You are a saint. - Hebrews 11:32-40
Today we are celebrating All Saints Day. For well over 1,000 years the church has set aside a day on which we remember all the saints who have received the crown of everlasting life. It is a day that is meant to inspire, encourage, and comfort saints, such as yourselves, who have not yet had such a crown placed upon your heads. Today, as we celebrate All Saints day I hope to inspire, encourage, and comfort you as we take a closer look at Hebrews 11:32-40.
But first, we need to make sure we understand what it means to be a saint because there does seem to be some confusion about what it takes to become a saint. I get the impression when most people label someone a saint they are referring to a tolerant person. I hear people say things like, ‘She sure is a saint for putting up with all of his… shenanigans!’. Or ‘He sure is a saint for listening to all of her… feedback!’. As the word “saint” is used in our common vernacular one could get the impression all it takes to become a saint is to put up with the less than desirable behavior of the people around you. Being tolerant is a good thing, but it is not one’s tolerance of other people that makes them a saint.
In some Christian traditions, like the Roman Catholic Church, a saint is someone who has an exceptional degree of holiness and, unless they died a martyr’s death or the Pope waives the requirement, they also have at least two miracles accredited to them. According to the Roman Catholic church only holy miracle workers are saints. Which is why today, all across the world, Catholics are celebrating All Souls day, instead of All Saints day. The Catholic church makes a distinction between saints and souls. On All Saints day they focus on the few holy workers of miracles who are definitely in heaven. On All Souls day they focus on the majority who have died but are not quite good enough to have yet made it into heaven.
If the Catholics are right, then All Saints day has very little to do with people like you and me. Thankfully, the Catholics are not right. Being a saint has nothing to do with a person’s individual holiness or their ability to perform miracles. Listen to how the saints are addressed in 1 Corinthians 1:2, “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy (or saints), together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ—their Lord and ours.” Listen to how the saints are addressed in Ephesians 1:1, “To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.” Listen to how the saints are addressed in Colossians 1:2, “To the holy (or saints) and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse.” Finally, in Hebrews 10:10 we read, “we have been made holy (or we have been made saints) through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Did you notice what all these descriptions of the saints had in common? These verses didn’t say anything about our ability to be tolerant of other people. These verses did not mandate the working of miracles. In every single one of these verses a person’s sainthood is a direct result of their relationship with Jesus. Jesus is the one who sanctifies. Jesus is the one makes holy. Everyone who is “in Jesus”; everyone who believes Jesus is their savior from sin is a saint. You are saints, not because you are tolerant, you are saints, not because you are exceptionally holy (whatever that means), you are saints not because you are a worker of miracles, you are saints because you are in Christ Jesus. Through His sacrifice Christ Jesus has sanctified you, and that is what makes you a saint.
Now that we have established what it means to be a saint, let’s be inspired by some of the saints who have lived before us. Hebrews 11 is sometimes referred to as the heroes of faith chapter. Hebrews 11 is kind of like a hall of fame for the saints. There are some impressive saints mentioned in Hebrews 11. There is Abel who gave a generous offering, Enoch was so pleasing to God that he didn’t die, Noah who built a boat and saved humanity, Abraham who became the Father of the chosen people, Joseph who rescued an empire from a famine, and Mosses who delivered God’s people from slavery. There are so many saints in the hall of fame that the author of Hebrews writes, “32 And what more shall I say? I do not have time to tell about Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel and the prophets, 33 who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the fury of the flames, and escaped the edge of the sword; whose weakness was turned to strength; and who became powerful in battle and routed foreign armies. 35 Women received back their dead, raised to life again.” This is quit the list! Again, none of these people became saints because of their accomplishments but after, by God’s grace, they were made saints, these saints accomplished some incredible things.
Now, I don’t know about you but, when I consider the things the saints of the past accomplished, I can’t help but feel inadequate. I haven’t conquered any kingdoms, shut the mouths of any lions, or routed any foreign armies. I haven’t done anything that I would consider hall of fame worthy. Have you? I mean I showed up to church this morning, I plan to stick around for bible class, and I am going to try my hardest not to cuss out my fellow motorists on the way home, but I am not sure any of that can be considered hall of fame worthy.
It is difficult not to feel inadequate and inferior to saints like Abraham, Moses, and David. But God did not give us this list of saints so that we might feel inadequate or inferior. God gave us this list of saints so that we might be inspired. It is important to note that all these incredible accomplishments were done “through faith”. Kingdoms were conquered, lions’ mouths were shut, and armies were routed “through faith”. The saints of the past were not all that different than the saints of the present. The saints of the past weren’t smarter than you. O.K. Solomon was smarter than you, but most of them were just as smart as you. The saints of the past weren’t stronger than you. O.K. Samson was stronger than you, but most of them were just as strong as you. The saints of the past weren’t more spiritual than you. O.K. Samuel was pretty spiritual but most of the saints of the past were just as spiritual as you. What I am saying is the saints of the past were just like you. They had strengths and weakness just like anyone else, just like you. And just like them you have faith in the God of grace and mercy; faith in the God of forgiveness and salvation; faith that Jesus says, if it is but the size of a mustard seed, can move mountains.[1] Like the saint of the past, the saints of the present can accomplish incredible things as long as like the saints of the past the saints of the present do the things they do “through faith”.
The saints who lived before us can inspire us, and those same saints can also be a source of encouragement for us. Being a saint is not always glorious victories, death defying feats, and astonishing triumphs. Sometimes, many times, perhaps even most times being a saint involves pain and suffering. Halfway through verse 35 there is a dramatic shift from the hall of fame to the hall of shame, at least that is how the world sees the next group of saints. To understand why, take a look at what the author of Hebrews tells us about this other group of saints. “35… Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. 36 Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. 37 They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated— 38 the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground.” How badly do you have to hate someone to saw them in two!?! I have processed a deer; I have sawn through bone before. It’s not easy, it takes a great deal of effort, and it is literally a bloody mess. It is hard to imagine a person would have that level of hatred for another person. I can’t say I have ever experienced anything like it, have you? Out of this entire list, the only thing I can even remotely relate to is being jeered. I’ve been called a bible thumper, I’ve been laughed at for going to church, I’ve been accused of being closed minded and judgmental, but I’ve never been flogged or imprisoned, I have never felt the need to hide in a cave or hole in the ground because I felt I was in danger of being stoned, stabbed, or sawn in two!
It is kind of scary to see how horribly the saints have been treated in the past. But God does not describe how horribly saints have been treated in the past to scare us. God describes how horribly the saints have been treated in the past so that when you are treated poorly you don’t become discouraged. It would be pretty easy to feel like a failure of a saint when pain and suffering come your way if it were not for this description of the sorts of pain and suffering the saints of the past endured. But the sad reality is, when your friends are making fun of you because you are a virgin, when your coworkers roll their eyes at you because you tell them to stop talking behind the boss’ back, when your neighbors don’t want to hang out with you because your sobriety makes them feel uncomfortable that is completely normal. That is how people in the past and in the present treat the saints. That you experience pain and suffering because you are one of Jesus’ saints doesn’t mean you are a failure of a saint, it means you are a normal saint. Instead of discouraging you, in a way, pain and suffering ought to encourage you.
We can be inspired and encouraged when we look to the saint who have lived before us, but, finally, it is the saint who have died before us who comfort us. The author of Hebrews concludes our section, this chapter, and the discussion of the saints by writing, “39 These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised. 40 God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” There are three words in these two verses that I find incredibly comforting. The words are “promised”, “planned”, and “perfected”. Vicar, a preacher could preach a three-part sermon on this verse alone, indeed one could preach a sermon series on the comfort the saints receive in knowing that God made a promise, had a plan, and gave perfection.
All these words direct our eyes to the saints in heaven, and what a sight that is! We see these saints most clearly through the eyes of saint John. Whatever, through faith, these saints accomplished in the past pales in comparison to the paradise that awaits them. John describes the saints in heaven wearing fine white linen robes, waving palm branches as they stand before heaven’s throne praising God. These saints are celebrating like a bride on her wedding day. Whatever pain or suffering existed in the past for these saints has been completely forgotten. Never again will their eyes well up with tears. For the saints in heaven there is no more death or morning or crying or pain.
What a sight it is to see the saints in heaven. You almost get a better look at them when you close your eyes. With your eyes closed you can almost see some familiar face standing among the saint in heaven; you can almost see your grandpas and grandmas, your moms and your dads, your husband your wife and the rest of your loved ones who died in Christ Jesus. But your God does not show you these saints in heaven simply to comfort you as you mourn a loss. Your God shows you these saints in heaven to comfort you with the knowledge of what you have to gain. One day you will stand among the saints in heaven. One day you won’t have to close your eyes to see those familiar faces, one day your tears will be dried from your eyes, and you will stand beside heaven’s saints dressed in fine white linens waving palm branches and singing praises before the throne of God and celebrating like a bride on her wedding day. God tells saints, such as yourselves about a promise He made, plan He had, and the perfection He gives so that you can be comforted.
Today we are celebrating All Saints Day. It is a celebration that is meant to inspire, encourage and comfort you. For by the Grace of God you are in Christ Jesus; you are saints. Amen
[1] He replied, “Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.” Matthew 17:20