CALLING ORDINARY SAINTS

“Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things -- and the things that are not -- to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God -- that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: ‘Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.’”  (1 Corinthians 1:26-31 NIV)

The church and the world need saints. They need saints more than they need more canny politicians, more brilliant scientific discoveries, more grossly overpaid executives and [professional athletes], more clever entertainers and talk-show hosts. Are there any on the horizon…, either of the extraordinary or the ordinary kind? I think there are. Maybe I should say that there are saints "aborning" by God's grace. [Douglas Steere described "saints" as] those whose lives have been irradiated by God's grace, who seek not to be safe but to be faithful, who have learned how to get along in adversity, who are joyful, who are dream-filled, and, above all, who are prayerful. That is what the church and the world need most. It begins with you.

-- E. Glenn Hinson in “Spiritual Preparation for Christian Leadership”

#5452

THE HEALING POWER OF CONFESSSION

“Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.”  (James 5:16a NLT)

Confession is so difficult a discipline for us partly because we view the believing community as a fellowship of saints before we see it as a fellowship of sinners. We come to feel that everyone else has advanced so far into holiness that we are isolated and alone in our sin. We could not bear to reveal our failures and shortcomings to others. We imagine that we are the only ones who have not stepped onto the high road to heaven. Therefore we hide ourselves from one another and live in veiled lies and hypocrisy.

But if we know that the people of God are first a fellowship of sinners we are free to hear the unconditional call of God’s love and to confess our need openly before our brothers and sisters. We know we are not alone in our sin. The fear and pride which cling to us like barnacles cling to others also. We are sinners together. In acts of mutual confession we release the power that heals. Our humanity is no longer denied but transformed.

-- Richard J. Foster in “Celebration of Discipline”


#4788

A GREAT CLOUD OF WITNESSES

“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 NIV)

Geddes MacGregor in “The Rhythm of God” tells of a priest who, when asked, “How many people were at the early celebration of the Eucharist last Wednesday morning?” replied, “There were three old ladies, the janitor, several thousand archangels, a large number of seraphim, and several million of the triumphant saints of God.” Such a 'cloud of witnesses' answers a deep human urge to be part of something larger, to not stand alone, to give our little lives meaning. One drop of water, left alone, evaporates quickly. But one drop of water in the immense sea endures.

-- Kathy Coffey in “God in the Moment: Making Every Day a Prayer”


#4707

THE TESTIMONY OF THE SAINTS

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us,…”  (Hebrews 12:1 NRSV)

Saints are never once-upon-a-time characters, stuck in the annals of history. They live and breathe when we retell their stories. But more than that, we Christians have this keen sense that these saints, even those who have died, are truly alive. They are with God. They seem, mysteriously enough, more alive now than they were during the life demarcated by their births and deaths -- and they were very much alive then, pulsating with the very life of God. They know that this life is not all there is. For them, the window into the future has been flung open, and they want to testify to us, stretching our imaginations and bequeathing us their courage.

-- James C. Howell in “Servants, Misfits, and Martyrs”


#4455

RADIATING GOD’S LOVE

Until God's will holds sway in our own hearts and lives, we bear no living witness to the Good News of God's transforming love. The gospel is not a general principle of goodness in the world. It is the concrete vision of God's love realized in person; first and foremost in the person of Jesus Christ, then in those of His disciples who have proved willing to become like Him in extraordinary love. They are called saints. Whether widely or little known, it is the lives of such persons that bear power to attract and transform others. It is not their own power. Their lives are simply so transparent to the Spirit that God's love radiates through them.

-- Rev. Marjorie Thompson in “Leading from the Center” Newsletter 


#4432

LIVING ABOVE THE ETHICAL NORM

It is a strange characteristic among human beings, that we tend to treat our criminals and our saints alike.  One lives below the norm, the other lives above the norm, but both have sinned against the norm.  The Christians (in Roman times) lived above the ethical norm.  The fact that we are not persecuted as Christians may well be an indictment.  Is it that we have won the world, or has the world won us?  Are we no longer a threat to the tranquility of sinful humankind by living above the commonly accepted norm?  That is a question that ought to haunt us.

-- Rev. Thomas L. Butts

#4060

TYRANTS AND SAINTS

God plays a great joke on those who would seek after power at any cost. As C. S. Lewis reminds us, with his customary humor and wit, “How monotonously alike all the great tyrants and conquerors have been: how gloriously different the saints.”

-- Kathleen Norris in the forward to Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis

#3953

THE COMPANY OF BELIEVERS

[Lent] involves gathering in community… Lent was traditionally a time to prepare for baptism and for those who had separated themselves from the community to be restored by penitence and forgiveness. It invites us to remember that in the early days of Christianity, “the whole congregation was reminded of the mercy and forgiveness proclaimed in the gospel of Jesus Christ and the need we all have to renew our faith.” None of us come to either the days of Lent or the joy of Easter morning alone. We are joined by the company of believers -- not only the ones who sit beside us [in church], but also those who have made the Lenten journey through the centuries. It is the latter who have left us guidance for how to prepare for the resurrection of Christ. They have left spiritual practices to enable us to walk through the valley of these 40 days and to engage with our sin and mortality and to receive with gratitude God’s love and grace.

-- Nancy Ferguson, from www.ministrymatters.com

#3821

THE MARK OF THE SAINT

Great men and women have always an appeal; some are admirable and some not -- and few are imitable. It is the mark of a saint that he [or she] fulfills the highest ideal given to [humankind], and is at the same time a friend and an inspiration. They tell us what is possible for us, whether we have one talent or ten, whether we live in sorrow or joy, in days of menace or in a time of hope. They combine the almost impossible, weakness with strength, darkness with joy, self-denial with profound humanity and affection. Unlike so many other distinguished [people], in science, literature and statesmanship, they remain ever contemporary in that they reveal the everlasting source of happiness, the secret of how to turn the common into what is perfect and unique. Each... manages to find the true Cross, the emblem of life and hope.

-- Philip Caraman in Saints and Ourselves


#3100