As we approach this All Saints Day, when the church lifts up those who have departed from our earthly midst, especially those from this past year, I cannot help but remember James Earl Jones. Granted, I did not personally know the man, as we often tend to focus on when names are read aloud amidst our worship gatherings. I only knew him through screens displaying Field of Dreams or Clear and Present Danger or The Hunt for Red October or even a voice in The Lion King (sorry, never saw Star Wars).
Nevertheless, when I was first encouraged to give this whole pastor thing a shot, I was in middle school: a time in my life when my moral behavior record wouldn’t quite be up to snuff for a role I thought was only for the ultimate saints of the saints. But the people who tried to nudge me weren’t so interested in my life track record of sorts, but more so with my voice. I guess they were under the impression that those of the bass end of the vocal range could best emulate the voice of God or something, and if that was the case, they would be the best proclaimers of the Gospel…or something. And if that was the case, then James Earl Jones was the voice of the voices, especially the bass of the basses.
The voice for Darth Vader and even an audiobook speaker for the Bible itself became a goal of mine, in a sense. Because as much as some people complimented how I read scripture from the lectern for some youth Sundays, I still had my fair share of not-so-perfect public speaking, especially in the classroom setting. I also took some voice lessons to help with the singing end of things, but I could tell that James Earl Jones was a level of near communication perfection that I could never master. I had to settle with my imperfect voice, but hopefully good enough to get the Gospel point across not just from the pulpit, but any life setting. ‘Tis a work in progress.
Hopefully with each passing All Saints Day is not just an opportunity to join the local and wider church in lifting up those who have departed from our earthly midst, but to recognize that no child of God has to master a moral behavior record or public speaking achievement to be considered a saint in the eyes of God. Evidently, that’s taken care of from the beginning, by God’s doing, by the grace-overflowing work in Jesus Christ. And no matter the mistakes made with our voices or otherwise, that title, including child of God, will never be taken away.
Supposedly James Earl Jones didn’t become part of the more formal organized religion operation until his service in the Army, when he was baptized and confirmed in the Roman Catholic Church, but I have a feeling he was loved by God from the beginning anyway. Supposedly even James Earl Jones himself, the soon to be voice of the voices, especially bass of the basses, struggled with his voice too: an issue with stuttering and spending long periods in silence because of it. And yet, I have a feeling that he didn’t have to master any of it before he was surrounded by the grace-overflowing adoration of Jesus Christ.
Hopefully with each passing All Saints Day, when we hear the names of the famous and not so famous departed, we don’t focus on their moral behavior record or their mastering of whatever talent or career, but of the God who cherished them in the utter depths of their humanity. Hopefully with each passing All Saints Day, we do not feel nudges to perfection or some seemingly impossible cultural expectation of saintly behavior, but thanking God for the imperfect voices who encouraged us to see the Gospel throughout all our days. So, “for all the saints, from whom their labors rest,” thanks be to God, indeed!
In Christ,
Pastor Brad