Two Kinds of Saints                                November 4, 2007   

This is All Saint’s Sunday, and in a few minutes during the prayers of the church, we’re going to name all those who died since last year on All Saints Day. We will give thanks for their life with us. We will pray for their families and friends who mourn their absence. As we say their names and we hear the peal of the bell, we will remember that they are now in the hands of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For me, this ritual action is one of the most meaningful ones we do in the year. As the bell rings, I’ll remember those whom I knew. I give thanks to God for all the chance to know and to serve each one. We call them all saints, but this evokes a question. What do we mean by “Saints?”

There are two camps and with differing opinions on what we mean by the word “saint.” In one camp, we have those who think of a saint as one who led an exemplary Christian life, we call them the sanctified saints. The “sanctified saints” are those who were models of Christian life. They showed us the love of God in what they did, what they said, and how they loved the Lord.

For many churches, including Lutherans, there is a traditional list of recognized sanctified saints. St. Luke, St. Mark, St. Matthew, St. John are saints because of the gospel accounts that bear their name. Other sanctified saints include St. Francis of Assisi. We have a statue of St. Francis under the picture of Jesus in our narthex. The Catholic Church adds the list of saints from time to time. For instance, they will probably add Mother Theresa, if they haven’t done so already. She spent her life helping the poor in India.

The other camp sees the saints as those justified by the grace of Jesus Christ as his cross. This is what we can call the “justified saints.” Jesus forgave us at his cross, and promises life to all who will follow him in his resurrection. So these justified saints are the forgiven of their sins who follow Jesus, and we can all hope that list includes our names, as well.

Martin Luther was one theologian who gave the topic of saints considerable attention. He proposed that we are simultaneously saints and sinners. In Luther’s view, as well as St. Paul’s, all else have fallen short of the glory of God, and are thus sinners. For Lutherans, sin is part of our human nature. We are justified only by grace through faith. We need the forgiveness that God offers only through Christ. For Luther, once we are justified, we are also sanctified, not because of what we’ve done, but only by the grace of God. As we follow Jesus, we learn that he declares us saints, and gives us Gods eternal kingdom.

So, what are we doing here today at Grace? Are we honoring the sanctified saints, or remembering the justified saints?  I say we are doing both. We give thanks and recognize the sanctified saints because they are examples to all who follow Christ. But more importantly, we recognize the power of God’s forgiveness and mercy in Christ, who called a person like me and you a saint even though we were yet sinners.

In the reading for this Sunday, we have some hard teachings. Jesus is teaching us about to live in the kingdom of God. He said, “Love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Bless those who curse you.”

Those are tough moral teachings. Love your enemies? Does that include Osama Ben Laden, or other murderers, thieves and the like? Jesus didn’t give any exemptions, nor wiggle room for debate. A sanctified saint has lived out these commands.

But then Jesus was also talking to the justified saints as well. For those who are hungry, poor, grieving, he gave said they are blessed. One of the biblical scholars (Childs) says that the word “blessed” could be translated “congratulations.” Congratulations are the poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. Congratulations to the hungry, for they will be filled. Congratulations to those who weep, for you will laugh in the kingdom of God. Congratulations when people hate you and exclude you, for your reward is great in heaven. In the reality of death, the whole conflict between the justified saints and sanctified saints is overshadowed by the grief of death, and the tragedy of human life.

Jesus is making a promise that in God’s kingdom, our suffering will be turned into joy and fulfilment. Those who are grieving, those who are hungry, those who are rejected by others will be satisfied in his kingdom. Those who know their need of God are blessed. Congratulations! Through faith in Jesus, we can turn our tears of sadness, our hunger, our rejection into a celebration of the kingdom. We can do that by remembering what Jesus did in his cross in resurrection.

When Jesus died on the cross, he was rejected by his own people. He became poor, hungry and thirsty. He endured to pain being striped naked and bloodily beaten by the government. He died as painful a death as his enemies could imagine. Yet, in the hour of his death he prayed for those who killed him. Jesus is not telling us to do anything he did not do himself.  The cross jolts us into facing the truth about our role in the powers of death, and our need for God’s grace.

But Jesus also said, woe to you who are full, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who are laughing now, for you will mourn and weep. Woe to you when all speak well of you, for that’s what their ancestors did to the false prophets. To those who don’t think they need God, Jesus says, woe! Look out, because in the kingdom of God there will be a change, a reversal of all that the world holds dear.

So what wrong with eating, with laughing, and having people speak well of you? Isn’t that what we work for all our lives? Don’t we want a good reputation, enough money and food to live a good life? Don’t we want to laugh and be happy? Why is Jesus saying woe to us!  Isn't that the point of life, to make sure that we survive? That our family survives? That our loved ones and close friends survive? Isn't our power and ability to put off death be what counts for power in this world?

Being powerful in the everyday world means not having to face death, even if it is all around us. This human quest for power allows us to think: 'Hey, other people may die today, but I don’t have to worry about that today.' Jesus is warning those who are wealthy enough, well-fed enough, and sufficiently entertained enough to think that they are escaping death and suffering. Our natural sin is a power-move that puts death and suffering off onto other people.

What counts for power and life in this world is actually an evasion of the reality of our own death and our own poverty in death. The only way to survive for eternity comes with faith. And by faith, we learn that God has given us a world that can have justice so that all can eat, that God is a God of life. God calls us to be stewards of life, not just for ourselves, but for the whole creation. The true power of faith comes when we seek justice for the poor, the hungry, and those who are rejected and have no power.

I don’t think I could ever hope to be one of the recognized saints. There will never be a St. Laird.  My only hope is to be one of the justified saints by the grace of God in Christ. When God raised him from the dead, it showed us, once and for all, what God is doing with us. Jesus was showing us the way of and the way into God’s kingdom. And it is an eternal kingdom, where there will be no suffering of any kind. And we are finally forgiven sinners and all saints when we follow Jesus into his kingdom.

On All Saints Sunday, let us take every death personally. I don't mean that in the sense of feeling guilty for it. No, by God's grace we are also forgiven our chasing after human power that leads to so much death. Let us take death personally so that we can live by faith in God's power of life. That leads us to sharing God’s grace with others. This gives us freedom from our paralysis in the face of death. Trusting in Christ sets us free to dedicate our life to sharing life with others, not as a precious treasure to horde. 

What I am saying this All Saints Sunday is this. Blessed are those who know their need of God, for they receive God’s eternal kingdom Though Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen