Saints

Holy, Holy, Holy. That's how the seraphim heralded the enthroned Yahweh in Isaiah 6. Three-times holy. Fully & wholly other. High & lifted up. Enthroned as king. Worthy of praise. So, too, we sing before the Lord's Supper, where the Lord is present.

The sinner Isaiah cried out in woe, for he was unclean. God is holy. People are unclean.

Yet Paul calls the people in Ephesus "saints" (Eph. 1:1). Sinners as saints. Who can make such a claim, & who could bring about such a change?

In Isaiah 52-53, the servant of Yahweh is high & lifted up. The servant bears our iniquities & our sorrows. His stripes heal us. The holy one died a sinner's death, so that the unclean might be forgiven & given sainthood--holy in Him.

Baptized into Christ, we live as saints. And we thank God for the saints who surround us & precede us. The sinner-saints remind us that sin leads to woe, but God's love in Christ calls us to be His own people, to be forgiven, & in Him holy. --Kevin Armbrust, The Lutheran Witness, Oct. 2019