All saints of God

Long ago in Sunday School I learned a hymn: I Sing a Song of the Saints of God*. It remains one of my favorites because of the emphasis on the fact that we are all saints of God. We may never be recognized with our own 'day' in the church calendar, but we each live our lives in sincere hope that we are doing God's will. The songs say, "I sing a song of the saints of God, patient and brave and true, who toiled and fought and lived and died for the Lord they loved and knew. 

This past weekend I heard 2 sermons. Each was presented by a dedicated pastor/priest-a saint of God. Both were offered for the upbuilding of the hearers. One spoke about Christ’s ‘new commandment…[to] love one another’, noting that as we live this commandment we become more like Jesus and change the world. The other based his sermon on Romans 16:17-20, urging his hearers to beware of those who might destroy the community of faith, and stating that such people should be removed until they change their ways.

I could not help but be struck by the contrast. Yet both these preachers were sincere in their words and spoke to build up and encourage their audience. Each felt the Spirit working in their life. In fact, each is a saint of God.

One speaker referenced John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” noting that the “way of love is the way of life”. This was most fully shown at the Cross. Listeners were reminded that ‘we are not the center of the universe-God is’. Therefore, our life needs to look like Love so that the world may know Christ through us. This preacher took the broad view that our Christian lives lived in Love will change the world.

The other was speaking from concern for the good of the whole when urging that divisive entities must be rooted out. The congregation had previously experienced great distress from similar attacks and for love of the whole, the pastor stated that the evil must go. While admitting that from the outside, this might look un-Christian, he pointed to Paul’s words to the church in Rome “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to keep an eye on those who cause dissensions and offences, in opposition to the teaching that you have learned; avoid them. For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own appetites, and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded. For while your obedience is known to all, so that I rejoice over you, I want you to be wise in what is good, and guileless in what is evil. The God of peace will shortly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

The pastor’s concern for keeping deceivers out of the ‘flock’ relates to the other speaker’s comment that ‘religion’ can be hijacked when the “golden calf of self [is] raised”. (Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: Not in God’s Name, Confronting Religious Violence). Because it is not rooted in Love, the same self-centeredness that caused the Israelites to form the golden calf in the wilderness, can destroy churches, families, countries, even the world. The pastor was, in fact working to protect the congregation from destruction by keeping trouble-makers out. The sermon was a declaration of love for the people of the congregation. With the hymn this pastor was proclaiming "They loved their Lord so dear, so dear, and his love made them strong; and they followed the right for Jesus' sake the whole of their good lives long."

Without knowing all the details, I dare not judge whether the one pastor might have tried loving those who were a negative influence. Perhaps the love and reconciliation was offered and rejected. Perhaps the dissension was too deep rooted to be allowed to linger and grow and destroy. The pastor felt led by the Spirit to speak out against this division and to work to bring about healing in the congregation so people could find their way to living the commandment to Love one Another.

We are called, as followers of the One who gave the new commandment of Love, to live a life that looks like Love. The other preacher stated that the ‘way of Love is a game changer. It changes us, it changes the church, it changes the world. We should not be ashamed of the way of Love.’

It is not easy to live under the new Order that says, ‘give up self to live in love for one another’. Yet there is the promise that ‘if you love me, you will follow me’ in the path of Love that makes room for all. The way of Love liberates and is life-giving, while the way of self is destructive. With one another we ARE called to be saints of God who "lived not only in ages past; there are hundreds of thousands still. The world is bright with the joyous saints who love to do Jesus' will. You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store, in church, by the sea, in the house next door; they are saints of God, whether rich or poor, and I mean to be one too." 

As we look at the saints of God in our lives, I hope we can see where they, and we, are living out the new movement that will indeed turn the world around. The way of Love breaks down dividing walls-of race, culture, religion, fear, anger and unites us. As the image says, "It will be OK" because God is with and in each of us. No matter how difficult it is to live the Way of Love-God is there. 

Consider who you know who might show you more fully how to live the Way of Love.

Take time to think about how you might give up some of self, in order to more fully show the Love of God.

Next time we’ll return to our series about the work of the Spirit by thinking about how the Spirit bears fruit in a life given over to following God. 

*1. I sing a song of the saints of God, 
patient and brave and true, 
who toiled and fought and lived and died 
for the Lord they loved and knew. 
And one was a doctor, and one was a queen, 
and one was a shepherdess on the green; 
they were all of them saints of God, and I mean, 
God helping, to be one too. 

2. They loved their Lord so dear, so dear, 
and his love made them strong; 
and they followed the right for Jesus' sake 
the whole of their good lives long. 
And one was a soldier, and one was a priest, 
and one was slain by a fierce wild beast; 
and there's not any reason, no, not the least, 
why I shouldn't be one too. 

3. They lived not only in ages past; 
there are hundreds of thousands still. 
The world is bright with the joyous saints 
who love to do Jesus' will. 
You can meet them in school, on the street, in the store, 
in church, by the sea, in the house next door; 
they are saints of God, whether rich or poor, 
and I mean to be one too. 

 (I Sing a Song of the Saints of God, by Lesbia Scott)

Let Love be Sincere

Last week we looked at the call to be ‘brave’ and live Spirit-filled Pentecost lives. How do we do that? John Stott suggests that one way is to really live the guidelines found in Romans 12:9-16. For the next few weeks, we’ll look at the attributes of these verses and what they might say to us in our Christian walk.
St. Paul says “Let love be genuine”. Other translations say “Don’t just pretend to love others” (NLT), “Let love be without hypocrisy” (NASB), “Let love be without dissimulation” (NKJV). The NIV translates the verse “Let love be sincere”.
Just what does ‘sincere’ mean? We may use a word and not really stop to think about what it really means because we are sure we know. The dictionary says sincere means ‘honest and open, in an unaffected way, based on what is truly and deeply felt.’ In other words our love should be real, honest, and true toward God and one another.
Real Love…the first thing that comes to my mind is the Velveteen Rabbit. We all know the story of the toy rabbit who eventually becomes real. Early on, he talks to the Skin Horse and learns what it takes to become real.

What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."
"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.
"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."
"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."
"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive. But the Skin Horse only smiled.
"The Boy's Uncle made me Real," he said. "That was a great many years ago; but once you are Real you can't become unreal again. It lasts for always."
The Rabbit sighed. He thought it would be a long time before this magic called Real happened to him. He longed to become Real, to know what it felt like; and yet the idea of growing shabby and losing his eyes and whiskers was rather sad. He wished that he could become it without these uncomfortable things happening to him.

We all want to be real and to love (and be loved) sincerely. Sometimes the truth is that those who are supposed to love and care for us, don’t. God never stops loving us, though. However, like the Rabbit, we’d rather we didn’t have to deal with the messy relationships and the hurts of life that seem to get in the way of being loving. In fact, it is the very things we think we’d rather do without that form us and make us more real. Like the Boy, God loves us through and in all our experiences. The world suggests that if we aren’t ‘perfect’ and ‘successful’ we aren’t ‘lovable’. God’s love says the opposite. Especially when we aren’t neat and tidy and ‘perfect’, God knows and loves the Real you and me. The Rabbit learns this as the Boy loves him.

Weeks passed, and the little Rabbit grew very old and shabby, but the Boy loved him just as much. He loved him so hard that he loved all his whiskers off, and the pink lining to his ears turned grey, and his brown spots faded. He even began to lose his shape, and he scarcely looked like a rabbit any more, except to the Boy. To him he was always beautiful, and that was all that the little Rabbit cared about. He didn't mind how he looked to other people, because the nursery magic had made him Real, and when you are Real shabbiness doesn't matter.

As the Skin Horse says, when someone “REALLY loves you, then you become Real.” God REALLY loves us, the good parts and the parts we’d like to pretend aren’t there. The sharp edges and sharp tongues we might have are loved just as much as the prayerful, quiet times. The days we fail to live up to being sincerely loving or even being very lovable at all are the days that God takes us in God’s arms to say, ‘you are precious to me, every moment and every emotion’! In the joys and even more in the losses of our lives God is there.

Of course, you remember that the Boy becomes ill and when he recovers the Dr. says that all that he touched must be burned. And we fear for the Rabbit who is sad that the Boy has gone away. Then something special happens…

Of what use was it to be loved and lose one's beauty and become Real if it all ended like this? And a tear, a real tear, trickled down his little shabby velvet nose and fell to the ground.

And then a strange thing happened. For where the tear had fallen a flower grew out of the ground, a mysterious flower, not at all like any that grew in the garden. It had slender green leaves the colour of emeralds, and in the center of the leaves a blossom like a golden cup. It was so beautiful that the little Rabbit forgot to cry, and just lay there watching it. And presently the blossom opened, and out of it there stepped a fairy.
She was quite the loveliest fairy in the whole world. Her dress was of pearl and dew-drops, and there were flowers round her neck and in her hair, and her face was like the most perfect flower of all. And she came close to the little Rabbit and gathered him up in her arms and kissed him on his velveteen nose that was all damp from crying.
"Little Rabbit," she said, "don't you know who I am?"
The Rabbit looked up at her, and it seemed to him that he had seen her face before, but he couldn't think where.
"I am the nursery magic Fairy," she said. "I take care of all the playthings that the children have loved. When they are old and worn out and the children don't need them anymore, then I come and take them away with me and turn them into Real."
"Wasn't I Real before?" asked the little Rabbit.
"You were Real to the Boy," the Fairy said, "because he loved you. Now you shall be Real to everyone."

Love that is Genuine, Sincere, and Real transforms us and transforms those with whom we share that love. When we are able to quit being concerned about our own ‘rights’ and having our own way and being in control, we can be open to allowing the Love of God to flow through us. It’s not a one way street, for the Sincere Love we give is the Genuine Love that comes back and transforms us, too. God’s love makes us more Real than we were before.

Like the Rabbit, we won’t find it easy to become Genuine and Sincere in our relationships as Pentecost people. Our rough places will get bumped and scuffed off. The world may not understand us. Our beautiful exterior will no longer matter for the Love of God will shine through. Then we’ll be Real to everyone.

Stop by again to explore further more of these verses from Romans.

 Let love be genuine (sincere, honest); hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honour. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are.

Lent I, Psalm 34: Adoration

Last Wednesday was Ash Wednesday. We are reminded of our mortality in the words “remember you are dust and to dust you shall return.” The words look back to Genesis 2:7 “then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” During the 40 days of Lent, we hope to turn our hearts more fully toward the will of God. That may take the form of ‘giving up’ something or ‘taking on’ a new discipline. Sometimes Lent becomes a marathon of trying to make ourselves ‘holy’. By Easter we are tired, and maybe guilty, if we haven’t kept up with our grand resolutions to improve our faith lives.

During Lent, we’ll be looking at Psalm 34 as one way to move from Ash Wednesday to Easter. In Hebrew Psalm 34 is an acrostic (but I haven’t been able to find out what the Hebrew letters would spell). It is also noted as being a Psalm for deliverance “of David, when he feigned madness before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.”(If you look in 1 Samuel 21:10-22:1 you’ll see that the king’s name was Achish. Abimelech, according to commentators, seems to be a royal title, like king or prince, used by Philistine royalty.)

We’ll look at the Psalm in sections, because I see a pattern in the psalm similar to the ACTS prayer. Come along on this exploration and see if you agree that you could identify verses of the prayer as Adoration-Confession-Thanksgiving-(Intercesssion)-Supplication.

We start out with verses 1-3. Keeping in mind that David is fleeing for his life both from Saul and perhaps from danger in the Philistine court, it is interesting that the Psalm opens with words of Adoration. David says:

¹ I will bless the Lord at all times;
   his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
² My soul makes its boast in the Lord;
   let the humble hear and be glad.
³ O magnify the Lord with me,
   and let us exalt his name together.

How much easier would it have been to start ranting at God? I probably would have been saying, “Why me? I never asked for any of this. I was happy as a shepherd in Bethlehem. Now I’m an exile and cannot even go home!” Or maybe blaming God…”It’s all Your fault. If Samuel hadn’t come and poured that oil on me, I’d still be happy at home with my parents, a wife, and babies. Now I’m running for my life, like a dog.”

David, though, starts out with words of Adoration, praise and blessing. He calls us to “exalt His name together.”

Lent isn’t necessarily a time when we think of Adoration. That’s kind of a Christmas feeling, isn’t it? “Come let us Adore Him, Christ the Lord.” It’s easy to adore when there’s a sweet, ‘adorable’ infant. It’s a little harder when things go wrong. In Lent, we look down the road to Jerusalem. Jesus knew where he was going and what awaited, but he ‘set his face to Jerusalem’ (Luke 9:51). Let us, then, with our Lord look toward the difficulties in our lives by turning to God in Adoration.

Paul reminds us in Romans 8:31-39: “What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

Because we have God on our side, we can say with David, “his praise shall continually be in my mouth”. Let’s start our Lent journey with Adoration!

Next week, we will consider what part Confession plays in our journey and in David’s psalm.  

Conflict resolution

Since June we’ve been looking at life in the early church as told in the Book of Acts. There has been persecution and imprisonment, even death of some of the apostles (Stephen and James). Paul, former persecutor of the church, has become a valiant evangelist and traveled all over Asia Minor with the Good News. Many Gentiles have been converted by his witness and most of the church rejoices. However, “certain individuals came down from Judea [to Antioch] and were teaching the brothers, ‘Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.’” (Acts 15:1)


This demand creates dissension in the church. “Paul and Barnabas and some of the others were appointed to go up to Jerusalem to discuss this question with the apostles and the elders.” The men travel to Jerusalem where they are welcomed and “all that God had done with them.” Then “some believers who belonged to the sect of the Pharisees stood up and said, ‘It is necessary for them to be circumcised and ordered to keep the law of Moses.’” (Acts 15:4-5) These believers were upholding the ages-old Jewish tradition of circumcision as a sign of being a member of the saved. Wisely Peter and the other leaders met together.

Eventually Peter says, “My brothers, you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that I should be the one through whom the Gentiles would hear the message of the good news and become believers. And God, who knows the human heart, testified to them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us; and in cleansing their hearts by faith he has made no distinction between them and us. Now therefore why are you putting God to the test by placing on the neck of the disciples a yoke that neither our ancestors nor we have been able to bear? On the contrary, we believe that we will be saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, just as they will.” (Acts 15:7-11)

After Paul and Barnabas tell of the conversion of many Gentiles, James offers his view. “Therefore I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood. For in every city, for generations past, Moses has had those who proclaim him, for he has been read aloud every sabbath in the synagogues.” (Acts 15:19-21)

The leaders write a letter that is delivered to the church in Antioch by Paul and Barnabas with representatives from the Jerusalem council, Judas and Silas. “When they gathered the congregation together, they delivered the letter. When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation. Judas and Silas, who were themselves prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers. After they had been there for some time, they were sent off in peace by the believers to those who had sent them.” (Acts 15:30-35)

Soon Paul and Barnabas decide to “visit the believers in every city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” (Acts 15:36) However, there is a disagreement between the partners over John Mark. “The disagreement became so sharp that they parted company; Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus. But Paul chose Silas and set out, the believers commending him to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." (Acts 39-41)

We often think that the early church was always in agreement. This chapter shows that there was disagreement among the leadership and even the busiest evangelists. Through it all the Gospel was preached and the church grew. I recently learned that every September 21 is the International Day of Peace established by the United Nations in 1981. As citizens of the Kingdom of God and of the world, we should work for peace rather than dissension. Seeking to get along with one another at work and home may not seem to have much global impact, but each act of peace is an antidote to violence and anger.

In his Letter to the Romans, Paul counsels "Live in harmony...so far as it depends upon you, live peaceably with all." This is part of his chapter long appeal to the church at Rome to live as One Body. (Romans 12)

We can easily get distracted by the superficial disagreements between people in our churches. Someone wants to try doing something a different way and we become fearful and angry like the party of the Pharisees at the Jerusalem council. “That’s not the way it’s done,” we may fume. However, like Peter and James, we can also look at the change as a place and way God is acting.

Have you ever felt threatened when someone started a new ministry or changed the way an existing ministry is done? Did you refuse to participate or did you look for the presence of God in the change?

God is ever changing. I recently read a quote by Choan-seng Song. (Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Theology and Asian Cultures at the Pacific School of Religion and acting minister at the Formosan United Methodist Church in San Leandro, California) He said, “God moves in all directions: God moves forward, no doubt, but also sideways and even backwards. Perhaps God zigzags too … God goes anywhere a Redeeming Presence is called for. “ -. Perhaps we need to be willing, like the early church, to go in the direction God is going, even if it appears to be backward or in a zigzag route.

Next week, we’ll see what happened to Paul on his further journeys. When we join God's plan, your lives will not be dull.