To all of you who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. (Romans 1:7)

O most gracious and holy Lord God, you have consented to grant your holiness upon your people, declaring us to be saints before your throne. So now, with all your saints, of heaven and earth, of today and ages past, we pray: "Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God for ever and ever! Amen."

Before you apply for a job, what's one thing you like to consider? The benefits, right? Is there an insurance plan? How many weeks of vacation do I get? Is there a retirement plan? A dental plan? That's why many people are drawn to government positions. They usually have great benefits. Even if the work is difficult or boring, people are willing to put up with it if you have free insurance or dental plans. If a job doesn't have those benefits, you might think twice about applying for it.

Today is Saints Triumphant Sunday. Just like in any job, there are negatives to being a saint. Saints are persecuted for their faith in God. Their suffering may be increased. They may face greater temptations from Satan. The whole world may seem against them. They may face poverty or lack of wealth. Today, though, we aren’t looking at the negatives. We are only focusing on the positives of being a saint. Enjoy the benefits of being a saint. Isaiah mentions two specific benefits of sainthood. First, there are benefits for this life. Secondly, there are benefits for the life to come.

What is a saint? What makes a person a saint? We might think of people who gave to the poor like St. Nicholas or helped the downtrodden like Mother Theresa or supposedly drove the snakes out of Ireland like St. Patrick. Or we might think of Bible people for whom churches are named after like St. John or St. Paul or have hospitals named after them like St. Mary’s or St. Luke’s.

But I think the definition of a saint that fits us best as Lutherans comes from a little child: A small child had for some time observed the sun shining through the stained glass windows of the church sanctuary. He had seen the sun brilliantly illuminate the colored forms of evangelists, patriarchs, and prophets. When his Sunday school teacher asked him to tell who the saints were, it was altogether logical that he should say, "Saints are men the light shines through "

Yes, for us as Lutherans that phrase is correct. Saints are men and women through whom the light of Christ shines. A bishop of Sweden once said, "Saints are those who make it easier for us to believe in God." Robert Louis Stevenson said, "Saints are sinners who keep on going." A saint, simply put, is a believer in Christ. The Bible says that a saint is a "holy one, one loved by God and called to be a saint." (Romans 1:7) Every one of you here this morning is a saint. When did you reach sainthood? How did you become a saint in God’s eyes?

You don’t have to move to a third world country and dedicate your life to taking care of the unfortunate to become a saint. That’s a fine thing, if that’s what a person wants to do. But if you want the secret to becoming a saint, listen to the description of the saints in Revelation 7:14: "These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." That’s how a person becomes a saint – by washing your robe and making it white in the blood of the Lamb.

In the Bible, "your robe" is your life. Do you realize that you have already washed your robe today and made it white in the blood of the Lamb of Jesus Christ? When did you do that? At the beginning of our service, you confessed all of your sins to God. And after confessing your sins, you received the forgiveness of sins. And it wasn’t some general statement about how God is nice and loves and forgives everybody. No, the forgiveness of sins you received was a special kind of forgiveness. It was forgiveness that was earned by Jesus Christ, when he shed his blood on the cross. As the Bible says, "The blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin." This morning, you heard that your sins were taken away by the blood of Jesus Christ. You believed it, you put your faith in it. That’s when you washed your life and made it white in the blood of the Lamb. In the eyes of God, that’s when a person becomes a saint.

You see, a "saint," as the Bible defines it, isn’t one of those good people that you could never be. A "saint" is someone who realizes that he is a sinner, and then washes his robe in the blood of the Lamb. That’s how you become a saint – believing that the blood of Jesus Christ takes away all of your sins. And so all of us are a part of the "communion of saints" as we confess in our creeds.

And what are the earthly benefits that come with your position of sainthood? Isaiah describes the Christian Church as a mansion with a massive courtyard. The mansion is heaven. It is the eternal city of the New Jerusalem. The courtyard is gated and walled because the Lord protects those who are within. You and I are still in this courtyard. We haven’t arrived in the mansion yet.

Isaiah describes some of the blessings of being in this courtyard and the benefits of being a saint in Christ’s kingdom. Isaiah is describing something other than the perfect bliss of heaven. "Never again will there be in it an infant who lives but a few days, or an old man who does not live out his years; he who dies at a hundred will be thought a mere youth; he who fails to reach a hundred will be considered accursed." A longer life in general is promised to people. We see that happening with the advent of better medicine and healthy lifestyles. "They will build houses and dwell in them; they will plant vineyards and eat their fruit. No longer will they build houses and others live in them, or plant and others eat. For as the days of a tree, so will be the days of my people; my chosen ones will long enjoy the works of their hands." Again, in general, we won’t face the kinds of wars and calamities where are homes and gardens will be destroyed before we ever get the chance to live in them.

"They will not toil in vain or bear children doomed to misfortune; for they will be a people blessed by the LORD, they and their descendants with them." Again, generally, life is getting better. Children do not die of measles or the flu or chicken pox as they may have done in Isaiah’s time. "Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear." Above all else, God will hear and answer our prayers.

And whenever you think that God isn’t watching out for you or taking care of you, just compare your simple life to that of a king in Isaiah’s time. Yes, the king had power, riches, and a castle to live in, but I thin you still have it so much better in your middle-class home. You have electricity and light and heat at the flip of a switch. You can talk to friends on the other side of the world. Anyone you know is within traveling distance by car or plane. And best of all, you have indoor plumbing. Our life is not perfect, but we are under God’s care and protection. Fellow saints, God is taking care of you. He is watching over you. He is protecting you. He is listening to your prayers. Those are just some of the benefits in this life of being a saint.

Isaiah goes on to describe the benefits of the life to come. God says: "Behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind." In 2 Peter, the Holy Spirit describes how God will go about this. "The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare." (2 Peter 3:10) With a great fire, God will destroy everything that was old about the earth – the polluted water, the vicious animals, the smog infested cities, the burned out forests, and the ice-cold Wisconsin winters (that I’m not prepared for). All of the old earth and sky will be destroyed. And we won't be at all concerned about our favorite Corvette, our old baseball card collection, or even our pet dog. Everything will be so glorious that the former things won't even be remembered. Compared to the new heavens and the new earth, everything we enjoy now - the beautiful mountains, the sunsets, the majestic forests and fields of grain will seem like a garbage pile compared to the new heavens and earth. You could compare it to when a man meets the woman of his dreams - he throws out all of the old phone numbers and pictures of girlfriends from the past, and forgets about his former loves. Why? Because he finds the beauty of this woman far greater than any in his past. That's the way it will be when we are face-to-face with the glory of God. That's something that only saints - those who believe in Christ - will enjoy.

"But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy." We will be moved from the courtyard into the mansion – for permanent dwelling. When we move into our new home, we will be "glad and rejoice forever." We will not remember our former troubles and difficulties.

"The sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more." Sin will be removed. Revelation 21:4 says of this: "[God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." Saints will not hear weeping and crying in heaven. We long for the day when we can finally take part in this awesome blessing of paradise.

But don’t forget this wonderful promise where God says, "I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people …" Not only will God’s people rejoice, but God himself will rejoice over his people. In heaven he will delight in his faithful. Not only will we be excited to be in heaven. God will also be excited to have us in his heaven. I compare it to when you move into a new home. You finally have all the walls painted, the pictures are hung, the carpets are cleaned, everything is in its proper place, and you can finally fit your car into the garage, so now you want to have all your friends and family over for a house-warming party. You have a new home. You are excited to show it off. God is throwing a party, too – for eternity!

The last benefit Isaiah mentions is, "The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, but dust will be the serpent's food. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain." Enjoy this benefit more than anything else in the world. As a Christian, you have a peace that nobody else in the world has. As Christians, we have a spiritual peace with God - just like a wolf and a lamb eating together. Both the church on earth and saints in heaven fall under this peace of God, which surpasses all understanding. (Philippans 4:7) Our peace comes from the Savior’s forgiveness. Even though our time on earth may be filled with tears and afflictions, we have peace with God. We know that when we leave behind all of life’s troubles, God will welcome us into his mansion and wipe the tears from our cheeks with his tender and loving hand. Those things that we endured in the courtyard of his church, waiting to enter his mansion, will all be forgotten. So, for now, we endure, waiting for our turn to walk into his presence.

I think this definition of sainthood sums up very well our benefits of this life and of the life to come: A saint is a sign of contradiction - a living symbol of the Cross. He or she is a person who: believes the unbelievable, bears the unbearable, forgives the unforgivable, loves the unlovable, becomes weak to be strong ... and finds love by giving it away. A saint has been changed from the inside out. A saint is chosen through Jesus and stands blameless before God. A saint is redeemed, washed, renewed, justified, forgiven, and loved by God. We are God’s saints. As God’s saints, the pay may not be great, but the retirement plan is out of this world. Amen.

Love the LORD, all his saints! The LORD preserves the faithful. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the LORD. Amen. (Psalms 31:23-24)