Saints we’re not, but ...

Our world prizes perfection and we come to expect it. We expect it of others, and we expect it of ourselves. We strive for it and fall short and that often gets us demoralized, making us think that we’re somehow inadequate. We’re all too aware of our shortcomings, our mistakes, our past failures.

We know ourselves to be who and what we are: sinners who’ve fallen far short of the glory of God.

We think that real saints are people like Mother Teresa, who lived a life of perfect-looking obedience to God, serving the poorest of the poor and the sickest of the sick. We think that saints are people like Billy Graham, who has brought thousands to Christ through his crusades. By comparison, we might feel like we have so very little to give to the Kingdom.

We’re just going to go to church, give God his tithe, give our offerings, cook for the church pot luck, and walk for the walkathon. That’s as saintly as we’re going to get because we don’t believe that we’re perfect enough to do anything bolder than that.

In the book of Revelation, however, a loud voice speaking from a throne tells John, “The home of God is among mortals. He will dwell with them; they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe every tear from their eyes...” The home of God is among mortals ... us mere mortals. We less-than-saintly-seeming mortal human beings are where God makes his home.

We are called saints because of God’s continuing incarnate presence among his people; it is God who is intimately and fully holy, it is a God who came in the flesh, who still dwells in the midst of His people. That presence permeates the entire community of faith.

But God’s voice doesn’t stop there, with the promise that he is with us and that he will wipe away all tears from our eyes — that we do not have to fear things in life or pass judgment on ourselves or others — or to be afraid of each other, because God has made his home with us. God continues:

“See, I am making all things new. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” God is making a promise to us.

You’ve probably seen those bumper stickers that say, “Be patient; God isn’t finished with me yet.” They point to a very real truth. God isn’t finished with us yet. The end is yet to come and, just as God was there in the beginning — the Alpha — he will be there in the end — the Omega. In our alphabet, God is the A and the Z.

God is living with us and he’s not finished with us yet. He is making all things new — including us. There are a lot of letters between A and Z - 24, to be exact. If God is making all things new, are we still on letter H? God is making all things new; God never meant for life to remain static.

We Christians are being called. We’re being urged to be made new, to thirst for Christ making us perfect in love. We’re tempted to focus on the day we came under conviction and got saved. We’re tempted to focus on the future, the day when we will enter into God’s glory and be made new for eternity. What about letters B through Y? We are being called into something new, to something better, to something resuscitated and brought back to life, to continually be made into someone who models Christ.

When Jesus’ friend, Lazarus died, Jesus wept. He wept because Jesus doesn’t like losing a loved one any more than we do. He wept because Lazarus’ body had no life left in it and as he calls Lazarus out of the tomb, he says, “Unbind him and let him go.”

When Jesus looks at us, he weeps for the parts of us that have no life in them. He weeps for the burial bindings we’ve put on ourselves, those things that veil our faces from seeing him. He weeps for our timid faith, believing that we’re not good enough. And he says, “Unbind them and let them go! I am the Alpha and the Omega and I make all things new!”

He weeps for the burial bindings of our stiff necks that want to form his church into our own image. And he says, “Unbind them!” And God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega and I make all things new!” (Not, “I was there in the beginning and in the end,” but “I am the beginning and the end”)

Jesus weeps for the burial bindings of injustice to the weakest persons in our society. And he says, “Unbind them!” And God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega and I make all things new!”

He weeps with the abused children and abused spouses and says, “Unbind them!” I am the Alpha and the Omega and I make all things new.

He weeps for the innocent victims of war-torn countries and says, “Unbind them!” I am the Alpha and the Omega and I make all things new.

He weeps for the burial bindings of racial tension and says, “Unbind them!” I am the Alpha and the Omega and I make all things new.

He weeps with those who mourn and says, “Unbind them!” I am the Alpha and the Omega and I make all things new.

We may know ourselves to be imperfect sinners. To that, God says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega and I will make you new.”

Sally Oakes is pastor of Bethany United Methodist Church, 607 Rivers Road, Fayetteville, GA 30214. Phone: 770-964-6999 or 770-964-6992, or e-mail bethanymnc@bellsouth.net.