To Those Who Have Been Led Astray

From the Epistle Reading for the First Sunday in Advent:

[9] For what thanksgiving can we render to God for you, for all the joy which we feel for your sake before our God,
[10] praying earnestly night and day that we may see you face to face and supply what is lacking in your faith?
[11]
Now may our God and Father himself, and our Lord Jesus, direct our way to you;


[12] and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you,
[13] so that he may establish your hearts unblamable in holiness before our God and Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all his saints.
1 Thessalonians 3:9-13

It is the first Sunday in Advent. I realize that with Advent comes the idea of waiting . . . for Christ to come. My limited understanding is that I am waiting for both the birth of Jesus but also the Second Coming. But, as I read this passage it not only informs me of Christ and his anticipated coming/return but perhaps the coming/return of all those who have fled the Episcopal Church looking for something "else". Something "Anglican", something "scripturally bound". And so I look at verse 12,

"and may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all men, as we do to you".

You may think that you have not been lied to but look at your "Anglican connection". Are you closer to the Archbishop of Canterbury or further away? Look on the Anglican Communion website and see if you can find your diocese.

You may think you have not been lied to but have any of those issues that John David promised would be resolved, have they been resolved?

You may think that you have not been lied to but if you are praying out of the BCP 1547 something is amiss.

My prayer, this advent, is going to be for the coming home of all of you, coming home to the Episcopal Church. But more importantly, I pray for your love to grow to encompass all men! And my prayer for those of us is that our love for you will grow so that when you return we receive you with open arms, a grateful soul, and a loving heart.

Bless you all and peace to you and to your families in this Advent year, 2009, and we'll keep a light on for you!