It has been said that there are no “accidental saints” – that is to say, that saints are formed over time with intention rather than instantly created like pot noodles. The idea of a “saint” has been unhelpfully muddled and manipulated by the church for centuries, such that we have lost what the early church and Paul meant when he wrote to ordinary followers of Jesus in the first century. When Paul wrote his letters to the churches, he often bookended his letter by calling them saints – all of them, not just the leaders or special holy people. If you were a follower of Jesus who had been filled with the Spirit, then Paul states you are now a saint. The word “saint” comes from the Greek word hagios, which means “consecrated to God, or “set apart for sacred purpose”. Everyone who accepts Jesus call to “follow me” in offering their life to God and everything they do becomes a saint. Sacred in the sense of living out the kingdom life of Jesus in the world; set apart for sacred use – a saint!
But when we look at the lives of those Paul is now calling saints, we don’t find holy people who never sin and who are perfect and have halos above their heads like we see in many historical church paintings of saints. Take the church in Corinth for example, Paul addresses them as saints: “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Corinthians 1:1-2)
However, we know from Pauls letters to the Corinthian church that they were struggling with factions, pride, sexual immorality, drunkenness at their communion services, abuse of spiritual gifts, and so the list goes on. Not exactly what you would call saints. And yet this is what Pauls calls them, ordinary saints who he is declaring are now set apart for sacred use by the Holy Spirit as people of the way of Jesus.
If you are seeking to follow Jesus and order your life around his call and teaching, then you are a saint, no matter if you still struggle with sin or addictions or pride or whatever it might be. But Paul would say that becoming a saint is a progression whereby over a lifetime we are shaped more and more in the likeness of Jesus. People who are transformed into sons and daughters of God, imperfect yes, but growing in our formation through intentional and faithful walking with Jesus. I want to become and live more and more as an ordinary saint. To reflect Jesus and to keep being shaped into the person he has made me to be as a new creation in him. To allow the Holy Spirit to use my ordinary life for sacred use – every part of it. Because as a saint there is no separation between ordinary and sacred; everything is sacred in its ordinariness and can be used by and for God.
But becoming and living as a saint doesn’t just happen, it takes intention, it takes reflection, it takes time, and it requires us to keep coming back to Jesus and seeking the Holy Spirit to do that work of change in us, and at times despite us. I know many saints who inspire me to live the kind of life they have lived, and our church at Parkside is full of living saints. May we spur one another on in 2025 to live as Spirit filled ordinary saints in the grace of Jesus, leading to peace and wholeness in our community and flowing out to all the places we carry Jesus Monday to Saturday. I pray fellow saint you will join me on the journey.
Grace and Peace - Garry