Jesus as the Restorer

Sunday's are always a blur. Two services, Sunday school, breakfast, coffee hour, and almost 200 people are a lot to keep up with. It is with that in mind that I tell you that somebody talked to me, I think at coffee hour, about how changing our focus from "the end" to our new beginnings is aided by holding up Jesus as the Restorer.

I had forgotten that conversation until this morning as I read the Collect for Sunday.

"Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under his most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen."

The writers of the Collects most assuredly took the role of "namer of God's attributes" very seriously, and so it is not a mere coincidence that God is described on Christ the King Sunday (the ultimate ending and new beginning Sunday) as God, whose will it is to restore all things.

Think about that. God's will is to restore all things in Jesus. It isn't about whether or not I make it to heaven, but about bringing all of Creation back into its former glory. It is about relationships. It is about ecology. It is about spending. It is about justice. And yes, it is about salvation too. Ultimately, the end and with it the New Heaven and the New Earth is all about restoration; wholeness.

Christ as King is a little hard for us to understand, but Christ as Restorer, that I can begin to wrap my mind around.

O God, if it is indeed your will to restore all things in your Son, I pray that you find in me enough good parts and a clear enough picture of the original to begin that work today. Amen.