Joseph Peters-Mathews

Paul tells the Colossians and us that through our baptisms, we can’t be hopeless. “If you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.”

Throughout this letter Paul has not held back on his critiques but throughout it he has been positive and affirming. He loves the Colossians and that comes through. He also doesn’t want them to think they need to worship or pray to river spirits or angels who have part of God’s divinity alongside Jesus who also has just a part. No, Paul says, all rulers and authorities of the world were created through him. Through his resurrection, they have been shamed and brought into submission.

As someone who can get very wrapped up in policy and court opinions and how are things going to work I understand the Colossians’ look for secret truths ways to appease the minor gods who may actually be in control. Then Paul calls me out…in this hymn to Christ that Paul has slightly reworked Paul gives the Colossians hope…

With white supremacists on our door, we’ve been rescued from the power of shadows and brought into God’s reign which has come near. Jesus’ bringing in God’s reign moves us from strength to strength and keeps us going for when we need to face the powers and principalities of this world.

t’s okay for us to feel our feelings, to have our concerns, to be anxious, and to worry. It’s important not to theologize pain or use escapism of religion to say it doesn’t matter.
We’re here today to be told that it does, and that it’s not the end. Jesus’ disciples go ahead of him to tell people to repent and believe in the Good News: the Kingdom of God is at hand.

But here’s where we are, with respect to this particular issue, or climate change, or gun violence or the inflation rate. Looking back with longing will not benefit us in the long run. We may need time to grieve and breathe and gather and pray; and then we respond. We act in the way Jesus would have us act and by what we promise in our baptismal vows: to seek and serve Christ in all persons, to strive for justice and peace among all people. How? with God’s help.

The Rev. Carola von Wrangel served as a supply priest for St. Hilda St. Patrick on June 19. She has served in the Convocation of Episcopal Churches in Europe and is currently a priest associate at St. Dunstan’s, Shoreline.

The Trinity is not an intellectual exercise. It is a summary and picture of God’s love. It is a call to us to let the love expressed in the Trinity work through us. We are called to be disciples of Christ.

This longing for satisfaction is a universal desire of humanity and a desire of the church. Our longing is manifested in our restlessness, sense of emptiness, and our search for meaning and significance in our lives. We want to see Jesus, to be healed, to touch the helm of his garment, we want to stand in the presence of His holiness to behold Him and be satisfied…True satisfaction is not about filling a void, or about acquisitions, accomplishments, or the fun things that we find to do. True satisfaction comes in the new life we experience in God where we become intoxicated by the H.S. goodness and love.

These four rules occur to me as ways to get our responses sorted out and put in order to help us respond as God’s agents: remember to be in touch with our religious and spiritual community for inner strength; remember that we do not have to face the world alone; live a life in which love is a verb as well as a noun; and remember that we have more in common with each other than we realize.