ALL SAINTS SUNDAY 06

There were two evil brothers. They were rich, and used their money to keep their ways from the public eye. They even attended the same church, and looked to be perfect Christians. Then, their pastor retired, and a new one was hired. Not only could he see right through the brothers’ deception, but he also spoke well and true, and the church started to swell in numbers. A fund-raising campaign was started to build a new church.

All of a sudden, one of the brothers died. The remaining brother sought out the new pastor the day before the funeral and handed him a check for the amount needed to finish paying for the new building.

“I have only one condition,” he said. “At his funeral, you must say my brother was a saint.” The pastor gave his word, and deposited the check.

The next day, at the funeral, the pastor did not hold back. “He was an evil man,” he said. “He cheated on his wife and abused his family.” After going on in this vein for a while, he concluded with, “But, compared to his brother, he was a saint.”

William Willimon tells of his friend Stuart Henry who accompanied a father and his little son on their first visit to Duke Chapel. They walked up and down the aisles, heads upturned, amazed at the stained glass windows. The father asked his son, “Do you know who the saints are?”
“Sure,” said the son, “the saints are the people where the sun shines through.”
That’s not a bad definition of a saint. A saint is someone for whom the sun shines through. Those through whom the Son of God shines.

When we think of the saints we often think of that image mentioned in our second lesson from Revelation – the saints gathered around the throne of God in heaven.

A priest was talking to a group of young children about believing in Jesus and going to heaven. At the end of his talk, he asked, "Where do you want to go?"
"Heaven!" they all piped up.
"And what do you have to be to get there?"
"Dead!” one boy yelled.

We often think of saints as simply those larger than life people who have died and have gone to heaven.

In fact, the Bible has a very different definition of the word “saint.” The Bible makes no distinction between what we often call a saint – someone who has lived an extraordinarily holy life, or who has lived a selfless life of service – and the ordinary Christian.

The Bible says that sainthood is not about our deeds or our personality, or our personal holiness, it is about a relationship. According to the Bible, a person is a saint when they have come to realize that their souls are lost and need redemption, salvation. They then come to the only one who can give them that salvation. That one is Jesus Christ. When a person invites Jesus to come into their lives, he sends his representative to live inside of them. That representative is the Holy Spirit.

When we come to Christ and we receive his Spirit we become a saint. It is then that we receive the promise of the qualities of the life we usually associate with sainthood. In other words, one day each believer in Christ will exhibit the qualities that we now view as qualities of a saint. The process of receiving those qualities begins when we become a Christian. The Spirit of Jesus within us Christians then begins to mingle with our human spirits. The old sinful human nature does not want to give up control of our lives to the Holy Spirit, so a spiritual battle goes on inside each believer. The Holy Spirit seeks to change our hearts to the point that the way we act, speak, and believe is changed. For some it happens more rapidly than others. That is why some people seem to exhibit those “saintly” qualities that we associate with that term, while others don’t seem so “saintly.”

Some of those qualities of sainthood are described in Galatians when St. Paul talks about the fruit of the Spirit. These are the true qualities of sainthood – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. We see saintly qualities mentioned by Jesus in his sermon on the mount we heard read in our Gospel lesson today, where he gave what are called the Beatitudes – “Blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, etc. These are the qualities that God is trying to develop in you and me.

So, how can we become more saintly in this life?

First of all, it is not by “trying harder.” The Bible seems to set up some paradoxes that contradict our try harder mentality.

For example, Jesus said, “IF anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

“If you want to be great in my kingdom, learn to be the servant of all.” Let me give you an example of this.

So often in business you hear about the guy who makes it to the top because he ran over everyone to get there. While people who use these types of win-at-all-cost tactics still find a way to succeed, more and more of these people are getting fired, moved to the sidelines, or left behind. Why? Because people have found a better way to win. And it’s a biblical tactic that can help you regardless of your occupation or calling in life.

This tactic is called “pursuing in love.” This isn't a worldly love that seeks your own good. It's a Christian love that seeks the good of the other person. And it’s something Christians should be especially good at. After all, that’s what our Heavenly Father has done with us. He gave us the perfect example by pursuing us in love. He desires to have a relationship with us. So He comes after us.

I recently heard a story about a man who ran for the Georgia state House of Representatives. To win his seat, he had to beat out seven other candidates from his own party. But the next time he ran, he ran completely unopposed. When asked what happened in the years between elections, he said, “After I was elected, I pursued all of the candidates I beat out. I got to know them, and tried to help them in any way I could. When the next election came around, they all knew me and liked me, so they didn’t want to run against me.”

He turned his enemies into friends simply by pursuing them and serving them. He could have snubbed his nose at them instead, and said, “I won, so I’m obviously better than you.” He didn’t have to pursue them. But doing so won them over to his side.

Taking the initiative with other people is a vital part of relationships that most people miss. We’re all too busy hoping others will pursue us. And when they don’t, we complain about it. We all have a desire to be pursued. So think about how others will feel when you pursue them. You’ll make their day.

Here’s how you can get started. Make a list of 5-10 people who you would like to pursue. They might be business associates, neighbors, visitors at your church, or people you meet at a social function. Once you have the list of people, find their phone numbers and write them down beside their names. Then, schedule a time to call them and talk. Don’t call for a favor or to get something you need. Call to serve them and find out how they’re doing.

If it’s possible, stop by and see them or invite them to lunch or breakfast. Pour your life into them. As you develop these relationships, find other people to add to your list and begin to pursue them. You never know where the relationships will take you.

Again, this is totally contrary to the normal ways of the world. But it is just one example of how, by giving up ourselves to God and others, we find our true selves and begin to reflect those qualities often associated with sainthood.

Instead of focusing on trying to be a saint, wouldn’t it be better for us to focus on the one who exhibits all of the qualities of sainthood, Jesus Christ. By drawing close to Jesus daily in prayer, Bible study and worship we begin to follow what John the Baptist said, “He (Jesus) must increase, and I must decrease.”

I’m convinced that as Jesus increases in my life and I decrease, I will begin to reflect those qualities of true sainthood.

How do we do that? I believe the answer is found in chapter 12 of the book of Hebrews. This fits wonderfully into our theme of this All Saints Sunday celebration.

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.”

Let’s examine this passage to see what clues it might hold to help us to reflect more of the sainthood to which we are called.

First, we are told that we are surrounded by such a cloud of witnesses. This is, in part, a reference to the 11^th chapter of Hebrews in which the writer lists various Old Testament saints whose example of faith can be an inspiration to us. In this time of such negative examples of faith seen in the Evangelical leader Ted Haggard’s story, we must remember that there have been such a great cloud of good witnesses that can encourage and inspire us to seek to live saintly lives.

Many people read biographies of secular people. Have you ever thought of reading a biography of a great person of faith? Have you read any of the stories of faith found in the Old Testament, the Gospels and the Book of Acts? I remember reading the story of Brother Lawrence, a 17^th century monk whose main goal was to “practice the presence of God.” That book inspired me to make that a goal in my life.

The second thing the passage from Hebrews from which I just read tells us is that we are to throw off everything that hinders our spiritual growth toward saintly living. St. Paul said to the Ephesians, “Each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor, for we are all members of one body.” That is a simple thing that you can throw off that might hinder your growth. Stop lying and tell the truth.

As we examine our lives God will reveal to us the things that are hindering our growth. With his power we can get rid of those things in our lives. As the writer to the Hebrews says, that may involve getting rid of those actions and behaviors that we know are sinful.

We are to then “run with perseverance the race that is set before us. It is not enough to get rid of those things that hinder us for a little while. This requires perseverance as we continue to walk the path that God has shown us.

Finally, the writer says, “fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith.” It is only as we look to Jesus each day, seek his help, invite him into each part of our lives, that he can then begin to affect the changes in us that will move us on toward saintly living.

There is a wonderful song that I want to close with. It is called “Turn your eyes upon Jesus.” The words are “Turn your eyes upon Jesus; look full in his wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.”