Revelation 21:1-6a

On this All Saints Sunday, we commemorate the life and witness of all saints.  According to, St. Paul, Baptism is a mark of sainthood.  That means,  (yes), not only the Biblical characters  but also WE can be called saints because of God’s continuing presence among us; because of God’s Holy Spirit dwells in the midst of us.  What makes God’s people holy is His presence not our behavior that is often less than perfect. 

We often forget that saintliness is much less about perfection than it is about transformation.  We, saints on earth, are called to allow the holy presence of God be a transforming influence in our life.  People often ask me, “what is born-again?”  Born-again (or born-anew) is not once-in-a-lifetime event; it is an on-going experience on Christian journey.  In other words, we have to born-again and again and again.  We have to born-anew every minute.  For us, sainthood is not about born-again as an once-in-a-lifetime event; it is not about externals, piety, looking good.  Rather, it is about the internal person, who we are on the inside.  It is about being born anew every minute.

Today on this All Saints Sunday, God calls us again to be the clay in the hands of the potter, to enable God’s holy presence in our midst to continue to shape our lives and our faith as his/her saints here on earth.   As Christian saints on earth we are called to live a born-again life, born-anew life, not just once, but again and again, indeed every second.  And our final goal is to reach to what our founder, John Wesley called, the Christian Perfection.  It holds that the heart of the born-again Christian may attain a state of holiness in which believers are made free from original sin, or depravity, and where there is a total love for God and others wrought by the infilling of the Holy Spirit.

I have to confess I am not there yet but I also remember I am on the way.  I see many friends are on the way with me, too, for whom I am most grateful.  Certainly, you are my companions in Christ.  Together, we will be there… one day.  I have a wonderful image about this.  I will share that in a minute.

The third point that I want to think about on this All Saint Sunday is this: every biblical text that has to do with eternal life also has a moral component.  The promise of the eternal life always influences how we treat each other in this life.  Future hope is always united with the call to present goodness.  It shapes us: in light of what it will be like, there and then…, and how shall we live our lives, here and now?  Given our ultimate destination, this great gift in Christ, what should we do, and what should we be like, during the journey there?

In Thessalonians, we read, “Since we have this hope, let us live accordingly: let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and hope as a helmet.”  Paul continues, “Therefore, encourage one another, and build each other up.”  Our ministry is to encourage and build up, celebrating who we are and what we are called for.  The hope of heaven leads inevitably to the spirit of servanthood in our faith community and the spirit of holiness in our personal lives.

Now let me share the image that I talked about earlier.  Last month, one of my best friends, Dong-Joon, sent me an email.  Dong-Joon is a pastor serving a church in Seoul, Korea.  I knew he had run a half-marathon several times.  This time, he ran a full marathon with some of his parishioners and he was very proud of it, even though it took him almost 8 hours.  He attached a picture that was taken when he crossed the finishing line.  I can tell he was in agony.  His face was somewhat swollen and reddish.  His mouth was wide open, while his eyes are half-closed.

He wrote that he wanted to give up so many times.  Especially, when a group of mothers pulling baby-cart passed him by, he really wanted give up.  But, he couldn’t.  Do you know why?  He couldn’t give up because many members of his church came to support him and cheered him up.  “목사님, 화이팅!”  “Pastor, Fighting!” 

“For about the last 2 hours,” he wrote, “I did not run alone.  Many members began to join me and run alongside with me.  Some of them already finished their run and came back to me to support me, shouting

“목사님, 화이팅!  We know you can do it!”  He continued, “You know what?  I really wanted to give in.  But, I just couldn’t do that.  I had to keep running.”  He didn’t forget to write that he was not the very last person on that day.  According to him, there were not a few behind him.  Of course, that’s not important.  What is important is that he made it, because he had strong support and encouragement from his brothers and sisters in Christ.

As St. Paul talked about it, the Christian journey is like running a race.  My brothers and sisters in Christ, I believe I am not running all by myself.  I am running with you, the saints on earth and with the saints before us.  We are running together with one another and with the saints we know.  They came back to us to support and run alongside with us. 

When we fall, we will get up again.  When we fail, it’s not final – it’s just a bump on the road to victory.  Because of cross and resurrection, death is not an impassable barrier but a bridge to even greater life.  I believe that spiritual growth continues in the life to come and is never done.  We will continually deepen our love, strengthen our understanding, and broaden our knowledge, of God and of each other and of creation, forever.  There will be no possibility of boredom in the Kingdom of God.

The vision of the communion of saints is a vision of hope for loved ones and friends in faith.  It is also a vision what we will be.  In the first epistle of John there is this striking verse: “Dear Friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  We don’t have all the details – but this much we do know: we’ll be like Jesus.  Now, the more important question is this: if that’s what we’ll be like in heaven, is there some indication of that now?  Are we getting to look more and more like Jesus?  And it’s interesting: it happens when we see Jesus and his cross and look beyond the grave.  Looking to Christ is the path to spiritual growth and sainthood here on earth and in the life to come. 

Each time we receive the Lord’s Supper, we give a little demonstration of the great feast or banquet that describes the Kingdom of God.  People will come from east and west and north and south.  All God’s people will be there.  Christ invites us.  As we share this meal, let’s be aware of all those who having won the victory, now live in the presence of God.  Today, in a mystical way, they join us in this holy meal.  Above all, at this table, we turn our eyes upon Jesus – and as we see Him, we get a glimpse, a vision, of what we will be.  Thanks be to God.  Amen.

Now let us prepare ourselves to honor our saints who finished their race, but come back to us to cheer us, to encourage us, to comfort us, and to support us.