Christian Life

‘I’m no saint!’  We may well have used this expression to defend or excuse a mistake we have made.  This Sunday falls on All Saints’ Day and that’s a good reason to ask, ‘Well, just who are the saints?’

All Saints’ Day is a Christian celebration that is fixed by date in our calendar, like Christmas Day.  It has fallen on November 1st since its transfer from an earlier feast, well over a thousand years ago.  It could be said to be a common feast, as it is about celebrating all … including those who were not honoured here on earth.  It is a day, therefore, when the Church thinks of those who have lived and died in Christ, known or unknown.

In some Christian traditions, saints are designated after hundreds of years.  I don’t think that’s a helpful take on what is meant by ‘the saints’.  Today we recall the lives of those Christians who have gone before us.  To do so is not idolatrous, but part and parcel of what it means to grow in our understanding of faith and life.  We recall the noble lives of those who have served Jesus Christ.  It is an opportunity to celebrate their courage and faith, but in a real sense it is also a time to celebrate the heavenly hope to which they aspired.

A saint is a person whose life has been transformed by Christ and, therefore, it follows that the Christian Church and community is an assembly of the saints.  Our difficulty is that we too often put our saints on pedestals and destroy ordinary believers by pointing out their fallibility at every opportunity.  Ambrose Bierce defined a saint as ‘A dead sinner revised and edited.’  Thankfully in this life! (Gal. 2:20)

The Book of Revelation has a series of visions in which the writer speaks of Jesus Christ –

•  as the One who is ‘victorious’ – 19 : 11-21
  
• as the One that binds evil – 20 : 1-6
  
• as the One who will sit at the great assize – 20 : 7-15

Our passage this evening is part of a lengthy vision which stretches from the beginning of Chapter 21 to 22:5 – and tells of the New Jerusalem.  The broader context is important to note because the concept of the saints makes much more sense in the wider setting.  The vision opens up with a cosmic transformation and its pictorial language powerfully reminds us that a new beginning is possible.

The word ‘saint’ comes, of course, from the Latin word sanctus which means ‘holy’.  The title has been ascribed throughout church history in different ways … for example the Apostles and Paul were soon given the title by many areas of the Church.  During the first century it was extended to martyrs, of which there were increasing numbers.  Throughout the years, people felt it proper to take a saint’s name at confirmation or baptism.  During the Reformation, Martin Luther felt the idea had been abused.  Instead of broadening the concept, there was for a time a narrowing to specific biblical characters only.

But the word ‘saint’ in scripture is used in a general as well as a particular sense … for example in Paul’s letters, he gave the following ascription, ‘To all the saints …’ (Phil. 1:1)

It follows, therefore, that a saint is someone in whom God the Holy Spirit dwells and who has a vision of God’s purposes.

‘New Jerusalem’ is a phrase that John uses on three occasions (3:12; 21:2, 10), is connected and, therefore, needs to be understood in a real sense with ‘the old Jerusalem’ –

• The old Jerusalem had become typified by selfishness and disobedience.  It was common to talk of Jerusalem as ‘the Holy City’ (Isaiah 48:2; Daniel 9:24; Matthew 5:4).  The city identified with Israel and virtually signified the people of God.  The emphasis on moral purity reinforces the image … and the Psalmist picks up that particular theme (Psalm 24).  However, God’s people had not lived up to the aspiration he had placed in their hearts.
  
• The new Jerusalem is not the old rejected, but restored and with a sense of hope for the future … where people would dwell with God.  John talks of a genuine new reality: ‘See, I am making all things new.’ (v.5)  The new creation which was inaugurated through the coming of Jesus (2 Cor 5:17) has now come to fruition.  This is the hope of all who trust in God – and underscored by John’s powerful declaration, ‘It is done!’ (v.6)

Text: Revelation 21 : 2 –
‘I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God…’

There are many misconceptions about saints.  Lucy told Charlie Brown, ‘I have examined my life, and found it to be without flaw.  Therefore, I am going to hold a ceremony and present myself with a medal.  I will then give a moving acceptance speech.  After that I will greet myself in the receiving line.’  Then she concludes sadly, ‘When you’re a saint, you have to do everything yourself.’

So what are we to make of the saints … and just who are they?

Saints are those whose ordinary lives have been captivated by the vision of Christ 

We must ensure that we do not restrict our picture of saints as portrayed in relation to ‘otherness’, which is so difficult to grasp.  The writer to the Hebrews comments: ‘Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great 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.’ (Hebrews 12:1)  This helpful insight tells us there is a race to run and we are surrounded by the victors of every past contest – and they give us great encouragement.

Who do you think of in relation to saints and martyrs?  I think of Polycarp, the aged Bishop of Smyrna described as ‘firm as an anvil when it is smitten’; I think of John Bunyan in Bedford Gaol; I think of missionaries who left Australia to serve on distant shores; I think of the Wesley brothers; and I am sure, like me, you think of those who have inspired you in your Christian walk.  They surround us and are cheering us on. 

What is it about these saints that inspires us and calls us on to better things?

• They saw life beyond themselves

I do not want to make a statement which indicates that living the Christian life is about belonging to another world, but it is true that saints are Christians who have been captivated by a vision.

As one writer helpfully observed, ‘We are like dwarfs, seated on the shoulders of giants.  We see more things than the ancients, things more distant, but it is due neither to the sharpness of our sight nor the greatness of our stature.  It is simply because they have leant us their own.’

Life is gathered up in Jesus Christ.  Life is brought to a beginning and an end in him.  John writes, he is ‘the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end.’ (v.6)

Once we have grasped the nettle of the meaning of life, we see it as not about our own self-achievement, but what we can contribute to others’ existence.  Tied to the quality of a person’s life is the value of serving others.  ‘If you serve, you should do so with the strength God supplies, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.’ (1 Peter 4:11)

• They saw themselves as motivated by Christ

A W Tozer contended, ‘We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God’.  We ask ourselves whether we are motivated by the love of God.

In the area of motivation we see what a person’s life is really all about.  It is not for us to point out the wrongs in other people, but to be conscious of our own motivation.

Today many leaders are drawn into the area of ‘motivational speaking’ and people will pay significant fees to listen to such speakers.  On the sports field many a team has struggled in the first half of a match and, in the dressing room at half-time, a few minutes from a gifted coach can turn the game around.

Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in The Gulag Archipelago, offered a serious thought on power and how faith in God can change things for us.  ‘Power is a poison, well known for thousands of years.  If only no-one were ever able to acquire material power over others.  But to the human being who has faith in some force that holds dominion over all of us and who is therefore conscious of his own limitations, power is not necessarily fatal … But for those, however, who are unaware of any higher, power is a deadly poison.  For them there is no antidote.’

• They saw others through the eyes of Christ

The world around a person is the context in which they must be made into the image of Christ.  This must make all of us question the position of self in terms of others.

J Oswald Sanders, in Spiritual Leadership, warned that ‘Egotism is one of the repulsive manifestations of pride.  It is the practice of thinking and speaking much of oneself, the habit of magnifying one’s attainments or importance.  It leads one to consider everything in relation to self rather than in relation to God and the welfare of his people.’

Martha Ostenso, in a collection of humorous quotations, is reported to have said, ‘Edith lived in a little world bounded on the north, south, east and west by Edith.’  It may be humorous but it is painfully penetrating.

Saints are those whose lives are lived with a concern for others – and that is because they see the world through the eyes of Jesus Christ.

Saints are those whose characteristics have been determined by the vision of christ 

The concept of ‘All Saints’ can be helped by thinking of ‘the Church Militant’ and ‘the Church Triumphant’.  The Church Militant is the church engaged in the current struggle … and the Church Triumphant is the church that has gone before.

The relationship between the two is critical, because everyone is involved.  There are no impassive onlookers.  We are urged on by the ‘saints in light’.

The encouraging cheers are the shouts of the saints and the apostles whose voices and deeds serve as a reminder that we are not alone.

• The acts and deeds of the saints are motivated by Christ

We must lift our understanding out of stained-glass windows and pious prayers – and see the practicality of the Christian life.  The saints are those who see the injustice of our society and what is wrong about the way we live … and are unafraid to speak out.

Francis Schaeffer wrote a great deal about living out our Christian faith today.  He wrote, ‘This is not an age in which to be a soft Christian.’

Our Christian living has to be spelled out in a way that is able to speak boldly to the issues in our contemporary society.  We must be able to speak about the futility of the conflicts that dominate our news headlines every day, the issue of immigration, and the people who we know will be left behind when the so-called ‘economic recovery’ kicks in.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was one person whose writings I selected to capture people’s imagination when they come into our Wesley Centre here in Sydney: ‘Give me a love for God and for people as will blot out all hatred and bitterness.’ 

• The lives and priorities of saints are down-to-earth

There are times in which Christians can be tempted to live above both themselves and the practical realities of life.

I share a story with you to point out not some special gift on my part, but rather the misunderstanding of the Christian life that so often exists.

I began my ministry in Plymouth in the West of England.  My first manse was a two-bedroom apartment at the top of about sixty stairs.  When I left in the morning I hoped not to return too many times during the day! 

I remember the occasion when our caretaker, George, was taken ill.  It was one of those ‘all-hands-on-deck’ occasions.  I took on the responsibility of cleaning the stairs – or at least making sure they were decent and tidy.  A few weeks later, a colleague from elsewhere popped in to see me and said he wanted to talk with me about something very serious.  You can imagine I wondered what it was.

He said that he had seen me cleaning the stairs and was concerned that, if I wasn’t careful, the church would get used to my cleaning the stairs and that wasn’t my job!

Of course it was only short-term, but the comment did make me think that sometimes we see what we do and who we are out of all real perspective to our calling in Christ. 

• The power and purpose of saints are made possible through the Holy Spirit

The Moravians described the Christian life in this way: ‘Living the Christian life depends not only upon our own effort but upon God the Father who, in Jesus Christ, accepts us as heirs of God (Gal 4:4-7) and strengthens and sustains us (Phil 4:13).’  Such life is made possible through the Holy Spirit.

God’s life in us reflects the fellowship of the Holy Spirit and makes Christian living a reality.  He initiates, sustains, educates and perfects people in holy living.  The love, therefore, that flows through people is the love of God … maintaining and strengthening the Christian life permeates the whole person.

Bishop How’s great All Saints’ Day hymn ‘For all the saints’ is wedded with a marvellous Vaughan Williams tune – and one verse says so much:
From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
Singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost.  Alleluia!

Because of what God has done – all those who seek to live the Christian life are gathered up in the great vision of being with him for ever.

Saints are those who will inherit the fruits of the vision of Christ 

Because ‘saints’ live close to God, their vision is not only captivated by Christ, but also granted the benefits of:-

• Seeing beyond ‘sorrow’

Isaiah 25 speaks of a vision of a new heaven and a new earth (Is 25:6-9) and a similar but enhanced picture comes from John in the Revelation.  In the ‘new Jerusalem’ the old rules will not apply anymore – no pain, no sorrow, weeping or death.  Instead God will dwell in the midst of his people, always visible, always accessible.  Heaven is a community of grace, love and forgiveness.

The Christian way is often lived in the face of sorrow, pain and adversity.  Our joy is not based on having things go our way, but on the unshakable conviction that God is with us, despite what occurs in life.  The vision of the future helps to maintain us in the present. 

• Understanding beyond themselves

The vision of the new or heavenly Jerusalem is one that comes down from heaven, like a brilliant jewel.  Through the city flows the crystal clear water of life, sustaining the tree of life, which yields fruit all year round.  Because God is at the centre, there can be no night, pain or evil.

Our lives are often interrupted by –

• Night – which sees wrong too often triumphant.
  
• Pain – which tears at the heart of human experience.
  
• Evil – which bears no logic in the exercise of action.

A saint is one gentle enough to say, ‘Please be patient with me; God isn’t finished with me yet!’

• Seeing and, therefore, finding

In C S Lewis’ The Last Battle, one of the opposition who had fought Aslan’s forces all his life, discovered in a vision that Aslan was the true Lord of Narnia.  The soldier expected to be killed and was then confused when Aslan welcomed him warmly.  The lion told him that because he had searched long and hard for the true God, he had found what he was looking for.

George Bernard Shaw, on the other hand, once sarcastically commented that he wanted to be around when the meek inherited the earth so that he could see the unmeek take it back.  Cynical but so wrong! 

When we are wronged or attacked, we do not have to fight with the same weapons.  At the core of Jesus’ teaching is a new way which opens up the gift of eternal life.

Thomas Merton, the twentieth century Trappist monk who died so prematurely, observed:  ‘It was because the saints were absorbed in God that they were truly capable to seeing and appreciating created things, and it was because they loved him alone that they alone loved everybody.’

A Christian minister was appointed to an inner-city appointment where there was a vast population, mindless vandalism and much unemployment.  The house provided was hard to live in and expensive to maintain.  A nearby factory put out fumes and made life very uncomfortable.  The church was poor with no practical help available to maintain the building. 

Each Sunday it was the minister himself who rang the bell, made sure the heating or cooling was operating, handed out the books and conducted worship.  He looked out on a handful of worshippers and heard his own voice echoing in an almost deserted building.  He would feel almost alone – until he came to what is known as the Sursum Corda where he prayed, ‘Therefore, with Angels and Archangels and all the company of heaven …’ 

Heaven was about them – it is All Saints’ Day!

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