In his Letter to the Colossians Paul referred to Christians as Saints in the light (Colossains 1-12)
Saints. What does that image conjure in your mind. Stained glass? A well-lighted painting in a museum, like El Greco’s Saint Jerome which I saw at the Metropolitan in New York a few years ago? Or, maybe your mind is more playful or impish. Do you think of some of that religious art in luminous paint on black velvet you can buy on the roadside in some of your vacation travels, especially if you get near Mexico? Or, perhaps less impish, a little more sophisticated, you thought of a Cecil B. DeMille character such as he did with Moses. But Paul uses the word saint in his greeting as a sublime synonym for Christians, for Christ’s people. “To the Saints and faithful brethren in Christ.”
The word saint is drenched with meaning. It is a Greek word, “hagios”, which means “a holy person.” Holy designates what belongs to God. For Paul, it’s a term that identifies a person who is set apart. God had called these people, and offered them his grace. They had received that grace and God’s love and forgiveness had made them new persons. Their sainthood was a gift from God.
Me, a saint? Yes, if you have claimed the love and forgiveness Christ offers and are seeking to live as a Christian. Consider the 10 year-old’s definition when asked, “What is a saint?” Remembering all the stained-glass windows he had seen in church, he responded, “A saint is what the light shines through.” So Paul refers to Christians “as saints in the kingdom of light.” For He (Christ) has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son He loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. ( Colossians, 1:13-14)
Me, a saint?