All Saints Day

Summary

Today is the Sunday in which we lift up and remember all of the saints of God, but
especially those who have gone before us into the presence of the Almighty.
God loves us, each of us, because of and in spite of whom we are.
God loves us because we are his.  God created each of us as wonderful
unique persons, who are full of various talents, passions and purpose.  God loves us because
we are his beloved children.  God only wants the best for us.  God simply wants us to know
and experience the fullness of love in our lives, love that is lived out in our relationships with
ourselves, other people and especially in our relationship with God.

Yet as humans, who have the right to choose and decide things for ourselves, we
sin.  We do things that hurt ourselves, that hurt others, sometimes grievously, and that hurt
God, most of all.

In spite of all that though, one fact remains. God loves you and me,
God loves us even though we can really mess up, even to the point of death. God loves us even as we fail at his commandments and his teachings.  God loves us
even though we are sinners!

Being a saint has nothing to do with us living perfectly or performing
miracles, but everything to do with God claiming us as his own beloved children, and making
us his own, through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ our Savior.

We cannot achieve sainthood, we can only receive it, by the grace of Christ our
Lord.  As humans living our earthly lives we will always struggle with sin.  We will
never get to the point in which we will have conquered sin.  Yet, yet our Lord and Savior
Jesus the Christ conquers sin, and he conquers sin to free us from its consequences, which is
eternal death.  And so it is that as forgiven Christians we are saints in Jesus, even as we
remain sinners on earth.

And Jesus does bless us, but not necessarily with things, no we need to focus upon
how Jesus blesses and with what.  Jesus says he blesses us by giving us the Kingdom of God,
by filling us, by giving us laughter, by giving us strength during persecution.

Jesus turned from talking about God blessing his faithful, to the topic of his faithful blessing the world, even their enemies.
Jesus is teaching his disciples, like us, his 21st century disciples what it is to bless.  It is
to look to the needs of the other person, not simply to focus upon our own.  As Christ’s saints
we need to share what we’ve been given by our Lord with the world.  We need to share our
inheritance, which is our salvation in Jesus the Christ.  We need to tell the world of the eternal
life that Jesus gives.  Everyone must have the opportunity to believe, live in faith, and revel in
the Lord’s love.  For it is he who has called us to believe and so to receive him into our hearts
and become his saints, even as we still are sinners blessed by God here on earth.

Then let us boldly step forth into our lives; into our families and groups of friends, into
our places of work and school, out into the community and the world as Jesus’ disciples and
friends trying to do to others as we would have them do to us, blessing them even as we are
blessed.  So it is that we spread the good news of Christ into the world by blessings others
through our actions and words.
Don’t worry about being perfect or worthy, only Christ is perfect and worthy, but
rather live the life of a forgiven saint, even as you still struggle with life as a sinner.
You are God’s redeemed child and so a saint in the Kingdom of God.  Go forth you
saints of God, go forth in Jesus’ name!

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