This weekend we are celebrating All Saints’ Day, which is on the 1^st November. This is a particularly special time in our Oakham Team Ministry for Braunston and Oakham as they are dedicated to All Saints. We often talk about the Saints. However, we are not always sure what we mean by the term ‘Saints’. We often conjure up images of statues or icons hung in churches depicting the ‘Saints’, great men and women of faith throughout the life of the Church. But who are all these saints that ‘All Saints’ remembers?

All Saints Day first came to the British Isles in the 9th Century and has continually been celebrated over 1000 years later. The original focus of All Saints Day was to honour Christian martyrs and heroes of the faith both known and unknown to us who are now with God in heaven. Different Christian denominations have a different understanding of who is classified as a ‘Saint.’ Catholics focus on Christians who have died and are in heaven, whereas many Protestant traditions commemorate all Christians living and dead.

However you may understand All Saints Day, I find it helpful at this time of year to reflect on how Paul would often address his letters to the Saints. In Romans 1:7 he writes, ‘To all God’s beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints.’ In 1 Corinthians 1:2 he writes, ‘To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together with all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Within this address, Paul identifies saints as those who call Jesus Christ Lord and are sanctified and made holy by Jesus Christ. That makes every believer in Jesus a saint of the church in Paul’s eyes. You and I are saints of the church. We are sanctified, that is we are made holy and set apart by Jesus to live differently in this world.

In the Roman Catholic church, the process of evaluating if someone is a ‘saint’ of the Church first begins with finding out if they lived a holy and virtuous life. The life of a saint is different. It is fashioned upon the life of Jesus and exemplifies Jesus. Now none of us can claim to be perfect like Jesus, but I wonder if people look at our lives and see Jesus. Does the way we live follow the life of Jesus, which was different and often at odds with the way the rest of the world lived? Jesus has called us to live differently to the world, to live in step with him. This is the holy and sanctified life that we are called to as followers of Jesus. We use the phrase ‘you’re such a saint,’ in such an offhand way, but we truly are called to be saints by Jesus. This might feel strange to you and that’s okay. Often the call of Jesus can feel strange to us, but we follow it anyway because we love the Jesus who calls us.

So, my fellow saints, let’s live how Jesus called us to live. Let’s live holy and saintly lives for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Every blessing,

Shakeel