Restoration

The collect for the last Sunday of our church year begins – “Almighty & Everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved son…”

Years ago, I restored a dresser that had been painted over numerous times.  It took many hours of striping & sanding before it could be stained & varnished.  Restoration is time consuming, labor intensive work.  And you need to have a vision of the end result.

So, it is also with the restoration of our lives love on planet earth.  In St. Matthew’s gospel, he showed a vision of those who work at restoration.

“I was hungry & you gave me food.”

“I was thirsty & you gave me drink.”

“I was a stranger & you welcomed me.”

“I was naked & you gave me clothing.”

“I was sick & you  took care of me.”

“I was in prison & you visited me.”

In our present age, this is time consuming, labor intensive work.  The Christ, God’s Son, was broken & hung on a cross by this work of restoration.  His vision & ours is eloquently described by the prophet Isaiah (11: 6-9).

The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.  The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.  The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den.  They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.