Saints Are?

All saints love other human beings.

It cannot be any other way. In the First Letter of John (4:20) we read: “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, he is a liar; for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”

McGinley also says that, although saints may be different in many ways, they are always generous. You will never find a stingy saint. What is it to be an embryo human saint.

Fred Beuchner describes it this way. “In 1963 I went on that famous March on Washington, and the clearest memory that I have of it is standing near the Lincoln Memorial hearing the song "We Shall Overcome" sung by the quarter of a million or so people who were there. And while I listened, my eye fell on one very old Negro man, with a face like shoe leather and a sleazy suit and an expression that was more befuddled than anything else; and I wondered to myself if, quite apart from the whole civil-rights question, that poor old bird could ever conceivably overcome anything. He was there to become a human being. Well, and so were the rest of us. And so are we all, no less befuddled than he when you come right down to it. Poor old bird, poor young birds, every one of us. And deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome some day, as he will, by God's grace, by helping the seed of the kingdom grow in ourselves and in each other until finally in all of us it becomes a tree where the birds of the air can come and make their nests in our branches. That is all that matters really.”

O God, true source of human wholeness and peace, in a world bearing fresh wounds of suffering and grief, you call us to be a people of healing. Help us to reach out to neighbours in need, to bear one another’s burdens, to weep with those who weep. Give us the grace to share the comfort of Christ with all those who long for his healing touch. Help us to hold in our hearts and show in our lives what we proclaim with our lips: Goodness is stronger than evil; love is stronger than hate; light is stronger than darkness; hope is stronger than despair. Amen

Saints Are?

This week we are going to contemplate the characteristics of a saint; with the first saints are filled with the love of God.

They have chosen God above all others and made a definite commitment to God.

In her book Saint Watching (Viking Press), Phyllis McGinley writes that saints are human beings with an added dimension. “They are obsessed by goodness and by God as Michelangelo was obsessed by line and form, as Shakespeare was bewitched by language, Beethoven by sound.”

I wonder if each of us were to take a health saint check how we would fare on the love and commitment stakes. 

In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you ’love’ your neighbour act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more. If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."

1 John 4:16-17  says, “God is love, and the man whose life is lived in love does, in fact, live in God, and God does, in fact, live in him. So our love for him grows more and more, filling us with complete confidence for the day when he shall judge all men—for we realise that our life in this world is actually his life lived in us.”

Loving Father, I praise You for Your heart of love that is open towards me, and for the many ways that You shower Your love into my life. Keep me ever mindful of Your never-failing love and ever-abiding presence in my heart. Use me I pray, to stream Your gracious love through my life and out to the weary and thirsty souls that You place in my path. This I ask in Christ's name and for His greater glory, AMEN.

Saint

But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. 1 Peter 2:9

There are many worthy quotes that help us define the nature of someone called to be a saint.

“The greatest saint in the world is not he who prays most or fasts most; it is not he who gives alms, or is most eminent for temperance, chastity or justice. It is he who is most thankful to God, and who has a heart always ready to praise Him."

“To live above with saints we love; oh that will be glory. But to live below with saints we know; well that’s a different story.

You are our God and we are Your people,
and we are grateful that You have claimed us as your own.
You have set us in the company of saints past and present,
among those who have made bold witness
to Your goodness and Your truth.
Your Word opens up new futures
where we see no way forward.

You know the places in our hearts
where we are afraid
— afraid of a future we cannot control;
— afraid of losing health and independence
— afraid for the well-being of our children
— afraid that past mistakes will ruin our future

Write the stories of your people deep into our hearts
so that we may learn to trust you beyond our fears.
Give us hearts and minds and spirits
ready to trust and follow wherever your Spirit leads,
confident that you will not lead us
beyond your loving embrace.
We ask in Jesus’ name
whose outstretched arms welcome us
and hold us securely in your grace.  Amen 

Saints

Romans 8:27 : “He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.”

Todays thought comes from the pen of Addison D. Bevere  in his book Saints: Becoming More Than "Christians"  where he writes -

“If you’re anything like me, when you hear the word saint, you probably think of anybody but yourself. We picture stained glass windows depicting Peter, Paul, or Mary. We think of modern-day heroes like Mother Teresa who seem to transcend the rest of humanity. Yet the word saint is innately human; it tells the story of people so devoted to the person of Jesus that they served him with their whole selves, their true selves. The word saint has a deep-rooted history within the story of God’s redemption and the fullness of life that he has for each one of us. A saint is someone who has been redeemed and found worthy by a perfect Saviour.

…Claiming the identity of saint is not about how good a person each of us is—it is about the One who gave his life for us, who deserves our worship, who loves us in all our humanity. Saints is a charge to become more devoted followers of Jesus by encouraging us to expand our view of God and surrender our tendency toward self-worship and control. By expanding our view of God and allowing more space for wonder and mystery, we experience the world through God’s divine perspective; we begin to see our lives as glorious moments of God’s grace.”

We praise and bless you, God of Life.

Bless us with your presence each day of our lives.

We have seen you and have felt your presence

in the history of your people.

God, be present in our history,

in our communities

and be part of our lives.

With love and mercy, you have cared, led, inspired and sustained

your daughters and sons in all generations.

Shine within us, inspire us,

use us to make visible your peace, justice and truth. Amen

You, who are holy for all eternity

sanctify our lives with your blessing.

Saints

Colossians 1:12 Give thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light.

A young boy went with his parents touring around Europe one summer. Part of their tour included visits to the great old cathedrals of the past. As he visited cathedral after cathedral he was impressed the massive stained glass portraits of the disciples and of other saints as he stood in their great empty halls looking through the beautiful stained glass windows.

Upon returning home, he was asked by his Sunday School teacher about holiday on the continent, and what he liked the most. He thought for a moment of those great churches and their grand windows and he said, “I loved the sense of awe and the hugeness of who God must be, and I loved the stained glass windows with their images of the saints.”

“And what is a saint?” his teacher asked. His mind went back to those beautiful windows and he said, “A saint is a person the light shines through.”

That is a good definition of what a saint of God is supposed to be. We have no light of our own, but like the moon, we are to reflect the light of Jesus to a lost and dying world.

Thank you, Father

for the selfless giving of time.

For those often quiet saints

who do not argue their theology loudly

engage in lengthy debates

over complex doctrinal issues

or make their presence felt

within the hallowed space

of Church Council meetings

but simply get on with doing

the business

visiting the sick, the aged

and the lonely

a shoulder to cry on

a listening ear

and the reassurance

of one who cares.

Thank you, Father

for all those quiet saints

who live their faith through their lives

in a world that often forgets

that you were never too busy to listen

never too busy to minister to needs

never too engrossed in work

to bring hope and wholeness into lives.

Thank you, Father,

for your quiet saints. Amen

Saints

Ephesians 2:19

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household

A minister was asked by a man in the community to do his brother’s funeral. Neither of the men had been churchgoers or showed any religious inclinations. The man offered to give £25,000.00 to the church if the preacher would call his brother a saint at the funeral. The brother had been a real sinner in the community and everybody knew it. A friend of the pastor asked, “You are not going to do it, are you?”

The pastor said that he was going to do it because the church needed the money. The word got out that the preacher had sold out to the family for money and the church was filled for the funeral. The pastor stood up and this is what he said, “The man we are burying here today was a liar, a cheat, and a drunk; however, next to his brother who is sitting here today, he was a saint!”

Saint or Sinner?

Lord, I'm not sure what I am or what I ain't.

Am I a saint playing sinner or a sinner playing saint?

I love your truth, but I am not good at obeying, as you know.

I can run with the sinners, but feel guilty when I go.

Some of the things I crave are sin, and Lord, I know it,

But deep within me there is a voice yelling, "Go for it!"

I love to sing the hymns and feel at home when I preach,

But temptation is just to strong when sin is within easy reach.

Saints or sinners welcome me; to their parties I give life.

Trying to be holy with either only leads to stress and strife.

With a squirt gun I'd have charged Hell at just a word from you,

But from both sides of the Cross I was beaten black and blue.

I wanted to be perfect, loyal, brave, and strong,

But each time I quoted You, my brothers said I was wrong.

I sought to spread the Word from Revelation back to Moses,

But neither saints nor sinners could handle very large doses.

So I became discouraged and felt I could not ever win.

What else could I do, if you didn't want me, but return to sin?

My life is deep depression and a dark, lonely night.

I want to come back to You, but I can't find the path of light.

Lord, I feel as helpless as the thief upon the cross.

I can't change my situation and struggling is just more loss.

Jesus, like him, I can only make this request of You.

In Your kingdom, remember me and let me live there, too. Amen

Saints

1 Corinthians 1:2

To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours:

Here is a thougt for All Saints Day - In His Holy flirtations with the world, God occasionally drops a pocket handkerchief. These handkerchiefs are called saints.

Many people think of saints as plaster saints, men and women of such paralysing virtue that they never thought a nasty thought or did an evil deed their whole lives long. As far as I know, real saints never even come close to characterising themselves that way. On the contrary, no less a saint than Saint Paul wrote to Timothy, "I am foremost among sinners" ( l Timothy 1:15), and Jesus himself prayed God to forgive him his trespasses, and when the rich young man addressed him as "good Teacher," answered, "No one is good but God alone" (Mark 10:18).

In other words, the feet of saints are as much of clay as everybody else's, and their sainthood consists less of what they have done than of what God has for some reason chosen to do through them. When you consider that Saint Mary Magdalene was possessed by seven devils, that Saint Augustine prayed, "Give me chastity and continence, but not now," that Saint Francis started out as a high-living young dude in downtown Assisi, and that Saint Simeon Stylites spent years on top of a sixty-foot pillar, you figure that maybe there's nobody God can't use as a means of grace, including even ourselves.

The Holy Spirit has been called "the Lord, the giver of life" and, drawing their power from that source, saints are essentially life-givers. To be with them is to become more alive.

God of the generations,

when we set our hands to labour,

thinking we work alone,

remind us that we carry

on our lips

the words of prophets,

in our veins

the blood of martyrs,

in our eyes

the mystics’ visions,

in our hands

the strength of thousands.