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1 John 3:1-3

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. ² Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. ³ And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Dear saints. Yes, you, you Christian are called a saint by Scripture.

Too often, when we think of saints, we think of people who are without sin. Maybe you watch your grandma getting older. Her arthritis makes her fingers twist in ways they aren’t supposed to, but she doesn’t complain. And she lovingly puts up with all of your grandpa’s eccentricities. Or, maybe, when you think of a saint, you think of the people in our first reading (Rev. 7:9-17), people who have gone to heaven.

But saints are not sinless people. If that were the case, no one could ever be called a ‘saint’ – except Jesus. He is the only sinless person to ever live. “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified by His grace as a gift through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus” (Ro. 3:23-24).

A saint is not a ‘sinless person.’ A saint is a ‘holy person.’ The word ‘holy’ means set apart. And God has set you apart. He has made you holy. He has set you apart for Himself.

Now, this may be a bad analogy, but bear with me. In your home, you probably keep your dishcloths and your washcloths separate. You have one set of cloths to wash your dishes, to wipe the grime and grease from your pots and pans and to get the crumbs and spilt milk off of your table. But you have a separate set of cloths to scrub soap on yourself to wash your skin. And hopefully, those get less greasy than the cloths that wash your frying pan.

Now, you wouldn’t dream of washing those cloths, folding them, and just putting them wherever there was more space. Even though your dishcloths and washcloths are probably the same size and made of the same material, they have different purposes. With one, you wash the pan that fried your bacon and eggs, and with another you wash yourself. You have set each of them apart for a purpose. Each of them are, in a sense, ‘holy.’ You don’t use your washcloths to clean your pots and pans, and you don’t use your dishcloths to wipe the oil and grease from the parts of your snow blower. Did the cloths do this themselves? No. You did.

Dear saints, you too have been set apart. You have been set apart by God for God. “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). You have been claimed by Him when He put His name upon you in the waters of Holy Baptism. You have been kept by God through faith in His Word.

These verses from 1 John invite you to behold this. “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.”

Often, it does not seem like we are saints. We don’t feel particularly holy or set apart. And the world certainly doesn’t recognize that we are God’s saints, His holy ones. But right here, John says that shouldn’t surprise us because the world did not know Jesus when He came.

One of the devil’s favorite games to play with you, dear saint, is to have the world shout at you and call you a hypocrite. But the church is not full of hypocrites. The church is full of sinners, but Christians on this side of glory still do sin, minute by minute and second by second. But Christians are not hypocrites; they do not say one thing and do another. Christians are those who confess their sins and cry out to God for forgiveness. Christians do not claim to be without sin. Instead, we claim that we are saints, God’s children, even if we don’t particularly look like it. We have been set apart by God, and we live by His mercy.

If someone wants to call you a hypocrite, tell them to go jump in a lake. Christian, you are God’s child, His saint, His holy one. You have been set apart. When you sin, and you do, you confess that sin, and you have an advocate, Jesus Christ, the righteous (1 Jn. 2:1).

Remain in the things that Jesus has given and promised delivers to you the forgiveness of sins – in your Baptism, in confession and absolution, in the Lord’s Supper, in hearing and trusting God’s holy Word. All those are the places where God declares you righteous for Christ’s sake.

Will you fail? Yes!

Your flesh is weak and you sin daily and often. But whenever your conscience condemns you, know that God is greater than your conscience (1 Jn. 3:20). Christ knows everything, and He has all authority in heaven and earth. He has laid down His life for you. Because He has all authority, when He declares that you are forgiven because of His death and resurrection, no one can debate it.

And God isn’t surprised when He forgives you and you keep on sinning. God has perfect foreknowledge. Though you keep on sinning, God isn’t ashamed of you. Jesus didn’t die for nothing. Jesus didn’t die for the wrong people. He has died for you. Trust that, and you are holy no matter what anyone else may say. It is God’s declaration. Rejoice in that.

See what kind of love the Father has given to you, that you should be called children of God; and so you are. You are God’s children now. What you will be has not yet appeared, but know that when Jesus appears, you shall be like Him because you shall see Him as He is.

In all likelihood, John wrote this epistle before he wrote the book of Revelation. In that first reading today (Rev. 7:9-17), John got a glimpse of what we will be. John saw an innumerable multitude, “from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages.” That means John saw you who speak a language that didn’t even exist in his day. John saw you “standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in [your] hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’”

And here, now again, is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. He comes to serve you His holy Body and holy Blood. Though you are not yet with Jesus in heaven, Jesus comes to you bringing with Him angles and archangels and the whole company of heaven to you. He does this, dear saints, to strengthen and encourage you in the true faith until that day when you are with Him for life everlasting. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Amen.