The Last Sunday after Pentecost-Christ the King Sunday

The Last Sunday after Pentecost-Christ the King Sunday November 26, 2017 This past week, I learned that a good friend of mine had died very suddenly. His death was unexpected, as he was fairly young and in the prime of his life, and his death was both shocking and profoundly tragic for his family and his friends. I’ve really been wrestling with it, how to come to grips with it in my faith, especially in this week that has been so been so fiercely devoted to the practice of giving thanks. So I have been thankful this week to have the epistle reading from the letter to the Ephesians to wrestle with and to have the opportunity to reflect on this in the context of this faith community here. The letter to the Ephesians was thought to have been written by Paul, but it probably wasn’t. But it does contain elements similar to Paul’s letters. Many of Paul’s letters start with a thanksgiving for those to whom he is writing. The letter to the Ephesians is striking because the whole letter is really devoted to thanksgiving, but the thanksgiving of the writer isn’t focused so much on the community in Ephesus. Rather the writer’s thanksgiving is focused on God. Ephesians is really an extended hymn of praise to God. I was also struck by a particular line from this particular reading. “I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you…” So that with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you… Exactly how does God enlighten the eyes of our hearts and what exactly is the hope to which he has called us? The writer of Ephesians suggests that the eyes of our hearts are enlightened as we come to know God more deeply, more fully. And the hope to which he has called us is to live our lives participating in the assurance that all things will be gathered back to Christ as a result of God using God’s power for the resurrection of Christ from the dead. Today, on week 3 of our Celebrate St. Thomas: Growing in Faith Together campaign, I am mindful of how you have talked about why you love St. Thomas, who has made a difference in your faith life here, and now today, what is your greatest dream for St. Thomas? Another way of saying this might be what is your hope for St. Thomas? In and through this campaign, I have seen in you your joy, your resilience, your stubborn clinging to hope, your love for each other, and an especial cherishing of children—both the ones who are here now and the ones who have grown up here. My brothers and sisters, these are unique gifts given to our particular community from God. And they are what makes us a resurrection community; a community of hope. My hope for St. Thomas is that we can grow more deeply into our identity as a resurrection community—those who seek out and find Christ in the littlest, the least, the lost, and the broken-hearted; those who cling stubbornly to our hope in the resurrection—that even though things seem fractured and broken and divided-- that all things will eventually be brought together in and through the resurrected Christ and that we will work to do our part in that as well. We have so much to offer people who may have lost sight of their hope, their joy. And it all starts with an invitation to come and see, with a hand extended in kindness, in a deeper looking- to see and encounter Christ who dwells in someone else. So your questions to consider this week are 1. How might you invite God to enlighten the eyes of your heart? 2. What is the hope to which God is calling you? 3. How are you being called to live out that hope both within this church and beyond the walls of this church? After my friend died this week, I kept thinking of a quote, which I thought was from scripture but it turns out it isn’t. It’s actually a quote based on the words of Henri Frederic Amiel (1821-1881) who was a poet and philosopher, and it has been woven into a blessing or a benediction. I think it sums up beautifully the life of my friend and the hope to which God calls all of us: Life is short, And we do not have much time to gladden the hearts of those who make the journey with us. So… be swift to love, and make haste to be kind. And the blessing of God, who made us, who loves us, and who travels with us be with you now and forever. i i. https://www.episcopalcafe.com/be_swift_to_love/