Saints

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2).

This week we celebrate All Saints’ Day, the day in the Church year that focuses our attention on those who have gone before us into heaven. But what exactly is a saint, and how does a person become one?

As we look back in the Old Testament, we see the first reference to saints in 1st Samuel chapter two, where Hannah is singing a hymn of praise to God. At one point she says, "For the foundations of the earth are the LORD's; upon them he has set the world. He will guard the feet of his saints, but the wicked will be silenced in darkness." Interesting, isn’t it? It sounds as if Hannah considers the saints to be living persons. But she is not the only one to speak this way. In Psalm 30, David urges Sing to the LORD, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. Clearly, David considers some living people to be saints.

This understanding of sainthood is found in the New Testament as well. In Acts chapter 9 we read as Peter traveled about the country, he went to visit the saints in Lydda. And Paul begins his letter to the Philippians with these words: Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons.

So how does the Bible define a saint? The answer can be seen easily in the first verse of Paul’s letter to the Ephesians: Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus. Paul tells us that anyone who has faith in Christ is a saint. You do not have to die to be a saint. You do not have to perform miracles to be a saint. The Church does not make you a saint. Because of your faith in our Lord Jesus, God has declared you a saint.

But what about heaven? Isn’t heaven filled with saints? Of course it is. Since all believers in Jesus are saints, and our Lord takes the souls of all believers to heaven, heaven is filled with saints. Whether you are alive or dead makes no difference—sainthood is a gift of God that we receive by faith.

Some people pray to saints in heaven; where did this notion come from? Centuries ago, when Germans were little more than barbarians, they practiced a religion that included ancestor worship. They would pray to their deceased parents, grandparents, and to great heroes from their past. They believed that the spirits of the deceased were interested in their lives and could still exert some influence on the world in a supernatural way. The Germans also prayed to a variety of gods, but they believed that your own ancestors would be more sympathetic to your needs than a god would be.

These were the Germans who overthrew the Roman Empire. With the destruction of the government, the Christian churches of Europe found themselves unprotected from barbarian attack—so they made greater efforts than ever before to become accepted as part of the German way of life. As the German warlords were introduced to Christianity, one teaching that they particularly liked was the idea of saints in heaven; to the Germans, this sounded like their belief in ancestor worship. In their effort to win over the Germans, churchmen did not protest too loudly when these new Christians began praying to the saints of the Bible instead of to their own Germanic ancestors. The church leaders tolerated the German’s misunderstanding for the sake of peace. And, over time, the church began to teach that there were some deceased people in heaven who could answer prayers. Of course, not just anyone could do this, only people who were so holy that they could perform other miracles as well. And eventually, the modern catholic understanding of sainthood became official church teaching.

Martin Luther rejected this understanding of sainthood as part of the Reformation. He looked to 1st Timothy chapter 2 where Paul writes, there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all men. Luther saw that praying to anyone besides Jesus is wrong, because such praying ignores the Mediator whom God had appointed as our only way of approaching Him. Furthermore, there is nothing in the Bible supporting the idea that the saints in heaven are aware of what is going on in our daily lives, or that they can exert any influence on earth. The Bible teaches that we are to put our trust in God alone—to place our trust anywhere else is to commit idolatry, the worship of false gods.

Today’s Epistle lesson shows us the true benefits that we receive from the saints who now rest from their labors. The writer to the Hebrews says, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Who comprise this great cloud of witnesses? This statement refers to all of chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews. In that chapter, we are reminded of these men and women of faith who now reside in heaven with the Lord: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, Samuel and David. These people are only a sampling of those who were saints in life who are now saints in heaven.

Were these men and women perfect people? No. Noah got drunk. Abraham despaired of God giving him a son through his wife, and fathered a child by a serving woman. Jacob used trickery to get the birthright and the blessing that were due to his brother. Joseph started life as a braggart. Moses disobeyed God’s explicit command. David got another man’s wife pregnant and arranged for her husband’s death to cover up the indiscretion. Similarly, the New Testament pulls no punches in showing us how Peter denied knowing Jesus and how Paul persecuted the early Christian church. The Bible is harshly honest in showing us the weaknesses of God’s saints. But God preserves the record of these weaknesses for our comfort. Have you ever felt guilty about cheating someone? Jacob did, and God forgave him and took him to heaven. Have you ever felt guilty about having sex outside of marriage? Abraham and David did, and they both received mercy and eternal life. Have you ever felt guilty about hiding your Christianity around others? Peter did, and our Lord restored him as first among the apostles and a founder of Christ’s Church on earth.

One reason that the Bible has preserved details of the lives of the saints is to give us comfort. Even the people closest to God were still sinners; even they needed to be forgiven. In our moments of despair, we are reassured that we too can be forgiven by Jesus, because there are men and women in heaven who have been forgiven for sins every bit as bad as ours.

Another reason that the Bible tells us of the lives of many saints is to provide us with role models. Abel’s life demonstrates how important it is that we offer our sacrifices to God with the right attitude. Noah’s life shows us how important it is to trust in God. Abraham’s life teaches us that God listens to our prayers. Joseph’s life is an example of how God can bring wonderful blessings out of seemingly hopeless situations. Rahab the prostitute reassures us than no life has been so misspent that God cannot wipe out the past and provide a new start. The lives of the saints show us how God’s love offered through Jesus can improve us, point us in the right direction, and rescue us from the despair that sin inevitably causes. This is why our lesson states therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.

The third reason that the Scriptures tell us of these saints is to give us hope when things look bleak. Many of the saints suffered greatly during their lives, yet none of them gave up on God. And because they steadfastly put their trust in the Lord, they were received into eternal life; in Hebrews chapter 11 we read: All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth. People who say such things show that they are looking for a country of their own. If they had been thinking of the country they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. Instead, they were longing for a better country--a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. This is the same reward that Jesus promises us all in Revelation chapter 2 verse 10--Be faithful, even to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life.

The theme of the saints is faith. Men and women are declared saints of God because of their faith in Jesus, the Mediator sent by God to die for our sins. The saints of the Bible were sinful, imperfect people, but because they had faith in God’s mercy they were forgiven and accepted into heaven. Their lives model for us how important faith is, and what a life of faith looks like; we read in Hebrews chapter 11, faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for. Faith is what God strengthens in us as we read about the lives of the saints; it gives us the assurance that God will be with us through all the times that we fall flat on our faces, all the times that the devil trips us up, all the times that the worries and problems of the world make our lives seem pointless. God’s gift of faith, strengthened by the examples of the saints, gives us the confidence to face life’s challenges because we know that Jesus forgives us, Jesus walks with us, and Jesus will soon put an end to suffering and take us to join the saints with Him in heaven.

We don’t pray to saints but we do honor their memory, because God uses the lives of the saints to encourage us in our Christian walk. All of us know saints whose lives have served as an example to us of God’s grace. They may be parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles; they may be a pastor, a teacher or a friend who always seemed to be walking close to God. Whoever those people are, they stand side by side with the saints of Holy Scripture, united together in eternal joy as they rest from their labors in the embrace of our Lord. I pray that as you live the life of a saint, God will use you to strengthen the faith of others, just as the saints in heaven have served to strengthen your faith.