“For All the Saints”

Today, Roman Catholics observe the Memorial of Ignatius of Loyola, one of the founders of the Society of Jesus—also known as the Jesuits. One of the characteristics that many people think of when they consider Roman Catholic is their piety surrounding the cult of the saints. It seems to many outsiders there is a saint for anything and everything—you just have to know which one to call upon in your moment of need.

Evangelical Christians also believe in the real body of saints that surround us in our daily lives. We need look no further than Scripture itself to see proof of this:

‘For time would fail me to tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets—who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, obtained promises, shut the mouths of lions, quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, won strength out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight. Women received their dead by resurrection. Others were tortured, refusing to accept release, in order to obtain a better resurrection. Others suffered mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death, they were sawn in two, they were killed by the sword; they went about in skins of sheep and goats, destitute, persecuted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground. Yet all these, though they were commended for their faith, did not receive what was promised, since God had provided something better so that they would not, apart from us, be made perfect. Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and let us run with perseverance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who for the sake of the joy that was set before him endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.’ Hebrews 11:32-12:2

We have here, in the Word of God itself, a fantastic litany of saintly exploits. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, and as St. Paul tells us in Romans, by virtue of our shared membership in the Body of Christ, we are one with them in their lives and sufferings as they are one with us in our lives and suffering.

Evangelical Christians, however, don’t share in the cult of the saints in the same way that Roman Catholics do. We don’t call upon the saints—in this case, the members of the church triumphant—to intercede for us before Christ. We don’t pray to saints that they may go to Christ to offer up some goodness of their own for us. For we confess that Christ alone is enough for us. We confess that Christ is our sole mediator. Again, we look to Scripture to find ringing grounds for this confession:

‘For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human, who gave himself a ransom for all.’ 2 Timothy 2:5-6

mediator- a person who attempts to make people involved in a conflict come to an agreement; a go-between

For this reason, Evangelical Christians believe and confess that our prayers are heard by Christ himself and answered because of Christ himself—not because of the prayers or merits of other meditators, be they even as near and dear to the Lord as his virgin mother herself. We may, can, and do approach our Lord and Saviour precisely because there is no other mediator between him and us—he is our means of salvation. No other mediator is necessary for us.

What then do we make of the prayers that faithful Christians offer up on behalf of their fellow brothers and sisters in Christ—those they know and those they don’t know? Are these prayers somehow a faithless corruption of prayer? For if we have no mediator between Christ and us, why call for prayer from others? And if we ask of the living members of the body—that is, the church militant—to pray for us, why should we not also ask for the church triumphant also to offer prayer on our behalf—for we do believe we are surrounded by a great cloud of witness, both living and dead.

St. James tells us “the prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective” and calls for us to pray over sick brothers and sisters. Praying for others is biblical and a case can be made to call on the church triumphant to offer prayers in the same way the church militant does—prayers based on faith in Christ.

When we pray, we’re asking God to show mercy and graciousness toward us as promised of old by many and various ways and in these last days, by the Son. When we ask our fellow brothers and sisters to pray for us, we ask them to remember God’s promise made toward them as well as toward us—a promise effective through faith in Christ Jesus for all who believe.

Without faith that Christ hears and answers our prayers, everything is for nothing. We cannot, however, put our faith in the deceased members of the church, trusting that their goodness will somehow avail before Christ more than his assurance and promise to love us as much as any saint with a feast day. For we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses—many of whom are named and many more of whom go down nameless in the annals of our human history, but whose names are written in the Book of Life. Their names and ours aren’t written there because of any goodness or faithfulness of ours, but because of Christ’s love for all the saints—you, me, and all those called to be Children of God. When we pray, it’s with the same faith by which we and all other saints the name of Jesus before the world confess.

-DS

A short thought on the birth of the new prince

I wonder, with all the buzz surrounding the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s new baby boy, if this was the environment to which Jesus was born. Quickly I reassure myself that it was not. Part of that makes me a little disgruntled, but then I remember that this is not the type of God we serve. The God that Christians serve is a God who came to earth in a shitty stable, laid in a troth, smelled, sweated, and eventually died on a cross. 

My Lutheran lens propels me to consult Martin Luther’s doctrine of the two kingdoms in understanding this common dilemma. God does not ask us to abstain from the secular government, but God does ask us to remain vigilant in the pursuit of balancing the two kingdoms (or the two hands of God). The doctrine of the two kingdoms forces one to consider God’s reign in two different, yet cohesive, ways. God rules the kingdom on the left through secular means. This particularly pertains to secular law. There are laws placed on society for means of civil order, and these laws are invaluable. Likewise, God rules the kingdom on the right through the gospel and grace of God.

This doctrine is a clever ways for Lutherans to, yet again, think about the law and gospel dichotomy. Often, I hear people say, “Why does this matter? Why does doctrine matter?” and frequently these individuals attempt to remove themselves from the secular world. They refrain from partaking in government, they do not read secular books, they do not listen to secular music… the list goes on. These same individuals often misunderstand Paul’s distinction between flesh (body) and spirit in his letter to the Romans, which is the Biblical reference that birthed the two kingdoms. Paul says,

“Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live.” This is often misunderstood as “the flesh is bad and the spirit is good.”

This is one way to look at this text, but I wonder if Paul’s intention was deeper than that. I wonder if Paul was talking about remaining vigilant in both matters and highlighting the fact that the secular world does not save—it’s all God.

That being said, it is important that we think about the birth of the new prince in this matter. It is not that we should refrain from rejoicing this birth, but it is important that we remember in which kingdom this belongs. This infant may be the third in line to the British royal throne, but we are all heirs to the promise of God.

-LB