One of the most misunderstood...
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One of the most misunderstood words in the English language is the word saint. To most people it refers to that one-in-a-million person who is extra good. He is singled out from others because of an outstanding record of good deeds, known for an upright life. Such people certainly do deserve special recognition. But in the Christian faith anyone who joins himself to Christ is a saint. In the Apostles' Creed we use the phrase, "the holy Christian church, the communion of saints." Thus, all church members, indeed all who believe in Christ and identify with him, are saints. There is the story of the small boy who once was asked the meaning of the word saint. He answered that a saint was one whom the light shines through. At first his parents were puzzled. But he was thinking of the times when he sat in church, looking up at the stained-glass windows which depicted the various leaders of the early church. When he asked who they were, he was told that they were Saint Paul, Saint Peter, and Saint Thomas. So he came to think of saints as people with the light shining through them. Christ said we are "the light of the world." But it is not our light that shines within us. It is the light of the Christ who wants to dwell in our hearts and thus to be seen by others. With a Christian that light of Christ shines forth in all our actions and human relationships, determining our character. It is our privilege to let that light shine "to be seen of men." This is our calling as Christians: "called to be saints," to be people of God through whom the light of Christ shines, brightening the dark places of life, and changing the darkness of sin and trouble into the light of Christ's forgiving presence. -- Lentz
