Identity Crisis

Who among you are “called to be Saints”? If you are like most of the people that I have talked with, you are thinking or even saying out loud – not me! You have decided that if you were called to be a saint, you would certainly be more saintly. You know better than anyone the list of character defects that looms as disqualification.  You can’t even imagine that someone would even ask you a question like this. You think to yourself that it is probably obvious to everyone that I am not called to be a saint. And now, you are sufficiently uncomfortable and ready to move on to the next point.

Being called to be saints is called sanctification in the world of religion: and the fact that we see ourselves as an exception to this calling is an “Identity Crisis.” Not that this identity crisis is another shortcoming that you can add to your list; instead, it is a common feeling that many of us share. I was in a meeting with clergy and Lay peers that I really admire. These people are inspiring leaders of faith communities, they have lived through personal traumas that could crush the soul, they have been resurrected in mind , body, and soul time and time again. If you asked me to identify people that were called to be a saint, at least two thirds of these people would immediately pop into my head. Here is the thing, Not one of these people could confidently say, “I am called to be a saint.” What I see here is an identity crisis.

I serve a church that amazes me daily. There are people in this church that have received recognition from the state senate and the state assembly for outstanding service to the community. There are people here that devote themselves to visiting people that are shut in. There are people here that have created a foundation called the Wesley Foundation – it is an intentional community of college students that live together in a Methodist environment. Not only did they create the foundation, they also successfully transitioned leadership to the next generation of leaders. I am surrounded by people who have weathered grief with faith, who have suffered and held onto hope, who have walked the halls of sadness and despair and still found gratitude that feeds their lives. There are people that have created after school programs, community feeding events, and organized estate sales (aiding the grieving in the process of letting go with grace). And yet when I ask this church, “who among you are called to be saints?” the silence will be loud enough to block out the voice of God shouting, “YOU ARE!”

Sanctification is the grace of becoming. Called to be a saint does not mean that you are flawless. It means that you are becoming: becoming a person that knows how to be in relationship with God, becoming a person that knows how to love a neighbor as yourself, becoming a person that finds a way to bring justice into the world, becoming a person that brings healing love and connection to the left out and the left down. You see it right? I want you sit for a moment and think of the people in your life that are becoming in this way. This is not a short list. This is a list of people that are being showered by God’s grace of becoming.

 

I wish you could be in a room with people that you have known throughout your life. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a moment to point to five or six people that you absolutely know are called to be a saint? Wouldn’t it be a joy to tell people how on the journey of becoming they have touched you deeply, they have helped you in your time of sorrow, they have called on you when you were lonely, they have given you a hand when you felt trapped, even imprisoned? Can you just imagine them shaking their heads in protest; “not me, you would’ve done the same thing; I don’t even remember that, I was just in the right place at the right time”? Do you know what you would be experiencing here? You are experiencing the identity crisis.

But you’re not done. The crisis continues. The fact is, if you are in a large enough room, there are people pointing at you. There are people coming over to shake your hand, to tell the story of how your visit at their beside when they were sick was the only moment of hope they had that day. There are people that want you to know that growing up in your afterschool class helped them to trust God. There are people that want you to know that the card you sent, the food you brought, the hug you gave were the beginning of their healing and the fertile soil from which their new lives have sprouted. They are pointing at you. They want you to know that when they think of people becoming, people called to be a saint; they are thinking of you. 

Shake your head all you want and you’ll never shake the truth. It’s an “Identity Crisis” and you are right in the middle of it. God is changing the world. God is using you to do it. You are called to be a saint. When you know your identity you have new eyes with which to see the world alive – alive in the Spirit of God and showered in grace.

Enjoy God,

pg