"THE PRIORITIES OF A SAINT"
All Saints' Sunday
November 6, 2016
Bethel Evangelical Lutheran Church
Glenshaw, Pennsylvania
TEXT:
I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together!
Psalm 34:1-3 (ESV)
As we remember today with thanksgiving our departed brothers and sisters in the faith we have to ask: "Just what is a saint anyway?" For some people, a saint is someone who is so designated by the Church. Others see a saint as a person who somehow manages to live an exceptionally pious life--or at least a better life than the rest of us ordinary Christians. And there are a few who would matter-of-factly define saints as Christians who have died. The literal meaning of the word "saints" is "holy ones." Now the word "holy" can be confusing in itself. It can mean "sinless and hating sin" when it is used in reference to God, but it can also mean "set apart," which is certainly more appropriate when we are talking about redeemed sinners. Based on my reading of the Scriptures, I would define a saint as a child of God the Father who has been made holy through the merits of Jesus Christ and called out of the world by the Holy Spirit. Sainthood, to me, has nothing at all to do with what the Church thinks about you, how pious you have been, or whether or not you are still breathing. It is a status conferred by God alone, through the Holy Spirit, solely on the basis of His grace in Christ.
We are all saints, together with those believers and servants of Christ who have gone before us. We are saints simply because God in His mercy has made us saints. But now that we are saints, we have a responsibility to live as saints--to be "the light of the world" and "the salt of the earth" that Jesus says we are (Matthew 5:13-16). And just how are we to go about doing that? In the opening verses of Psalm 34 King David, one of God's Old Testament saints, writes about the priorities of a saint. As we read through these words, three of these priorities emerge, which I'd like us to think about for these few minutes this morning. These three priorities of the saints are worship, witnessing, and fellowship.
Our text begins with Saint David saying: "I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." A true saint of God knows that he or she is not a saint because of any inherent goodness or because of better behavior than that of others or because of any personal accomplishments. A genuine saint attributes his or her life and good works to God alone as the apostle Paul did when he wrote to the Corinthians: "By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me was not in vain" (1 Corinthians 15:10). Because a saint realizes that salvation and life in Christ are gifts of God alone, the saint willingly responds with worship--not just a desire to spend an hour a week in the Lord's house when it's convenient, but a lifelong commitment to dedicate all of his or her energies and resources to glorifying the God who has given us everything, and we do this by serving our neighbor. The saint lives his or her entire life as a "living sacrifice" (Romans 12:1), devoted to thanking God for all of His mercies--especially for His saving grace in Christ, which comes to us in the context of worship as we hear His Word and receive His Sacraments.
Saint David goes on to say: "My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad." Some people associate sainthood with meekness and timidity. They see a saint as a person whose faith is so hidden that no one knows what that person believes. But that's not consistent with the encouragement that the Scriptures give us to take pride in the grace of God that we have received in Christ. I'm not at all proud of the fact that I'm a sinner. On the contrary, I'm ashamed of it. But I take enormous pride in the fact that the perfect Son of God loves this miserable sinner so much that He submitted Himself to the indignities of the cross in order to redeem me from my sin. That's not something to be ashamed of; it's something to boast about. It's something to tell others about so that they can receive the same benefits of salvation that we have and so that they can also be so proud of the Christ who has redeemed them that they desire to tell still others about Him. Those who we commemorate today made their "boast[ing] in the Lord" their life's work. And that's all that He wants us to do: to let others know what He has accomplished for us and for them.
Our text ends with David’s invitation to those who share his faith: "Oh, magnify the Lord with me," he says, "and let us exalt His name together!" The saints of God crave fellowship. Because they realize that they are dependent on God's grace for acceptance and forgiveness, they also know that they are dependent on one another for encouragement. That's why gatherings such as this one--in Jesus' name and around His means of grace--are so valuable. And that's why Christ has called us together to be His body--the Church. None of us is so spiritually strong that he or she can "go it alone." God knows this and that's why He has always dealt with His people corporately. When He created the human species He made them male and female, calling them not to be individuals, but "one flesh" (Genesis 2:24)--partners with one another. He called Abraham not be an individual, but a family--and ultimately a nation. Jesus called to Himself not just one but twelve disciples--a fellowship. The bulk of the New Testament is the Epistles--letters written for the most part to congregations for the purpose of building up their fellowship in the true faith. As saints of Jesus Christ, we need one another. We are a fellowship--a family--a body. When one of us is hurting or when one of us has reason to rejoice, we all have a stake in it. We owe it to one another to share our joys and sorrows, and when those joys and sorrows are shared, we owe it to one another to offer each other comfort and encouragement and support in the name of our common Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Quite a few years ago I read a story about sainthood that impressed me so much that I've occasionally used it in funeral sermons. It's certainly not original with me so if you've heard it or read it before, please bear with me: A little girl was part of a group touring a magnificent cathedral. As the guide pointed out all the liturgical appointments and explained their significance, the little girl seemed to be almost mesmerized by a large stained glass window as her little face was bathed in the multi-colored light that was coming through that window. Since the tour was about to proceed, the guide asked the girl: "Is anything wrong?" She replied: "Who are those people in the pretty window?" The guide answered: "Those, my child, are the saints." That night, as her mother was putting her to bed, the little girl proudly announced: "Mommy, I know who the saints are." Amused but somewhat skeptical, her mom said: "Oh you do, do you? Okay, so tell me, who are the saints?" With the simplicity of a child but a wisdom beyond her years, the little one said: "The saints are people who let the light shine through." Her definition will never make it into Webster's dictionary but her little voice reminds us of a truth that is both profound and Scriptural: God's saints are those through whom He chooses to shed the light of His Son on this dark world. Today we praise our Father in heaven for the light of Christ and for those through whom it has shown and continues to shine on us and we pray that He may cause that light to shine also through us and on others.
Amen.
May the Lord bless your hearing of His Word, using it to accomplish in you those things for which He gave it. May you be enriched and strengthened in faith that you may leave here today to go out into our world armed with the whole armor of God, prepared to be able ambassadors of your Savior Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and He will do it. Amen.