One

One

There is one body and one Spirit- just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call- one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:4-6

Sometimes it is hard for me to grasp this new identity that Jesus’ resurrection makes possible.  Paul’s letter to the people in Ephesus tells them, like it tells us, that they are now free to be one.  One with God and one with each other.  Because of what God did through Jesus on the cross and afterwards we have this hope.  We are called to this hope.  Resurrection hope touches every part of our lives: our work, our words, our families, our communities, even our own hopes, dreams, and expectations.  Because our sins have been atoned for (literally putting us at-ONE with God) we can live this new life.

As we prepare for next week’s baptism service at Camp Chestnut Ridge, we’re called by this passage to remember our own baptisms.  To remember that moment when we dramatically signaled that we’ve died and been raised to new life with Christ.  

This is a time to re-repent, recognizing the ways we still live underwater, dead.  

But it’s also a time to re-rejoice, remembering what has surprisingly and mysteriously happened on Easter, and recognizing the “call to the one hope that belongs to your call.”

My prayer over the next week and a half is a prayer for one-ness.  That we feel near to the God who has brought us close.  That we share in this unity together as we worship and celebrate the one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.  Amen.