Living Saintly Lives Through God’s Lavished Love

Devotional

Day 1: The Stained Glass Window’s Silent Testimony

A stained glass window holds fragments of identity – open pages declaring “the Word was God,” three crosses crowned with “behold thy mother.” These images whisper John’s story without a single spoken title. Like puzzle pieces, they invite us to trace the apostle’s life through the moments that defined him: leaning on Christ at supper, standing beneath the cross, carrying the gospel’s light. Saints leave fingerprints in unexpected places. [24:38]

“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, behold, your son!’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Behold, your mother!’ And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.”
(John 19:26-27, ESV)

Reflection: What ordinary object or space in your life might quietly testify to God’s work? How could you become more attentive to these hidden witnesses?

Day 2: Hungering for Righteousness in a World of Miracles

Sainthood requires no parted seas. Jesus hands us a simpler recipe: hunger for justice like starving men, make peace like gardeners tending brittle soil. John’s gospel records no apostle-performed miracles, only a fisherman who stayed near enough to Christ to absorb His heartbeat. The real marvel isn’t suspending natural law but sustaining unnatural mercy in a world allergic to grace. [30:06]

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.”
(Matthew 5:6-9, ESV)

Reflection: Where does your soul feel malnourished? What would it look like to “eat” righteousness in that space today?

Day 3: Lavished Love, Not Earned Merit

Sainthood drips from heaven like an overfilled cup. The Greek word for “lavished” implies spilling beyond containers – God drenches us in belonging before we build our first altar. John rested his head on Jesus’ chest not because he out-performed others, but because he believed the heartbeat under his ear. Our label (“God’s children”) isn’t a trophy case but a birthmark. [31:25]

“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
(1 John 3:1, ESV)

Reflection: When have you confused God’s parental love with a performance review? How might you rest in your “birthmark identity” this week?

Day 4: Sainthood in the Small Obediences

John’s resume includes fishing nets and foot calluses, not just gospel quills. Sainthood grew in the ordinary soil of showing up – staying awake (mostly) in Gethsemane, returning to the empty tomb, remembering the taste of multiplied loaves. The disciple Jesus loved didn’t chase sainthood; he kept leaning into the love that made him holy through a thousand small “yeses.” [26:14]

“He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, ‘It is the Lord!’”
(John 21:6-7, ESV)

Reflection: What mundane obedience is Christ inviting you into? How might daily routines become nets for miracles?

Day 5: Love as Action, Not Achievement

Sainthood isn’t framed in feeling but forged in foot-washing. God’s love verbs: He lavishes, claims, chooses. John didn’t write “God is fond of us” but “God is love” – an active tense that bled on crosses and baked fish over beach coals. To be saints lowercase, we need only to verb our love: feed, listen, forgive, show up. [30:56]

“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
(1 John 3:18, ESV)

Reflection: Where has your love been stuck in nouns? What one concrete action could incarnate Christ’s love today?

Sermon Summary

John the apostle gives Saint John’s Church more than a name. The stained glass points toward the beloved disciple, the one who leaned on Jesus at the Last Supper and stood near the cross. His life was marked by closeness to Jesus and by witnessing what Jesus did. His place among the saints rests in the church’s ancient tradition, not in a list of impressive miracles he performed.

All Saints Day honors those recognized as saints with a capital S, but saintly living is not reserved for a few extraordinary people. Believers do not have to perform some massive miracle that violates the laws of nature. Jesus gives concrete ways to live according to God’s will: meekness, hunger and thirst for righteousness, mercy, purity of heart, and peacemaking. These are ways of living closer to God, available in the ordinary actions of a human life.

Love holds these actions together. Throughout scripture, love is not just a feeling. It is a choice and an action, something done. God’s love is known through what God does, through the great love the Father has “lavished” on those called God’s children.

That identity comes before any achievement. God’s children do not earn their place through miracles, saintly conduct, or anything for which they can take credit. God has chosen to love them, and they are God’s children now. The call to live saintly lives is therefore a response to love, not a condition for receiving it. Mercy, righteousness, and peacemaking honor a label already given. Through those actions, believers live out love toward God, toward their neighbors, and toward themselves.

Key Takeaways

1. Saintly Living Requires No Spectacular Miracle. Recognition as a saint with a capital S is not the measure of a faithful life. Believers can be inspired by the saints without needing to repeat their extraordinary stories or perform acts that violate the laws of nature. A saintly life remains possible through the concrete ways Jesus gives for living according to God’s will. [29:12]
2. The Beatitudes Give Love Concrete Shape. Meekness, mercy, purity of heart, and peacemaking turn saintly living into something more specific than a good intention. Hunger and thirst for righteousness give that life a direction, a desire for what accords with God’s will. These qualities make ordinary conduct a place where love becomes something done. [30:06]
3. God’s Love Is More Than Feeling. God does not merely feel favorably toward those called God’s children. God acts toward them in love, giving rather than simply liking. The word “lavished” captures that generosity and gives believers a pattern for love expressed through actions rather than affection alone. [30:40]
4. God’s Children Already Bear Their Name. Belonging to God does not wait for a miracle, an accomplishment, or a sufficiently saintly life. God’s choice to love comes first, and the identity of God’s children belongs to the present. Faithful action responds to that love and honors an identity already given rather than trying to earn it. [31:38]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[23:49] - Which Saint John?
[24:21] - The Stained Glass Points to John
[25:39] - The Beloved Apostle’s Life
[27:22] - All Saints and All Souls
[28:49] - Saintly Lives Without Miracles
[29:34] - The Beatitudes and God’s Will
[30:40] - Love Is an Action
[31:38] - God’s Children Now
[32:35] - Living Into the Name Already Given

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 5:3-9
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.” [29:34]

1 John 3:1
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” [23:41]

John 19:26-27
“When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, 'Woman, behold, your son!' Then he said to the disciple, 'Behold, your mother!' And from that hour the disciple took her to his own home.” [25:13]

Observation questions

In John 19:26–27, who is near Jesus at the cross, and what responsibility does Jesus give the beloved disciple?
Which qualities in Matthew 5:3–9 describe how people treat others? Which describe what people desire or value? [29:46]
In 1 John 3:1, what is the connection between the Father’s love and believers’ identity as God’s children? What does the passage indicate about when that identity belongs to them? [31:38]

Interpretation questions

How does Jesus’ description of a blessed life in Matthew 5:3–9 challenge the idea that saintly living requires extraordinary achievements? What might make ordinary acts of mercy easy to overlook? [30:23]
How does 1 John 3:1 help explain the difference between acting lovingly to earn God’s acceptance and acting lovingly because someone already belongs to God? How might those different motives affect the way a person handles failure? [32:20]
If love is an action rather than only a feeling, how might mercy and peacemaking express love when warm feelings are absent? How can a person pursue peace without ignoring what is right? [30:40]

Application questions

Who has helped you see what a saintly life can look like through ordinary faithfulness rather than spectacular achievements? What is one practice from that person’s life you might carry into your own? [29:05]
When do you find yourself trying to prove that you deserve God’s love? How might remembering that you already belong to God change the way you approach one responsibility or disappointment this week? [31:38]
Think of a recent moment when someone’s mistake frustrated you. What might showing mercy look like in that relationship now, without pretending the mistake did not matter? [30:13]
Where do you encounter tension—in your family, workplace, church, or online? What is one small step toward peacemaking you could take, and what makes that step difficult? [30:18]
God’s love invites a response toward God, neighbors, and ourselves. Which of those receives the least attention in your daily life? What concrete act of love could you make room for this week? [32:26]

Sermon Clips

42s

#LoveInAction

“Because here's the thing, throughout scripture, love isn't just a feeling. Instead, is an action. Last week I said it was a choice. Today, I'm saying it is an action. It is something done. God loves us not because God feels a certain way toward us, but because God acts in ways that reflect the love God has for each of us. After all, we are called children of God not because God likes us, but because God gives us love. That's according to the epistle, the first letter of John.”

37s

#LiveWithPurpose

“This is how we can live closer to God with saintly lives according to God's will. Let us hunger and thirst for righteousness. Let us be merciful. Let us be pure in heart. Let us be peacemakers. We don't have to perform some massive miracle that violates the laws of nature. We can simply live according to God's will. And once we figure out how to do that, once we strive in all we do to live according to God's will, then we are living in love.”

28s

#ChosenByGod

“I like that version much better. You can almost feel the love as God lavishes it upon us. And yet, we are children of God not because of what we do, not because of some great miracles we can or cannot perform, not because of anything we are responsible for. Instead, we are children of God because God has chosen us.”

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St. John's Episcopal Church This sermon · AI assistant

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