When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it's over, I don't want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world. (Mary Oliver) What is it you hope for in your life?Close your eyes for a minute and think back to some earlier time.What was life like for you then?What did you expect to be or to do in these years just past?Did you have any thoughts of what you might do with the whole of your life?Did you envision yourself being successful?powerful?Wealthy?Did you want more than anything else to have others respect you or love you or protect you?Are you pleased or disappointed with the way your life has unfolded? Here is another question…What do you think is God’s hope for your life?When you considered your dreams did you do it in the context of searching for God’s hope?Do you think God is pleased or do you wonder if you have responded to life in a way that glorifies God. Just before our lectionary picks up the passage we heard today, there is a verse that sort of sums up the missio dei, the mission of God.That mission, Christians believe, is for God’s Kingdom to be realized and for all beings to be reunited with God through Jesus Christ.In Calvinist tradition the path for our life is sort of laid out for us.Simplistically, and probably inadequately, this is one way of understanding pre-destination.The outcome of our life is sort of pre-ordained and God’s will for us is to be carried out through Grace that comes from God.I say simplistically because it is I think a much more complex theology than that, but nevertheless it is not hard to read into the passage a literal look that would say that we are predestined to some role in God’s plan. But if we read more deeply then in the verses that follow Paul expresses a relational picture.Listen to the sway back and forth: All things are accomplished through God’s counsel and will We set our hope on Christ We live for the praise of God’s glory God speaks truth to us and promises salvation We believe in God God marks/seals us as children of God See what I mean it is a partnership, a divine/human partnership that brings to fruition the misseo deo. ·God is the one who accomplishes everything according to his will – it is God who destines and appoints ·But that purpose is put into motion when we (the human connection) make a conscience decision to live in faith and hope rather than in despair ·God is the one who seals the deal ·But our response, our very human response is a necessary component in the establishment of the Kingdom of God and a faithful response is the call of every person. You know especially on All Saints we tend to think about the great saints’ names that we know.Saint Paul, Saint Christopher, etc.The tradition of All Souls day has perpetuated that notion as traditionally All Saints was for departed ones who had achieved perfection and All souls was for the poor schmucks in purgatory.OK OK I am over simplifying again.But I think we miss the point if we focus on those who we see as having made a great commitment or achievement in the faith, because that is not what it is about. When Paul talks about the saints in Ephesians he is talking about the gathered faithful of God.The Greek word that is translated “saint” means “holy one”.The early church was clear that we who follow Jesus are holy ones, saints because God has - in Jesus Christ and in the gift of the Holy Spirit - made us that way.We are all saints, - some of us are well-known names and some will not be remembered at all, but each one of us who hopes for our salvation in Jesus Christ - who makes a faithful response to God’s call for us - are saints.What is it the hymn says and “…one was doctor and one was a queen and one was a shepherdess on the green… one was a soldier and one was a priest and one was slain by a fierce wild beast…” Paul is clear that the walls that divide Jews and Gentiles, that divide us from each other and from God have been destroyed in the cross and that in Christ one new humanity is created to open the way for God’s Peace.As he prays for the saints in Ephesus Paul that he has noticed two things about them: first they are people who have faith in the Lord Jesus and secondly they demonstrate their love for each other in the way that they act toward each other. For each one of us there are moments in our lives that are pivotal in making us who we are or what we are becoming.Steppingstones I like to call them.The Celts called them thin places.Where the veil between life and death – between the human and the divine is very thin and the opportunity for connection is very strong.It is in these moments that we become most aware of the magnificence of God and of our call to serve.It is in these places and times that we gain clarity into the nature of God and our faithful response to God’s love for us. In Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians he prays that God will give them the spirit of wisdom and revelation in order to come to know Him better.And through that spirit they will be able to discern what their faithful response will be.I love that line about having the eyes of my heart enlightened.“with the eyes of the heart enlightened we may come to know what it means to really hope in God and in Jesus Christ.Wow.Could that be what Mary Oilver’s prayer is about also? When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was a bridegroom, taking the world into my arms. When it's over, I don't want to wonder if I have made of my life something particular, and real. I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened or full of argument. I don't want to end up simply having visited this world. (Mary Oliver) I don’t want to have simply visited this world – I want to have opened the eyes of my heart to behold God in all the great majesty of this creation.Each one of us has that potential inside of us.The goodness of God, the sacredness of God, the love of God is right here.But sometimes the cares and concerns of this world bottle us up.Sometimes we let the situations of our lives block out God’s desire for us and we become muddled in despair.Sometimes we turn to alcohol, or drugs, or work, or computers or comfort food – whatever - we try to cover the pain, the loss, the grief – cover it up, not let God reach inside us and open us up to imagine the future, your future, my future – your life, my life – that God is preparing for us. But Paul reminds us that is in this imperfect, floundering body of Christ, the church, that we are sustained and renewed.It is in the communion of the saints – those gone before, those of us now and those yet to come that the eyes of our heart are most keen. One of my favorite Hasidic tales is of a rabbi who sitting around a fire with his congregation.Someone asked the rabbi the meaning of community.He sat in silence for a while and then as the fire began to turn to glowing coals he reached in and pulled one single burning coal over to the side – away from the pile of coals.Soon the single coal began to dim and to grow cold and lifeless.It is in the company of all the saints that we see with the eyes of our heart what is the breadth and height and depth of God’s love.Amen