Who Are You A Saint For?

1 John 3:1-3      Common English Bible

See what kind of love the Father has given to us in that we should be called God’s children, and that is what we are! Because the world didn’t recognize him, it doesn’t recognize us. 

Dear friends, now we are God’s children, and it hasn’t yet appeared what we will be. We know that when he appears we will be like him because we’ll see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves even as he is pure.

 

In just a few minutes we are going to read the list of the members of Meridian Street Church that have died since last All Saints Day.

We do this for a couple of reasons.

First, because we want to honor and remember our loved ones who have left us.

Second, we want to be encouraged to live our lives in a manor worth of the saints.

All right, I know that as soon as I mention the word saints, some of you are rolling your eyes --- because many of us are NO saints.

Saints for most of us, are, in the words of Frederick Buechner:

men and women of such paralyzing virtue that they never thought a nasty thought or did an evil deed their whole lives long.

When we say saint, we think of such loft individuals as:

St. Peter

St. Paul

St. Francis

St Tomas Aquinas

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Mother Theresa

According to Britannica:

In Roman Catholicism and certain other Christian faith traditions, a saint is a holy person who is known for his or her “heroic sanctity” and who is thought to be in heaven. In the 10th century, Pope John XV formalized a process for the identification of saints. Before that time, saints were largely established by public cult. There are more than 10,000 saints recognized by the Roman Catholic Church, though the names and histories of some of these holy men and women have been lost to history.

I love that phrase --- heroic sanctity

          What the heck does that even mean?

I don’t want to talk about those kinds of saints

I will be honest, I don’t know of anyone here at Meridian Street who is on that kind of sainthood track

          Sorry to disappoint some of you

The type of saint that I am talking about are the ones that Fredrick Buechner was talking about when he wrote:

As far as I know, real saints never even come close to characterizing themselves that way. On the contrary, no less a saint than Saint Paul wrote to Timothy, "I am foremost among sinners" ( l Timothy 1:15), and Jesus himself prayed God to forgive him his trespasses, and when the rich young man addressed him as "good Teacher," answered, "No one is good but God alone" (Mark 10:18).

In other words, the feet of saints are as much of clay as everybody else's, and their sainthood consists less of what they have done than of what God has for some reason chosen to do through them. When you consider that Saint Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven devils, that Saint Augustine prayed, "Give me chastity and continence, but not now," that Saint Francis started out as a high-living young dude in downtown Assisi, and that Saint Simeon Stylites spent years on top of a sixty-foot pillar, you figure that maybe there's nobody God can't use as a means of grace, including even ourselves.

Doesn’t that make more sense --- the simple notion ---- that God could use you in some way that is amazing.

Tuesday will end one of the ugliest campaigns seasons that I can ever remember.

National politics have often turned ugly as outside dollars have come in and muddied up the waters.

I was shocked when I was out in Arizona at the vitriolic nature of the commercials from the so called “political action committees” that attacked both Martha McSally and Mark Kelly

          Frankly they were disgusting

But if you have watched any TV the last few weeks you can tell me all the supposedly terrible things about both Christina Hale and Victoria Sparks --- but to what end?

While politicians rarely claim to be saints

Every politician that I have personally gotten to know (both republican and democrats) have been good human beings.

                   Not the caricature that the opposing party tries to portray them

What does it say about us that we would rather be titillated by the sins of others than celebrating a saint?

I am fascinated by the art of M.C. Escher --- his pencil drawing, I believe called “endless stairs” --- hung on the wall of my dorm room in college.

What I loved about Escher is that you can’t just glance at his work for a moment and comprehend it.

His work demands that you stare at it for a long time, wondering if your eyes are playing tricks on you.

I marvel at the imagination it must take to even think of things like this, which are impossible in real life.

His art forces us to stretch the bounds of our understanding and reconsider what really is possible.

I think that is a good image for us as we prepare for a post-election world.

We have to rethink what is really possible.

          And we have to see beyond the caricatures to see what God is calling us to be

Regardless of what happens on Tuesday --- half of our country is going to be unhappy.

          And I hope and pray that it is just unhappiness and not anything more.

But you and I as followers of Jesus have a different responsibility

The United States of America isn’t our first allegiance

          What is best for our personal pocketbooks isn’t our first allegiance.

Our first allegiance is Christ.

Do I need to say that again?

          Our allegiance is to the Kindom of God

Because when Jesus appears --- as 1 John tells us --- we are to be like him!

We are to be a people striving for God’s kindom

In the book of Revelation, chapter 7 we find this beautiful vision of God’s kindom:

After this I looked, and there was a great crowd that no one could number. They were from every nation, tribe, people, and language.

And on this All Saints Sunday, we need to ask ourselves --- are we living as citizens of God’s Kindom or do we seek satisfaction in another sphere?

But for me --- the really important question is --- are we living our lives in such a way that others will look at us and recognize Jesus?

The entire Book of Revelation seems to me to be trying to give comfort to people just like us.

People who are overwhelmed and beginning to think that the worlds story is easier than following the way of Jesus.

          And you know what ---

                   I wonder at times if that isn’t true

          Wouldn’t it be so much easy to just take care of ME

                   To forget about others

                             To be able to neglect the poor and the widows

                                      The foreigner in our midst

                                                And focus on ME and MY desires

          But that is not the way of Jesus

The Book of Revelation reminds us that the City of God is for all people --- not just some people

The example of those who have finished their course in faith and have chosen the way of Jesus --- you know --- those everyday Saints --- they have shown us through their lives that we CAN make the world a better place than we found it.

          Not necessarily better by our standards

                   But better for all of God’s children

Are we willing to delay our personal rewards in order to make the world a better place for all?

Starting today

          I invite you to stop being a Democrat or a Republican as your identity

                   Instead I invite you to be a Christian

And if you struggle with understanding the difference between those three identities, I would be glad to help.

Saints are those who set aside what is best for them personally

          And chose to do what is best for God’s children

On this All Saints Day --- I pray that we as followers of Jesus --- can have the courage to follow.

I will not be able to join you following the service for our virtual coffee hour --- but I encourage you to do so.

I look forward to gathering with you on Tuesday on the front lawn.

 

Sending Forth

We bless your holy name, O God,
for all your servants who, having finished their course,
now rest from their labors.
Give us grace to follow the example
of their steadfastness and faithfulness,
to your honor and glory;
through Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.