Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
Things are moving quickly. School is in full swing, Summer has ended, and we are moving into Fall, and the Church Year draws to a close.
Many love the changing of the leaves, the crisp morning air, the smell of pumpkins and apple cider. Others already wish for warmer days. Some are already eagerly awaiting Christmas and wondering how soon they can begin playing Christmas music and decorating.
As we all look ahead to the coming holidays or look back to the warmth of summer and blooming flowers, it is important to realize where we are right now.
Homecoming has just happened, the parade has gone by, and many hotdogs have been served and eaten.
And just like how the year keeps moving and the seasons keep changing, so does the church year. Summer and the accounts of Jesus’ ministry and miracles have been read, the season of Advent and preparation for the coming Savior approaches, but right now, we too are in a season of homecoming.
In our rush to look ahead or our desire to look back, we often miss the season we are in now. A season of homecoming. A season where we can focus on the life that is to come.
We say every week in the Apostle’s and Nicene Creeds:
“I believe in…. the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting.” (Apostle’s)
“I look for the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come.” (Nicene)
It is good for us to pause here as we near the end of the church year and reflect on this promise of the resurrection and eternal life. We truly will be raised again; we will be made new – physically present and living in the new creation. Living with God for all eternity.
So often, we live looking ahead. Looking ahead to the next get together, to the next holiday, and to the next big church event. But let us pause and think of the life to come:
“A great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb… crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!’” (Rev. 7:9-10)
A life without sin, a life without pain and disease, a life we can look forward to because of the promise of salvation secured for us by Christ Jesus and given to us by the Holy Spirit.
This is a life we can celebrate looking forward to. We will be gathered together with all Christians to worship and live with our Lord and Savior. What a glorious homecoming we look forward to.
In Christ, Vicar Boester