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November 01, 2009
“The saints of God”
Ephesians 1: 1-16
Sunday, November 1, 2009
There is a national chain of restaurants or sports bars called Champps (spelled with 2 Ps). There are two of them in the state of Indiana, both of them in Indianapolis. There is also a restaurant/bar in Lafayette named Champs with one P. It is not a part of the national chain. It is a much different kind of place than the Champps that are spelled with two Ps. Having the same name does make people or things identical.
On the official Presbyterian Program Calendar today is listed as “All Saints Day”. In the Roman Catholic Church, today is also All Saints Day. Although in both churches something special is celebrated, what we actually celebrate is quite different.
The root of that difference is the understanding or definition of the word Saint. In the early church, all Christians or at least all Christians who were considered worthy of the name were considered to be saints. You will find that word used, (with a small s) in both of the Scripture Lessons which have been read in our Worship today. The word saint in these texts means one who is holy. It was the understanding at the time that Christians were called saints not because they were Holy or pure of their own accord or abilities or accomplishments, but because they were made or rather considered to be holy as a result of a long process.
That process is described in Ephesians 1: 3-14 of our second lesson. There we discover that God chose us to be in Christ and Holy and blameless before Him before the foundation of the world. Before the world existed, you were on God’s good list. You were chosen to be “in Christ” to be one who would be redeemed by the Messiah. As such, you were chosen to be pure and blameless before God. Now, before I notice your heads begin to swell because of the thought that you are pure and blameless, let me direct you to the words “Before Him” or Before God. We are not actually pure and blameless, We are considered to be pure and blameless by God because of what Jesus, the aforementioned Messiah has done for us. I will speak more about that in a few minutes.
But first, I want you to notice something else we were destined for. In verse 5 we read “He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ…”. I hope you were listening during the Children’s message as I informed them and you of this great privilege and responsibility that we have been given as His children.
There were many steps in the process of our being adopted into God’s family and being made saints. Many of them occurred in time before we were born. The pivotal event in this process was also predestined before the beginning of the world: the death of Christ. It is because of this act that we have redemption and forgiveness of our sins. So on this day when we honor others and ourselves as those who have been made holy it is proper for us to celebrate the sacrament that commemorates the death of our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins.
But none of this explains why our celebration of all saints day is so different from the celebrations that take place in the Roman Catholic Church on this day.
It has to do with their definition of the term saint. After the New Testament era, for the next few hundred years, many Christians died or were martyred because they proclaimed themselves to be Christians. The church felt that the anniversaries of the deaths of all martyrs should be honored. After their number reached over 500, they instituted a Martyrs day when all could be honored. Then as the martyrdoms became less frequent, other noteworthy Christians who had died natural deaths were recognized for their achievements. These and the Martyrs began to be referred to as Saints with a Capital S. The day of the Martyrs eventually became All Saints day and many Christians began to believe that these Saints had influence with God and began to pray to or through them for help from God.
At the time of the reformation some of the practices the reformers found fault with involved the recognition and veneration of certain deceased Christians as Saints with a capital S.
They called their churches to return to the practice of referring to all Christians as saints (with a small s) not because of their perfect holiness but because God considers them holy because of the righteousness and sacrifice of Jesus.
So All Christians have an All Saints Day, but those who are honored on that day in different churches vary. For us, all saints day is a time to thank God for considering us to be holy and to express our gratitude to God for the Christians of previous generations who believed in and served our Lord Jesus Christ.
It is fitting on this day to celebrate in the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper the act that made us all Holy in God’s sight. It is by the sacrificial death of Jesus on the cross that we have been made holy and become saints.
But I have one more thought. I had a friend who served in Patton’s army in WWII. He had an interesting military career. Because of his intelligence and bravery he kept getting promoted to corporal, then Sergeant, then because of his doubts about the wisdom of his orders and those issuing them, he kept getting demoted back to private. He made sergeant three times. He could not live up to the role of sergeant.
As a believer in Jesus you have been promoted to the rank of saint, one who is considered to be holy by God. Now it is your duty to live up to that title, to live and act and think as would befit a saint.
Pastor David Horner
Faith Presbyterian Church
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Posted by faithpres at November 1, 2009 04:16 PM