Ordinary Saints

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.   Colossians 3:17

As bells toll in churches as they observe All Saints Day, it is a time to give thanks to God for all those saints who have gone before us in the faith and now rest from their labors.  Pharmacists and farmers, bankers and bakers, parents and grandparents, humble servants who were baptized into Christ and kept in the true faith.  As names are read and as faces are recalled, we can give thanks to God for His tender mercies showed to them throughout their earthly pilgrimages.  We can also look forward to the blessed reunion that awaits the saints of God.  While we gave thanks to God for church workers in October, during these days we thank God for all of the ordinary saints who were bought by the precious blood of Jesus and served Him and His creation wherever He had need of them.  Though they served without notice and attention, we give thanks to God for their service, their faith, and for the Holy Spirit calling them to faith.

The Lutheran doctrine of vocation finds its application in the daily lives of God’s saints.  Lutheran theology is practical because it is put-into-practice by Christians wherever they live and serve.  The saints of God are those created in the image of God, redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus, and called to faith by the Holy Spirit’s work.  Their lives are a response to all that God has done for them.  You are such a saint.  No churches or festivals may bear your name, but you are no less saints than those of greater renown.

The Missouri District invites young people and families to attend our Lutheran College Fair at Concordia Seminary this Saturday.  Our universities exist to prepare saints for many varied forms of service to Christ, the Church, and world.  While some may prepare for church work vocations, others will go on to serve in the fields of medicine or law, agriculture or information technology.  Our prayer is that God will help young people to grow in their understanding of vocation as the live and serve as the saints of God, where He may lead.

Prayer - Lord God, You have called Your servants to ventures of which we cannot see the ending, by paths as yet untrodden, through perils unknown.  Give us faith to go out with good courage, not knowing where we go but only that Your hand is leading us and Your love supporting us; through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Fraternally in Christ,
President Lee Hagan