Writing to the Ephesians, Paul prays that they may know 'the hope to which God has called you' (1.18) and that this hope might draw them together.  The Church of the Ephesians had plenty of faith and goodwill, but it was also fractious and divided, unable to imagine how those of different backgrounds and identities could live and worship together as one.  So Paul tells them what they need is hope - hope that it is possible to share together in God's infinite and eternal grace.  In that hope, and only in that hope, will they be able to put aside their fear and anxieties, welcoming each other as fellow citizens of God’s glorious kingdom, which is now and also to come.

Paul’s encouragement to hope has seemed powerful these last few weeks, so full of change, excitement, and uncertainty of all kinds – from national elections to the European championships.   To Paul, what grounds our hope is not our own vision or our own decisions, nor the decisions of those we choose to lead and represent us, though these genuinely matter within our societies.  For the foundation of true hope is the gospel, the love of God revealed in Christ.  And if we allow that love to fill our hearts then, as this week’s Collect reminds us, we will find that God’s gifts and promises will not be limited by our own imaginations, but will ‘exceed all that we can desire’, for us and for all God’s people.