The Second Sunday after the Epiphany

Not a Saint
1 Corinthians 1:1-9

The epistle reading appointed for today comes from the very beginning of Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth. Even if you’re not a student of ancient history or even a Biblical scholar, you may be aware that, at the time Paul was writing, epistles or letters were governed by a formal structure. Especially the opening lines of a letter were formulaic. We hear that formula repeated over and over in Paul’s letters. Because we know they’re formulaic, because they sounds formulaic, we may not always give those opening lines much attention. But we should. The structure follows a set formula, but the words are Paul’s. And they are definitely worth our attention.

“Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…”

I was browsing a very scholarly commentary I have on First Corinthians. Very scholarly! Hans Conzelmann devotes a whole page just to verse two. But in the midst of all the academic disputes and minutiae, tucked into numerous references to the original Greek, one sentence absolutely jumped off the page. Paul’s letter is addressed to the Christians in Corinth, whom Paul refers to as those “called to be saints.” Conzelmann writes: “Paul never uses the word [saints] in the singular of the individual Christian.”

Paul never uses the word saint in the singular.
 
Conzelmann elaborates: “Holiness is not a quality of the individual, but a communal state in which we are placed by baptism.” Holiness and saintliness are the same word in Paul’s Greek. The saints are the holy ones. And Paul always uses the word in the plural; he never uses the word saint in the singular to refer to an individual Christian. He never even speaks of aspiring to be a saint himself, and that’s pretty remarkable, if you think about it. He never speaks of a saint.

This is so counter to our general world view and our usage of the word saint, that it’s almost impossible to grasp. It seems in every aspect of our lives we are defined by our individual qualities, our singular aspirations, our personal accomplishments. In this context, a saint, is an individual who is remarkably holy.

In addition to our general focus on the individual, we also tend to think of ourselves as self-made. I am what I work to become. In the church we talk about how the quality of holiness cannot be worked for or earned. It can only be bestowed by the gift of God. Even though we use that language in the church, it’s hard for us to really internalize its meaning. We really think it we pray hard enough or often enough we can make ourselves holy. Maybe if we remember Paul, it will help. There is no such thing as an individual saint. No singular or individual qualities confer sainthood.

For Paul, there are only the saints, plural. The community, which is the church, made holy, sanctified by God’s grace. All who are brought into that community by baptism become holy ones.

This perspective is not unique to Paul. A quick glance at a concordance did not reveal any uses of the word saint in the singular anywhere in the New Testament. No individual is described as a saint. No one is encouraged to aspire to sainthood. Sainthood is only experienced in the plural.

This is in stark contrast to the individualism that is prevalent in our culture. It is also in contradiction to Roman Catholic practice. Just this week the news included stories of Pope John Paul II’s progress towards sainthood. I am not questioning his personal holiness, nor the faithfulness of his papacy. I am criticizing the practice that differentiates individuals… categorizing only those special individuals who appear to possess certain qualities as “saints.” This is not the witness of the New Testament.

The only way I can become a saint is by standing with you. What makes you a saint is praying with me. We are saints only when we are side by side.

This understanding of corporate sainthood is a message worth remembering on this weekend when American society remembers Dr. Martin Luther King and his work for civil rights. Any barriers or exclusivity that divide us one from another are not only morally wrong, they destroy sainthood. They fracture our common holiness.

The understanding that sainthood or holiness is found in the shared life of the church also speaks to those who say they can be better Christians outside the church. I do understand where they are coming from; there are days when I feel the same way. It certainly is possible to be a good person outside the church. It is even possible to be a faithful person outside the church. According to Paul, it is not possible to be a holy person at all. There is no such thing as a holy person, a saint. There are only holy people, plural… those who are part of the fellowship of the Body of Christ.

It’s also worth noting, that the most important way in which the early Christians designated themselves was “the church.” That’s not as self-evident as it may at first appear. They could have focused on a certain tenet of belief, or a religious practice, or a foundational event. But they didn’t. They were a community, a fellowship. The Church of God; those called to be saints.

What might be thought of as the negative side of Paul’s theology is the impossibility of individual sainthood outside the fellowship of the church. But think about the positive side… the generous gift of holiness to all within the church. As the church, part of who we are is the holy ones. It’s God’s gift, given to all, shared in common. It’s a marvelous, unqualified abundance of grace. We are the saints.

The predominant theme of the season of Epiphany is recognition. Our seeing and recognizing what God has already done in the world, in our lives. The usual focus is on recognizing the divine person and glory of God within the human hands and face of Jesus. In the Epiphany proper preface we thank God for the ability to know, or recognize, God’s glory in the face of Jesus Christ.

Maybe we could also pray for the ability to recognize our own holiness, to see and know God’s gift of sanctification, already given to us, the church. God has already done it. We are the holy ones. God help us to recognize our common, shared sainthood.