How would you recognise a saint?
Often we think of saints as perfect people.
Or people who do no wrong.
Or people who do everything right.
Yet the bible gives us a different idea of who saints are.
So the bible is the one place we need to go
to recognise who and what God sees as saints.
And it is here that we see straight away two things about saints.
They are living…
Often when God used Paul to send a message to a congregation he would address them as saints.
For instance in 2nd Corinthians chaper 1, the Christians in Acachia are addressed as Saints.
They weren’t dead they were alive.
And the thing this shows us is that all Christians God sees as saints.
Now some of you maybe saying, hold on a moment!!
How can God see me as a saint?
Or perhaps you maybe saying, surely God does not think that person over there is a saint?
Now the truth is He does!
There are two things we need to do to see God’s perspective on who and what a saint is.
First we need to forget about some of our preconceptions of what a saint is.
And second we need to allow God to speak to us about who saints are.
So let’s now allow God to speak to us as we open our bibles to Ephesians chapter 1.
Lets begin with verse 11 and 12.
In him (that is Jesus Christ) we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.
The ‘we’ who Paul is talking about are those people who are Jews, and are also Christians.
That is they are Jews by nationality but have accepted the Christian faith as the only way to follow God.
In a number of places in scripture, the Jewish people are referred to as God’s chosen ones.
Here God, through Paul is highlighting, that yes they are chosen,
but even as chosen people their future still depended on Jesus.
And then in verse 13 we hear,
And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.
Believing in Jesus and the future he has secured, is essential the criteria for saints.
Saints rely on Jesus for their future.
When you look at some one,
the questions to ask are:
Do they believe that Jesus offers them a future?
Do they rely on Jesus for that future?
It is not how good are they?
Or whether they have done many good things?
But do they believe that Jesus offers them a future, and they rely on Jesus for that future?
And we need to ask the same question of ourselves.
Not just once but often.
Relying on Jesus is essential to be considered a saint!!
The pre entry point to being a saint is that you rely on Jesus for your future.
Relying on Jesus means you are eligible to be a saint.
Not relying on Jesus means you have no hope of being a saint.
Probably one of the hardest things for us to take is the simple truth that in heaven amongst many of the good people we will be surprised at the number of murderers, thieves and other trouble makers.
And why will they be in heaven because they relied on Jesus for their salvation future.
What is even more difficult is that in hell,
amongst some of those we thought who deserved to be there,
will be plenty of people who we thought did wonderful things, they did good and apparently did not much wrong.
People like charity workers, people who went to church and even served on church committees and councils, those who stood for good causes.
And why are they there?
Because they wouldn’t rely on Jesus for salvation.
As a result of relying on Jesus something develops in a Christian, a saint.
Hope becomes part of the characteristics of a saint.
Now this is hope that is generated because of the power of God.
Hope occurs when we see what God is doing.
Now we often think about God being active in terms of salvation.
Salvation is what God clearly promises everyone.
Which we know is possible because of Jesus death and ressurection.
But the hope we have from God is not just limited to salvation.
Remember, God is not on leave until Jesus returns again.
God also gives us hope now.
Remember God is always present with us and working in our lives.
However we don’t always recognise this.
Partly because we don’t always understand How he is working.
One way we can understand how God works is to dive into the stories of God in action through scripture. This can lead us to see how God is working today.
So as you read your bible ask yourself this question, What is God up to?
When you read your bible ask the question, What is God up to?
Recently there has been some research completed of mainline congregations that are experiencing growth and transformation.
The researchers looked at what was common amongst these congregations.
Some of these congregations were very different.
And there were five things they discovered.
One of the things they discovered is that these congregatiosn were all asking a key question,
What does God want us to be doing here?
Not, what do we think we should be doing?
But what does God want us to be doing here?
And these congregations who asked the question of what does God want us to be doing here, all had an amazing amount of hope!
Why because to answer the question,
what does God want us to be doing here,
the leaders and many members of the congregation have taken seriously the need to interact with God daily by reading scripture.
To find out who God is and how He operates.
Then they allowed God to lead them in their personal lives and their life as a congregation.
They saw their future didn’t depend on
what they want or can do
but because they were hearing and putting into action God’s approach and perspective to life.
Their hope is based not on their ideas, but on Gods.
Saints have hope.
This highlights another characteristic about Saints,
as verse 13 indicates,
they hear the word of truth.
Saints in relying on God, listen to God.
Saints hold on to what Proverbs chapter 3, verse 5 to 6 says
Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight
Saints regularly hear what God is saying.
As verses 18 and 19 suggest
Saints are constantly having the eyes to their heart opened.
It doesn’t say they are having the eyes to their mind open, but their heart.
The heart is where we develop relationships.
And the heart of the saint is where God develops an intimate relationship with them,
as He reveals himself to them.
Christianity is not something we develop,
or a religion of us being primarily inspired.
Christianity is primarily a relationship,
where God is constantly revealing himself to us.
This is what it means to have the eyes of our heart open,
God is revealing himself to us.
And for us to know God we need to read his scriptures regularly,
to worship constantly
and to participate in fellowship opportunities where the bible is discussed.
I like what I was once told by a person when they said they used to think God was very distant from their lives until they began reading his letter to them every day.
And when they were a little confused they would discuss it with others to see what they thought.
Verse 13 also indicates something else about saints.
They are people who have God’s special mark or seal on them, the Holy Spirit.
It is a strange term, but think about this way.
At the start of each school year I have learnt to diligently mark each of my children’s clothes with our surname on it.
Why?
Because I want them and others to recognise it is theirs.
Especially them.
Zackary will not bring home a jumper unless he is 100% sure it is his.
And the problem is all school uniforms all look the same, except for that special mark.
Likewise God marks all believers with the Holy Spirit
not so He knows who are part of His family and who are not,
but so we know that we are God’s special children.
Remember having the Holy Spirit, means we are connected to Jesus.
In Acts 1, Jesus said he will give his believers the Holy Spirit.
Saints are given God’s spirit.
And when were you given God’s Spirit?
When does God mark all Christians, as His special ones?
At their baptism.
And the prime role of the Holy Spirit is found in verse 14.
The Holy Spirit is a down payment, a bond, a deposit
so we know we that Jesus has saved us.
And in verse 15 and 16 we discover some more about saints,
15 For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.
As we have already discussed saints are people who have faith in Jesus.
They are also people who love each other.
And this love is a love that is seen and felt.
Otherwise how would Paul know about it.
Something for us to think about, how is our love noticeable to others?
Not so we can show off, bit so others can see God in action!
Also Saints are people who don’t live out their faith alone, they don’t work alone.
One of the interesting facts about the term saints in the scripture,
is that there is not one reference to a saint.
The bible only ever talks about saints.
Saints are always part of a group, a team.
Saints never live or work alone.
Put it this way if you are a saint, it is because you are part of something bigger.
And that something bigger is God’s family.
Think for a moment how this affects you as individual.
How this affects us as a congregation or parish of the Lutheran Church of Australia.
We never do things in isolation.
Saints are always part of something bigger than themselves.
This doesn’t mean we need a committee for everything.
Verse 22 and 23 also speak a little bit more about this.
22 And God placed all things under Jesus’ feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
The church and the body refer to the group of saints.
As a group Saints are a part of something that Jesus heads.
As a groups of saints we are not alone.
We are to support others and we can access support.
But more importantly we are part of something that God is in control of.
That God is driving.
So we have seen that saints are not perfect,
Not sinless people.
In fact the term sinner and saint accurately describes all people.
Saints are people, who live!
In fact every Christians is a saint.
Saints believe and have faith in Jesus and that He has secured their salvation.
They rely on Jesus.
They have hope.
They listen to God, by reading His word, attend worship and discuss what God says with others.
They are marked with the Holy Spirit.
Saints show love to other Christians.
They don’t work alone.
They are part of something that God is in control of.
So who is a saint?
It is probably best summed up by someone who said,
"they are sinners who keep on going and make it easier for us to see God.”
Or as a little boy said one day,
Saints are like a stain glass window.
They are most beautiful when the light of God shines through them.
Today as we reflect on those people who have been saints in our lives
Let us remember they have been resourced by God
and God has been using them to encourage us in the faith,
so that we to may encourage others, be saints to others
Let us pray
AMEN
