You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone. (Philippians 4:15 NRSV Bible)
What makes a saint a saint. Paul thought the people in the Philippian church were saints, because they were giving people. Paul says, in our scripture reading today, "You Philippians indeed know that in the early days of the gospel, when I left Macedonia, no church shared with me in the matter of giving and receiving, except you alone." One of the important trade marks of a saint is one who gives. Are we always good givers? Most of the time we are good givers. Jesus once said, "If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!" We know how to give good things to our children, so we should also be good gives of all that God has intrusted us with.

Baseball pitcher Orel Hershiser in his book OUT OF THE BLUE tells about an encounter he had with Dodger's manager Tommy Lasorda. Lasorda called Hershiser into his office one day and shouted at him, "You don't believe in yourself! You're scared to pitch in the big leagues! Who do you think these hitters are, Babe Ruth? Ruth's dead! You've got good stuff. If you didn't, I wouldn't have hired you. I've seen guys come and go, son, and you've got it! Be aggressive. Be a bulldog out there. That's gonna be your new name: Bulldog. With that name, you'll scare the batters to death!

"Starting today, I want you to believe you are the best pitcher in baseball. Look at that hitter and say, 'There's no way you can ever hit me.'"

Two days later Orel pitched relief and in 3 innings, he gave up only 1 run. Lasorda's talk (he calls it his "Sermon on the mound") had worked.

How do we view ourselves? Can we believe that God created us to be saints, but because of our humanness occasionally sin? Paul knew the people in the early church were not perfect, but he still referred to them as saints. Paul says, "Greet every saint in Christ Jesus." What you do doesn't determine who you are; who you are determines what you do.

Dear Jesus, you are the greatest saint of all. Help me to be a faithful saint who follows you. Amen.

Ron Newhouse

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