Dear Friends: I want to thank the Cedar Key News for this opportunity to write a brief letter to the people of Cedar Key. Making a connection to people through the words I write or speak has always been important to me, and it is difficult to make such a connection unless I have some sense of who I am writing or speaking to. Thus, the first thing I have had to do is reflect on the question – who is my intended audience in this letter? The answer I have arrived at is this: I am writing to anyone who feels a need for hope or healing in his or her life. There have always been times when we, as human beings, have felt a need for hope, times when darkness, or despair, or a lack of purpose have seemed to be overwhelming. When we look back to the time of Jesus and the early church, we see that the church's hope was founded on a strong belief that God was about to initiate a cosmic, supernatural event that would vanquish Satan, sin and evil forever, and would inaugurate the perfect Kingdom of God on earth. The return of the Risen Jesus, as the "Son of Man," was expected to be the sign of this event. Unfortunately, the hope of the early church was not realized, and we no longer live in a time where we expect an imminent, supernatural event that vanquishes Satan and establishes heaven on earth. But we still need hope, for we still live in a world where Satan, sin and evil cause damage in our lives and the lives of others. Paul reminds us, in his letter to the church in Rome, that "faith, hope, and love" abide forever. So where do we, in the 21st century, find hope? In my experience, hope lays in the fact that an abundant life of joy and happiness is available to all of us, at all times, without exception. No matter how much havoc Satan may wreak in our lives or in the world, God's power of healing and redemption is always available to bring us out of darkness and into light. While the first three gospels in the New Testament – Matthew, Mark, and Luke – were written in a time when the hope of the church was in the imminent return of the Risen Jesus, the 4th gospel – John – was written a few decades later, and it appears the church's message of hope had begun to change. There was no longer such an emphasis on the "return" of Jesus, and more of an emphasis on the "presence" of Jesus. John tells us, at the beginning of his gospel, that what came into existence through Jesus was "life," and that "this life was the light of all people, and the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it." In other words, God's light in Christ is always available to us; we don't have to wait for it to return at some later date. John also tells us how a person can locate and begin to walk on this pathway to light and life. At the end of his gospel he says, "The words of this gospel have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing this you may have life through his name." The church in Johns' time, and today, proclaims its hope through a belief that Jesus Christ will give healing and redemption, life and light, to all who come to him in faith. This hope may not be as dramatic as a hope in the imminent fulfillment of a perfect heaven on earth, but it is a hope built squarely upon experience. Countless Christians can testify that God's light shines in the darkness and that darkness can never overcome it. If you are feeling a lack of hope in your life, I encourage you to open your heart to God and allow the light of Christ to enter your dark places. You can be certain that God's light is stronger than your darkness, which is good news for you, and me, and all people. God bless you,
Fr. Jim Wright, Christ Episcopal Church |
