First Reading:
23Woe to the shepherds who destroy
and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the
Lord. 2Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of Israel,
concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have
scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not
attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says
the Lord. 3Then I myself will gather the remnant of my
flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring
them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and
multiply. 4I will raise up shepherds over them who will
shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor
shall any be missing, says the Lord. 5The days are surely
coming, says the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous
Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute
justice and righteousness in the land. 6In his days Judah
will be saved and Israel will live in safety. And this is the name by
which he will be called: The Lord is our righteousness.
Second Reading:
11May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. 13He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 15He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross.
To begin, I need to give you a little bit of context… The
letter to the Colossians was written to the church
in Colossae. According
to scholars, Colossae was a cosmopolitan city where a wide range of
cultural and religious elements came together.
It was a very
diverse place and it was known for its fascination with magical and
mysterious things.
The church was relatively new and the letter was written in part because the founder of the church had recently been arrested and thrown into prison. Apparently Paul heard the story of what was going on in Colossae while they were in prison together… and the story he heard was one of an identity crisis as the church was trying to figure out what it meant to be Christian and what it meant to live Christian lives when there were so many other possibilities of what their cultural context would allow and even encourage for them.
On the whole the letter talks a lot about maturity in Christ… and the letter says that one of the keys to that maturity is to not get caught up in rituals and practices as if they were the end goal of the faith (like some people say they are) but keep your eyes clearly focused on growing in knowledge and relationship with the one who makes clear the fullness of God and that's Jesus Christ.
Now the letter was written in response to particular teachings that
were going on in Colossae that I like to call the theology
of Christ… and.
It's the idea that Christ isn't
enough… there must be more. It must be Christ and something
else… We don't know exactly what those teachings were and we
don't know exactly where they came from. There are lots of different
things lifted up in various parts of the letter as far as what
the and
might be… circumcision, food laws, rigorous
physical practices, deprivation… these were all things that
either by Jewish tradition or some various Gnostic tradition were
reported to draw you closer to God… and Paul said forget
it… there's only one thing you need for maturity in faith and
it's knowledge of Jesus Christ. The letter rallied against anyone who
would say that Christ isn't sufficient.
Leading up to our passage today, Paul writes words of
encouragement. He assures them of their own faith and
knowledge… Within the community they already have the wisdom
that they need to do what God desires. He says, (Col 1:3-6): In
our prayers for you we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, for we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the
love that you have for all the saints. You have heard of this hope
before in the word of the truth, the gospel that has come to you. Just
as it is bearing fruit and growing in the whole world, so it has been
bearing fruit among you from the day you heard it and truly
comprehended the grace of God.
I read one pastor's paraphrase that went something like: I am
thankful for the faith that's begun in your community… you have
the truth of the gospel, you know the truth, it lives in you.
So
don't get side tracked by chasing other teachings. The growth that
matters is growth in the image and likeness of Jesus Christ!
And then lest there be any doubt, Paul then launched into an
exposition of who Jesus is… and that's the second half of our
passage, beginning with verse 15. It's incredible what he ascribes to
Jesus. Listen again. (Jesus the Christ) is the image of the
invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in
heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have
been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things,
and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the
church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he
might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the
fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased
to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by
making peace through the blood of his cross.
Now the picture of Christ is not simple… on the one hand the first born of creation. On the other, the first born from the dead. On the one hand everything created through him, on the other everything reconciled to God through him. On the one hand authority over rulers and powers, on the other, executed as a criminal on the cross…
It's hard to wrap our heads around Jesus Christ… but that makes sense because we're talking about the fullness of God… and wrestling with understanding the fullness of God is exactly what it means to grow in our faith… And it's difficult to understand the fullness of God because God does relate with everyone and we come from such very different places.
Imagine with me what the practice of faith might look like
if home
was under a freeway overpass and bed
was an old
water-heater box. Imagine what the practice of faith might look like
if dinner was whatever food you were able to gather in the jungle.
Imagine what the practice of faith might look like if security was
taking shifts of who was going to watch the street and listen for the
door. It's difficult for most of us to put ourselves in any of those
situations… but part of the message of this passage is that God
is there every bit as much as God is here. Understanding the life and
message of Christ and developing a relationship may well look like a
very different experience depending on where we're starting from, but
for all of us, Paul would say, no matter where we start, we already
have what we need. It's not about fitting Jesus into our lives, it's
about letting our lives be remade into the image and likeness of
Christ.
The gift has already been given… and we see it in the first
half of our reading today, starting with verse 11: May you be made
strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and
may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully
giving thanks to the Father, who has enabledyou to share in the
inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the
power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved
Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Maturity in faith comes through an ever deepening recognition of what we've already been given and who we already are no matter our life's situation.
The message to the Colossians is a good reminder for us today. We live
on the outskirts of arguably one of the most diverse cities in
America. Collectively we strive in a lot of different ways to seek
God. Distractions abound, and a whole variety new truths
and ways of enlightenment
come at us every day. Already many
of us are thinking about the holidays that are coming… some of
us are looking forward to them, others are probably dreading
them… but from Turkey and football to shopping and decorating;
from food and family to parties and presents… the holidays are
filled with all sorts of rituals and not one of them has the power to
bring Christ into our lives… but if we're intentional about
them they do have the power to help us recognize that Christ is
already here. Paul would remind us, as he reminded the Colossians,
that maturity in Christ doesn't come by taking on all sorts of extra
tasks or finding the latest greatest books or creating new rituals.
No, maturity in Christ comes when we're aware of what we've already
received and who we already are.
In Jesus Christ we've been given the fullness of God and we've been created in God's image… neither of which can be fully understood through our intellect alone… So rather than just talk about it, I thought we might take a few moments and invite God to work in us recognizing that wherever we've come from this morning and whatever is on our minds, God is here, already reaching out to us. So I'm going to stop talking for about two minutes and I invite you to use that time to refocus your attention and your intention toward the fullness of God, to simply rest in God's presence. Feel free to close your eyes if that's helpful. Inevitably things will pop into your mind… when you recognize that they're there, gently set them aside… they'll still be there for you to deal with later and draw your attention back to resting with God. Let us pray.
Thank you Lord Jesus for this time and for this practice of noticing and resting in your presence. Amen.
As you bring your focus back to large group, I just want to say in closing that I hope and pray that the practice of resting in God's presence whether it takes this form or another one isn't something that only happens when we do it in worship because attending to our relationship with God is both the means and the meaning of our faith journey. It's not that we create God's presence, but rather that we recognize it. It's not that we generate God's grace, but rather that we come to know it, and it's not that we earn God's love, but rather that we celebrate it. This is maturity in Christ. Thanks be to God. Amen.
The foregoing sermon was given by Rev. Dan Holland at the United Parish of Bowie on November 14, 2010.
© 2010 Daniel Holland
