God has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers--all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
On this last Sunday of the church year, we celebrate Christ the King, the sovereign Lord of all creation. God has picked us up out of the kingdom of darkness and positioned us squarely in Christ's kingdom, the kingdom of order and light. In him, the entire universe holds together and can be trusted. We can find our home here.
God has created, ordered and is present through Christ in this world, according to this great hymn of the early church. Can you make out God's hand in the world and in your own life?
In the confirmation class I'm teaching, the student's workbooks ask them to reflect on Christ's presence in their lives. That's a challenge. It requires that they develop spiritual eyesight. Even for adults, mature in their faith, this can be difficult. At presbytery meeting this week, I plopped down in a chair for dinner, introduced myself to a woman I'd never met sitting next to me and the first thing she said was: "So, Wes, what fantastic things is God doing in your life right now?"
It wasn't the question that immediately discombobulated me. You sometimes get this question when you are hanging out with gregarious religious folk. No, it was her complete enthusiasm and certainty of a positive response, that I would proclaim with great wonder and praise the magnificent workings of God in my life. I stammered a bit, assured her that everything was going so well in my family and church, and asked her to pass the butter.
Developing spiritual eyesight is necessary for a robust prayer life, because so much prayer should be simply giving thanks. Abraham Lincoln, through great personal and national pain, developed that eyesight and proclaimed the first Thanksgiving holiday back in 1863. This week, what are you thankful for?
I don't see God doing stuff for me. But I can be truly thankful for everything that God has created in me and around me. I am thankful for the analytical mind God has created in me so that I can help struggling first and second graders to learn to read. I am thankful for the curiosity to seek out more knowledge in my field to try to understand what my struggling students are going through to learn to read. I am thankful for these gifts that help me show God's compassion.
ReplyDeleteThis Thanksgiving I'm thankful for the glimmer of understanding that difficulties and hard times can provide helpful life lessons. Maybe my age, my search to learn if this concept were true, the number of difficulties I've now experienced, or maybe a combination of all of those, has brought this beginning of light for me. I definitely remember in my younger days that I was like an Israelite fleeing Egypt murmuring my misfortune whenever challenges appeared. I certainly can't say all my grumbling has ceased, but occasionally it's replaced by a hope that when the difficulty is done, it won't take me too long to see a lesson from the experience.
ReplyDeleteTonight as I waited for the bus home (completely unaware of the 2 3/4 hour trip I was about to embark on) I noticed across the street a clutch of 4 white birch trees. They were quite striking in the snow that was on the ground around them and blowing through them. I thought of this blog and your sermon Wes and was reminded that it is good to recognize not just the beauty of the trees but also the creator of them. Perhaps I had a little spritual eyesight awakening there.
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