Ordination reflection

A year ago today, I was lying face down on the stone floor of St. John's church, while this was prayed:

"Let the whole world see and know that things which were cast down are being raised up, and things which had grown old are being made new."

Rereading this prayer today brought tears to my eyes. It is this for which I live, this for which I fight the battle each day. It is to see the power of God raising up those who have been ground down to the dust, to see people who have been abandoned and considered hopeless find a home and hope and love in Jesus Christ. To see those who are cast down and trodden on be raised up to be sons and daughters of God, and to see the palpable feeling of anger, pride and unforgiveness be remade into something new: the kingdom of God.

And when I see how vast is this vision, how impossible to topple spiritual edifices that have been in place for generations, how hopeless it is to tell people that they are beloved of God who have come to North Troy only because nobody else wanted them and they had nowhere else to go, I begin to wonder: do I fight in vain? What weapons do I have for fighting the war against evil in this place?

This morning, I again sat in St. John's reading the words of the Song of Mary. "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, my spirit rejoices in God my Savior...he has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly. He has filled the hungry with good things, and the rich has sent away empty."

It is the Lord who casts down the works of darkness. It is the Lord who lifts up those who have been oppressed and forsaken. It is the Lord who protects and sustains the hungry child afraid of its parents. It is the Lord, the Alpha and Omega, the one who makes all things new.

And it is for the Lord that I fight. This battle is not mine, it is God's. He has called me to be a foot soldier in this battle, and I will fight against the works of darkness and evil with all that I have in me. But as David said, "The battle is the Lord's." And our Lord has already won the victory. No stronghold or work of darkness can ever prevail against him, because he has broken the hold of death, the power of evil, and the gates of hell. And he has given us his authority.

Therefore, this impossible edifice against which we strive, this darkness into which we work to bring the light of Christ can be fought. The things that were cast down will be raised up, and the old is being made new even now. But this battle is the Lord's. I fight in his name and his strength and his power. Lord, have mercy on this place and on these people.

Glory to God whose power working in us can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine. Glory to him from generation to generation in the church and in Christ Jesus forever. Amen.

Come, Lord Jesus.