2 June 2006

In writing about how saints are to equip themselves Joseph Sittler asks this very obvious question.

Just who are these saints? Here again is a word that has become almost stylized by 1500 years of Roman Catholic usage. In the New Testament, "the saints" refers to those who have heard and obeyed, who have had their lives inwardly transformed by what they have heard and believed in the community of faith. Luther has a wonderful sentence about the saints: "To be a saint is to be a forgiven sinner."

Rather than having us reach up to be saints, God reaches down and makes us saints. For me, this fundamental difference in regard to how the Roman Catholic church views saints and how Lutherans view saints is one reason why I am now Lutheran. There are saints with lives we would consider faithful beyond what we might see in our own lives or others. And yet, God has already made us saints through the water of baptism. No special actions on our part...no worthwhile or significant heroic acts of faithfulness...just water and the word of promise from our God. It is that action by God that inspires people to live as though God's word is indeed the power to transform and make things new. There need not be a certain criteria that is filled in order to be a saint. The only miracle in my life has been how God continues to forgive me and send me and equip me to trust a vision for life that promises life. That word transforms me. It transforms in ways you may not be able to see...and yet it transforms me without end.

Connection: So saints of God, how will this day take shape knowing that from the beginning you are forgiven and loved by God and that is how the day will close?!?

Praise to you, O Gracious and Loving God, for we are given a gift that not only has the power to calm our souls but also the power to bring to life a bit of the love that you have offered to us. Keep us living fresh within your promise of forgiveness and hope in you alone. Amen.