Nov. 05, 2023

“Called to Sainthood”

A Sermon for All Saints’ Day

     This weekend we celebrate All Saints’ Day—a time within the Church year where we remember all of those who have gone ahead of us in the faith to be with our Lord God in Paradise. And as we remember those brothers and sisters in Christ, we also focus our attention on what it means for us to be called “saints” of God. By God’s grace alone, we have been made righteous—in right relationship with God—and have been called to be set apart from the things of this world. God does indeed love the world (so much so that He died and rose again for the sins of all mankind), but God also has set those people in the faith apart from those that reject Him. This means that each and every one of us, as children and saints of God, are called to live differently from the world. We are called as a “chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, [and] a people for His own possession” so that we may “proclaim the excellencies” of what God has done—His saving Gospel message (1 Peter 2:9-10). But obviously this is easier said than done. Because in this life on earth, we are also at the same time sinners. We are unworthy of God’s grace and love, and yet, we know from Scripture that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). Though we are sinners, God simultaneously makes us His saints through the redemptive work and love of His Son, Jesus Christ.

Questions:

1.    Why do we remember All Saints’ Day within our Church?

2.    What does it mean for us, as Christians, to identify as “saints” of God?

3.    How are we called to shape our lives in response to this identity of sainthood?