St. Richard’s Day

Happy St. Richard’s Day!

Okay, I know what you’re thinking: Rich has lost it again. His ego has taken over and he has become what the Bible calls, “puffed up” (as in 1 Timothy 6:4 – “he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. . .”). Why else would I call today “St. Richard’s Day” when it clearly is a day named after a real saint, Saint Patrick? Well, I can call it that for a couple reasons.

1. First, because the Bible refers to all Christians as saints. Paul writes to the believers in various churches and addresses them as saints, hagioi in Greek, which can also be translated as “holy ones.” He writes to the saints at Ephesus, Philippi, and Colossae, and refers to others at Rome, Corinth, and Thessalonica. Sainthood is not something earned by living a perfect life, or being better than others, but is on account of their faith in Christ. For it is not their own righteousness that is recognized, but the holiness of Jesus Christ himself. You and I are saints by faith in Christ, not by our good works. Sainthood is not a title conferred by a pope or by the vote of a church committee, but a reality lived out in Christ.

Sainthood is not a title conferred by a pope or by the vote of a church committee, but a reality lived out in Christ.

So why do Lutherans still refer to saints such as St. Patrick and, dare I ask it, St. Peter? There are a couple practical answers: the tradition of Church history, and the need to distinguish guys like the biblical Peter from the Peter who works at the fast-food place down the street (or for you fellow Boomers, from “Peter, Paul, and Mary”. . .). But there is also a theological basis. Although our Lutheran Confessions forbid worshiping the saints or praying to them, since there is only one mediator between God and man, who is Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5), they do recognize the value of honoring people who lived lives of exceptional grace and dedication to the Lord. The Apology to the Augsburg Confession, Article XXI, 4-7 states that we honor the saints for three reasons: 1. To thank God for examples of his mercy, 2. To use the saints as examples for strengthening our faith, and 3. To imitate their faith and other virtues.

Properly understood, then, we are all saints by the grace of God through faith in Christ, and it is good to honor our fellow saints who lived or are still living exemplary lives of faith and service in Christ’s name. So kudos to Patrick and thanks to God for Patrick’s service to the good people of Ireland!

2. There is a second reason I can piggy-back on St. Patrick’s Day and call it St. Richard’s Day, and that is because Ancestry.com has confirmed by my recent DNA test that some of my ancestors were Irish! (Erin go Bragh!) The first Eddys to come to America arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1630 on the last of the Pilgrim ships, The Handmaid. They were from Salisbury, England (maybe that’s why I like Salisbury steak?). But further research indicated our particular branch of the family arrived in the late 1600s from County Antrim in Ireland. This branch settled in New Jersey before moving further west each generation. The DNA test seems to confirm that Irish connection.

But before you picture me wearing green socks and hats or eating corned beef and green cabbage (never green corned beef!), or rooting for the Boston Celtics, I should point out that County Antrim is in Northern Ireland. That’s right: my ancestors were what is called Scotch-Irish, and they were Protestants. And they wore orange, not green.

So now you are likely asking, how can I celebrate St. Patrick’s Day if I’m not actually fully Irish or Roman Catholic? The answer: it’s not Patrick’s or anyone else’s ethnicity I celebrate, but rather his accomplishments of bringing the Gospel to Ireland and, against great opposition, converting almost the entire nation. Oh yeah, and beside that, Patrick wasn’t Irish, nor was he Roman Catholic.

Patrick wasn’t Irish, nor was he Roman Catholic.

There are plenty of sources where you can find the details of his amazing story, but the basic outline is this: Patrick was a Roman-Briton named Patricius who lived in the 5th Century AD. At age 16 he was captured by Irish raiders who took him to Ireland to work as a slave in a pig farm. While slaving, he became a Christian and after six years he escaped and found passage on a boat back to England. He then studied and was ordained as a missionary, and having received a call from God to save the Irish, he returned to the land and people of his slavery and brought them the freedom of Jesus Christ. He became their bishop and spent the rest of his life preaching, teaching, and baptizing them. He wrote his life story, called the Declaration, and a hymn known as “St. Patrick’s Breastplate,” which is #188 in our Lutheran hymnal (LBW).

So while this was the first St. Patrick’s Day I could celebrate with the assurance I am part Irish (and yes, I did eat some corned beef today – though in keeping with the Germans on my mom’s side, it was with sauerkraut in a Reuben sandwich!), I more importantly I celebrate the assurance I have of forgiveness and eternal life through Jesus Christ, whose name and Gospel was proclaimed by a guy named Patrick to the blessing of a nation which remembers him this day – St. Richard’s Day!

May the Lord bless you and keep you, the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, the Lord look upon you with favor, and give you peace. Amen.

Read: Ephesians 1