First Reading: Revelation 7:2-4, 9-17
2I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, with the seal of the living God, and he called with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm earth and sea, 3saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees, until we have sealed the servants of our God on their foreheads.” 4And I heard the number of the sealed, 144,000, sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel: 9After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.” 13Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. 15Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
Psalm 149
1Hallelujah! Sing to the Lord a new song; sing his praise in the congregation of the faithful. 2Let Israel rejoice in his Maker; let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 3Let them praise his name in the dance; let them sing praise to him with timbrel and harp. 4For the Lord takes pleasure in his people and adorns the poor with victory. 5Let the faithful rejoice in triumph; let them be joyful on their beds. 6Let the praises of God be in their throat and a two edged sword in their hand; 7To wreak vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples; 8To bind their kings in chains and their nobles with links of iron; 9To inflict on them the judgment decreed; this is glory for all his faithful people. Hallelujah!
Second Reading: 1 John 3:1-3
1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
Gospel: Matthew 5:1-12
1Seeing the crowds, {Jesus} went up on the mountain, and when he sat down, his disciples came to him. 2And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 3“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 5Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. 6Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. 7Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. 8Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. 9Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. 10Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
Yes, You are a Saint
Pastor Miles Brandon notes that our culture is captivated with making lists. It all started in 1955 when Edgar Smith of Fortune suggested that the magazine publish a list of the largest U.S. companies. At that very moment, the Fortune 500 was born. Today Fortune not only prints up the 500 list, but “The Forty Richest People Under 40,” “The Fifty Most Powerful Women in Business,” “The 100 Best Companies to Work For,” “The 25 Most Powerful Lobbyists in Washington” and “The Best Companies for Minority Employees.” You’ll likely find a new list in every issue.
There was also a series of books a few years back titled, The Book of Lists, that consisted entirely of lists on unusual topics like, “The world’s greatest libel suits,” “People suspected of being the real Jack the Ripper,” “Worst places to hitchhike,” “People misquoted by Ronald Reagan,” and “Breeds of dogs which bite people the most, and the least.” Even Christians appreciate a good list, says pastor Brandon.
Paul Wilkes, a Christian writer, published two books listing “Excellent Protestant Congregations” and “Excellent Catholic Parishes.” On a lighter note, Ship of Fools, the online magazine of Christian unrest, published two lists after asking for readers to submit their votes. Heading the list of “The Least Embarrassing Christians” was Archbishop Desmond Tutu, followed by Jimmy Carter, and Billy Graham. Topping the list of “Spiritual Leaders Least Likely to Be Confused with Jesus” was Fred Phelps, the Baptist minister from Westboro, Kansas, who devotes his life to attacking marginalized peoples–even dead ones. Today is All Saints’ Day.
All Saints’ Day is a universal Christian celebration that honors and remembers all Christian saints, known and little known. This leads me to ask; how do we know a saint when we see or read of one? Think about it, what attributes do you assign to a saint? As it turns out, these are not easy questions to answer and few agree on what constitutes a saint, so I looked up the definition on the internet. According to Wikipedia, “While the English word saint (which is derived from the Latin sanctus) originated in Christianity, historians of religion tend to use the designation in a more general way to refer to the state of special holiness that many religions attribute to certain people.” A more general definition I found was “a baptized person who displays godly qualities.”
Think about this second definition. By this definition, if a saint is a baptized person who displays godly qualities, then aren’t we are all, or at least shouldn’t we be, saints? Society today generally thinks of a saint as those Christ-like people who have gone before us, and the select few who have dedicated their lives to the helping others at great personal cost. However, St. Paul, when addressing the Christians in Rome, when talking about Pheobe, wrote, “Welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints” (16:2). Truth be told, and again by definition, anyone who faithfully follows Jesus is a saint. My guess is, many in the pews today don’t want to embrace the title of saint. The very thought of having to live up to that standard bothers people.
During the pastor’s Bible study on Tuesday, I asked the question, what is the difference between a disciple of Jesus and a saint? The discussion became lively to say the least. After much discussion, it boiled down to the definition I gave you a moment ago, that any baptized Christian who truly follows Jesus is, in fact, both a saint and a disciple. When asked how we justify this claim, one of the pastors said, Luther said we are “Simul justus et peccator” which means we are “simultaneously righteous and a sinner.” Another way to translate justus is saintly. Thus, Luther agreed with Paul in calling the Christians in Rome saints. So, what does this mean for us?
For some, they want to emphasize the sinner part of Luther’s statement. They will forward that since we are sinners always in need of God’s grace, why even try to be saintly? But what does Paul have to say about people who want to make excuses about our human weakness when it comes to resisting temptation. Again, in his letter to the Roman Christians, Paul scolded them by saying, “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? Absolutely not! (6:1-2).
As followers of Jesus, our desire is to be more and more like Him each and every day, striving to grow as a Christian and doing everything we can to please and glorify Him. Our entire lives should be a reflection of God’s love in us, looking to God for strength and wisdom in how we live our lives. If living a life that is pleasing to God is our desire and goal, then wouldn’t you call that person a saint? The bottom line is, a baptized and faithful follower of Jesus is both a disciple and a saint. So instead of us saying we are simul justus et peccator, simultaneously saint and sinner, I want to think of ourselves as, simul justus et sanctus, simultaneously justified and a saint. If our desire is to live a life worthy of our calling, (Ephesians 4:1) then there should be no problem embracing the label saint.
Now I do want to be careful here, by thinking of ourselves as saintly we could run the risk of pride creeping in. However, if we truly think of ourselves as a saint, then wouldn’t that automatically mean we keep pride in check and strive for humility? Wouldn’t that mean by thinking of ourselves as saints rather than sinners, we would want to be more like Jesus in all our thoughts, words, and deeds? Wouldn’t the thought of living up to the term saint only serve to increase our desire to love God and our neighbor more and more each day?
I like the story of the five‑year‑old girl who was visiting her grandfather one Saturday afternoon. Her Grandfather said, “Amy, I wish you could stay the night so you could go to church with me tomorrow.” Amy asked, “Why are you going to church tomorrow, Grandpa?” “Because it’s All Saints’ Sunday!” “But Grandpa,” Amy said, “we’re not saints, we’re Lutherans!” Like it or not, all baptized and faithful followers of Jesus are in fact simul Justus et sanctus, simultaneously justified by grace and saints.
The truth we must struggle with is, are we willing to accept and live up to the title of saint? What might be helpful for us in accepting our calling as saints is to begin to answer the question, what is it that makes a saint in the first place? Is it personal virtue and discipline? Is it concern for the poor and the outcast? Is a saint pious and austere? Is a saint more sincere, more loving, kinder, and do they pray more? We can certainly find people who serve as examples of saintliness throughout history. People like the Apostles, St. Jude, St. Frances of Assisi, and Mother Teresa. But what about the aunt or uncle, grandmother or grandfather, or other family members who are fondly remembered because of the godly lives they led? What is it that causes you to consider them saintlier than others?
When examining our understanding of what it means to be a saint, maybe we can look at our readings for today. In verse 14 of our First lesson from the Revelation of St. John, we read, “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” What does the elder, who answered John, mean by these are the ones who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb? Without getting into all the Greek tenses and language usage, these are the ones who simply placed their faith in God, examined themselves daily remembering their baptism, and lived a life daily that was pleasing to God. In other words, these are examples of faithful disciples, saints, some of whom now worship and serve God in His temple. And the promise that comes with living for God is, “the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (vs.17)
The next lesson we can look to is our Gospel lesson which is the opening verses of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Now I know the reaction well when people look at these 8 key verses, they say, these are all but impossible, and besides that, I’m not sure I can even relate to them. I agree these are difficult to understand and relate to, in our day and time, so I did some further digging and found two other lists of attributes of a saint. I believe they are consistent with our Gospel lesson for today. The first list comes from St. Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome and the second comes from Paul’s letter to the Galatians.
First, I think it’s important to look at the list St. Paul gave to the Christians in Galatia; Paul lists for us the fruit of the Spirit. In chapter 5 verses 22 and 23, Paul wrote, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” He concluded this list with, “Against such things there is no law.” Wouldn’t you agree that anyone displaying these virtues would be called a saint? Now compare this list to Jesus’ words in verses 3-11 of Matthew chapter 5; you can see many similarities. Makes you wonder if Paul wasn’t inspired by Jesus’ sermon when he compiled this list. Meek versus gentleness, kindness compared to those who mourn, faithfulness verses those who thirst for righteousness, you get the picture. If the fruit of the Spirit is displayed in our lives, wouldn’t we be considered a saint?
Next, I think it’s also good for us to look at what St. Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome in the 12th chapter of Romans. Without reading the entire chapter, St. Paul gives us instructions on how to live out our calling. Again, as I read this list, I’d like for you to compare St. Paul’s list to what Jesus tells us in Matthew chapter 5:
- Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,
- Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
- Share with the Lord’s people who are in need.
- Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
- Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.
- If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
- Do not take revenge, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” and finally,
- “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Is any of this easy, no. But then again, God didn’t promise being a disciple would be easy. At times it’s quite the opposite. But the promises God gives us of the forgiveness of sin and life everlasting makes following Him more than worth it.
And speaking of wonderful promises, in closing I’d like to look once again at our Epistle reading for today as we embrace the fact that we are not only disciples of Jesus, we are also His saints in His kingdom. St. John writes, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”
We might not like to think of ourselves as saints, but we are, or at least we should be. Is living up to that standard, if you must, easy, no. Will we need to purify ourselves daily, remembering our baptism, washing our robes in the blood of Jesus constantly, yes. But God has promised to provide all we need, equipping us for work in His kingdom, walking with us even in the darkest of valleys, and to be with us till the end of time. As baptized Children of God, which is what we are, we are both disciples of Jesus and we are simul justus et sanctus, simultaneously justified and saints.
Amen