Living Your Joy Out Loud

SAINT

My mama, Margaret Anna Lawrence Crawley, was born right before Christmas in 1922 to Willie and Nanny Lawrence of Lufkin, Texas. Willie owned a corner grocery store, and consequently, their little family always had food, even during the depression. Nanny was a true southern cook, making biscuits and gravy for practically every meal and baking the best pound cake you ever tasted. One might say my mama grew up “well-fed.”
By the time I was born, Mama was only slightly plump, but I remember her saying often, “Everything’s better with butter or cream.” She was a smart lady, and I wholeheartedly agree with her, though I would probably add, “or cheese, or sour cream, or cream cheese!”
She and I certainly would have seen eye to eye with American chef and food writer James Beard, who declared, “Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; and good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts.” And of course, butter comes from cream. I know this firsthand, because once when I was a newlywed I was whipping cream for strawberry shortcake and whipped it a little too long. Voila! Butter!
Through the years, the word “cream” has brought to mind the best or richest connotations. An old song proclaimed, “You’re the cream in my coffee. . . . I’d be lost without you.” And we’ve all heard, “He’s the ‘cream of the crop.’” Then there’s the one that even children know, “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!”
The Joyful Truth
The letter to the Philippians starts with great news: We are cream!
Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are at Philippi, with the overseers and deacons: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God in all my remembrance of you, always in every prayer of mine for you all making my prayer with joy.
Phil. 4:1-4, ESV
In this very first verse of Philippians, we find the word “saints,” translated from the Greek word hagios, meaning “holy one, consecrated, acceptable to God.”
Maybe you’re saying, “I am no saint,” because you know the Bible says “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). We are all part of the human race, which is not holy and therefore not acceptable to God. So how then can we be called hagios?
The word hagios comes from the same root as hagiazo, which means “to sanctify, set apart, make holy.” The truth that sets us free is that we are not and cannot be holy in or of ourselves. But Jesus Christ, through the sacrifice of his life on the cross to pay for the sin of humanity, has made us holy, which is acceptable to God. What a wonderful truth!

Digesting the Joy
The problem is some truths are harder to believe than others. A good case in point is childbirth. I’ll never forget the birth of my first grandchild. My husband, David, and I traveled up to North Carolina to be there for the birth. Ten days after her due date, Shelley finally began having contractions at about 8:00 PM, and we tromped to the hospital at 11:30 PM.
Shelley was definitely in labor, and while my son-in-law, my husband, and I looked on, she learned the unfortunate truth about labor pains. After hours had passed, it was finally time for Shelley to push the baby out. David was asked to leave, but I was allowed to stay. It’s a good thing, too, because I was helping her push, every single time, for two hours. I would tell myself that my grunts and grimaces were not productive, but somehow I couldn’t quit!
At long last, though no thanks to me, the moment we’d all been waiting for came when Tyler Cason Spears was born. Just moments before, he had been an unknown joy, huddling in his mother’s womb. He had been breathing by way of a blood vessel, but through Shelley’s groaning force and God‘s goodness, he made his way into the world and took his first gulping taste of fresh air. What a miracle! When his mewling cries grew into vigorous shouts, my heart left my body and transferred to his.
Likewise, the joyful truth to be digested is that God gave his only Son to die for us. He promises that because of Jesus’ sacrifice: “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Ephesians 2:4-6 tells us that “because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus.”
Through the death and resurrection of Jesus, God has transferred his own heart into our lives. We are reborn. It is sometimes very hard to believe, but nevertheless it is true. As we accept the divine sacrifice and turn from our sin, God allows us to rise to the top as cream does on milk. Then he scoops us off and sets us apart for good works. Just as cream may be poured into hot coffee to make it delicious, we may be poured into a difficult situation to be a blessing. Furthermore, sometimes cream must be whipped in order to serve its purpose as the beautiful, tasty, finishing touch on a dessert. Similarly, we may have to undergo great trials before we can attain the triumph of glorifying God with our lives.
Are you still having trouble believing that you are hagios? Look at it this way: Childbirth is somewhat unbelievable, but we have all seen the proof staring back at us from our own mirrors! If you sometimes feel the need for proof of your salvation, look in your spiritual mirror, asking God to point out specific places in your life where he has changed (“rebirthed”) you.