The Saints We Are Called to Become

Devotional

Day 1: Saints Drawn in Crayon Clouds

The faith we inherit often comes through ordinary hands – grandmothers, aunts, and mentors who lived quietly faithful lives. Their legacy isn’t found in grand achievements but in daily prayers shared, casseroles delivered, and patient listening over kitchen tables. Like crayon drawings of loved ones ascending like a cloud, these saints shaped our spiritual DNA through small, persistent acts of love. Their faithfulness lives in our laughter, our kneejerk generosity, and the way we instinctively turn to prayer during hard moments. We honor them by recognizing how their ordinary holiness still breathes through our choices today. [22:12]

“I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy, because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now.” (Philippians 1:3-5, ESV)

Reflection: Whose crayon-drawn face comes to mind when you picture the saints who shaped you? How might their quiet faithfulness inspire your next small act of love?

Day 2: Blessings Wearing Grief’s Face

Jesus’ Beatitudes sound upside-down: blessing hidden in poverty, mourning, and hunger. These aren’t spiritual merit badges but descriptions of hearts cracked open for God’s light to seep through. Like refugees finding joy in shared rice bowls or Lois spending a week’s wages on a gratitude feast, blessing blooms when we stop clutching self-sufficiency. The Beatitudes map a kingdom where the “blessed” look like the woman crying in the church bathroom, the dad praying over hospital bills, and the teen choosing mercy over revenge. [22:53]

“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.” (Matthew 5:3-4, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you recently glimpsed an unexpected blessing disguised as emptiness? How might your current ache make space for God’s comfort?

Day 3: Sewing Machines & Crackers

Lois’ sacrificial feast and the New Yorkers’ meager crackers reveal a stark truth: abundance often blinds us to dependence. The refugees’ daily gratitude for recovered health or found firewood mirrors Jesus’ beatitude blessings – eyes trained to spot manna in the wilderness. Wealth’s danger isn’t possession but the illusion of self-sufficiency. Every sewing machine gift, every shared meal, becomes a altar where “enough” is redefined by open hands rather than full pantries. [26:07]

“Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?” (James 2:5, ESV)

Reflection: When has having less revealed more of God’s provision? What “small thing” can you thank God for today with refugee-style gratitude?

Day 4: Baptism Stitches Us Into the Family Quilt

Baptism isn’t a solo ritual but a stitching into a patchwork of saints – the fiery prophets, the casserole-making grandmas, the peacemaking aunts. Promising to “resist evil” and “seek justice” at the font binds us to Lois’ generosity, the refugees’ gratitude, and Christ’s own mercy. Like a quilt passed through generations, our faith warms the world through interconnected stitches: every Sunday school teacher, every whispered prayer, every hand held at the hospital becomes part of the pattern. [29:35]

“For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 3:27-28, ESV)

Reflection: Which “quilt square” saint most embodies the Christ you want to put on today? How does their thread in your story strengthen your baptismal vows?

Day 5: The Saints Are Who We’re Becoming

Saints aren’t stained-glass legends but people who kept showing up – praying through doubt, loving through exhaustion, repenting through failure. The beatitudes aren’t a to-do list but a portrait of who we’re becoming as God sands our edges. Every time we choose mercy over score-keeping, make peace instead of winning, or hunger for righteousness more than comfort, we add brushstrokes to the ongoing mural of saints. The great cloud cheers as we join their ranks through ordinary faithfulness. [36:03]

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” (Hebrews 12:1, ESV)

Reflection: What “weight” do you need to lay down today to run toward saintly ordinary faithfulness? Which beatitude quality is God gently sanding into your character?

Sermon Summary

The saints are the people who taught others to pray, brought them to church, and showed them what it means to love God and love their neighbors. Some were extraordinary people. Others lived ordinary lives with extraordinary faithfulness. Their lives remain part of the story of those who follow them.

The Beatitudes give that faithfulness its shape. Poverty of spirit, mourning, meekness, and hunger for righteousness do not sound like the usual description of a happy life. But Jesus offers more than comfort for people who suffer. He describes well-being under God’s rule rather than according to the world’s expectations. Such a life takes shape through dependence on God, mercy, humility, generosity, and the willingness to make peace.

Dependence becomes clearer when wealth, status, and power offer little security. James Martin’s experience among refugees in Kenya reveals gratitude for small blessings and costly generosity, especially in Lois’s gift of a meal. Poverty does not automatically make someone generous, nor does wealth make someone selfish. Yet having less to lean on can expose how much a person depends on God.

Jesus lived the life the Beatitudes describe. He knew poverty and mourning, showed mercy, made peace, and suffered for righteousness. The saints followed him, not by getting everything right, but by continuing to pray, love, and trust God within imperfect lives.

Baptism welcomes another person into that same family and story. Those marked as Christ’s own forever are called to resist evil, serve Christ in others, and strive for justice and peace. The church shares responsibility for nurturing that life. All Saints and baptism belong together because the saints are not merely people to remember. They are the people believers are called to become.

Key Takeaways

1. Blessing Looks Different Under God’s Rule. The Beatitudes unsettle familiar ideas about a happy or successful life. Jesus names people whose need, grief, mercy, and hunger for righteousness place them outside ordinary measures of well-being. His words offer comfort while also giving believers a concrete picture of lives shaped by God rather than the world. [23:20]
2. Having Less Can Reveal Dependence. The refugees in Kenya gave thanks for small blessings and shared generously from what little they had. Lois’s costly meal makes that generosity concrete, without turning poverty into proof of virtue or wealth into proof of selfishness. Material security can make dependence on God less obvious, while need can keep that dependence close at hand. [26:59]
3. Ordinary Faithfulness Belongs Among The Saints. Sainthood is not a record of getting everything right. The saints include imperfect people who showed mercy, stood up for what was right, and kept showing up in prayer and love. Their example makes faithfulness recognizable in ordinary lives rather than reserving it for extraordinary achievements. [28:05]
4. Baptism Joins A Shared Family Story. Baptism marks a person as Christ’s own forever and welcomes that person into the family of God. The promises to resist evil, serve Christ in others, and seek justice and peace are supported by the whole church. A child’s growth in faith therefore calls for a community that makes mercy, generosity, and peacemaking visible. [29:02]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[21:33] - Remembering Lives Of Extraordinary Faithfulness
[22:32] - The Beatitudes Redefine A Blessed Life
[24:28] - Lives Shaped By God
[24:58] - Refugees, Gratitude, And Costly Generosity
[26:59] - Dependence Beyond Wealth And Status
[27:21] - Jesus Lived The Beatitudes
[28:05] - Saints In Ordinary, Imperfect Lives
[29:02] - Baptism And The Family Of God
[30:38] - The Beatitudes As A Song

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Matthew 5:3-12
“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. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” [22:46]

Matthew 28:19-20
“Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” [29:02]

James 1:9-11
“Let the lowly brother boast in his exaltation, and the rich in his humiliation, because like a flower of the grass he will pass away. For the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the grass; its flower falls, and its beauty perishes. So also will the rich man fade away in the midst of his pursuits.” [26:59]

Observation questions

In Matthew 5:3–12, which people does Jesus call blessed who might not be considered happy or successful by the world’s standards? What promises accompany those blessings?
What did the refugees in Kenya give thanks for, and what did Lois’s gift of a meal reveal about her generosity? [25:26]
Which qualities in the Beatitudes were visible in Jesus’ own life? [27:22]
What commitments accompany baptism, and what responsibility does the church share in helping someone grow into that life? [29:15]

Interpretation questions

How can the Beatitudes offer comfort to people who suffer while also describing the kind of people Jesus calls his followers to become? [23:24]
How does James 1:9–11 challenge the idea that wealth makes someone secure? Why is it important to distinguish dependence on God from the assumption that poverty automatically makes someone faithful or generous? [26:58]
Why does Jesus’ own experience of mourning, mercy, peacemaking, and suffering matter for someone trying to live out the Beatitudes? [27:29]
Matthew 28:19–20 connects baptism with making disciples and learning to obey Jesus. What does this suggest about a congregation’s responsibility beyond the day of someone’s baptism? [29:29]

Application questions

Who helped you learn to pray, love God, or care for your neighbors? What ordinary habit of theirs would you like to carry forward in your own life? [21:28]
Which Beatitude feels most at odds with your current picture of a happy or successful life? What might change in one decision this week if you took Jesus’ picture of blessing seriously? [24:03]
When have money, recognition, or control seemed to offer you security? What helps you remember your dependence on God, both when those things are available and when they are not? [27:11]
Lois’s hospitality involved sharing something valuable to her. What might thoughtful generosity look like with the time, resources, or space you actually have? Is there someone you could welcome or care for this week? [25:48]
Is there a relationship or situation where you could help make peace without ignoring what is wrong? What small step might be possible, and what support would you need? [28:28]
The church shares responsibility for nurturing faith. Who in your church—a child, a newly baptized person, or someone still finding their way—could you encourage? What could you do to help them experience mercy, generosity, or faithful companionship? [29:35]

Sermon Clips

68s

#TrustingGod

“Now we cannot generalize about all poor people or all wealthy people because that wouldn't be fair. But Jesus is pointing us towards something important today. Sometimes when we have less to depend on in this world, we become more aware of how much we depend on God. Jesus knew what he was talking about because he lived through the attitudes. He knew what it meant to be poor. He knew what it meant to mourn, and he was merciful, and he made peace. He was peace. He was pure in heart, and ultimately, he was persecuted for righteousness sake. Jesus wasn't simply teaching a way of life. He was showing us how to live it.”

56s

#SaintsAmongUs

“And this is where all saints becomes especially meaningful for us. Because when we look at the saints, we aren't just remembering people who were perfect or who somehow bought everything right. We are remembering people who in their own and perfect and sometimes ordinary life learned to depend on God. They were people who showed mercy and people who loved generously, people who hopefully stood up for what was right, and people who made peace, people who kept showing up, kept praying, kept loving, and kept trusting God.”

38s

#BaptismInChrist

“And now we get to welcome another person into that great company of saints this morning. And that's what baptism is all about. In baptism, we are marked as Christ's own forever, and we too are welcomed into the family of God. We promise to follow Jesus to resist evil and to seek and to serve Christ in all persons and to strive for justice and peace.”

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

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