Not Perfect, Just a Saint

When I was a kid, my dad often told me, "Aimee, I don't expect perfection from you, just sainthood!" Now in our family, this was a pure joke and had pretty much no theological basis whatsoever. We were not church-goers, and though we celebrated Christmas and Easter, they were not holy-days, just holi-days. So in my mind, sainthood was beyond perfection. I took my father's words to heart and sought to be better than perfect. If I got an A, I wondered (and was sometimes asked by Dad) why it hadn't been an A+. Better than perfect was what I was meant to be. Looking back now, I imagine that this had some impact on my image of God - to live up to God's idea of me was the same as to live up to my dad's - sainthood, beyond perfection!

Tonight, I was listening to a sermon when suddenly this shifted. "God," the preacher said, "does not want perfection from us, but vulnerability." This was in regards to this passage from Luke 18: 9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous and regarded others with contempt: 10‘Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax-collector. 11The Pharisee, standing by himself, was praying thus, “God, I thank you that I am not like other people: thieves, rogues, adulterers, or even like this tax-collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give a tenth of all my income.” 13But the tax-collector, standing far off, would not even look up to heaven, but was beating his breast and saying, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner!” 14I tell you, this man went down to his home justified rather than the other; for all who exalt themselves will be humbled, but all who humble themselves will be exalted.’

As the preacher said this, I began to consider Lutheran theology that asserts that we are both sinners and saints at the same time. We are always sinners, always and forever out of balance in a world out of balance. But we are also saints, forgiven and justified by our faith in Christ, through the grace of God. Halleleujah! I have acheived my father's dreams for me - sainthood is mine!

I once saw Kurt Vonnegut speak, and he said that he writes about saints, by which he meant, ordinary people trying to live sane lives in an insane world. Though perhaps not perfect Lutheran theology, I think it is closely related - justified by faith, I try to live a sane life, a life in which I am a blessing to myself and others, and hopefully leave the world slightly less insane than it was when I arrived.