"A friend is always loyal, and a brother/sister is born to help in time of need." Proverbs 17:17
LISTEN: Blake Shelton, "God Gave Me You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCf2PoTuh4Q
This Sunday, Nov.1, All Saints Day, marks an ancient feast day in the Christian community. For some, the saints are those people who have gone ahead, "the church triumphant those who have fought the "good fight, finished the race, kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). There are traditions that lift up some lives of select individuals as exemplary, models for us to follow. Others understand the saints both living and dead, the entire body of Christ, made holy through the life and sacrifice of Jesus. Saints are referred to in the New Testament (1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:1; Acts 9:13, 32; 26:9-10; Rom. 1:7; 1 Tim. 6:10; Heb. 13:24;Rev. 16:6 among others). So we celebrate the extraordinary acts of faith done by ordinary people, people long forgotten, known only in the memory of God. We remember the dead, but it is also a day to remember the living, striving saints around us. We thank God for saints in our lives.
What is clear in the story of saints is their impact on others. Saints inspire us and support us to live the best life we can. Our calling as Christian is to be a "saint," a holy one. We become a saint by following Jesus and with the guidance and care of other saints. The spiritual life we are called to cannot be perfected alone. We need each other. We need family, we need community. Who else can love us, guide us, correct us, give us reinforcement and example, pray with us? Even Jesus sent his disciples out in twos in ministry (Mark 6:7) -- the life of faith requires encouragement and support. However it is even more than this. The image of our Triune God reveals that Love can only be fully expressed in community. What we bear witness to is not just a message, what a way of living, which can only be modeled by interaction.
So on Nov. 1, remember the saints -- the "larger than life" saints, and the ordinary saints who shaped you, gave you values, brought you to faith in Christ. Give thanks for those saints who sit in the pews next to you, who pray for you, sing in the choir, count the tithes/offerings, who make sure coffee hour is ready, who run the ministries that keep the church vibrant and alive.
I give thanks for you, saints of Christ, as we walk this journey together, to unleash the holy that will make us shine.
PRAY: "God makes us into the saints that can minister in today's world. Thank you for the saints that have brought me this far."
"A friend is always loyal, and a brother/sister is born to help in time of need." Proverbs 17:17
LISTEN: Blake Shelton, "God Gave Me You"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCf2PoTuh4Q
This Sunday, Nov.1, All Saints Day, marks an ancient feast day in the Christian community. For some, the saints are those people who have gone ahead, "the church triumphant those who have fought the "good fight, finished the race, kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7). There are traditions that lift up some lives of select individuals as exemplary, models for us to follow. Others understand the saints both living and dead, the entire body of Christ, made holy through the life and sacrifice of Jesus. Saints are referred to in the New Testament (1 Cor. 1:2; Eph. 1:1; Acts 9:13, 32; 26:9-10; Rom. 1:7; 1 Tim. 6:10; Heb. 13:24;Rev. 16:6 among others). So we celebrate the extraordinary acts of faith done by ordinary people, people long forgotten, known only in the memory of God. We remember the dead, but it is also a day to remember the living, striving saints around us. We thank God for saints in our lives.
What is clear in the story of saints is their impact on others. Saints inspire us and support us to live the best life we can. Our calling as Christian is to be a "saint," a holy one. We become a saint by following Jesus and with the guidance and care of other saints. The spiritual life we are called to cannot be perfected alone. We need each other. We need family, we need community. Who else can love us, guide us, correct us, give us reinforcement and example, pray with us? Even Jesus sent his disciples out in twos in ministry (Mark 6:7) -- the life of faith requires encouragement and support. However it is even more than this. The image of our Triune God reveals that Love can only be fully expressed in community. What we bear witness to is not just a message, what a way of living, which can only be modeled by interaction.
So on Nov. 1, remember the saints -- the "larger than life" saints, and the ordinary saints who shaped you, gave you values, brought you to faith in Christ. Give thanks for those saints who sit in the pews next to you, who pray for you, sing in the choir, count the tithes/offerings, who make sure coffee hour is ready, who run the ministries that keep the church vibrant and alive.
I give thanks for you, saints of Christ, as we walk this journey together, to unleash the holy that will make us shine.
PRAY: "God makes us into the saints that can minister in today's world. Thank you for the saints that have brought me this far."
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