11-22-13 - Kingdom of Light

As we end this week exploring Christ, our crucified King, let’s give a look to the second reading appointed for Sunday, a passage from Paul’s letter to the Colossians. It is dense in theology and rich in imagery. In fact, “image” is what Paul calls Jesus, the Son of God:  
He 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.

The image of the invisible God – making God visible to us. That is the heart of the Christian understanding of God’s love, that God did not remain aloof from an estranged humanity, but found a way for us to see and know God, now in part, but in greater fullness as we grow into the likeness of Christ. So, Christ is the image of the invisible God, and we take on the image of the crucified and risen Christ… and thus we, made in God’s image, recover that likeness because Christ has made God known, and we can know Christ.

He 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. Rescued from the power of darkness. Transferred into the kingdom of his beloved Son. I think of refugees on the run, rescued and transferred into a safe realm.

Of course, many’s the day it looks like darkness is still winning, and our rescue is delayed. Today we mark the 50th anniversary of the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a day in our history when, for many, darkness won and quenched the bright light of youthful hope and possibility which JFK had instilled in so many. And a certain trajectory of darkness does seem to have coursed from that horrible act to more violence, violence which has become endemic to our life as Americans, from which we have not managed to get free.

As those who claim citizenship in the Kingdom of Christ, we have a mission, a responsibility, to shed light everywhere we can. Paul has a prayer and a prescription for us: May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

Today, in prayer, you might sit with that sentence. 
Reflect on the places you feel weak; what does it feel like to accept the strength that comes from God’s glorious power? 
Reflect on the things you feel you have to endure; ask the Holy Spirit to give you the patience you have been promised as a spiritual gift.
Reflect on where your joy is found lately, or might be found, and give thanks to that One who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.

The saints in the light – that’s us. That’s our calling and our description, our hope and our destiny. And when we bring our light together, the darkness doesn’t stand a chance.