Who Are the Saints?

[00:00:01] Please be seated. [00:00:04] In the name of Jesus, Amen. [00:00:12] For all the saints, Pretend for a moment that you'd never stepped inside a church or that you'd never heard God's word. [00:00:28] What would you think the Saints are? [00:00:32] All the Saints, anybody. [00:00:42] The New Orleans football team, the martyrs, The apostles, Those who departed in the faith. [00:01:01] Those are pretty good answers. I mean, the first one was a little facetious maybe. [00:01:09] Right. But I would contend that those answers have. [00:01:17] Are partly colored, at least by experience in the church. Right. [00:01:21] So let's just kind of step back and say, like, what sets All Saints Day for us apart from El dia de los Muertos. Muertos. Muertes Muertos, the Day of the Dead. Right. [00:01:37] Or anything else. Remembering those who have died, who were special to us. Right. Or who we would remember with honor. [00:01:47] Like, when we remember the saints, we're not remembering everybody. [00:01:55] Right. We're remembering them for a particular reason. [00:01:59] So looking out at the multitude of people who have, say, run their earthly course and have died, what makes the saints stand out? What makes us notice them? [00:02:21] What makes them shiny and valuable to us? [00:02:28] Their faith. [00:02:30] Good. Good. [00:02:33] Yeah. So it's not just anybody that we're remembering, and we're not remembering just anybody for any reason. [00:02:39] For example, David King David, he's among the saints. [00:02:47] Not for his sin with Bathsheba. Right. I mean, we don't remember him for. I mean, that certainly makes him stand out in your memory, perhaps, but it's not that that you remember. It's not that that makes him a saint. [00:03:04] Right. So. Well, the same is true for, you know, your grandparents or spouse or someone else that you remember on All Saints Day. [00:03:17] Certain things stand out. And so. [00:03:20] Well, the same is true for us. We mentioned. Joyce reminded us that we are saints of God. [00:03:28] How, though? [00:03:31] Like, when I look out at you all dressed differently, you know, it's not like you're all in robes of white. [00:03:40] What makes you a saint? [00:03:44] And could somebody at your workplace identify you as a saint? [00:03:50] What does a saint look like? [00:03:55] It's a little hard to pin down. I mean, it's not, but it is. [00:03:59] It's like the fog this morning. It wasn't that foggy, but it's been foggy a few days recently. And you look out into the fog and you can, you know, at first, maybe if you're looking at a bank of fog, you don't see anything. But if you really focus, you might start to see shapes, and then they become clear. [00:04:16] Or if you had a pile of wheat that hadn't been sifted. It's got all the chaff in it and whatnot. [00:04:25] You're looking at a bunch of stuff, but you have to sift it to end up with the stuff you're really looking for. [00:04:36] That's how spiritual things are. [00:04:42] You are saints in Christ. [00:04:46] You are a saint because you've been washed in Christ and given a robe of white because his righteousness has covered all your sin. [00:04:59] You're a saint because you're forgiven. [00:05:05] A worldly way of thinking would be to lift up those who have done unusually good things. [00:05:15] You think, like, they had a ton of money and they gave it all away or half of it away for the sake of curing diseases, or they offered themselves in self sacrifice for the sake of others. Maybe they were unselfish, Unusually unselfish. [00:05:39] Okay, good things, perhaps, but God in Isaiah says all their righteous deeds are like filthy rags. [00:05:52] He's not talking about righteous deeds that looked evil. You know, he's talking about, like, righteous deeds that look like the best things, the best kinds of things, the best kinds of works. And he says, you guys are all looking at this and you think this looks good, like, to the world from a worldly perspective, these look like the best kinds of things. But you know what? They're. [00:06:13] They're like filthy rags. [00:06:15] What he's saying is it's not easy to see what righteousness is or what makes someone righteous. [00:06:25] It's actually. He's saying it's not what you would think. [00:06:31] Righteousness, what's good, isn't what you would think. It's actually hard to see, impossible to see unless it's revealed by the power of the Holy Spirit. [00:06:45] Spiritual things are discerned by the Spirit. They're spiritually discerned. [00:06:50] Wholly spiritually discerned. [00:06:54] And you have the Holy Spirit, you have the mind of Christ in Christ. [00:07:01] So when you look at your life, when you look at yourself, think, am I really a saint? [00:07:07] You know, and then remember that your saintliness is hidden from you. It's hidden from worldly eyes. [00:07:16] It's something discerned by faith. [00:07:19] It's something revealed by the Holy Spirit. [00:07:24] That's partly why, like, I'm wearing this up here, right? [00:07:29] It's like we're all wearing different things. [00:07:33] And this is kind of what our life looks like. If I'm wearing normal clothes, just me on another day, only I'm up here talking. [00:07:43] But these, like, everything I'm wearing right now and everything on the altar and the way that our space is shaped, they're all aids. [00:07:54] They're like AIDS for the eyes of our heart to see what's actually going on. The hymn we just sang about the epic story of God's saints going through trials and fighting the fight and coming through. And just like our reading in Revelation, right, These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. [00:08:18] They've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Like all of that is pointing you to realities that are invisible. [00:08:31] It's like in case you've forgotten, which we do all the time, that your life is set in the context of a story of deception and betrayal and rescue, salvation of confusion. Like we're walking through a fog and we think we're seeing one thing, but it's really another thing. [00:08:57] The hymns and God's Word are pointing you to reality in Christ, not that they themselves can give it to you. It's not that. This white robe, that reminds you of my righteousness in Christ, right? And maybe what it's covering up, it's my sin, right? Like the robe does the awe. The robe doesn't do that by itself, right? But you've got God's Word also pointing it out. [00:09:35] And it's the Holy Spirit who teaches you the reality. [00:09:42] So you go home and you've got children to discipline or mother to take care of or a friend to look in on, whatever it is. [00:09:56] And this too is set in the grand story of sin and salvation, of confusion and the light of God's word, Jesus Christ, the light of the world who's come to reveal everything to us. [00:10:14] But it can just seem like, well, this is my duty, which is fine, but God's Word can shed light on the true purpose of what you're doing. [00:10:30] Maybe it becomes a matter of honor, like, I want my children to be well behaved because it reflects on me. [00:10:37] But then I can start to worry about my reputation and what do people think of me based on my right. [00:10:45] And then God's Word comes and says, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [00:10:56] Or just the purpose of. It's like, okay, now my eyes aren't on me. [00:11:01] Seek first the kingdom of God and remember Christ, who's washed you in his blood. [00:11:12] It's like, oh, now, whatever duty you had to do later on today, it's just serving in his kingdom. It's just doing God's will for the sake of your neighbor. And you can take comfort in the fact that you're doing God's will because he's given this to you. To do. And you're his beloved child. [00:11:35] God's word. It shines a different light on all of reality for us. [00:11:47] That's what the Beatitudes are doing. [00:11:50] Notice. Maybe you've noticed before, but notice again how backwards so many of them seem. [00:12:06] Blessed are the poor in spirit. [00:12:09] Not the proud, I mean, but blessed. Happy. [00:12:13] Wouldn't you be happy if you could just be proud of everything you've done and sit back and say this, There you go, world. Check it out. [00:12:22] Wouldn't that be nice? [00:12:25] But the poor in spirit who are humble before God and recognize they're nothing, theirs is the kingdom of heaven. [00:12:37] Blessed are those who mourn. [00:12:39] What? [00:12:41] Happy are those who mourn the true. In any of your experience, you know, but. [00:12:48] Well, blessed are those who mourn their sin and their wretched condition. Seeing things rightly by the Spirit, right? Sifting. [00:13:03] Sifting your own life so that you're not deceived by the things you feel like you can feel good about, but recognize the depth of your sin. [00:13:17] I, a poor miserable sinner. [00:13:20] Well, that's mourning. [00:13:22] We mourn our sin and our wretched condition. [00:13:27] Blessed are the meek, those who don't react. [00:13:35] God's word comes and and says, you're a poor miserable sinner. [00:13:41] How does that make you feel? [00:13:44] Angry or repentant? [00:13:47] God does this for us. He brings us low so that we receive from His Word and we can hear even a hard word and realize, wow, boy was I wrong. [00:14:00] Just worried about my reputation and how that reflected on me. [00:14:08] All of a sudden you're seeing things differently in the light of Christ. [00:14:14] Christ shedding light on our sin, but we not preferring darkness anymore because we've been illuminated by the Holy Spirit and recogn. So we begin to hunger and thirst for righteousness in Christ, leaving behind our sins. [00:14:36] Well, not totally right, but then the Holy Spirit shows us our sin and we repent and we're forgiven. [00:14:42] And God gives us a hunger for what's right in Christ and a love for Him. [00:14:50] And blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. [00:14:57] No longer lashing out at people and such. We're freed to have mercy like Christ has had mercy. [00:15:08] Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. [00:15:12] Christ gives you his mind. [00:15:19] The peacemakers. [00:15:21] They shall be called sons of God. [00:15:26] Sons of God. [00:15:28] I mean, he's called you his children and John says that is what we are. [00:15:36] And children grow up to be their parents, so to speak. And that's what God is doing for each of you. [00:15:48] He's made you his children. [00:15:50] And he's bringing you to maturity in Christ. [00:15:54] He's making you like Christ by His grace. [00:16:02] And so we become peacemakers, no longer pointing out all the. [00:16:10] All the bad things in each other or stirring up problems, strife, but looking to make peace, to bear one another's burdens, reconcile with one another, to be kind and tenderhearted as God has loved us in Christ. [00:16:43] Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you also. First, blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Then expanding on that, blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. [00:17:02] Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. [00:17:13] Well, that's backwards, maybe more obviously than all the rest. [00:17:18] Happy. Blessed are you when you're persecuted for righteousness sake, when others revile you. [00:17:29] There we go. No more worldly honor. But that's Jesus on the cross. [00:17:36] But in his humility, in his humiliation, in his suffering on the cross, he was just sort of driven apart from worldly things. [00:17:50] There Jesus is shining like gold on the cross, His Cross made golden by his pure, undivided heart, seeing clearly what is truly good and holy, what is worth pursuing. [00:18:13] He's doing His Father's will for the salvation of the world. [00:18:19] His love, like gold, is redeeming you and me and covering a multitude of sins, covering our sins. [00:18:32] And so in his suffering, like, is his suffering all that bad? [00:18:37] I mean, it's the worst if we're thinking of suffering as the worst. [00:18:42] And it's the best in the sense of his perfect obedience to His Father. [00:18:52] And so God perfects us in weakness. [00:18:55] Our way is Christ's way. Following him who went before us bearing the cross. [00:19:01] He calls us to pick up our cross and follow him wherever he leads. [00:19:08] And that's gold. [00:19:12] God refines us like gold through that. Not because of anything we've done, not because of anything we've earned, simply because he unites us to Christ and He purifies us as he is pure. [00:19:35] Not easy to see as a gift. [00:19:38] Right now, next time you're suffering acutely, it's like you need God's word to come in and shine a light on it, to sift it all so that all the things you could think of of it, of the suffering of the situation with worldly eyes get sifted out. And what's left is the kernel that was hidden but is revealed by Christ. [00:20:11] That's the purpose of our gathering together. It's the purpose of our life in Christ. It's the purpose of your conversations together. [00:20:20] So when somebody shares the difficulty of what's going on, when somebody shares their life with you, you can maybe see the fog or the chaff that's hiding the reality in Christ and try to help them point. All you can do is point at it. [00:20:45] All you can do is point at what Christ is doing and what Christ wants to do and what Christ has done and his promises that redeem everything in Jesus name, amen.