Making saints?

 

I visited my grandson’s school this week for Grandparent’s Day. The priest of the sponsoring parish spoke to us about their mission which includes ‘making saints.’ When he said it a ripple of laughter went through the room. We grandparents know our grandkids and we love them, but we know they are no saints, or are they?  While we may think of great souls or martyrs as ‘saints’ the truth is that all Christians are to be saints!  Paul addressed the very ordinary believers in his letter to the Romans as you who "are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ." (Romans 1:7-8, NIV)

Sainthood is not about comparison with other people.  If we want to make ourselves feel more holy, we can always find someone who is doing horrible things, think mass murderers, and by comparison we are nice people! That works the other way, too. If I compare myself to say, Mother Theresa, my sense of sainthood evaporates quickly! Sainthood is not about earning the applause of others, either.  Social media has taught us how easy it can be to construct a public image that is completely disconnected from reality.  We can look saintly for a couple of hours on Sunday or in a moment of service, but are we equally godly when our spouse is aggravating or life is disappointing?  True saints are saintly even when nobody’s looking.

Sainthood is not about compiling a record of good works or holy deeds. Didn’t you think this saint thing was exactly that? Well, it is, kind of. Saints are loving, kind, contented, and godly ….   it is because they are saints. Goodness flows from our identity as God’s own people, from His Spirit. Sainthood is inside out, not outside in.  Saints ought to do things like volunteer to serve in the local fire department, visit those who confined in sick beds, offer to coach Little League, give of their resources to church and charity, join the Peace Corp, be kind to children, adopt a dog from the local animal shelter… are you exhausted yet? But, if you could earn a 'saint' certificate the question becomes, when do you reach the point of getting the award?

Here is the truth- God declares you and me to be saints, not because we’re good enough, but because Christ Jesus gives us status we cannot earn, His perfect righteousness, to us. In common terms, we are saints because of Who we know, not because of what we do! Yes, I really am St. Jerry.  (Stop laughing!)  The practical evidence of that status is still being worked out in my life. Repeatedly Paul addresses his letters to ‘the saints.’  "The Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will." (Romans 8:27, NIV)  He speak "to the saints… the faithful in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 1:1, NIV)

Did that first century Church have a lot of very holy, especially wonderful, extraordinarily spiritually gifted people?  Here is what I know for certain – those people to whom those letters were addressed were Christians just like you and me- some days very good and some days, not so holy at all.  Regardless, in Christ they were and we are always saints. Here’s what we must never forget: a saint is a person who is called to be one of God's own people, whose sins are forgiven in Christ Jesus, and in whom the Spirit of God is presently at work! All those who are ‘in Christ’ are saints. Sainthood is "Not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship..."

Summing up I’d say, we aren't saints because we're better than someone else, or because some church nominates us for a special fraternity, or because we have checked off a certain number of boxes in the good works ledger! We are saints because He called us to be saints. Peter reminds us of the work of the Holy Trinity that is doing a transformational work in us. "I am writing to God's chosen people [saints] . . . God the Father chose you long ago, and the Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed Jesus Christ and are cleansed by his blood." (1 Peter 1:1-2 NLT)

So, dear saint, give thanks today for that high and holy calling. Focus on the faithfulness of the One who called you into His holy family. Then, make it your intent to conform your life to your true identity as one of God's own saints.

The word from the Word says "I beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace." (Ephesians 4:1-3, NLT)

Let God’s call to sainthood shape your thoughts, your words, your hopes, your dreams … your life … today!

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Oh To Be Like Thee

 

Oh to be like Thee

Blessed Redeemer

This is my constant

Longing and prayer

Gladly I'll forfeit

All of earth's treasures

Jesus Thy perfect

Likeness to wear

 

Oh to be like Thee

Oh to be like Thee

Blessed Redeemer

Pure as Thou art

Come in Thy Sweetness

Come in Thy Fullness

Stamp Thine own Image

Deep on my heart

 

Oh to be like Thee

Full of compassion

Loving forgiving

Tender and kind

Helping the helpless

Cheering the fainting

Seeking the wandering

Sinner to find

 

Oh to be like Thee

While I am pleading

Pour out Thy Spirit

Fill with Thy Love

Make me a temple

Meet for Thy Dwelling

Fit me for life

And Heaven above

 

Oh to be like Thee

Lowly in spirit

Holy and harmless

Patient and brave

Meekly enduring

Cruel reproaches

Willing to suffer

Others to save

 

Oh to be like Thee

Lord I am coming

Now to receive

The anointing divine

All that I am

And have I am bringing

Lord from this moment

All shall be Thine

 

Thomas Obediah Chisholm

© Words: Public Domain

His Majesty!

 

Last Saturday, if you were up early enough, you were able to watch the pageantry of the English royals with the coronation of King Charles III and his Queen Camilla. The cathedral known as Westminster Abbey was filled with majestic music, stunning splendor, and ancient ritual.  The coronation included Charles being anointed with holy oil and receiving the coronation regalia which are to note his spiritual role and secular responsibilities as the monarch.  An ordinary man was invested with extraordinary powers – now King Charles III.

With my American culture that does not respect a person simply because of his/her DNA, I am quite thankful that I live in a republic. We give our President an authority to 'rule' on a temporary basis if he turns out to be a fool, we can elect another in 4 years. Not so with a person who ‘inherits’ a throne. So much for my feelings about the royals, however …  I revere one King! His name? Jesus Christ.

Much is made of His royalty in Mark's Gospel, 15, but not in a good way. We learn that those who dragged Jesus before Pilate, the Roman governor, accused him of rebellion, of claiming authority as the "King of the Jews."  Since he led no army, owned no palace, and wore no crown – the authorities accusation was really just mockery. Pilate asks Jesus point-blank - "are you the King?" Jesus acknowledged that he was. He said, “I am not an earthly king. If I were, my followers would have fought when I was arrested by the Jewish leaders. But my Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36, NLT)

Later the governor takes Jesus before the mob and asks, "What shall I do with this king?" The tone is sarcastic, demeaning, belittling. The soldiers who took him from Pilate turned sadistic and beat him. Mark says, "They dressed him up in purple and put a crown plaited from a thorn bush on his head. Then they began their mockery: “Bravo, King of the Jews!” (Mark 15:17-18, The Message) The final indignity was the sign that hung above his head on the cross - "Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews."

Let me ask you today -
Is He your King - in truth, in honor, and with full authority?  OR, is He "Lord" only of convenience?

The Reign of our King Jesus is too often just a formality, a nod to tradition. Some sing of His reign and say the creed that acknowledges His Kingly authority, but the reality shows no respect, sometimes even a contempt, for His authority. While they are not spitting on Him, nor physically mistreating Him, those who profess to serve Him, but show no submission to Him, are abusing the King much the same as Pilate and his soldiers did. Their lack of submission mocks Him before the world.  They acknowledge King Jesus in a way similar to the way I acknowledge the new king of England.  He may be a king but his authority and decisions as a monarch– wise or foolish – will not make much  of a difference for my day to day life.

Jesus is my King of life! He has complete authority to send me where He will, to use me as He wishes, to make any and all demands of me as His loyal subject. I bow my head, bend my knee, and confess that He is Lord. And He welcomes me into His Kingdom. The crowning moment of my existence will be when I kneel before Him in Heaven.

We are much drawn to the humble Savior whose portrait is painted for us by Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John! We love the stories of the Man who was born in a Manger, the Carpenter, the One who took children in His arms, the bleeding Savior of the Cross - and rightfully so. Let us not forget that He is crowned the King and as such, stands to judge the earth! Let us take up His name, serve Him, and make a Kingdom difference in this world - for His honor and glory.Here's the portrait of the King that John paints in the book of the Revelation.

Meditate on the majesty of Jesus as you read his description from the opening lines of the Revelation of Christ, penned by John long ago.

"He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest.
His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow.
And his eyes were bright like flames of fire.
His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace,
and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves.
He held seven stars in his right hand,
and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth.
And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance.

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead.
But he laid his right hand on me and said,
“Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last.
I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever!
And I hold the keys of death and the grave." (Revelation 1:12-18, NLT)

Hallelujah, Thine the glory! Hallelujah, Amen!

(Video of this blog at this link)

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Majesty

Majesty worship His majesty

Unto Jesus be all glory

Honor and praise

Majesty kingdom authority

Flow from His throne

Unto His own His anthem raise

So exalt lift up on high

The name of Jesus

Magnify come glorify

Christ Jesus the King

Majesty worship His majesty

Jesus who died now glorified

King of all kings

 

Jack Hayford © 1981 New Spring (Admin. by Brentwood-Benson Music Publishing, Inc.)

CCLI License # 810055

 

Just being?

We live in a functional society, one in which purpose and efficiency is highly valued. Frankly, I am glad for that. It is gratifying to know that things will run on schedule, that the supermarket will be stocked, that the electrical power supplied to my home is reliable. Personally, I am a guy who lives a structured and organized life. My cars are maintained, my lawn is mowed, my home is clean, my bank accounts are balanced, and dinnertime is 5 pm. (smile!) That’s the way life works for me.

When it comes to my relationship with God, I learned that my appreciation for structure, limits, and efficiency can become a hindrance to a richer worship. God does not operate on my timetable. He does not show up when I scheduled ‘time for Him’ into my day. He invites me to ‘just be’ when I come before Him.  I was recently intrigued by a phrase I read – ‘loitering with God.’   A pastor named Kenneth Tanner (I do not know him) posted about the gatherings at their church. He wrote- “We gather to pray (in song and spoken word), to attend to Scripture, to break bread, and to have fellowship with the poor—not to “get something out of it” but to loiter with God, which has its own rewards. … To contemplate God’s saving acts in Jesus is enough. To take and bless and break and give bread is enough. To intercede is enough. To provide for widows and orphans is enough. It really is.”  That word, loiter, means to “stand or wait around idly or without apparent purpose.”

Christianity is primarily a relationship, knowing God through Christ Jesus.  We are not ‘Christian’ because we hold all the right doctrines, not because we have become morally perfect, or because we are a member of the ‘right’ church. My intent is not to demean the importance of sound teaching, nor do I dismiss the necessity of dealing with sin in ourselves. It is good to have developed convictions about what we believe. But, if we come to assume that those who worship differently, who believe different things about the meaning of the Atonement than we do, or that teach different things about human sexuality, or who use the ‘wrong’ Bible translation in church, or who have differing views than we do about the Second Coming events- we will slip into a religion based on human systems, policies, and cultural expressions. It is quite possible to love our traditions about Jesus more than we love HIM!

Loving Him requires that we learn to ‘loiter’ in His Presence, to wait on Him, to prioritize times of contemplative prayer and worship.

So many Christians simply do not understand this. Even our ‘worship’ services are so often tightly programmed, noisy, full of words with little time for reflection. For me, some of the most wonderful moments in the worship gathering is our time of prayer when we pause and sit while people move to the front of the sanctuary to receive prayer.  God speaks to me in those times!  I appreciate the importance of holding the Cup and Bread of Communion, in adoration of the One who makes me right with God Himself – no words necessary.  This is the Word – “You are members of God’s family. We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself." (Ephesians 2:19-20, NLT)

Jesus made it amazingly clear that pleasing and knowing God is expressed in just two ways. "Jesus replied: ”‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’" (Matthew 22:37-39, NIV)  When we start there, focused on the pursuit of Christ Jesus, ‘all the Law and Prophets’ (the right understandings, doctrines, and practices) will fall into place.

Have you lost sight of the One who makes you alive, the work of the Spirit deadened in you by your rigid commitments to your structures and rules?

Confess your need of Jesus again. Let go of your preferences and invite the Holy Spirit to renew love for your Savior.

Here is a word from the Word. They are the inspired thoughts of a man who had been a devoted rule-keeper, a zealous builder of a religious system that had lost sight of God’s plan. May his aspiration become mine. "I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law, but I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith. As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that, somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead!" (Philippians 3:7-11, NLT)

(Video of this blog at this link)

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In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found
He is my light my strength my song
This Cornerstone this solid Ground
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm
What heights of love what depths of peace
When fears are stilled when strivings cease
My Comforter my All in All
Here in the love of Christ I stand

 

In Christ alone who took on flesh
Fullness of God in helpless babe
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones He came to save
Till on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied
For every sin on Him was laid
Here in the death of Christ I live

 

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave He rose again
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me
For I am His and He is mine
Bought with the precious blood of Christ

 

No guilt in life no fear in death
This is the power of Christ in me
From life's first cry to final breath
Jesus commands my destiny
No power of hell no scheme of man
Can ever pluck me from His hand
Till He returns or calls me home
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand

Keith Getty | Stuart Townend

© 2001 Thankyou Music (Admin. by Capitol CMG Publishing)

CCLI License # 810055