Joyful Saints Series

Roger Fredricksen, a well-known pastor in my hometown of

Sioux Falls, South Dakota, wrote a book titled God Loves The

Dandelions. In it he tells of how he and his wife Ruth were at a

small cabin on the lake in Minnesota. They had just finished

reading the book of Philippians with all its powerful statements on

being able to do all things through Christ, and to have the peace of

God which passes understanding. Roger cracked opened his boiled

egg to enjoy his breakfast, and it came out watery and raw. He was

irritated, for he has a built in prejudice against half-boiled eggs. He

could not, for the life of him, understand why Ruth could not watch

the time when it comes to boiling eggs.

He had just thanked God for the food, and so he tried to be

consistent and not gripe. He scooped away the uncooked part, and

tried to make the best of it. But he was peeved, and then he was

angered at himself for being so peeved over a bit of egg. He left the

table in silence, and he went off to write about new life in the

church. It was so hypocritical, for here he was all bent out of shape

over an egg. It was so petty it was pathetic. He got up and went

back to the kitchen where he blurted out, "Ruth, the egg got to me.

I don't understand myself. It's a beautiful glorious day, and I'm

hung up on an egg. Will you forgive me?" Together they had a

good laugh, and they went on to have a good day.

A saint is not a person who never gets disturbed over trifles, but

one who, when disturbed, confesses, and seeks for a Christ honoring

solution to his or her weakness. The Christian does not differ from

the world so much in what life brings to them. They differ in what

they bring to life. The Christian faces the same trials and

temptations, and frustrations as anyone else, but they are to deal

with them with a transformed mind, that looks for a way of escape

from evil, and a way to overcome evil with good. The saint is not a

figure with a halo, as portrayed in stained glass windows, but just an

ordinary human being who recognizes he or she is chosen by God to

be different and how they respond to life's pressures. Not all saints

are equal, of course, and some do a much better job than others.

The Philippians, for example, were superior in many ways to

other Christians in the New Testament. Even the bad Christians are

called saints, for all who trust in Jesus as Savior are saints. That is,

they are separated unto God for His purpose. Anything, or anyone,

who is separated unto God's service is called holy. Pots and pans in

the temple were holy because they were separated unto the service of

God. People are holy, not just when they are morally pure, and

without sin, but when they are called to be servants of God. The

saints are servants, and all servants of God are saints. It is not a

state of perfection that makes a saint. It is a position. If a person is

in Christ, that is, they are a part of the body of Christ, they are, by

their very position, automatically saints. They are people separated

from the world to be servants in the kingdom of God.

If you are born in the U.S. you are an American. If you are born in

Mexico, you are a Mexican. If you are born again, you are a saint.

There are only saints in Christ, and all the world is divided into

those who are saints and those who are not. Christians will often say

they are not saints, and they mean by this that they are far from

perfect, but the fact is, if you are in Christ, you are a saint. You

might be a weak saint, or fallen saint, or a baby saint, but you are a

saint. If you are not a saint, you are not a Christian, for all

Christians are saints. A saint is not determined by what they are,

but by where they are. If they are in Christ, that is the bottom line.

The degree of holiness varies tremendously, but all who are in

Christ are equally saints. They may not be equally saintly, but they

are all saints. There is no term for half-saints, or quarter saints, or

any other percentage. A saint is a saint, just as an American is an

American. An American can be one who loves his country, or one

indifferent to his country, and even one who is hostile to his country,