You Too Can Be a Saint
Twenty-third after Trinity
All Saints’ Day
November 1, 2015
Homily Text: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
“She’s got to be saint, ‘cause Lord knows that I ain’t” says a country song.
What is a saint? We think of those who are remembered in the church year. Or people who are long-suffering like the wife of the country.
But what does the New Testament mean by “saint”? Each of the 62 times it is used in the King James New Testament it used of ordinary Christians such as you and I. According to the New Testament meaning, you too can be saint.
What is a saint according to 1 Corinthians 1:2?
1. Saints live in a cultural context. They are the church of God which is at Corinth.
The saints in Corinth are “the church of God.” The word church is formed from two words - one that means “out” and one that means “to call” - which together mean “the called out ones.” In the secular world it meant people called to assemble. God called Old Testament Israel called Old Testament out of Egypt and assembled them as his people in the wilderness. The were his congregation. They also held solemn assemblies when they came together to worship God.
Those who received this letter were the people God called out of the population of Corinth and assembled as his congregation.
They lived in Corinth. Corinth was located on an isthmus between the mainland of Greece and the Peloponnesian peninsula. It was a Roman colony, and was governed by Roman law. It’s free people were Roman citizens. It was a large and thriving seaport.
Today we might also call is a diverse city. In Corinth many cultures and religions came together. There were many pagan temples and a great deal of immorality, especially of the sexual sort.
Paul wrote to saints who were the church of God in Corinth. We are saints who are a congregation of the church of God in Roanoke and branch of the church in the United States. We live in an increasingly diverse society. We are no longer an overwhelmingly European culture to which immigrants assimilate. Nor are we a society dominated by Christianity. Those who follow other religions and those with no religion are increasing in proportion.
The question is, Can we be saints in such a cultural context? Yes, we can be saints as the Corinthians were. It is challenging but it may prove good for us to live in a culture in which it is not easy to be Christians. We will have to be decided Christians who chose to pay the price of being saints.
2. Saints have a status. They are sanctified.
The Greek words “sanctify”, “saint”, and “holy” are all related. The underlying meaning is “to separate” or “set apart.”
It used to be that brides received fine china and silver for wedding gifts. These were not for everyday use. You pulled those out for holidays or when you had special guests. The china and silver we set apart or or sanctified.
The Lord also had a sanctified people, the Israelites. He spoke to them at Mt. Sinai:
...you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).
The Lord delivered them and sanctified them as his special people.
In the New Testament the church is the new Israel:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession... (1 Peter 2: 10).
God has set us apart from the world to be his people. Once the Corinthian saints had been a part the society of false religions and wickedness, but God had set them apart to be his own. Paul wrote to them:
But you were washed, you were sanctified,you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11)
Paul says, “You used to be a part of the pagan and immoral society of Corinth. People who live that way cannot be part of God’s kingdom. But God intervened. He sanctified you to be his people.”
Who are we? We are people God has set us apart from the world to be his own. We “have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). This is our identify. We don’t belong to the world. God has set us apart as his people redeemed by Christ.
3. Saints have a calling. They are called to be saints.
By God’s choice and action we already are sanctified. What we are by status, we are also called to become in life. God sanctified us and now calls us to be saints.
The Corinthian saints had in every way lived lives typical of immoral pagans. Coming out of such a background, many had not yet had not grasped the life God called them to live. They formed rivalries around the personalities of apostles and preachers. Christians took each other to court to settle disputes. A man in the congregation had an immoral relationship with his stepmother, and the church did nothing. Some members did not not understand that involvement with prostitutes was incompatible with the Christian life. Their worship was chaotic. They misused the gifts of the Holy Spirit. At the Lord’s Supper some drank too much and treated their poorer brethren with disdain.
Their actual lives were very different from their sanctified status. So Paul reminded them, “God set you apart. You are holy; now be what you are. Be holy and live holy lives.”
To be holy is not the same as being sanctimonious or somber. It is not incompatible with enjoying life. We do not need to live in monasteries to be holy. Holy people are involved in the world. They have jobs and families. They enjoy this world and its lawful pleasures.
But they separate themselves from sin and wickedness. They do not indulge themselves in selfishness and sinful lusts. They turn their backs on the life that displeases God. They reject sin, and embrace God’s will. They mean it when they respond to the Commandments, “Incline our hearts to keep this law.”
Ultimately holiness is rooted in the heart. Saints consecrate themselves to God. They say, “Lord, I am yours. Change me as you will. Help me to be saint in heart and life.”
God calls us to holiness in fellowship with each with each other and with Christians everywhere. He calls us to be saints along with all those in every place who call upon the Lord and are saved - people of every tongue, tribe, people, and nation. We need each other and the whole church to be holy. God calls us to fellowship in this parish. He also connects us with saints in the whole world. We cannot live as saints if we are disconnected from one another and from other Christians. The saintly life is not an isolated life but a life lived in community.
You are a saint. God set you apart and consecrated you as his by the blood of Jesus. He calls you also to live as a saint. We come to this Table having confessed that the remembrance of our sins is grievous to us. If we come here and by faith eat the flesh and drink the blood of our Savior, and then live wicked lives, we profane this Table. We come to get assurance we are forgiven and also to draw strength from Christ to live as saints.
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Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body[a] and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
pagan religions were intertwined with the economic and social life of the city. It was a city well known for its practice of all sorts of immorality, especially of the sexual variety. The Corinthians, most of whom were Gentiles, had been full participants in the pagan and immoral life of the city.
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They have a status: they are sanctified
They have a calling: to besaints
They have a connection: other believers.
You Too Can Be a Saint
Twenty-third after Trinity
All Saints’ Day
November 1, 2015
Homily Text: 1 Corinthians 1:1-3 Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their's and our's: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
“She’s got to be saint, ‘cause Lord knows that I ain’t” says a country song.
What is a saint? We think of those who are remembered in the church year. Or people who are long-suffering like the wife of the country.
But what does the New Testament mean by “saint”? Each of the 62 times it is used in the King James New Testament it used of ordinary Christians such as you and I. According to the New Testament meaning, you too can be saint.
What is a saint according to 1 Corinthians 1:2?
1. Saints live in a cultural context. They are the church of God which is at Corinth.
The saints in Corinth are “the church of God.” The word church is formed from two words - one that means “out” and one that means “to call” - which together mean “the called out ones.” In the secular world it meant people called to assemble. God called Old Testament Israel called Old Testament out of Egypt and assembled them as his people in the wilderness. The were his congregation. They also held solemn assemblies when they came together to worship God.
Those who received this letter were the people God called out of the population of Corinth and assembled as his congregation.
They lived in Corinth. Corinth was located on an isthmus between the mainland of Greece and the Peloponnesian peninsula. It was a Roman colony, and was governed by Roman law. It’s free people were Roman citizens. It was a large and thriving seaport.
Today we might also call is a diverse city. In Corinth many cultures and religions came together. There were many pagan temples and a great deal of immorality, especially of the sexual sort.
Paul wrote to saints who were the church of God in Corinth. We are saints who are a congregation of the church of God in Roanoke and branch of the church in the United States. We live in an increasingly diverse society. We are no longer an overwhelmingly European culture to which immigrants assimilate. Nor are we a society dominated by Christianity. Those who follow other religions and those with no religion are increasing in proportion.
The question is, Can we be saints in such a cultural context? Yes, we can be saints as the Corinthians were. It is challenging but it may prove good for us to live in a culture in which it is not easy to be Christians. We will have to be decided Christians who chose to pay the price of being saints.
2. Saints have a status. They are sanctified.
The Greek words “sanctify”, “saint”, and “holy” are all related. The underlying meaning is “to separate” or “set apart.”
It used to be that brides received fine china and silver for wedding gifts. These were not for everyday use. You pulled those out for holidays or when you had special guests. The china and silver we set apart or or sanctified.
The Lord also had a sanctified people, the Israelites. He spoke to them at Mt. Sinai:
...you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:6).
The Lord delivered them and sanctified them as his special people.
In the New Testament the church is the new Israel:
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession... (1 Peter 2: 10).
God has set us apart from the world to be his people. Once the Corinthian saints had been a part the society of false religions and wickedness, but God had set them apart to be his own. Paul wrote to them:
But you were washed, you were sanctified,you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God (1 Corinthians 6:11)
Paul says, “You used to be a part of the pagan and immoral society of Corinth. People who live that way cannot be part of God’s kingdom. But God intervened. He sanctified you to be his people.”
Who are we? We are people God has set us apart from the world to be his own. We “have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). This is our identify. We don’t belong to the world. God has set us apart as his people redeemed by Christ.
3. Saints have a calling. They are called to be saints.
By God’s choice and action we already are sanctified. What we are by status, we are also called to become in life. God sanctified us and now calls us to be saints.
The Corinthian saints had in every way lived lives typical of immoral pagans. Coming out of such a background, many had not yet had not grasped the life God called them to live. They formed rivalries around the personalities of apostles and preachers. Christians took each other to court to settle disputes. A man in the congregation had an immoral relationship with his stepmother, and the church did nothing. Some members did not not understand that involvement with prostitutes was incompatible with the Christian life. Their worship was chaotic. They misused the gifts of the Holy Spirit. At the Lord’s Supper some drank too much and treated their poorer brethren with disdain.
Their actual lives were very different from their sanctified status. So Paul reminded them, “God set you apart. You are holy; now be what you are. Be holy and live holy lives.”
To be holy is not the same as being sanctimonious or somber. It is not incompatible with enjoying life. We do not need to live in monasteries to be holy. Holy people are involved in the world. They have jobs and families. They enjoy this world and its lawful pleasures.
But they separate themselves from sin and wickedness. They do not indulge themselves in selfishness and sinful lusts. They turn their backs on the life that displeases God. They reject sin, and embrace God’s will. They mean it when they respond to the Commandments, “Incline our hearts to keep this law.”
Ultimately holiness is rooted in the heart. Saints consecrate themselves to God. They say, “Lord, I am yours. Change me as you will. Help me to be saint in heart and life.”
God calls us to holiness in fellowship with each with each other and with Christians everywhere. He calls us to be saints along with all those in every place who call upon the Lord and are saved - people of every tongue, tribe, people, and nation. We need each other and the whole church to be holy. God calls us to fellowship in this parish. He also connects us with saints in the whole world. We cannot live as saints if we are disconnected from one another and from other Christians. The saintly life is not an isolated life but a life lived in community.
You are a saint. God set you apart and consecrated you as his by the blood of Jesus. He calls you also to live as a saint. We come to this Table having confessed that the remembrance of our sins is grievous to us. If we come here and by faith eat the flesh and drink the blood of our Savior, and then live wicked lives, we profane this Table. We come to get assurance we are forgiven and also to draw strength from Christ to live as saints.
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