The Rev. Dr. Hilary
B. Smith
What is the Hope?
The letter to the Ephesians is very clear. We are ones who have hope in Christ, and it is a hope we seek to know more fully. Our lives are transformed completely by God who loves us more than we can ever imagine. The author of Ephesians prays that we,
may know what is the hope to
which [Christ] has called [us], what are the riches of his glorious inheritance
among the saints, and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power for us
who believe, according to the working of his great power.
What is the hope to which Christ has called us? What are the riches that we have inherited as children of God? What is this power for us; what is this power that we have as children of God and members of the Body of Christ? In times of insecurity and change, we have security/salvation through Christ, and we are a source of love and compassion for all who look for help in this life.
We come to know what the riches are, what the hope is, what the power means, when we know and experience Christ as our King. Today we celebrate Christ the King Sunday, which is what we call this last Sunday after Pentecost. Next week we begin Advent, the season of waiting and watching for the coming of the King—today we see what the coming of the King means – what is the hope, what are the riches, what is the power.
In the days of the young Church, when the letter to the Ephesians was written, the leaders of the small and seemingly powerless Christian community sought to strengthen the faithfully with a vision of power that turned the world upside down. For the power of Christ is not the power to conquer but the power to heal; it is not the power to dominate but the power to relate.
We have known the Kingship of Christ in our lives as members of the Body of Christ, united with Christ in baptism and with each other through the grace of God. We know that it is the right thing to help others and welcome all.
We hear those familiar words from Matthew’s gospel: I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty…a stranger… naked…sick…in prison…and you cared…you helped…you are the righteous who shall inherit the kingdom.
This gospel reading focuses our attention on who Jesus is as our King—and how we are to serve a king such as this. We are called to serve as he served. He does not what our worship to be in theory only – he wants us to serve him by helping those need. To say that Jesus is a King, changes the way we understand Kingship, to say that Jesus is our Lord is to change the way we understand Lordship and what it means to be under the authority of Jesus as our sovereign.
Some do not like to use the words King and Lord for Jesus because of their historic meaning – but that is the very reason that we ought to use, and do use, these words. We claim these words for Christ to show what sort of hope we have and how it often differs from worldly ideas of success. When the first Christians called Jesus King and Lord, it upset those people who claimed power over them in the name of the Roman government.
We experience in part Christ’s kingdom now, but, as Matthew’s gospel states, when “the Son of Man comes in his glory” the kingdom for which we pray—thy kingdom come—will be known in its completeness. The language used to describe those who will are righteous and bound for eternal life and those who do not serve others and are condemned to Hell – this language is meant to emphasize the difference between the way of God and way of the world – it is not meant to be used to judge and exclude anyone. The way of condemnation and the exclusion is not the way of God. People may choose to be apart from God, but God never seeks banish anyone.
One of the central beliefs of our faith has to do with relationships. The idea that we are connected to God through Christ always, that we are connected to each other as we are the Body of Christ, and that we are in relationship with every person in the world because everyone is a child of God.
Sometimes when things are hard, people start to narrow their focus of concern. These difficult financial times in which we find ourselves can make people fearful and inwardly focused. Certainly, concerns about the economy are valid, but I pray that the concerns of the day do not become the loudest voice speaking to us. It is the voice of God, the movement of the Spirit, which enables us to look beyond the concerns of the day to the promises of eternal life—and to act accordingly. There is great freedom in acting on our faith.
Christ calls us to see our relationships with each other and all people as crucial for our relationship with him. Jesus says to us, “just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.” Jesus calls us to remember that we are all part of the family of God. At a time when people may be looking inward, this is the time to remember that we are all connected.
We start to experience eternal life now when we follow the call of Christ to care for those in need and honor the relationships God has given us in this world. Eternal life is the life that we feel within us when we look beyond our personal concerns to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and welcome the stranger. We are Christ’s hands in the world; we bring the blessings of God to others through our actions—this is our hope, our power, the riches of life.
Today we are sending forth two of our own to be ministers
for God in a new place. I hate it when people leave –if I had my way, Katie and
Lindsay would not be moving to
If you don’t know, it is of some interest that they are
moving to that part of
And we at
The 16th century Spanish mystic Teresa of Avila felt a closeness to God, which led her to write this poem/prayer, which emphasizes what it means to be the Body of Christ. She describes the ministry that Katie and Lindsay will have, that you and I have, and that Christians, wherever we find ourselves have.
Christ has no body
now but yours,
No hands, no feet,
on earth but yours.
Yours are the eyes
through which
He looks
compassion on this world.
Yours are the feet
With which He
walks to do good.
Yours are the
hands
With which He
blesses all the world.
Yours are the
hands, yours are the feet.
Yours are the
eyes, you are His body.
Christ has no body
now but yours,
No hands, no feet
on earth but yours.
Yours are the
eyes, though which He
Looks compassion
on the world.
Christ has no body
now on earth but yours.
To be the Body of Christ is to do what Jesus did. Recently I was discussing the issue of miracles with someone who was saying that Jesus promised that we would do all that he did. Do we see the miracles in our time such as the ones Jesus performed? Absolutely.
When we embrace our identity as members of the Body of Christ and work together as such, the hungry are feed, the sick and lonely receive compassion, the strangers are welcomed—these are miracles are they not? These acts of grace happen in many different ways as we go into the world as members of the Body of Christ to serve God through the relationships we have. In so doing, we see glimpses of the kingdom and we make the kingdom known to others – this is our hope, this is the power, these are the riches. Amen.