“Called to Be Saints”
Preached Sunday, January 18, 2026 at Boardman United Methodist Church
Our Burritos & Bibles Bible Study just started 1st Corinthians this week. We meet at a local Mexican restaurant, read the Scripture together, and discuss. It was fitting that this week we discussed the first chapter of 1st Corinthians - of which the first 9 of the 31 verses in the first chapter are the assigned New Testament reading for this week.
When we consider the context of 1 Corinthians as a whole, we know Paul is writing to them because they are a church that is in conflict. They are deeply divided - divisions of theology, social class, and more have wreaked havoc among them. And they generally aren’t behaving or treating one another as they should be treated.
Does this sound anything like our world and our church today?
Our world and especially our country is increasingly seen as more divided than ever. A 2022 Pew Research study showed that “72% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats viewed the opposing party as more immoral than other Americans—up dramatically from 47% and 35% in 2016.” And that was three years ago. Look around - I can imagine it’s only gotten worse. In fact, we’re seeing a rise not just in polarization but dehumanization. It’s not just that “the other side” is more immoral - it’s that they are less than human, not like you and me, and therefore whatever happens to them - up to and including their deaths - should not be a moral concern.
Our hearts and souls should be deeply, deeply troubled over this. And I don’t like to use the word “should” in sermons and yet in this case, I feel I must. We are to remember that all humans were made in the imago dei, the image of God, all humans are beloved by God, and we are called to treat one another with love, basic human dignity, and kindness. We are to remember, as The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber says, whenever we draw a line between “us” and “them” - God is always on the other side of that line.
People have often wondered, if Paul wrote a letter to the church in America today, what would that letter contain? What would he lament? Where would he call us to repent? What teaching or wisdom would he have to correct our course?
For today’s consideration, I would wonder…would Paul start the letter to us, like he started the letter to this deeply divided and conflict-filled church in Corinth?
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together will all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours…”
He starts his letter to the troubled church by reminding them that they are sanctified in Christ and called to be saints.
He goes on, before he brings up any conflict, before he offers any criticism, before he calls them to repent and be and do better, to say he thanks God for them - always. He reminds them that, through Christ, they already have everything they need to be saints, to partner with Jesus Christ, in the work of the Gospel, which is love of God and love of neighbor.
And this, friends, is what I want to say to each of you today.
Our hearts and souls should be deeply, deeply troubled over this. And I don’t like to use the word “should” in sermons and yet in this case, I feel I must. We are to remember that all humans were made in the imago dei, the image of God, all humans are beloved by God, and we are called to treat one another with love, basic human dignity, and kindness. We are to remember, as The Rev. Nadia Bolz-Weber says, whenever we draw a line between “us” and “them” - God is always on the other side of that line.
People have often wondered, if Paul wrote a letter to the church in America today, what would that letter contain? What would he lament? Where would he call us to repent? What teaching or wisdom would he have to correct our course?
For today’s consideration, I would wonder…would Paul start the letter to us, like he started the letter to this deeply divided and conflict-filled church in Corinth?
“To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, together will all those who in every place call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours…”
He starts his letter to the troubled church by reminding them that they are sanctified in Christ and called to be saints.
He goes on, before he brings up any conflict, before he offers any criticism, before he calls them to repent and be and do better, to say he thanks God for them - always. He reminds them that, through Christ, they already have everything they need to be saints, to partner with Jesus Christ, in the work of the Gospel, which is love of God and love of neighbor.
And this, friends, is what I want to say to each of you today.
I am thankful for you. And all those who are sanctified in Jesus Christ, all those who call on the name of Jesus Christ, who call him Lord - all of those who are called to be saints. And that was the church in Corinth, us here today, Christians across America, and around the world.
Now - what do we think of when we think of Saints? Most Methodists - or Protestants in general - aren’t too into saints - they think it’s too Catholic-y. Personally, I love reading and learning about the lives of the saints and appreciate the beauty of icons. But that’s one way we think of saints right? As 1.) A Catholic thing that doesn’t concern us and 2.) We think of saints as these...OTHER people, these high and holy people who are just a step below Jesus basically and pretty high for us to reach.
If we are familiar with any specific saints at all we might think of saints like St. Teresa of Avila who spent her whole life in a monastery, praying, subsiding only on the Eucharist, and having visions.
Saints like Mother Teresa, a woman who gave her whole life to ministry of the poor, the least of the least of these, living among them.
Saints like St. Maximilian Kolbe, a franscian friar who offered to die and did die in the place of a stranger in Auschwitz.
Saints like Bishop Oscar Romero who in El Salvador, sided with the oppressed landless poor against an increasingly violent and authoritarian regime - and he also preached to the soldiers who also claimed Christ, telling them they didn’t have to follow orders to kill and torture. He was assassinated while presiding over Holy Communion.
We might even think of individuals who aren’t officially sainted in The Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican traditions but whose lives and service of Christ has offered them near saint-like status.
We might think of people like Martin Luther King, Jr. - fitting as tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - a pastor and civil rights activist who fought using non-violent methods for equality across divisions of race, especially for Black Americans.
We might even think of people like Fred Rogers, who’s quiet Protestant faith led him to be an example of kindness and gentleness and what it means to be a neighbor for an entire generation.
These are some of the saints that come first to my mind and they’re like...it seems like they’re up here - you know? And I’m...more here-ish. Like -- Paul says we are all called to be saints? But...well...my life is nothing like this. I am not good at fasting, I live a fairly comfortable life, I am often afraid to stand up for social justice causes - especially as a mother who has children to take care of at home. I have no desire or plan to die a martyr's death.
And yet - Paul says we are called to be Saints -- all who call on the name of Jesus are called to be saints.
Now, in the United Methodist Church, we do observe all Saints Day and recognize those who have led Christian lives, who have shown us the way of Christian living, who have died in the past year. We say their name, ring a bell, and light a candle for them. And while I do think it is helpful to widen the definition of saints as to those who lived their lives as followers of Christ...I think we also relegate this day and sainthood in this sense, to those who have died. And while my life has been deeply touched by saints who have gone before me...I also wonder if we don’t sentimentalize the idea of what it means to be a saint. In our loss, we assign sainthood to others - without the understanding of what it means for us to be called to be saints while we are yet alive in the here and now. Saints are not only these people who we view as having lived extraordinarily holy and selfless lives. And saints are not only the dead. Paul is talking to a church full of ordinary people - ordinary Christians like you and me. You and I. Here and now. While we are yet alive - are called to be saints.
So what does this mean for us?
Martin Luther (not Martin Luther King, Jr the civil rights advocate but Martin Luther the Protestant Reformer) is credited with saying that we are all simultaneously saint and sinner. This is a statement primarily about our identity in God’s eyes. That yes, we are all sinners. We have all failed and fallen short. We have all messed up.
I’ll be honest with you, as I wrote this sermon I was planning on saying, “I don’t think we need much convincing in our world today that are all sinners.” And I wrote that line. And I deleted that line. And I wrote that line. And I deleted that line. I think we are often very aware of what we would call the sin of others without being aware of the sin we are complicit in through action or inaction. What we have done. What we have left undone. It’s the old “speck in your neighbor’s eye, plank in your’s” deal. Part of it might be how we define sin. My go to definition of sin comes from the Greek word for it that is a word about archery - a word that means “missing the mark.” We sin when we miss the mark of loving God and loving neighbor as self. And that’s called...being human. So yes, we are all sinners.
So the question is, how can a messed up sinner, an ordinary human, like you and me, simultaneously be a saint? Luther said: “The saints are sinners, too, but they are forgiven and absolved.” We are ordinary humans, sinners - but because of God’s grace and forgiveness in our lives - we are also saints - capable of so much, restored and made right in God’s eyes - called to live out our lives in light of God’s gifts to us - called to love as God would love - called to be saints.
So, that’s what Luther says about being a saint in this life and this Methodist would agree! And, I think John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, has something else to add to the picture.
One of Welsey’s more controversial theological positions was that Christians can reach perfection in this life. Being perfect in this life does not mean that your life is not without errors or mistakes. Christian perfection means reaching a state of perfect love of God and perfect love of neighbor as self - fulfilling God’s greatest commandment with your whole life. Wesley never claimed this for himself, claiming he may have only met one or two people who reached it in this life...but that isn’t supposed to stop us or deter us from trying to reach Christian Perfection - loving God and loving neighbor as self. We are supposed to ever be on a journey, working on ourselves, working on our relationships - with God and with others - ever trying to reach this state of perfection - ever answering God’s call on our lives to be saints.
So when we consider Paul - that all who call upon Christ’s name are called to be Saints
And when we consider Luther - that we are simultaneously saint and sinner
And when we consider Wesley that we are called to ever strive towards perfect love of God and perfect love of neighbor in this life…
It is here that we find a beautiful and convicting truth:
Now - what do we think of when we think of Saints? Most Methodists - or Protestants in general - aren’t too into saints - they think it’s too Catholic-y. Personally, I love reading and learning about the lives of the saints and appreciate the beauty of icons. But that’s one way we think of saints right? As 1.) A Catholic thing that doesn’t concern us and 2.) We think of saints as these...OTHER people, these high and holy people who are just a step below Jesus basically and pretty high for us to reach.
If we are familiar with any specific saints at all we might think of saints like St. Teresa of Avila who spent her whole life in a monastery, praying, subsiding only on the Eucharist, and having visions.
Saints like Mother Teresa, a woman who gave her whole life to ministry of the poor, the least of the least of these, living among them.
Saints like St. Maximilian Kolbe, a franscian friar who offered to die and did die in the place of a stranger in Auschwitz.
Saints like Bishop Oscar Romero who in El Salvador, sided with the oppressed landless poor against an increasingly violent and authoritarian regime - and he also preached to the soldiers who also claimed Christ, telling them they didn’t have to follow orders to kill and torture. He was assassinated while presiding over Holy Communion.
We might even think of individuals who aren’t officially sainted in The Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican traditions but whose lives and service of Christ has offered them near saint-like status.
We might think of people like Martin Luther King, Jr. - fitting as tomorrow is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day - a pastor and civil rights activist who fought using non-violent methods for equality across divisions of race, especially for Black Americans.
We might even think of people like Fred Rogers, who’s quiet Protestant faith led him to be an example of kindness and gentleness and what it means to be a neighbor for an entire generation.
These are some of the saints that come first to my mind and they’re like...it seems like they’re up here - you know? And I’m...more here-ish. Like -- Paul says we are all called to be saints? But...well...my life is nothing like this. I am not good at fasting, I live a fairly comfortable life, I am often afraid to stand up for social justice causes - especially as a mother who has children to take care of at home. I have no desire or plan to die a martyr's death.
And yet - Paul says we are called to be Saints -- all who call on the name of Jesus are called to be saints.
Now, in the United Methodist Church, we do observe all Saints Day and recognize those who have led Christian lives, who have shown us the way of Christian living, who have died in the past year. We say their name, ring a bell, and light a candle for them. And while I do think it is helpful to widen the definition of saints as to those who lived their lives as followers of Christ...I think we also relegate this day and sainthood in this sense, to those who have died. And while my life has been deeply touched by saints who have gone before me...I also wonder if we don’t sentimentalize the idea of what it means to be a saint. In our loss, we assign sainthood to others - without the understanding of what it means for us to be called to be saints while we are yet alive in the here and now. Saints are not only these people who we view as having lived extraordinarily holy and selfless lives. And saints are not only the dead. Paul is talking to a church full of ordinary people - ordinary Christians like you and me. You and I. Here and now. While we are yet alive - are called to be saints.
So what does this mean for us?
Martin Luther (not Martin Luther King, Jr the civil rights advocate but Martin Luther the Protestant Reformer) is credited with saying that we are all simultaneously saint and sinner. This is a statement primarily about our identity in God’s eyes. That yes, we are all sinners. We have all failed and fallen short. We have all messed up.
I’ll be honest with you, as I wrote this sermon I was planning on saying, “I don’t think we need much convincing in our world today that are all sinners.” And I wrote that line. And I deleted that line. And I wrote that line. And I deleted that line. I think we are often very aware of what we would call the sin of others without being aware of the sin we are complicit in through action or inaction. What we have done. What we have left undone. It’s the old “speck in your neighbor’s eye, plank in your’s” deal. Part of it might be how we define sin. My go to definition of sin comes from the Greek word for it that is a word about archery - a word that means “missing the mark.” We sin when we miss the mark of loving God and loving neighbor as self. And that’s called...being human. So yes, we are all sinners.
So the question is, how can a messed up sinner, an ordinary human, like you and me, simultaneously be a saint? Luther said: “The saints are sinners, too, but they are forgiven and absolved.” We are ordinary humans, sinners - but because of God’s grace and forgiveness in our lives - we are also saints - capable of so much, restored and made right in God’s eyes - called to live out our lives in light of God’s gifts to us - called to love as God would love - called to be saints.
So, that’s what Luther says about being a saint in this life and this Methodist would agree! And, I think John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, has something else to add to the picture.
One of Welsey’s more controversial theological positions was that Christians can reach perfection in this life. Being perfect in this life does not mean that your life is not without errors or mistakes. Christian perfection means reaching a state of perfect love of God and perfect love of neighbor as self - fulfilling God’s greatest commandment with your whole life. Wesley never claimed this for himself, claiming he may have only met one or two people who reached it in this life...but that isn’t supposed to stop us or deter us from trying to reach Christian Perfection - loving God and loving neighbor as self. We are supposed to ever be on a journey, working on ourselves, working on our relationships - with God and with others - ever trying to reach this state of perfection - ever answering God’s call on our lives to be saints.
So when we consider Paul - that all who call upon Christ’s name are called to be Saints
And when we consider Luther - that we are simultaneously saint and sinner
And when we consider Wesley that we are called to ever strive towards perfect love of God and perfect love of neighbor in this life…
It is here that we find a beautiful and convicting truth:
That we, yes WE are called to “Come and See” the glory and life of Jesus. The way to live. And then WE, yes, WE are called to emulate it. We are not an exception. There is no such thing as “ordinary people” as Christians - our ordinary is a journey to sainthood, to the extraordinary - to invite all to come and see the one who is Jesus, the teacher, the Anointed one, the Messiah, the Lamb Who Takes Away the Sins of the World.
What it means that John declared Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world - is that, through Jesus, we can hit the mark. We can love God and neighbor as self. We can love like Jesus loves. We can be and do better. We can be saints, partners with Jesus for the good of the world, the good of all.
Saints are not those we place up on some pedestal.
Saints are not just those who have died.
Saints are not other people out there, far removed from us.
We - you and me - are saints - are called to be saints.
Saints are ordinary people - human, sinners, too.
Saints are those who live their lives doing the best they can to follow Jesus.
Saints are those who are doing everything they can to reach perfect love of God and neighbor in this life.
So friends, today, proudly take up the title of saint. In a world that is ever divided. In a world that ever seeks to diminish the image of God. In a world where love is so sorely needed…It is never too late, to come and see Jesus, to follow Jesus, to live the life of a saint. Leave from this place, refreshed, renewed and strengthened, to answer God’s call to be saints.
Amen.
What it means that John declared Jesus the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world - is that, through Jesus, we can hit the mark. We can love God and neighbor as self. We can love like Jesus loves. We can be and do better. We can be saints, partners with Jesus for the good of the world, the good of all.
Saints are not those we place up on some pedestal.
Saints are not just those who have died.
Saints are not other people out there, far removed from us.
We - you and me - are saints - are called to be saints.
Saints are ordinary people - human, sinners, too.
Saints are those who live their lives doing the best they can to follow Jesus.
Saints are those who are doing everything they can to reach perfect love of God and neighbor in this life.
So friends, today, proudly take up the title of saint. In a world that is ever divided. In a world that ever seeks to diminish the image of God. In a world where love is so sorely needed…It is never too late, to come and see Jesus, to follow Jesus, to live the life of a saint. Leave from this place, refreshed, renewed and strengthened, to answer God’s call to be saints.
Amen.
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