created order, divine and human.  

And so we come to the first point I would like to make - and it is about diversity and inclusiveness. There is for me a profound theological point in belonging to a parish dedicated to all the saints. It may seem to speak of indecisiveness – after all, couldn’t they pick one? – or possibly of a brilliant compromise after many bitter stalemates in Parish Council, but, however arrived at, the end result is rich in theological meaning. 

The window is a graphic depiction of the diversity that is found in life and of the unifying thread that is Jesus. God in, through and beyond all. Jesus drawing us all to himself as John 12:32 tells us he will. Tolerance and inclusiveness were at the heart of Jesus’ ministry and of his teaching. Reaching out to those abandoned by society, he sought to bring them back to the mainstream. He took God out of the temple and the synagogues, dusted away the elaborate rules and ritual and brought the reality of God’s presence into the messy and complicated heart of everyday life.  

There is some theological mileage too in the story of how we came to have this window. A stained glass window was on the parish wish list from the earliest days. 

Proving yet again that it’s not what you know but who you know, the parish was able, through a long chain of connections starting with Lady de Lisle, wife of the then Governor-General, to obtain a window through the curator of Church of England Treasures. This wonderfully named dignitary presided over what was essentially a clearing-house of ecclesiastical impedimenta that were surplus to requirements: a kind of up-market, ecclesiastical Revolve.   

The window came from St Clement’s in Sheffield, England, where it had been installed as a memorial after the 1914-18 war. After a rationalisation of churches in the area in 1961, the church was pulled down and its treasures given into the care of the curator of Church of England Treasures. It was chosen for us by Ted Buckle, rector extraordinaire.  

Through this window then, we are linked with all those who originally worked to have it installed in St Clement’s, those who made it, those in whose memory it was installed, and those who brought it here and installed it here. Again there is the theme of being connected to a story which is much greater than our individual story – the story of the people of God throughout history. In the panes of the window we see our connection to Jesus and to the history of the early church. In the story of the window’s making and installations, we see our connection to Christians on the other side of the world. We stand in a long line of people who have seen their lives as connected to God and whose lives have been brought meaning and wholeness through faith in the Christ who transcends time and space. 

There is at least one other lesson for us in this window, and it is one which is not particular to this window. If you examine the window carefully, each pane contains one or more colours which transform the light as it passes through. Some have single colours, some have several. Each pane is beautiful in its own right but shines more gloriously when the light is right behind it. The total effect is stunning in its beauty and depth. Without the diverse richness of all the panes, the beauty and depth would be lost.  It is, in its own way, an allegory of the body of Christ. 

As individuals we have our own beauty, but together, with the light of Christ shining through us, we become who we are truly meant to be.  

May we, the saints of All Saints here, shine with the glory of God, celebrating our diversity, rejoicing in our unity in Christ. Amen.

 Sarah Macneil