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HOMILY TEXT Ephesians 1:15-23
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Today I'm going to take a different approach to the Feast of Christ the King. This feast that brings the Church year to a close reminds us that in Christ, God has accomplished for us the work of our salvation. At present we see this salvation by faith. And it is our faith that causes us to long to see by sight and not merely by faith.
In the Epistle for today, the apostle Paul speaks of the supremacy of Christ, of how God:
"has put all things under his feet and
has made [Jesus] the head over all
things for the church."
That is where the Epistle concludes. But Paul starts with a different focus in this reading from his Letter to the Church at Ephesus. He knows his audience. Paul knows that he is writing to Christians who have already come to believe in the reign of Jesus Christ as Lord of Lords, King of Kings, risen from the dead, the source of eternal life for all who believe in Jesus. And so the Epistle for this day begins not with the King but with the Kingdom.
Paul sees the face of Jesus Christ, Lord, God and Savior, in the faces of the Ephesians with have come to believe and embrace the Gospel. And with that vision of the King revealed in the Kingdom, Paul rejoices in their faith and gives thanks for these brothers and sisters. There are two important observations to this thanksgiving. The first is that Paul is giving thanks not to the Ephesians but to God, who in Christ has given unto Paul these Ephesians as brothers and sisters for Paul to love and to serve in Christ's name. But the second observation is and must be that this thanksgiving is made publicly with the Ephesians. Paul wants them to know the emotions of his heart, a heart transformed by the love of Christ.
I want you to know and to hear from me that as I read Paul's words, I can feel very much the emotions of his heart. More importantly I have embraced those emotions and claimed them for myself and for this place in which it which it has seemed good to the Church and the Holy Spirit for me to be found. Next Sunday a new Church year shall, God willing, begin, and we will once more walk the way of the Gospel. This shall be the eighth Church Year that I have been in your midst as your priest. And as I think on the Kingdom of God, specifically this portion of the Kingdom of God called the Church of the Holy Cross in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, I want you to hear me say as clearly and as boldly as I possibly can that as I stand before you and carry you in my heart day after day, I give thanks to Christ for each and every one of you, you who are present and those in our parish family who are not present in the body with us today but are very much in our hearts.
There are many reasons why I feel the joy and thanksgiving for you that springs forth from my heart. But the chief reason for my giving thanks, make no mistake about this fact, is that this and every day, I witness a living faith in you and in this holy house. When I see you, I see Jesus in our midst. The Gospel is alive and well in our midst. The faith shown among our parish family is the living faith of the saints, a treasury that has been passed down by those whose memory is still felt strongly in this place and that inspires us to make of this treasury a legacy of faith for those who follow us.
As we make a legacy of this treasury of faith, let me remind you that we are all growing day by day into the fullness of Christ our King. I really do believe this. The faith of this parish family has caused me to grow. I am not the same man or priest that I was when I first walked into this place. The Spirit has used you to make me a better person, a better man of faith, a better priest. The days I have shared the faith with you have shapped more fully the knowledge in me that I am your servant. And when I am more aware that I am your servant, I am more fully commited to being the servant of Jesus, whose presence is made known again and again in powerful ways that exceed all that we can desire or imagine.
I am also convinced that I am not the only one among us who has grown in faith as we have walked together, seeking to see more fully the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in our midst. And I want to be perfectly clear on this one statement:
the cause of that growth, the only
cause, is the shared awareness that
Christ is even now in our midst, and
ever shall be.
I am excited to see what Jesus has in store for us as we prepare to walk this way once more. By faith today we speak of the fullness of our salvation, even as we long to see that salvation fully revealed. As we enter next week into Advent, as we prepare our hearts to walk with Jesus again, may it be our desire to make Christ known in the world around us as well as within the fellowship that occurs in this holy house . God will continue to do amazing things in our midst, showing us more fully that we are the Kingdom of God, sharpening our eyes to see and to know the love of God more fully, equipping us with all that we need to see the face of Jesus daily, to live our faith even more fully than we are now. And when this occurs, our joy and thanksgiving for one another will only increase as we walk by faith as light that overcomes darkness, as life that springs forth eternal even from death, as salt that gives flavor to the feast that Christ sets before us.
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Father Timothy Alleman, Rector
The Church of the Holy Cross
Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania
The Episcopal Diocese of Bethlehem
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