Rochester, MN UCC - "Christ in You, the Hope of Glory" - Colossians 1:15-28
On this year’s youth group trip to the General Synod of the UCC in Kansas City we continued a tradition we learned last year in Tucson: prayer partners. Every morning we draw names out of a hat. The name you draw is your prayer partner. Your assignment is to observe this person throughout the day and that evening share with the group the identity of your prayer partner and say how you saw God in them that day. It's a great way to build community amongst the group, to help us see the good in each other, and to hear from others how you and your contributions are valued.
Paul’s letter to the Colossians begins with an elegant, and theologically sophisticated hymn on the nature and work of Jesus Christ. Christ is extolled as the first born of all creation, the one through whom all things were created, the first born of the dead, and the head of the church. Paul then states that it has been his call to make the Word of God fully known among the saints to whom God has revealed the mystery of Christ. He says, “To them God chose to make known how great among the gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” What the saints know is how great are the riches of the glory of God’s Word among the nations. They know that Christ is in us! The riches of his glory are to be found in our neighbors and ourselves. If we look closely at one another with the eyes of faith, we can see the presence of Christ, the hope of glory, within us.
When we gathered for evening prayer on our last night together during this year’s youth group trip, one of our youth gave a prayer of thanksgiving. She thanked God for allowing us to see the presence of the Lord in our prayer partners that day. After spending a week looking for God in our neighbors, she not only believed that the presence of Christ was present and observable in others, she was grateful to God for the ability to see the Lord in others. I’m incredibly grateful to her and to all our youth for how they lived out their faith in the past week. I am also filled with hope that all of us will be blessed with greater faith and greater vision to see the riches of the glory of Christ in one another. Amen.
Pastor Andrew Greenhaw