Ecclesiasticus 44: 1 – 10, 13 – 14; Psalm 149; Revelation 7: 2 – 4, 9 – 17; Matthew 5: 1 – 12
A sermon by The Rev. Gene Tucker, given at Church of the Redeemer, Cairo, IL; and at St. Stephen’s Church, Harrisburg, IL, by Mrs. Linda Nelson, Licensed Lay Worship Leader; and at St. John’s Church, Centralia, IL, by Mr. Jeffery Kozuszek, Licensed Lay Worship Leader; on Sunday, November 5th, 2006
“After this, I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out in a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb.’”[1]
Every time I hear these verses, something in my heart leaps!
Why?......because they describe the wonderful, cosmic vision of the saints of God (saints with a big “s” – like St. Peter or St. Paul, and saints with a little “s”, people for whom there is no memory – as our reading from Ecclesiasticus says), saints who are gathered around the heavenly throne, praising God.
So, who are the saints? (You know, I think we often use terms we don’t often take the time to define – “saints” would be one of them.) The title “saints” comes from a Latin root word meaning “holy”. So, a saint is a person who shows forth some of the holiness of God, the power of God to transform hearts into God’s image.
The next question that might come to mind is: “how does a person become a saint?”. I think, in many cases, a person begins to show forth some of the holiness of God when they “catch” that holiness from someone else who shows it in their own lives…now, that isn’t true in all cases, but, many times, the saying goes, “Christianity is often ‘caught’ from someone else.”
But, I am getting ahead of myself….
To return to the basic image from Revelation, we see this wonderful, countless throng of people, the saints, gathered around God’s throne……So, in this sermon, let’s explore three things about sainthood:
- The “pull” of God in a person’s life that leads to sainthood
- The ways in which God’s moving and tugging at our hearts leads us to follow Him
- The ways in which we pass along God’s moving in our lives to others
It seems like a good way to illustrate these three things is by using the image of a train, with the locomotive at the front, pulling the train forward….each car, coupled securely to the locomotive, passes along the power of the locomotive to each car behind it.
The first thing we should describe is the “pull” of God in Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ is like a powerful locomotive, pulling us from the place where He finds us into new ways, new directions. Without the power of God, working in Christ, we would be like a lifeless railroad car, useless, stuck in one place. But God, working in the person and work of Jesus Christ, compels us to follow Him (“compel” is a word St. Paul often uses to describe God’s power, working in our lives).
The “pull” of God is strongly countercultural…look at the Beatitudes, read from Matthew this morning….where the world is tempted to say “blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they will be disappointed”, Jesus says, “blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”[2] Where Jesus tells us, “blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth”,[3] the world is likely to add, “yeah, six feet of it”.
Secondly, let’s look at the ways in which “saints” become saints: Like a railroad car, “saints” link up to the power source that compels them along…they remain firmly coupled to the Lord, maintaining an active prayer life, diligently searching Holy Scripture so that the power of God, the pull of God, can be more and more easily seen in their lives.
They recognize that anything that would uncouple them from the Lord also cuts off the power of God, without which they are helpless and useless for God’s purposes in the world. They follow God, working in Christ, in new directions, carrying the good news of God’s saving grace as they go through life.
Then thirdly, we should look at the ways we are able to pass along God’s power to others….We are closely linked with others (as Form IV of the Prayers of the People says),[4] through family relationships, friendships, coworkers, and casual acquaintances. Even the people we meet in the store or on the street are people with whom we are linked (“how often do we think in those terms?” is a good question to pose to ourselves now and again), and to whom we can transmit the power of God that is active and at work in our lives.
So, in what ways might we show forth God’s movement in our lives, transforming us, leading us to new places of understanding about God and the work of Jesus Christ? The old saying says, “preach the Gospel…if necessary, use words!” Everything we do, from the reaction we exhibit when something goes wrong, to the kindness we show toward others (especially those we do not understand or with whom we might disagree), the selfless, self-giving love we show when times are easy and when circumstances are tough, are all ways we can show to others the transformed heart that God desires in Jesus Christ….a heart that has been moved to new understandings.
‘Christianity is often ‘caught’” we said a couple of minutes ago.
That saying might prompt some reflection in our own hearts and minds this morning.
Maybe that reflection could go something like this:
- How easily is the “pull” of God, the power of God, seen in my life? In my everyday actions and reactions, could I be “convicted” of the accusation that I am a Christian, on the evidence available?
- Who has been the link for me, from whom I “caught” the Faith? Was it a parent, a relative, a friend? What were the circumstances, and how was their faith evident in their lives, so that I was helped to see the reality of the power of God at work in their lives?
- How well do I pass along the transforming power of God to others with whom I am closely linked? How well do I show the “pull” of God in my life, so that others might be tempted to link up to God through me?
So, this morning, we praise God for His saints, those with a big “s” and those, like us, who are little “s” saints, in the age in which we live, and in ages past, who have been faithfully linked to God through Jesus Christ.
May God bring us all, through the power and the saving grace of Jesus Christ, to that heavenly throne, where with all the saints in ages past, we may say, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb.”
AMEN.
[1] Revised Standard Version translation
[2] Matthew 5: 6
[3] Matthew 5: 5
[4] BCP, p. 388
