October 7, 2019

Most people want to get better – to be better people. The Christian vernacular for this is sanctification. Christians generally understand this term to mean, “being made holy.”  If you are like me, a quick inventory of an average day’s worth of “things done and left undone” leaves me thoroughly unconvinced of my own sanctification. Holy I am not.

I find the generic meaning of sanctification more helpful. According to the Baker’s Dictionary of Biblical Theology, to be sanctified is to be “in the state of proper functioning.”  To sanctify someone or something is to set that person or thing apart for the use intended by it’s designer. For example, a pen is “sanctified” when it is used to write.  That means that you and I are sanctified when we live our lives in the knowledge of God’s love, grace, and forgiveness.

St. John says, “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1John 1:8-9)  The gospel tells us that we have already been sanctified by Christ’s blood shed on the cross. To be in a state of proper functioning is to be honest with God about our wrongdoing and receive again and again the assurance of his grace and mercy. In Him, our true and proper joys are found.

“Almighty God, you alone can bring into order the unruly wills and affections of sinners: Grant your people grace to love what you command and desire what you promise; that, among the swift and varied changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.”  (Fifth Sunday in Lent – BCP p. 219)