27th Sunday after Pentecost
Picture: Visiting priest, Fr. James Early came all the way from Texas to celebrate the Divine Liturgy with us. He may not have liked the cold, but it was easily offset by the warmth of the St. Michael’s hospitality.
Colossians 1: 12-18
Who is the Christ?
• He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
• He is the one, by whom “all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
• And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
Who are WE?
• We are the ones who “once walked in darkness” (Ephesians 5:8). We are the ones who “once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds.” (Colossians 1:21)
• We are the ones who have been delivered “from the domain of darkness [into] the kingdom of [Christ], in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
• We are the ones who have, through joining this great body, the Church, been united to Him and reconciled to one another.
What it means.
• No divisions. Not in you. Not in your families. Not in your parish. (gut check)
• Peace. You have it. You bring it to others. (gut check)
• The key? Reality is what it is. You must continue in the faith – you must act according to this knowledge. Do not be distracted from love (like the man in the parable today, or the eldest son in the parable of the prodigal son, or like the rich man who went away sorrowful, or like so many people you know, perhaps even like you yourself).
Let me end frankly.
• Christ is powerful. Out of love He made you, out of love He suffered to give you His Church (i.e the mechanism of your salvation, peace, and unity).
• How do you react? How do you treat the Church? How do you show your appreciation for this great gift?
• If you spread division, if you shatter peace, if you seek to impose your own will on the world, then you aren’t just demonstrating a lack of appreciation, you aren’t just rejecting this gift, if you do these things you are spitting on this gift. And your ingratitude is shameful.
If this is what you have done [spread division, shattered peace, imposed your own will], then you have embraced darkness – you have joined Satan in choosing your own selfish way over righteousness. You have sundered yourself from Truth and made your life a mockery of its intent. But this need not be the end of things. All things – things on heaven and on earth – can be reconciled through Christ. Through Him all things can be forgiven.
So repent now and join Him in the light and find His peace.
