I, bishop of the gospel of Christ Jesus by the will of God, To the holy and faithful members in Christ at Jackson Heights: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.
We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints. This is the congregation that helped the homeless for 25 years in New York City, patiently offering bed and food every Friday night, remembering that our Lord Jesus, the son of man, had no place to rest his head.
We hear of the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing, just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. Your road has not been easy as you transformed from a white church of 1974 to the rich multi ethnic witness which welcomes the 14 language groups of Jackson Heights and has recreated a congregation of black and white, rich and poor, gay and straight, liberal and conservative.
You learned it from Rev. Armitstead, our dear fellow servant, who was a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. His words were offered by Rev. Cotto who knew the pain of drug addiction and the fear of immigrants, their constant companion able to be snatched at a moments notice without protection from anyone except the Lord Christ. This is the church where the pastors committed to physically follow anyone deported after the Reform Act of 1996, ready to represent the incarnation of Christ who travelled to Egypt as a refugee.
For this reason, since the day we heard about you in our election as bishop, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Your road has been long since starting as a congregation in 1920 and stones hurt your feet as you continue to travel. Some of you are recent and are not aware of the price already paid. This is the church that your pastors led in a diverse community after a white member murdered a gay Hispanic man by beating him to death at PS 69. Both the story and the glory of human kind has been retold at Jackson Heights and you have been the faithful flock, offering grace, becoming famous for the place where it is safe to be, the sanctuary of the children of the community. This is the Wesleyan understanding of social holiness, crafted in the fires of human weakness and servant nature of Christ.
You have reached out to others in mission, building three churches in Cambodia, and challenging youth to commit their careers to Christ. And one of your own youth, baptized at this font is now the director of media for your church in living out the call of God.
Christ is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.
There are those here who are do not have status in the eyes of this government. We wrestle with principalities and powers and we join you in your struggle to live in peace with all people and build homes and families and glorify Christ. Even as you live out the reconciliation of all things, may your visible sign in this community be an invitation to our world to seek peace instead of war as the birth of Jesus is celebrated among, Jesus, Prince of Peace.
There may be others here this morning who have simply come to observe, lost in your own trials that cannot be easily told. I invite you to join such a church as this. It is a proven congregation who can be a help to you. All of you were once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation— if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, and my colaborer Ronald Tompkins, have become a servant.
Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, the church at Jackson Heights. You are in a building you did not make. You have a history where many of you still need to write your page. As this transition occurs, it is your moment to add your witness, your passion, your commitment to our Lord to all who have gone before. I have become the church’s servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—now disclosed to the saints. Do not hold this message of grace lightly, as though the worship, fellowship, and deeds of justice and service are for yourselves. You are the body of Christ, offered again today for the needs of the world. Oh that I could join you this morning as you walk to the altar and pledge your belief, your heart, and your sacrifice. To you God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. May God always bless your richly. Amen.
