For All the Aints

In 1980, the New Orleans Saints football team had a bad season. They lost game after game, playing horribly, until their record after 14 games was: zero wins and 14 losses. In frustration, a local sports announcer started calling them the “Aints” instead of the “Saints.” And the name stuck as the hapless team went on to finish the season with only one win.

I thought about that name during the church service on November 1st. In keeping with the long-standing tradition (since the Third Century!) we celebrated All Saints Day. On that day, the Church celebrates the lives of all believers in Jesus Christ, especially those who have died before us. My favorite hymn for the day (and one of my favorites for any day) is called, For All the Saints Who From Their Labors Rest*; its strains rise triumphantly in honor of the saints who down through the ages have endured to the end, and even suffered, for their faith, dying without having seen the fulfillment of their hope for Christ’s return. As the hymn declares, they will rise gloriously to be with their Lord in his eternal victory. The first verse proclaims,

For all the saints who from their labors rest,
who thee by faith before the world confessed,
thy name, O Jesus, be forever blest.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Then, after several verses extolling the faithful struggles of the saints, verse 7 rejoices:

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
the saints triumphant rise in bright array;
the King of glory passes on his way.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

With such a stirring and triumphant hymn, why would I ever think about a football team that fared so badly 40 years ago? Why? Because my warped mind started imagining, “What if there were a song called, For All the Aints?”

Now, let me be clear: by “Aints” I don’t mean those believers who “aint” with us anymore because they died. Nor do I mean those Christians who don’t live up to what I believe are biblical standards of conduct. What I mean is, those who “aint” among the saints, because they don’t, or didn’t, believe in Jesus Christ.

Saints are those who, by their faith in Christ and by his righteousness and grace, are declared to be saints. Although some special individuals are known by the title of Saint because of their special devotion and lives of service to Christ and his kingdom, every believer is also a saint, as witnessed by Saint Paul’s use of the term when addressing the believers in the various churches. For example, when writing to the believers in Corinth, Paul greets them by saying, “To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours. . . “(1 Corinthians 1:2). Likewise, he addresses the church in Ephesus with the words, “To the saints who are in Ephesus, and are faithful in Christ Jesus . . .” (Ephesians 1:1). He repeats such greetings to the believers in Rome, Colossae, and Philippi. In other words, he calls all Christians, saints.

Aints are, by contrast, non-believers. They may be “good” and moral people. We may respect them and enjoy their company. They may make great neighbors. They may even live saintly lives. But when it comes to counting the vast multitude of the saved from every nation, tribe, and language (Revelation 7:9 and 19:1), they aint among them.

So, once again, you may wonder why I would think of a song title that extols non-believers. The answer is, I’m not extoling them; rather, I’m extoling Jesus Christ, who came to earth to save the aints, among whom every one of us was numbered. Why did Jesus die? For All the Aints.

That this was indeed Christ’s mission is clear by multiple passages of Scripture, not to mention the entire grand sweep of the entire Bible. In Luke 19:10, Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” Saint Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1:15, “The saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost,” and in Romans 5:8, he wrote, “ but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Saint Peter affirmed God’s love for the lost, writing that God is “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). It’s clear: Jesus came and died “for all the aints.”

Jesus’ mission, made possible and anchored in his death and resurrection, continues today, because the world is still full of aints. Jesus’ mission is now the primary work of his Church, which by the power of the Holy Spirit enables aints to become saints through God’s Word and the Sacraments. This is the Great Commandment which Jesus gave his followers after his resurrection and before ascending to heaven: “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20). Likewise, in Mark 13:10, Jesus predicated his return on the Gospel first being preached throughout the world to every nation. His command to us is clear: leaving aints as aints just aint acceptable.

I could go on and on with the evidence from Scripture’s commands and the examples of saints who have gone before, but I’ll finish by focusing on what the result of proclaiming the Gospel will be, according to my new song, For All the Aints:

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
those who were aints will rise in bright array;
now they’re saints, their faith is on display.
Alleluia! Alleluia!

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Hebrews 11, Revelation 7, Mark 13

*For All the Saints, written by William W. How, 1823-1897.