Sermon for November 1, 2020 All Saints Day House of Prayer Lutheran Church
Revelation 7:9-17; Matthew 5:1-12 Rev. Karl-John N. Stone
What is a saint? In New Testament, saints are people who’ve been made holy by being baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection. So then what does it mean to be made holy? To be set aside for a special purpose.
I can put it even more simply. A saint is a Christian. Each and every Christian is a saint. You and me. Our family in faith who came before us. Those who’ve not yet been born, but will one day be washed with water in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and be marked with the cross of Christ forever.
Each Christian is a saint, because God has claimed us as his beloved children, and called us to fulfill his purposes in the world. Just like the people we hear about in the Bible, or like people we’ve heard about from different times in Christian history, or like Christians we’ve known in our own lives--each has been claimed by God as his beloved child, and called to fulfill God’s purposes in the world.
Notice, though, how the New Testament does not describe a saint: not as perfect, even though some saints have set an example of faith and goodness that is hard for most to duplicate. Not as superheroes, either, even though some have made accomplishments that most people could never hope to match.
Saints come from all kinds of life situations, all kinds of backgrounds. No matter who they are or where they came from, they are our brothers and sisters. There is a huge diversity among the saints because there is a huge diversity among Christians. This is how God has designed it, and we hear about it in the vision of heaven described in Revelation 7: a great multitude--so many people that no one could ever count them--all races, all nations, all tribes, all peoples, all languages. All of them have been through tough times, yet all of them were guided through it by Jesus, the Lamb who is the shepherd, who wiped every tear from their eyes, and guided them to the springs of the water of life.
We also hear in Matthew 5 about where we should be looking for saints in the world around us. Jesus describes this in what we call “the Beatitudes” from the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus tells us: if you want to see beloved children of God who have been called to fulfill God’s purposes--then be sure to look among the poor in spirit; those who mourn; those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. And be sure to look among the merciful, the pure in heart, the peacemakers, those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. Jesus the Lamb is among them, to be their shepherd and lead them.
Among all this diversity, there is one thing all the saints have in common--they all know that they need to rely on Jesus. And they know that the more they rely on Jesus; the more they allow the Spirit of Jesus to guide them; the more they let go of trying to be something that they’re not; and the more they embrace being the person God has created them to be--then the more they can fulfill the special purpose God has given them to do on this earth.
Who has God created you to be? What special purpose has God given you to fulfill on this earth? I can’t answer that for you--you need to make the space in your heart and mind and soul, and listen for God to provide that answer. Maybe you’re not sure what the answer is. And that’s okay. Lots of people aren’t sure. But I can promise you that God has created the true you, and baptism is the assurance that God does have a purpose, a calling for you.
If you’re not sure what those things may be--or even if you are sure and are trying to put them into practice--the invitation from God for you is the same as the invitation God makes to each and every saint: rely on Jesus, and lean not on your own power or strength. Through faith, grow in knowing your need to rely on Jesus. Open your heart, mind, and soul to Christ’s forgiveness and love, his mercy and grace, his promise to never leave you nor forsake you; his promise to walk with you through times of trouble, even when you have no idea how you’re going to make it through--until he raises you up to new life and salvation on the other side. And when he leads you there, you’ll join with other saints in praising God.
Rely on Jesus. This invitation to rely more and more on Jesus is possible for each one of us--and if it’s something that you feel a need to learn and grow in--well, God has given us lots of examples to relate to: we call them saints. We can look to the saints and learn from these baptized children of God--who live around us, or who came before us and are now at rest.
The teaching of our Lutheran tradition is that we learn from the saints in three ways.
1) We give thanks to God for them, because we see in the saints examples of God’s mercy, and how God wants to save humankind. We also see how God has given teachers and other gifts to the church.
2) We look to saints to strengthen our faith--such as St. Peter, for example. When we see that Jesus forgave Peter after he denied even knowing who Jesus is--then this encourages us to believe that God’s grace abounds over sin.
3) We try to imitate the good examples of their faith, and their Christian virtues, which we can put to use while fulfilling our own callings from God.
So here’s a couple things you might ponder this week. And maybe you can take a few minutes after the sermon, pause the service, to think about this and share your thoughts with someone near you. First, look back over your life. Who is a Christian you’ve known personally, or a Christian you’ve not met but have learned about, who inspires you? Ask yourself, how did this saint learn to rely more and more on Jesus in their life? What would I like to borrow from their example, as I learn to rely more on Jesus in my life?
And then a second thing to ponder, as you look into the future. We are living through a time of many unknowns because of this pandemic. It’s a time that is practically begging us to learn how to rely more on Jesus. It’s a time that each one of us has equal experience in dealing with (because unless you happen to be at least 102 years old, this is your first pandemic!). And that means we each have an equal opportunity to open our hearts, minds, and souls to the Spirit of Jesus, and his purposes for us. So pray about this: what gift has God given me, when I became a saint by baptism into Christ, that I could use to help someone else make it through this time we are living in? Amen.