God's Community of Grace - Sep 26, 2010

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Sermon:

What do you think of when you hear the word “community”? Maybe you think about the neighborhood where you live. Maybe when I say “community” you think of the small town that you grew up in. A town where you knew everyone, and everyone knew you.

Or, maybe you didn’t grow up in a small town, and when I say “community” you think of think of something else. Maybe you think of a church, or a school, or the circle of friends. The communities we are part of aren’t always located near our homes.

The word “community” comes from the word “common”. As in, having things in common. At its heart, community is about sharing. It’s about knowing each other. Caring about each other. It’s about supporting. Giving when there’s a need. It’s about a GROUP of people being ONE.
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Today, we’re going to finish our sermon series on the book of Colossians. And as we hear Paul’s closing words, we’re going to see the faint outline of a CHRISTIAN community.

This community didn’t live together in one neighborhood. It’s wasn’t living on the same street that brought them together. These people were separated by hundreds of miles, but they were still one. God’s grace had brought them together.

Now, when I say that God’s grace had brought them together, I don’t just mean that it was God’s doing. When I say God’s GRACE brought them together I mean GRACE in the greatest sense of the word: God’s undeserved love for sinners had brought them together.

These people had come to know and believe the message of the Bible. That all people are damned because of their sins, but because of Jesus all stand forgiven. Through His sacrifice on the cross our debt has been paid. Through faith in Jesus we receive the gift of complete forgiveness. For every sin we’ve ever committed. For every sin we’ll ever commit.

Through faith in God’s Son, these people were brought into God’s community of grace. And in that community, they then shared grace with one another. Let’s read.

Colossians 4:7-18 (NIV)

7Tychicus will tell you all the news about me. He is a dear brother, a faithful minister and fellow servant in the Lord. 8I am sending him to you for the express purpose that you may know about our circumstances and that he may encourage your hearts. 9He is coming with Onesimus, our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you. They will tell you everything that is happening here.
10My fellow prisoner Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) 11Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me. 12Epaphras, who is one of you and a servant of Christ Jesus, sends greetings. He is always wrestling in prayer for you, that you may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured. 13I vouch for him that he is working hard for you and for those at Laodicea and Hierapolis. 14Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings. 15Give my greetings to the brothers at Laodicea, and to Nympha and the church in her house.
16After this letter has been read to you, see that it is also read in the church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the letter from Laodicea.
17Tell Archippus: “See to it that you complete the work you have received in the Lord.”
18I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you.
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Before we talk about the Christian community we see here, lets took at the individuals pieces of that community.

Verse 7, Tychicus. Tychicus was the messenger sent to deliver Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Later in life he would travel to Ephesus to serve the congregation there.

Verse 9, Onesimus. Here’s an interesting story. Onesimus was the slave of a man named Philemon, who was part of the congregation in Colosse. Onesimus had robbed his master and had run away. Hiding in the bustling city of Rome, Onesimus met Paul and came to trust in Jesus. Here we find him, a run-away slave, returning to his master Philemon because it’s the right thing to do. He carried another letter from Paul, one for his master. You can read this letter, it’s the “book” of Philemon found in the New Testament.

Verse 10, Aristarchus. Once when Paul was in the city of Ephesus, a group of men started a riot because they were angry with Paul. His preaching of Jesus’ message was cutting into their profits from selling silver idols. There was a huge riot and two of Paul’s travelling companions were seized. Aristarchus was one of them. After being grabbed by the angry mob, they were swept into the city’s theatre where the mob chanted “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians” (their false god) for two hours. This might have been slightly scary for Aristarchus.

Verse 10, Mark. This is the guy who wrote the Gospel of Mark. He was a cousin of Barnabas and a friend of the apostle Peter.

Verse 12, Epaphras. This is the man who came to faith and then started the church in Colosse. It’s likely that he was also instrumental in bringing Christ’s message to the surrounding cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis also.

Verse 14, Luke. Luke was a doctor who travelled with Paul on his missionary journeys from time to time. He wrote the Gospel of Luke after thoroughly researching the events of Christ’s earthly life.

Verse 14, Demas. Sadly, the only other word we hear about Demas is that he later abandoned Paul and Christ, because he loved the world more.
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Now, when you read this section, it’s not hard to tell that Paul and his fellow workers care about the Christians living in Colosse. This last portion of Paul’s letter is dominated by one word: GREETINGS. Remember to say “Hi” to so and so.

Paul even sends Tychicus for the purpose of telling them all about what has been happening in Rome. Paul didn’t want to put this personal update on paper, instead he sent Tychicus to fill them in.

And there’s more than shows their love for each other. Did you notice that Paul specifically mentions that Onesimus is coming with Tychicus and calls him “our faithful and dear brother, who is one of you”. This was a runaway slave returning home. Paul knows it, and softens his reception by his tactful words.
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Because they cared about each other, this community also supported one another. Paul says that he has sent Tychicus to tell them about all that has happened, and to ENCOURAGE THEIR HEARTS. Let me remind you that it was nearly 1,000 miles from Rome to Colosse as the crow flies. This wasn’t a trip that was made lightly.

And those who couldn’t make the journey were still supporting the Colossians. Paul says that Epaphras was constantly “wrestling in prayer” for them. At the beginning of the letter Paul said that he was praying for the Colossians also, and he had never even met them!

Sometimes our attitude seems to be, if you don’t have any BETTER way of helping, you can always pray. Maybe we aught to flip that around. Maybe we should think, when we’ve prayed it from every angle, then maybe we can do something else to help. You know, use the power tools first, then the finishing brush?

I suppose that one of the best examples of this community’s support is the fact that Paul wrote this letter in the first place. He took the time, penned the letter, sent the messenger – all to encourage his fellow Christians in the faith.
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One of the signs of a strong community is it’s ability to work through inner problems without disintegrating. Its one thing to band together against threats from the outside, its something altogether different to face inner conflict and work things out. This community did that.

Twelve years previous, Paul had a serious disagreement with Mark. On Paul’s FIRST missionary journey Mark had come along, only to turn back at Pamphylia. Paul didn’t think Mark had a good enough reason to turn back and refused to take Mark along on the SECOND missionary journey.

But by the time of Colossians, there are no bad feeling lingering between Paul and Mark. Paul even tells the congregation at Colosse that if Mark comes to visit they should be SURE to welcome him.

In the future they would have more internal problems. Demas would abandon the faith and embrace the world. Who know what damage and pain this would cause in this fellowship. But they would work through it. They were one in Christ, and they would look to Him for comfort and guidance.
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Community does not work if people function alone. This is true of the Christian community as well. Look at the Christian community here in Colossians. They didn’t function alone. They considered themselves to be ONE. It wasn’t a bunch of separate people who happened to believe in Jesus. They were ONE IN CHRIST. That meant they were involved in each other’s lives.

How can we care about each other, or support one another, or pray for each other’s needs if we don’t KNOW each other? If we can’t TALK to each other? How can we be UNIFIED if we think the faith and the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ are their own business and not ours also?

This community in Colossians didn’t function alone. They were all about being in each other’s business. Paul says, Hey I’m sending Tychicus to tell you what’s going on here with us in Rome. Paul says, Onesimus, you gotta go back to Philemon. Paul says, Mark, you’re not coming on the second mission. You shouldn’t have turned back. Epaphras is praying for his home congregations like a mad man! All these guys are sending their greetings to Colosse and Laodicea. Paul tells Archippus to make sure he’s doing the work God gave him to do in Colosse. Paul asks them not to forget that he is in prison.

THEY DIDN”T FUNCTION ALONE. It wasn’t, Hey I know my sins are forgiven through Jesus so now I don’t need this community anymore. Not at all. They stayed connected. They worked as a unity.
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At the beginning of Colossians Paul wrote,

“1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father” (Colossians 1:1-2 NIV).

Paul began this way, calling them “holy” because they were holy through Christ’s all cleansing blood. Their sins were forgiven, and through faith in Christ they were acceptable to God. Paul ends on that same note. The last verse of Colossians reads,

“I, Paul, write this greeting in my own hand. Remember my chains. Grace be with you” (Colossians 4:18 NIV).

After all this talk about Christian community we need to end on the same note also.

Being part of God’s family does not depend on how well we succeed in living godly lives. I’ve been calling it “God’s Community of Grace” for a reason. We don’t deserve to be in it. But we are, because Jesus’ death and resurrection have made a place for us in this community.

For this, let’s give thanks.

Prayer: Father in heaven, you have drawn us here together to hear your word. To learn of sin. To learn of grace. To know our sins have been erased, and to see our place in your community of grace. Help us to mature in our relationship with you. Help us to mature in our relationship with each other. Open up our hearts toward you and each other. Make us the Christian community you want us to be. And keep us always in Christ, the one who bought us. The one who cleansed us. The one who sought us out and found us. The one who unifies us in peace, forgiveness. Amen.

Sharing the Secret - Sep 19, 2010

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Sermon:

We’re nearly to the end of our study of Paul’s letter to the Colossians. Last Sunday, we heard Paul give directions about how the Colossian Christians were to act in certain relationships. Paul talked about how Christian husbands and wives should treat each other. How Christian children and parents should treat each other. How Christian slaves and masters should treat each other.

In our short reading for today, Paul gives some more general directions for Christians. Today’s directions don’t hinge on being involved in a certain relationship. What Paul says today is for ALL Christians.

Basically, Paul says, “Christians, you know your sins are forgiven by God because the mystery of Christ has been revealed to you. Now, share that secret.

That’s simple right? Yours sins are forgiven through Christ, now share that message. Simple to say, not always simple to share.

Some people don’t get it. They’ve been brainwashed into thinking that religion is all about how we can EARN God’s love. When they hear the true message of the Bible; that we have FREE forgiveness through Christ’s cross, they just don’t believe it. It’s too good to be true! Nothing’s really free, is it? Sharing Jesus with that person could be difficult. It might take more than reciting John 3:16 and giving them a Bible. You might have to take a couple runs at it before they really understand.

Sharing the secret, isn’t always easy.

The great apostle Paul would have told you the same. Paul was perhaps the greatest missionary in the history of the world, but he wrote this:

“1When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling.” (1 Corinthians 2:1-2 NIV).

For Paul, sharing the secret was sometimes nerve wracking.

But Paul got better at it right? Well, after three missionary journeys he ended up in prison at Rome. From Rome, he wrote a letter asking his friends in Ephesus to pray for him. What did he ask them to pray for?

“19Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should” (Ephesians 6:19-20 NIV).

Paul still needed God given courage to share the Gospel in a way that was worthy of that message.

In our reading for today, Paul gives the Colossians a little help. He shares the secret, of sharing THE secret.

Colossians 4:2-4 (NIV)

2Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.
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Paul says, First of all, start with prayer. GOD will lead the way and open doors.

In fact, Paul says a little more than “start with prayer”. Paul tells the Colossian Christians to “devote” themselves to prayer, and to “be alert”, or “watchful” in prayer.

We might think of a military lookout watching for the enemy. With walkie-talkie in hand he scans the horizon. At the first sign of the enemy, he calls in to his superior officer.

Having an open line to our Creator is a powerful tool. Through Christ this line has been opened up to us. It’s not open to all people. With our sins covered by Christ’s sacrifice, we can talk openly with God the Father. Jesus even teaches us to call God “Our Father” in the Lord’s prayer.

Without Christ, we wouldn’t have the right to speak to God. Our sins would render us unworthy. But since stand completely forgiven through faith in Christ’s cross, our prayers ascend freely to God.
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Paul knows the Colossians will pray for themselves, and he asks them to include him and his fellow workers in their prayers. Paul says,

“3And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains” (Colossians 4:3 NIV).

Doors need to be open in order to share.

When I sit down with my family to eat dinner and someone knocks on the door wanting to talk about re-siding the house, or putting in new windows – that’s just not a “doors open” time for me. I’m not going to listen. I’m not going to even have a conversation.

People don’t like pushy and rude sharers. They like friends who they trust. People they know ACTUALLY, REALLY, TRULY care about them. One open door for sharing Christ is the open door of true friendship.

I’m pretty sure that if we pray for God to bring people into our lives that we can share Christ with, He will. Or, He’ll open our eyes to people we’ve overlooked, or hesitated to share with before.

Why not give it a try?

Prayer: Father in Heaven, I’ve been hesitant to share you will others. Mostly out of fear of the unknown. Not knowing what they’ll say. Not knowing if I’ll be seen as a pushy religious freak. I don’t want to be afraid. I want to share. Give me the courage to speak up and share Christ. Bring people into my life, and give me opportunities to do just that. Build my faith stronger through these experiences, and keep me in Christ. Amen.
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Paul asked the Ephesian congregation to pray for his courage. He also asked the Colossian congregation to pray – for him to be able to proclaim the message of Jesus clearly.

“Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should” (Colossians 4:4 NIV).

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In Paul’s day, the Holy Spirit frequently enabled Christians to perform miracles. One such miracle was speaking in a language which that person had never studied. Sometimes you hear it called speaking in “tongues”. Well, that word “tongues” in the Greek just means “languages”.

Anyway, the Holy Spirit gave this gift to some, but he also gave them the power to control it.

Most people don’t know it, but the Holy Spirit also gave some rules for tongue speaking through the apostle Paul. Basically, He said, If nobody in the congregation can translate what the miraculous language speaker is saying, then that person should be quiet during worship.

Someone speaking in a foreign language wasn’t going to help the rest of the congregation grow in their relationship with Christ. And the same is true when we speak to non-Christians. They’re not going to come to faith if they don’t understand what in the world we’re talking about.

Paul asked the Colossians to pray that he’d preach the Good News of Jesus CLEARLY. So that people can UNDERSTAND it.

I think this is something we need to think and pray about too. How are we communicating to the people around us? When we do speak the message of Christ, are we doing it in language our children can understand? In language our friends understand? In language our neighbors understand?
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Before we move on I want to share something encouraging. Paul’s requests were prayed about, and answered.

Check this out. We believe that Paul wrote at least four of his letters while in captivity at Rome. We call them the “Captivity Letters”. They’re Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians and Philemon. It appears that Philippians was the last one to be written because in Colossians and Ephesians Paul asked the congregations to pray for 1) A door to be opened for the message of Christ, 2) For clarity in his own preaching, 3) for boldness in his preaching.

But, listen to what Paul wrote to the Philippians…

“12Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel. 13As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. 14Because of my chains, most of the brothers in the Lord have been encouraged to speak the word of God more courageously and fearlessly” (Philippians 1:12-14 NIV).

And at the END of Philippians, Paul writes...

“22All the saints send you greetings, especially those who belong to Caesar’s household” (Philippians 4:22 NIV).

They asked for a door. A door was opened. Even people in Caesar’s own house came to Christ.

Start with prayer. God will lead the way and open doors.
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Paul goes on. In verse 5 of our text, Paul says…

“5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone” (Colossians 5:5-6 NIV).

First of all, when Paul says “outsiders” he doesn’t mean that in a bad way. He uses this term for people who don’t yet know Christ because we want o bring them IN to a relationship with the God who created them, with the Savior who took their sins away.

In other words, Paul says that we don’t want to CLOSE any doors that God has opened to us to do this. So be careful in every interaction!
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Another way of looking at this is that we’re having an “open house” for God. That means that we are representing Him to the people around us.

Let me tell you about something that happened to me recently. I was on the way home from a class. It was late. It had been a long day. I was driving the church van, and I came to a section of the road that had traffic cones and markers out on it. It was obvious that they were working on the road.

But it wasn’t obvious what you as the driver were supposed to do. It was just a two lane road with cones arranged to move you over into the left lane and a few blinking lights to get your attention.

Since I wasn’t quite sure what to do, I slowed down and then started to creep over into the left lane. Then I realized that there was actually someone standing there in the shadows, holding a stop sign.

I came to a complete stop and rolled down my window. The guy came around to my window, and to my surprise he started to bawl me out.

He said something like, “What do you think you’re doing! You never just drive into oncoming traffic like that! What do you think you’re doing!”

Like I said, it had been a long day, it was late and I wanted to get home. Also, I was irritated that I was getting reprimanded for not seeing him on this dark road, and so I cut him off mid rant. I said, “I don’t need this. Just tell me what you want me to do.”

Well, he motioned me through. But, I couldn’t help but notice as I moved away that he kinda glanced at the side of the van.

As I was driving home I thought, That wasn’t good. That wasn’t the way God wanted me to respond to that guy.
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Being wise in the way we act toward outsiders means NOT reacting instinctively. Often our instincts are sinful. Being wise in the way we act toward outsiders means reacting to people with CALCULATED GRACE, regardless of how they’re treating us.

We all know people who have mastered this art. People who never follow their “knee jerk” reaction. People who respond graciously to ANYTHING we say to them. These are the people that we want to emulate and imitate, FOR GOD. For the “open house” that we’re holding in His Name.

Paul says, Let your conversation always be full of grace, as if it were salt. Sprinkle grace around on your conversation.
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But how many times haven’t we done the opposite. How many times haven’t we shut doors by our own rude or careless remarks. How do you follow that with Christ? That’d be like me shouting back to that road worker, Hey! Jesus loves you and has forgiven your sin, Bible class at 10, Worship at 11!

Letting our conversation be full of grace means being forgiving others. Speaking kind words. Loving words. Caring words. Un-judgmental words. Putting the best construction on things. Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do? Put the best construction on things? How many times don’t we jumped to conclusions instead? Thinking we’ve got people pegged, when we really don’t know their heart.

Paul says that we should let conversation be “sprinkled with grace” so that we know how to respond to everyone. The way to respond in any conversation is with the attitude of Christ. With an attitude that puts up with other people’s garbage because Christ has put up with OURS! And He still does! Christ forgives our rudeness to Him. He has forgiven us before we even sin and He repays our evils with KINDNESS and LOVE.

If we can learn how to do the same in our daily interaction, then doors for Christ will remain OPEN. Opportunities to speak SPECIFICALLY of Christ’s sin-forgiving grace, those opportunities will appear.
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Paul says he wants to proclaim the MYSTERY OF CHRIST. That’s like another way of saying, that he wants to proclaim the GOOD NEWS of sins forgiven through Christ. But Paul uses the phrase, “Mystery of Christ” because this message is something that needs to be revealed to people. They’re not going to wake one morning as go HEY! I think I’ll put my trust in Jesus today! God brings people to faith through His Word and through His Holy Spirit.

We know the mystery of Christ because people in our lives have brought it to us and explained it to us. Whether was our parents, or our friends or our extended family. We know His forgiveness and love because Christ has touched us with that forgiveness and love.

So, lets take that mystery of Christ and lets carry it in our lives. Lets watch out for every opportunity to pray to God for help. Lets showing that mystery to others: FIRST by our gracious conduct, and then with the specific Gospel of Christ: the fact that He died for them too. To take their guilt and sin away. The fact that He lives, so that we will live forever with Him.

Prayer: Father in heaven, thank you for the open line to your throne. We can talk directly to you, because your Son has come to us and made us part of your family. Lord Jesus, thank you for removing our failures and sins, and replacing them with your grace and love. Help us to reach out and give this gift of peace to those we meet. You have sprinkled us with your blood, cleansing us forever. Help us now to sprinkle our speech and our conduct with that same grace.

Amen.

A Reflected Relationship - Sept 12, 2010

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Sermon:

In case you haven’t been here for a while, we’ve been studying through Paul’s letter to the Colossians during our sermon time. We’re past the halfway mark, and nearly to the end of this short book.

For the past couple Sundays, Paul has been talking to the Colossians about Christian living. He hasn’t been talking so much about how their sins got forgiven, he’s been focusing on how to live since they have been.

On the one hand, Paul tells the Colossians to cut old sinful habits out of their lives. On the other hand, Paul tells them to bring new godly ways into their lives, putting on these God pleasing ways like a fresh set of clothes.

Turn to Colossians 3, verse 17. Paul finished last Sunday’s reading by saying,

“17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17 NIV).

You see, God the Father sent His Son to rescue sinners from an eternity apart from Him. God the Son lived and died to erase the record of our sins. The reason we will live forever with God, the reason our sins have been forgiven – is God’s plan, and Christ’s action.

Paul is essentially telling the Colossians, Christ is your future! So let Him be part of your today. The best direction for your life is for you to let Christ bleed into your interaction with everyone. Let your relationship with God’s Son be REFLECTED in your relationships with people.

That’s what we’re going to see in our reading today. Paul is going to describe three human relationships that were present in the congregation at Colosse. And Paul is going to point out how each of these relationships can REFLECT the greater relationship that exists between the Christian and their Savior God.

The first relationship Paul talks about is the relationship that exists between husband and wife in Christian marriage.
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Colossians 3:18-19 (NIV)

18Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
19Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
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The first word that we really want to deal with here is that word, “submit”. It’s kinda one of those words that sticks out in this section. In English it can have lots of different shades of meaning, so, we gotta go back to the Greek.

The Greek word for “submit” is actually made up of two different words put together. The word for “under” and the word for “order”.

This particular verb is a passive verb. So, it’s not something that wives are to do to someone else, it’s something that wives are doing to themselves.

Paul is telling wives, he’s addressing wives: Order yourselves under your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. Order yourselves under. In other words - Put your husbands first.
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I don’t think I’ve let you in on a little secret. Colossians has a sister book that is identical in many ways. Colossians is a sister book to the book of Ephesians. A lot of times if you’re not understanding something in the book of Colossians you can open up the book of Ephesians and find a parallel section that’ll fill in the gaps.

That’s certainly the case here. We get a lot of help in the area of husband wife relationships from Ephesians 5.

Interesting thing, in Ephesians 5 verse 21, that same word for “submit” is used. To order yourselves under. Except in Ephesians 5:21 Paul uses this word when addressing the whole congregation, both men and women. He says to them…

“21Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ” (Ephesians 5:21 NIV).

Order yourselves under each other, put each other first – out of reverence for Christ. He says this when addressing all Christians. Then when you look at Colossians 3:18, he’s just addressing this same thing specifically to wives.

Ephesians 5:22 gives us even more detail. Ephesians 5:22 says…

22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22 NIV).

As to the Lord. You see that’s different than in Colossians. In Colossians it says, submit to your husbands as is FITTING in the Lord. In Ephesians it says, submit to your husbands at TO the Lord. Is if your husband was actually your SAVIOR! Put him first in that way.

How’s that for a tall order? How you doing on that one?

Wives, do you see how your relationship with your husbands is to mirror your relationship with your husband? That’s what Paul says here.

This isn’t a make-your-wife-do-what-you-want-her-to-do thing. This isn’t an obedience thing. Paul is addressing the wives here. He’s saying, This is how YOU should order YOURSELVES. He’s not addressing the husbands saying, Make your wives do this.

And the same thing is true when Paul gives direction to the husbands. He says to the husbands, Husbands, this is how YOU are to act. This is how YOU are to order YOURSELVES. Husbands love your wives. And in case you didn’t get that, let me give you another one – DO NOT BE HARSH WITH THEM!

And guess what, the book of Ephesians gives us a little bit more detail as to how we’re supposed to do this. Ephesians 5:25. There Paul says to husbands…

“25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Ephesians 5:25 NIV).

Husbands are to love their wives with the same intensity and dedication that Christ had for the church. Remember what Christ did before he picked the 12 apostles? He prayed ALL night! Do you remember why Jesus’ family thought He was crazy on one occasion? Because he was SO busy caring for the needs of others that He didn’t even have time to eat! The house that He was teaching in was surrounded, was thronged with people trying to get to Him. And his family thought, This guy’s crazy, He can’t keep doing this!

Jesus was always patient. Always loving. He corrected when it was needed, to be sure. But He always forgave.

This is how a Christian husband is to treat his wife. And again this is for you husbands, not for your wives to make you do. This is only something that you can do.

Husbands, do you see how your Savior’s relationship with you is to impress itself on your relationship with your wife? That’s what Paul says here.
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The second relationship Paul talks about is the relationship between parents and children. Verse 20-21…

Colossians 3:20-21 (NIV)

20Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.
21Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged.
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The word that we have to deal with first here in this section is the word “obey”. This word is also made up of two parts. The first part means “under” and the second part of this word means “listen”. So, children are to “under-listen” to their parents, or, listen under them.

This is for you children. Paul is saying this is how YOU should live as Christian children. You should listen under you parents.

Now, why do you think Paul says to listen “under” your parents? I think it’s because if we think we’re more important than someone, we usually don’t listen to them. If we really admire someone, if we think they’re the best, then we hear what they say. We repeat the things they say, and do the things they tell us to do right away.

Listen carefully to what your parents tell you. If it’s something to remember then remember it. If it’s something to do, then do it. If it’s something to say, then say it.

This is actually the same way that all Christians are to act toward God. We are to “under-listen” to Him. When we hear His word, if it’s something to remember then we should remember it. Write it on your hand, on the doorposts of your house, on the gate of your yard. Like it says in Deuteronomy 11, verse 18...

“18Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, 21so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the LORD swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth” (Deuteronomy 11:18-21 NIV).

If the Lord says something we are to do, then we should do it. Not in a minute, or when we feel like it, but when HE says.

If the Lord says something we are to say, then we should say it. Not if it suits us. Not if we were thinking of saying that same thing anyway.

You see, a child’s relationship with parents is to mirror the Christian’s relationship with our Creator God. And, in the same way, a parent’s relationship with a child is to do the same.
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Fathers are directed not to “stir their children up” in verse 21. The idea is kinda like poking a dog through it’s cage to get it riled up. Father’s are warned here not to antagonize and aggravate their children just because they’re bigger and stronger. Paul says that if we do this they can become discouraged.

This word, “discouraged” is a very heavy word in the Greek. I want to share this with you parents. In the Greek that word for discouraged is “a-thu-me-oh”. This word is the word “thu-me-oh” with an alpha privative on the front of it. When you add an alpha privative, it’s like adding “un” to and English word. If you’re liked and then un-liked, it’s the opposite. Get it? “Thu-me-oh” and “A-Thu-me-oh” are like that.

“Thu-meh-oh” means to be fired up, to be passionate, to be spirited. When you add the alpha privative it means no more. No more fired up. No more passion. No more spirit. “Discourage” here really means to take away a child’s heart by aggravating them. To cause a child to lose their passion. To break their spirit.

What a cold and empty things to even think about.

God has been ever so patient and loving with us, let us be the same with our children. Disciplining them, yes! But never aggravating them or provoking them. Being patient with them. Allowing them to keep their passion and their spirit and their excitement alive.
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The third relationship Paul talks about is the relationship between slaves and masters. Look at verse 22…

Colossians 3:22-4:1 (NIV)

22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 25Anyone who does wrong will be repaid for his wrong, and there is no favoritism.
4:1Masters, provide your slaves with what is right and fair, because you know that you also have a Master in heaven.
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One more time we see that our relationship with our Savior God, is to impress itself onto our earthly relationships. Even such a potentially bad one, such as the relationship between a slave and a master.

Paul goes so far as to say, Don’t even look at it like serving your master. Open your eyes. As a redeemed child of God, your actions serve your Savior.

In 1 Corinthians 7, verse 21 Paul wrote…

“21Were you a slave when you were called? Don’t let it trouble you—although if you can gain your freedom, do so. 22For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman; similarly, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave” (1 Corinthians 7:21-22 NIV).

The ways and institutions of this world only last for so long, and then we will stand with our great God in heaven. Until then, the slaves in Colosse were to serve their masters (both good and bad ones) in a Christian fashion, like Paul said, doing all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Some of the Christians in Colosse owned slaves. These weren’t necessarily evil people for owning slaves. Things were different then. People sometimes would voluntarily enter into slavery in order to pay a debt they had racked up. But if a Christian owned a slave, they were still to treat that person right, with fairness.

Absolute authority leads to abuse of authority. And we can imagine how easily a slave master could begin to treat his slave as less than a person. Just like children can to get bossy and mean when they’re put in charge of others.

Paul directs the slave owners of Colosse to remember, that they have a Master also. They have someone who owns them fully. He’s in heaven. And even though they have sined against Him time and time again, this Master has been loving. He has not abandoned them or beaten them. He has given them peace and forgiveness even though their service to him was lazy and full of holes.

They were to remember God’s relationship with them each time they interacted with one of their slaves.
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Paul ended our last section by saying,

“17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:17 NIV).

At the beginning of this message I said that Paul isn’t focusing on the Gospel so much here. He’s not telling the Colossians HOW they got their sins forgiven, he’s talking about how to live because their sins HAVE been forgiven. That’s true, but perhaps it’s better to say that Paul isn’t building the foundation of the Gospel, instead he’s building ON that foundation. For each of these direction directs our vision BACK to Christ and our relationship with Him. A relationship of free forgiveness and utter peace.

Our Christian living flows from our faith connection to Christ. Our Christian living is modeled after our relationship with our great God.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, help us to grow in faith. Help us to totally rely on Jesus. Open our hearts to pray. Open our mouths to sing. And open our eyes to ways that we can model our Savior to one another. In each of our relationships show us how to mirror the relationship we have with You. Fill our relationships with forgiveness, understanding, love and peace. Amen.

A Whole New You - Sep 5, 2010

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Sermon:

Are there things about your body that you’d change if you could? I think that most people would answer, “yes” to this question. Even world class athletes want to have a quicker first step, or a larger vertical leap. The rest of us would settle for losing ten pounds, gaining a little muscle or smoothing out a few wrinkles.

Maybe it’s not your body that you’d change if you could. Maybe you’ve got some bad habits you’d like to erase. Things that you do, but don’t like to do. Ways that you tend to think, that you’d rather not.

In our reading for today, Paul talks about changes that take place through knowing Jesus.

The Son of God didn’t come to earth to take away a few of our sins. He came to erase the damning record of ALL sin. Ours. Our neighbor’s. He came to erase the sins we might consider “little” AND the sins we consider “unforgivable”.

When it comes to changing the way we live, the scope of Jesus’ work is just as grand. He doesn’t want to change us a little bit, He wants to REDEFINE us. He want to make a whole new you.
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For the past six Sundays we’ve been studying Paul’s letter to the Colossian Christians. Today we pick up our study at Colossians 3, verse 12.

“12Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14 NIV).

In the first part of this chapter, Paul talked about eliminating the old sinful ways we used to live in. He talked about things like lust, and greed, and rage as if they were extra limbs that grew out of us. He said that since we have now become part of God’s family through what Jesus did in our place, these sinful mutations should now be amputated.

Halfway through the chapter, Paul turns from the subject of eliminating old sinful habits to the subject of putting on new godly ways. Instead of the grim image of lopping of appendages, he uses the imagery of putting on brand new clothing.

Look at the beginning of verse 12. Paul says, Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, etc. This is incredibly important. Paul isn’t telling the Colossians to adopt these new ways of living so that they will then become acceptable to God. He isn’t saying that IF they change their ways well enough God THEN will love them. The Colossians were already accepted by God through faith in God’s Son. Paul calls them HOLY and DEARLY LOVED by God!

God’s Son took all their sins, and all our sins, onto Himself when He suffered and died on the cross. By His excruciating physical and spiritual torment He served the sentence that our sins against God demanded.

The point is, the Colossians were already forgiven through Christ. All this talk of life changes comes AFTER that gift has been received.

In Galatians 3, verse 26 Paul told his fellow Christians…

“26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, 27for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ” (Galatians 3:26-27 NIV).

This makes all the difference in the world. Paul says that if we try to get forgiven through keeping the commandments we’re never gonna make it. In Galatians 5, verse 4 Paul says…

“4You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace” (Galatians 5:4 NIV).

At the beginning of our reading for today, Paul says, Through faith in Christ, your sins stand forgiven. Now, here’s some new clothes for you to put on. This is how God dresses, since you’ve been made His people through Christ, start dressing like Him from this point forward.
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So how do we do this? I mean it’s easy to say, “I’m going to make a change today. I’m going to start eating right.” It’s easy to say, “Today, I’m going to stop telling lies.” It’s easy to say, “Today, I’m going to start being patient with everyone I meet.” But without a plan, our grand intentions fail.

So, how do we put these “clothes” on? Paul gives us a clue in verse 13. There he says, ”Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13). First we gotta look at our Savior. We gotta see how HE lived in our place. Then, knowing that we are already declared HOLY because of Him, we can move forward and learn to imitate His ways.

Our forgiveness depended on Jesus, and so does our change.
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One way to learn how to put all of these virtues on is to discover what the Bible says about each of them. In fact, this is what we did on the camping trip this year. This section from Colossians is actually the part of the Bible that we focused on in our camp devotions. We dug into these virtues. We saw how Jesus modeled them. We dug into the words themselves and discovered what the Bible says about them. Then we talked about how we could incorporate them in our lives, why we WANT to incorporate them into our lives.
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We don’t have time right now to go into all of them in that way, but I’d like to talk about the last one for a moment. Look at verse 14 again. Paul says…

“And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity” (Colossians 3:12-14 NIV).

Paul says, here put these virtues on like clothes. Imagine they’re like the parts of a suit. You’ve got the shiny shoes, the socks, the pants, the coat, the vest. If there’s one piece that pulls it all together it’s the tie. That’s “love”. It draws all the virtues together. Completes them.

Or think about it like this. We can be patient without loving people. We can act kindly without really caring. But that’s not what God wants. He wants a heart that backs up the action.

Turn to First Corinthians 13. There Paul says…

“1If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:1-7 NIV).

If all the virtues of Colossians three are the pieces of a quilt, then love is the backing that holds them together. If these virtues are the pieces of the human body, then love is the muscles and tendons that make them function properly.

And how do we put love on? How do we know what it is and how to put it into our lives? First John 3, verse 16…

“16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16 NIV).

We look to Christ. We see our sins forgiven. We learn to forgive.
We look to Christ. We see His astounding humility. We learn to be humble.
We look to Christ. We see His compassion. We learn to feel emotions of mercy and pity.

Our forgiveness depended on Jesus, and so does our change.
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In this first half of our reading from Colossians Paul has spoke of a “new look” for us to put on. Now, in the second half of our reading for today, Paul talks about the new management that runs our hearts.

Turn to Colossians 3, verse 15. There Paul tells the Colossian Christians…

“15Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. 17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:15-17 NIV).

The “new management” in the Christian heart is Christ Jesus. If you look at this section it says that the “peace of Christ” rules in our hearts, the “word of Christ” rules in our fellowship, and the desire to “live for Christ” dominates the things that we say and do.

Another thread that runs through this section is “thankfulness”. Paul mentions three areas of life: the “inner life” of the Christian, the “church life” of the Christian and the “everything else” of the Christian. And in each area he says, “Be thankful”.
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Personally, I like the way Paul speaks in verse 15. He says, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts”. Another translation might be, “Let the peace of Christ umpire your hearts”. The umpire in a baseball game is the one who calls the plays. His decision is the final decision. He governs what happens on the field. The “governor” of our heart is to be the “peace of Christ”.

Jesus once told His disciples…

“27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27 NIV).

The peace that Christ gives us is peace with our Creator. If we’re good with Him, what is there to fear? Nothing! That’s the fact that Paul says should determine the emotion of our heart in every situation: God’s on my side. I’m at peace with God through Christ’s cross. Heaven is my final destination. My sins are forgiven.
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But Paul says that Christ is to rule more than our inner state of being. Paul says that Christ’s Word is to be the foundation of what we say and do as Christians together. Verse 16 again…

“16Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16 NIV).

Paul admits that we Christians need to learn, when He says to “teach”. Paul admits that we Christians sometimes need to be corrected when he says “admonish”. But this learning and correcting must be in line with Christ’s Word.

This is part of Redemption’s constitution. If you become a member of our fellowship you agree to be corrected by the Word of God. Not by human opinion, but by the Word of Christ.
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Paul says the Christ is to rule us outside the door of this church too. In verse 17 Paul says,

“17And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him” (Colossians 3:15-17 NIV)

If we know ourselves, this seems impossible. Doesn’t it? That all we do would point to Jesus? That all we say would make others think, “wow” what a different He’s made in this person’s life”. That’s what we want. But our old sinful nature clings to us. It turns our thoughts from Christ’s sacrifice. It gets us thinking of problems. Our failures. Our sins.

And that’s where we need to return to Paul’s first words in our reading for today. Therefore as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. We are not God’s people because of our track record. We are God’s people because His Son’s perfection covers our every failure.

Prayer: Father in Heaven, we are sinners. We have fallen short of what you created us to be. Without your intervention we would have been lost forever. Thank you for sending Your Son to take our place. Through that great injustice, we have been redeemed and set free. Thank you Father. Thank you. Help us to learn how to live in your image. How to be like You in the things we say and do. Help us to really believe that our sins and failures are erased in Christ, because they are. Re-create us in your image Father, Amen.

Raised with Christ - Aug 29, 2010

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Sermon:

Some people at Corinth told the Christians there that there was no such thing as life after death. These people insisted that it was impossible for a dead person to be resurrected. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian congregation he argued the opposite. In part of his argument Paul wrote,

“…If the dead are not raised, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die’” (1 Corinthians 15:32b NIV).

In other words, Paul was saying, if there really is no life after this one, than Christianity has little to offer. Instead, we aught to build our life around having a good time while we still can. You could argue, logically, that if there is no life to come, personal pleasure should be the highest guiding principle in our lives.

In that same letter to the Corinthian Christians, Paul wrote,

“19If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.
20But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man” (1 Corinthians 15:19-21 NIV).

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In the part of Colossians that we’re going to examine today, Paul talks about what Christ’s resurrection means for Christian now. It means that God the Father has accepted Jesus’ sacrifice in our place. It means that our sins truly are forgiven, released, erased. But that’s only part of the pie. That’s just the beginning.

We read from Colossians 3:1-4 (NIV). Paul write to his fellow Christians in Colosse…

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

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Paul is talking to believers. Followers of Christ who were living in the city of Colosse. He explains that through faith they have been connected to Christ. Their lives are now entwined with Christ’s life.

Earlier in his letter, Paul told them you have been…

“...buried with [Christ] in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins…” (Colossians 2:12-13a NIV).

If my life is now linked with the life of God the Son, that alters the whole course of my life. Who I am. It changes how I look at the world around me. It impacts how I make my decisions. How I live my life.

It’s no longer the logical, “Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow I die”. For tomorrow I don’t die. Not if my life is wrapped up in the Son of God. If my soul rests securely in Christ at the very throne of my Creator, then that’s where my thoughts should also rest. That’s where my emotions should be born. That’s the place where I should make my plans and my decisions. All my steps in life should be taken with this in view. If I have been raised through faith, with Christ, to Spiritual life.

If my life is joined to God’s life through His Son, then I’ve also got to ask the question: Now what? How do I live my life from this point forward? How does God want me to live? My life is no longer mine alone (I guess it never really was), and one day Christ will appear, and because I’m wrapped up in Him, I’ll appear in glory WITH Him! So how should I live today?

Paul answers this question. In verse 5 he continues…

Colossians 3:5-11 (NIV)

5Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

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The English of verse five says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature”. In the Greek Paul is a little more picturesque. It’s more like, “Lop off the earthly limbs” the “arms of sin” that pull you into trouble. Limbs like sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed. Paul says, chop ‘em off. They are no longer part of you, they’re just trying to hang on like ugly warts or infected tumors. They have no place in your life anymore! After all, it’s because of deeds like these that God will one day judge the world!

In saying this, Paul acknowledges that things like these are part of our lives. Like cancerous growths they’re there, wanting to grow larger. Wanting to take control of us. But Christians, they’re part of the OLD us.

In verse 9 Paul says,

“Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self…” (Colossians 3:9-10a NIV).

Paul describes the inner sinful part of us as being the “Old Self” or the “Old Man”. And the word that he uses for “old” means just what it means in the English, “old”. Not mature and strong, but aged and weak. Frail and dying. There is no future in these limbs of self-gratification. Like limbs frozen or burned beyond rescue we must simply amputate them from our lives.

The world around us thinks differently. And the world shares it’s view through movies and television, radio, books, through the internet and every other means of communication. The world says these limbs are good limbs. Free sexuality is the doorway to the deepest realms of physical enjoyment. Living your own way, whether anyone else thinks it’s impure or not shows everyone else that you are strong and won’t be told what to do and not do.

God says, I want you to be MY PERSON. I bought you with my Son’s blood. Your past is forgiven and forgotten. Let the old ways be gone. Put on the new.
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The apostle John was once given a vision representing heaven. He wrote describes this vision in the twenty-first chapter of Revelation. There it says…

“1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”
5He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!”… (Revelation 21:1-5a NIV).

God is going to re-make the universe. It will be like it once was, before sin brought death and disease and pain and suffering and cancer and divorce and hatred and murder - into God’s creation. It will be pure and holy. Perfect and sinless.

And this renewing isn’t going to start after the last judgment. God has started it already. He is preparing sinners for eternity NOW. First He gives us complete forgiveness, the forgiveness earned by His Son through horrible agony, through the suffering of hell in our place. Then with forgiveness made ours through faith, God begins the remodeling. He begins the remaking, renewing and reconfiguring inside our hearts. His “making everything new” begins inside. God is making us back into a people who look like HIM.

Colossians 3, verse 9 says…

“9Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all” (Colossians 3:9-11 NIV).

Just as sinful self-gratification is not God’s image, neither is self-promotion by judging others. All the groups that humans divide each other into mean nothing in Christ. There is no class structure for the redeemed. Paul mentions some of the groups that the Colossians might have divided people into: Greek and Jews. Circumcised or uncircumcised. Barbarians (basically foreigners), Scythians (really uncivilized foreigners), slaves and free people.

Today we have different ways of dividing people up to judge them in our minds, but it all amounts to the same thing. Before God we’re sinners. In Christ, we’re declared saints. Through Paul God says, erase the lines you’ve drawn around fellow Christians. Through faith in Christ all stand on the same, high ground - of forgiveness.
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So, here’s what I’d have you take away from this message today: 1) Through Christ, your sins have been paid for. You stand forgiven. 2) Through faith you have been raised from spiritual death to life, being joined to the sinless Son of God for eternity.

3) If this is true, that you have been raised with Christ, then focus on Him. In Him your life is found.

If this is true, that you have been raised with Christ, 4) then lop off those old limbs of sinful living as the Holy Spirit directs.

Wake up every morning at peace, knowing your future is secure in Christ. With a thankful heart ask Him, “Lord, make me look more like you today.”

Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Above the Law - Aug 22, 2010

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Sermon:

A man named Lord Acton once remarked, “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” A brief stroll through history confirms this axiom to be true. People who attain power and authority often consider themselves above the law. They aren’t, but they think it all the same.

But what if you really were above the law? You.

What if you didn’t have to look down at the speedometer when you saw a police car in your rearview? What if all of your taxes were paid in advance and you could toss that letter from the IRS? What if everyone treated you like their closest friend? Forgiving your misspoken words. Forgetting your broken promises. What if your Creator loved you more than anyone else, and agreed to pay off your eternal debt of sin, free of charge?

Wouldn’t that be liberating? You’d be above the law. Never afraid of punishment. Totally free.

Writing to followers of Christ who lived in Galatia, the apostle Paul penned this intriguing statement:

“…if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law” (Galatians 5:18 NIV).

Paul elaborates on this idea in the first verses of our sermon reading for today. We continue our study of Paul’s letter to the Colossian Christians at Colossians 2, verse 13.

“13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15 NIV).

Here’s how God’s forgiveness works. Jesus was God’s Son, born of a woman into the human race. He never sinned, and therefore didn’t need to be forgiven. Didn’t need to be restored to a good relationship with God the Father. But, on the cross, Jesus was punished for EVERY human sin that had ever, or would ever, be done. Like it says in Second Corinthians...

“God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV).

If all the just punishment for our sins has already been suffered by Jesus, there is no more punishment left to be dished out. And if there is no more punishment for sin, we have been raised above the law.

The law was like a huge boulder hanging fearfully above our heads. It looked down on us and terrified us because we knew that our sins deserved punishment. But when that rock fell, it fell on Jesus and we were set free. In Romans 8, verses 1-2 it says…

“1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death” (Romans 8:1-2 NIV).

Or as Paul put it in our reading from Colossians,

“…He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross” (Colossians 2:13b-14 NIV).

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What this means is that if Christ really died on the cross for you and me, and if God the Father really raised Him from the dead as proof that His sacrifice was enough, and was accepted - then we are free. We are above the law, and Satan and death no longer have any footing against us. No accusation can be made, for the sentence has already been served.

Some people are very uncomfortable with this idea. Some view religion as merely a machine that tries to make better people. They say, if you tell everyone that all their sins are freely forgiven, then they won’t have any reason to behave themselves. They’ll just run around with a license to sin.

Paul was well aware of this flawed response to the Gospel. Turn to Romans 6, verse 1. After explaining that though faith in Jesus we have full forgiveness, Paul says…

“1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:1-4 NIV).

The apostle Peter was also aware that free forgiveness could be abused. He knew that our inner sinful nature would seek to use Christ’s love as a license to sin. In his first letter Peter wrote this to his fellow Christians…

“Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God” (1 Peter 2:16 NIV).

Turn to Galatians 5, verse 13. There Paul writes…

“13You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. 14The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:13-14 NIV).

The forgiveness that we have through Christ’s cross is free. It is complete. But it is freedom FROM sin and sin’s punishment, not freedom to sin. A repentant heart will not use God’s love and forgiveness as an excuse to live in sin. Instead, a repentant heart rejoices in the all-forgiving love of Christ, and seeks to mold itself to God’s will.

It’s a bit like being a diplomat in a foreign country. Representatives of the United States are given “diplomatic immunity”. They are not subject to the laws of the foreign country that they are in. Their diplomatic immunity is not intended as a license to break laws. It is meant to enable them to relax and concentrate on serving their country to the best of their ability.
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Once Paul has established that the Colossians now stand above the law in Christ, he continues. Colossians 2, verse 16…

“16Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ. 18Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. 19He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow” (Colossians 2:17-18 NIV).

God gave a lot of laws to the Jews to govern the way they worshiped him. This is what Paul is talking about when he mentions religious festivals, New Moon celebrations and Sabbath days. The festivals were held once a year like our Christmas and Easter. The New Moon celebrations were religious services held at the first of every month – at the “New Moon”. The Sabbaths, of course, were weekly services like the way we hold church on Sunday.

These worship times all had certain rules and regulations connected with them. Details about what animals were to be offered, who was to do it, how it was to be carried out.

Paul says that what happened at these gatherings was meant to foreshadow what the Savior would do when he finally came.

For example, in the Old Testament some foods were considered ceremonially unclean, others clean. After Christ came, God declared all foods clean as a way of illustrating that through Christ all people are declared clean.

In the Old Testament animal sacrifices were offered to God when people sinned. These foreshadowed how Christ would sacrifice Himself, once, on the cross, to take away the sins of the world.

In the Old Testament the Sabbath day was a day of rest and worship. The Jewish people were forbidden to do regular work on that day. It was their time to worship God. Through Jesus sinners are given ETERNAL REST and peace with God.

The Old Testament laws were shadows of the reality that is found in Jesus. They were previews of the blockbuster to come.
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But here’s what happened. Sometimes the purpose of rules and regulations gets lost. A regulation begins to be followed just because that’s what has always been done. Then the regulation takes on a purpose that was never intended.

The Jews began to see the worship laws that God had given them as things that were done in order to earn God’s love and forgiveness. When Jesus finally came, they found it hard to let go of the things they’d grown up doing. They found it hard to trust solely in the salvation that came through God’s Son. They were convinced that salvation must have something to do with their observing the Old Testament worship laws. Even Peter found it hard to let the old ways go. Turn to Acts 10, verse 9.

“9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean” (Acts 10:9-15 NIV).

On another occasion, Peter fell back into old ways. He was in Antioch where the church was made up of both Jewish born Christians and Gentile born Christians. Paul writes…

“11When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong. 12Before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.
14When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Peter in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?
15“We who are Jews by birth and not ‘Gentile sinners’ 16know that a man is not justified by observing the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified” (Galatians 2:11-21 NIV).

When he wrote to the Colossians Christians, Paul didn’t want them to be intimidated into resurrecting all the old Jewish traditions. He knew that these things might seem very religious. The young Christians at Colossae might have thought they could become more mature Christians if they started following these traditions. But that was the farthest thing from the truth.

Adopting an intricate system of manmade laws only distracts from Christ’s forgiveness. And if you begin to think that obeying these traditions is what makes you a acceptable to God, then you’ve been severed from Christ.

In his letter to the Galatian Christians, Paul wrote…

“2Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. 3Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. 4You who are trying to be justified by law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. 5But by faith we eagerly await through the Spirit the righteousness for which we hope” (Galatians 5:2-5 NIV).

Faith in Christ connects us to Him. He alone is the reason we stand above the law, forgiven. He alone is the way to grow stronger in the faith. Ritual and tradition can have value, but not in connection with our salvation. Christ alone is our salvation.
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Let’s read our final section from Colossians 2, verse 20.

“20Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why, as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: 21“Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”? 22These are all destined to perish with use, because they are based on human commands and teachings. 23Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility and their harsh treatment of the body, but they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (Colossians 2:20-23 NIV).

My daughters have a series of books called “Sweet Pickle” books. Inside this one (“Xerus Won’t Allow It”) it says, “In the world of Sweet Pickles, each animal gets into a pickle because of an all to human personality trait. This book is about X-rating Xerus, who thinks that telling people what is not allowed will solve all problems.”

In the book, whenever a problem arises, Xerus makes a sign that bans whatever type of activity he sees as causing the problem. First he clears up a problem outside the town bank by putting up a sign that says, “No Parking, No Stopping, No Standing, No Talking”. An argument in the park leads him to put up a sign that says, “No ball playing in picnic area, No eating on ball field, No sleeping, No yelling.” Eventually it gets ridiculous when two animals bump into each other at the door of a shop. Neither will step aside for the other, so Xerus solves the problem by putting up a sign that says, “Absolutely No going in the out. Positively No going out the in. No in or out allowed.

The human response to problems is often to make more laws. Problem is, laws don’t really solve problems. Laws can’t erase what has already been done. Laws can be broken in the future. You see, laws have no power to reform the heart, which is the source of our sins.

The monk who castrates himself to avoid sexual sin can’t cut away his lustful thoughts. Taking a vow of poverty won’t necessarily decrease the sin of greed. In fact, it may increase the sin of worry, trading one sin for another. Becoming a pacifist does not banish all feelings of hatred and anger.

Laws and rules doesn’t reform the heart. And even if it could, they can’t erase the past. Only Christ cleanses and reforms. Only Christ removes us from under the threat of God’s punishment for sin, and opens the way for a new way of living. A way that begins with forgiveness and freedom and peace with God.

Prayer: Father in heaven, thank you for making us your children through faith in all your Son has done for us. Thank you for opening the way to forgiveness and peace through Your Son’s cross. We tend to judge others unfairly Lord, help us not to do this. We tend to see laws and regulations and harsh words as the solutions to so many of our problems. Erase this instinct from our hearts. Center our minds in Christ, where we are above the law. Center our minds in Christ, where we cannot feel unworthy when others judge us. Center our minds in Christ, and keep us from the shackles of legalism that the world would put back on us.

Amen.

Christ is Quite Enough - Aug 15, 2010

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Sermon:

For the past three Sundays we’ve been studying the book of Colossians. The “book” of Colossians is actually a letter that the apostle Paul wrote to a small group of Christians living in the town of Colosse.

Paul didn’t know these Christians. It hadn’t been him who had brought the message of Christ to Colosse. But Paul wrote to them all the same because he was overjoyed that the Christ’s message had been received in Colosse.

So far, we’ve examined what Paul wrote in chapter one.

Basically, Paul said, “Hello. I hear that you too have been declared holy, sinless, through faith in what Jesus did for us. I am so thankful, and I pray for your faith to grow in so many ways. Christ Jesus is above all created things because he created them all, and still holds them together. And through faith we have been connected to His greatness! We have been forgiven and completed by Christ coming into our lives.”
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The core of Paul’s letter to the Colossians is what we call the “Gospel” or the “Good News”. Basically, the Gospel says that humans are sinful, and therefore separated from the sinless God. But, God sent His Son to suffer for our sins and bring us back into a father-son relationship with Him.

Paul was captivated by the Gospel message. It was his greatest love. In another one of his letters, Paul wrote:

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Philippians 1:21 NIV).

If Christ is the door to peace with God, what could be more important? What could be more precious? Nothing, Paul thought. Christ was life. Christ was freedom, and peace and strength in a world full of limitation, strife and weakness.

Throughout his letter to the Colossians Paul repeatedly comes back to the Gospel, comes back to Christ, like a man coming home from work – to rest.
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When I read my Bible, I like to make notes in the margin. One thing I do is mark the spots where the Gospel is expressed. Wherever I find a reference to the fact that through Christ our sins have been erased, I mark it with a symbol called the “Chi Rho”. That’s Greek shorthand for “Christ”. It looks like a capital “P” with an “X” over it.

Let me show you how much Paul “comes home” to the Good News in Colossians chapter one. Open your Bibles to that chapter.

My first “Chi Rho” is on verse 2. Paul says,

“To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse:” (Colossians 1:2 NIV).

They were “holy”, “sinless” through their trust in Christ.

Now go to verse 5.

“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” (Colossians 1:5 NIV).

The Colossians would one day join God in heaven because of what Christ had done for them.

Next I’ve got three marks by verses 12-14.

“12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. 13For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:12-14 NIV).

Skip to verses 19-20.

“19For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20and 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” (Colossians 1:19-20 NIV).

Paul personalizes the Gospel for the Colossians in verse 21-23.

“21Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22But 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—23if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel…” (Colossians 1:21-23a NIV).

Verse 26 gets another mark when Paul calls the Colossians “Saints” there. The word saint means “Holy ones”. Again, through faith in Christ God no longer sees their sins, all He sees is a people covered in His Son’s sinless perfection.
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Last Sunday we talked about how Christ completes us. He makes us whole, covering over our sins and taking their place as the ruler of our hearts.

In our reading for today, Paul is still camping out on that concept – that in Christ we are made complete. But now, in chapter two, Paul changes his tone a bit. Now he’s warning the Colossian Christians not to let anything undermine that idea.

The philosophies of mankind and the teachings of false religions subtly try to contradict the idea that Christ is all we need. They tell us that Christ is nice and all, but His message is old fashioned, or incomplete in some way.

The world says, “We’ve got wisdom in our universities that can’t be found in the Bible.”

Paul says, “In Christ resides ALL wisdom and knowledge. He is after all, the Creator of all things and still holds them together.”

False religions say, “Jesus is good, but you’ve got to add your own goodness to the equation to get God’s forgiveness.”

Paul says, “In Christ is the fullness of the deity in bodily form. There is nothing left for you to add.”

As we read through Colossians 2:1-15, watch for each time Christ is mentioned. And watch for where Paul AGAIN “comes home” to rest in the Good News of sins forgiven through Christ.
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Colossians 2:1-15 (NIV)

1I want you to know how much I am struggling for you and for those at Laodicea, and for all who have not met me personally. 2My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, 3in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. 4I tell you this so that no one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments. 5For though I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit and delight to see how orderly you are and how firm your faith in Christ is.
6So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, 7rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.
8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead.
13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
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In some of his letters Paul is very specific about correcting a false teaching. Here in Colossians he’s more general. “Watch out!” he says, “The world will tell you it’s wiser than God.” And this warning still fits our experience today.

The universities of the world teach our youth that the Bible is religion, but science is reality. Even some people who claim to follow Christ say that the Bible is perfect when it comes to spiritual ideas and teaching, but flawed when it comes to things like history, geology and science. As if the Creator of the universe gets it all right when it comes to spiritual knowledge, but when it comes to visible things, mankind has to educate Him.

For example, the Bible mentions an ancient tribe called the “Hittites”. For a long time secular historians believed that these people never really existed because they hadn’t found any shards of pottery bearing their name.

But then archeologists unearthed the enormous capital city of Hattussa in modern day Turkey.

There are all sorts of examples of Biblical figures and cultures that modern thinkers have dismissed as mere fantasy because they were only evidenced in the Bible. But as researchers have dug deeper, the Biblical record has been repeated verified as correct.

Modern man always thinks he knows better. He presents his “wisdom” as unassailable fact in every age. Whether its bleeding people to cure them, or insisting the world is flat, or telling everyone that he can describe the origin of the universe through logical extrapolation.

Right now you can go to your favorite book store and get a copy of “A Short History of Time” by Stephen Hawking, or “The Universe in a Nutshell” by the same. No doubt it’s interesting reading. Probably full of plausible explanations concerning the universe we live in. But, in a hundred years or so these ideas will seem outdated and unfashionable. Fine sounding arguments to be sure, but arguments from a former age when man was not yet as educated as he is now.

And really, doesn’t the red flag of warning go up in your mind when a person who’s lived only a few decades wants to tell you how everything works?

See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.
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Paul doesn’t keep all of his warnings general in this section from Colossians. He mentions circumcision. Look again at verse 9.

“9For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority. 11In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, 12having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead” (Colossians 2:9-12 NIV).

In Old Testament times circumcision was a mark that indicated that a person was a follower of the God of the Bible. But at the time that Paul wrote this letter it had become something different. Some people claiming to be Christians claimed that you had to be circumcised in addition to trusting in Christ in order to be forgiven.

Again, mankind thinks he knows better than God. Only this time it’s the man in the pulpit saying we’ve got to ADD to Christ’s value in order to enter heaven.

Paul responds by simply pointing to Baptism. He says, You want indication that you’re part of God’s family? Look at what Baptism does. By faith in Christ, you’ve been connected to Christ. By baptism you’ve died with Him on the cross and been buried in the tomb. By faith you’ve been raised to spiritual life. God has done this FOR you. There’s nothing YOU need to add. No ceremony of payment. No sacrifice. No ritual.

Paul comes home to Christ once again verse 13. He personalizes the Gospel for the Colossian Christians who would receive this message:

“13When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross” (Colossians 2:13-15 NIV).

When we stand before God on judgment day, we’ll be judged on the basis of whether we stand with His gracious and all sacrificing Son or not. It’s not going to depend on whether we’ve gone through some physical ritual. In fact, circumcision in the Old Testament only had meaning if a person’s heart was marked as God’s by simple trust.
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Once again, Paul comes back home to Christ. We were dead in sin, Christ made us alive. We were guilty, Christ made us forgiven. The Laws of God all said, “sinner”, but Christ made us saints by nailing the record of our sins, all of them, to the cross.

Don’t let anyone tell you that Christ isn’t enough. He is. In Him is all wisdom and knowledge.

Don’t let anyone tell you that you aren’t enough. In Christ you are. You have been given fullness in Christ.

Prayer: Father in heaven, with thankful hearts we look to you. Fill our minds with your thoughts. Open our Bibles and our minds. Open our hearts in confession, and cleanse them by your Son’s all cleansing blood. Teach us true wisdom. Teach us vibrant faith. Fill all our empty places, and make us your children in every way.

Amen.

Mankind is Made Whole By Christ - Aug 8, 2010

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Sermon:

My grandfather on my Mother’s side was named Leland Grams. He was the pastor of our sister congregation in Faulkton, SD, for many years. He had a strong dedication to Gospel of Christ, a strong personality, and a good sense of humor.

Grandpa Grams liked to tease people. When someone was putting a puzzle together on the dining room table of the Faulkton parsonage, he would casually walk by and snag one of the pieces. Hours later when the search was on for that ONE LAST MISSING PIECE, Leland would waltz in with a sly smile on his face, and complete the puzzle.

There’s something sad about a puzzle with one blank spot. One hole where something should be. Puzzles are meant to be put together - they’re meant to be complete.
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The idea of completion, or wholeness, runs throughout our reading today. Just as a puzzle is not complete without that last piece, Mankind is not complete without God. Mankind is Made Whole by Christ.

Colossians 1:24-29 (NIV)

24Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—26the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints. 27To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
28We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. 29To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.
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Paul first speaks of completion by saying Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church.

Paul is not saying that what Christ suffered on the cross was insufficient. Just a few verses earlier (Colossians 1:14) Paul declared that in Christ Jesus we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Paul says that the Colossian Christians have been qualified to share in the inheritance that comes from God, heaven, because of Christ (Colossians 1:12). He calls the Colossian Christians “saints”, which means “holy ones” because of what Jesus suffered in their place. In no way is Paul saying that Christ’s sacrifice was “not enough” to pay the price for our redemption.

When Paul says that he is completing what Christ didn’t suffer, he’s talking about the suffering and struggle that come along with battling Christ’s message into the world. And that was a battle for Paul.

Paul had Pharisees following him and inciting riots as he preached from town to town. At one point there was a group of people who took an oath not to eat until Paul was dead. But instead of being discouraged by the beating that his opposition dished out, Paul rejoiced. He viewed his own suffering as a great honor given him by Christ. Christ had suffered on the cross to redeem the church, now Paul would suffer on the mission road to deliver that message of redemption.

Christ has honored us with part of His work too. Not the work of the cross through which our sins stand forgiven, but the work of carrying that message with us as we live. The work of distributing peace and forgiveness to people who are missing that part of life’s puzzle.
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Paul talks about his own life’s work by saying I have become the church’s servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness—the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the saints.

Paul’s message completed the mystery of salvation. That mystery had been hanging unanswered for thousands of years. Ever since mankind stepped willingly away from friendship with God. How was God going to keep His promise to save them? How could God bring sinners who hated him back to Him? In Christ that question is answered.

God would take all that separated mankind from Him, all their evil ideas and words and thoughts and deeds, and lay the guilt of them on His Son. Then the Son of God would absorb all the just punishment that sinful mankind deserved. And with that sentence suffered, mankind would be set free. Forgiven. Reconciled to God.
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The message of the Gospel is like the answer to a multilayered riddle. Riddles are confusing and frustrating without the key. But when the answer comes, you see how it all makes sense.

For example, here’s confusing riddle:

I build up castles.
I tear down mountains.
I make some men blind,
I help others to see.
What am I?

Sand. Sand is used to built castles. It’s erosive effects tear down mountains. A sandstorm can easily blind a person for good, but if sand is melted down to make glass it can actually help people see.

Or how about this one:

Greater than God and more evil than the devil. The poor have it, the rich need it and if you eat it you'll die. What is it?

The answer is: Nothing.

A riddle is confusing, but when the missing piece is supplied, you can see how it all fits together.

The soul of mankind has been asking deep questions for ages. Riddle me this…

Why do we suffer pain if God is really good?

What comes after this life?

What came before?

Why am I me? Why am I here?

What is my future?

The Gospel of Christ gives answer to these questions. It fills them up. Supplies the missing piece. Pulls them together and makes sense of them. Completes them.
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Paul says To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Through the Gospel, God comes to mankind to complete him. Not just to answer his questions, but to complete HIM. Sin left a hole in man, one that can only be filled by God. When faith in Christ comes to a heart, that hole is filled.

People try to fill their empty place with things, with other people, with meaningful experiences, with work, with play, with all sorts of things. But it doesn’t work. Whatever we put in that empty place in our lives may fill us up for a moment, but soon we feel the emptiness again. Something is missing. Something is not right.

It’s a bit like a little child with an electronic toy. The child knows that to get this thing to work mom and dad put something right there where it says plus and minus. So they stick something there that fits. But it has no power. No lights. No sounds. It’s not the right thing.

A remote control car doesn’t run without the right battery, and the human soul isn’t complete without God.
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Paul says, We proclaim him, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ. To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy, which so powerfully works in me.

Without Christ, we are dead in sin. But through Christ, we are made alive. Our sin is removed and replaced with faith in the Savior. That makes us ready for living with God. Then God begins to complete us in another way. He dresses us in a new US. A new person that is 100% us, but better. More like Him.

Paul explains it like a change of clothes. First Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross covers our sin with a perfectly white, holy, sinless robe (Galatians 3:26-27). Then the Holy Spirit adds the accessories. Maybe a belt of humility. Sandals of compassion. A bag of patience. A hat of peace (Colossians 3:12-17).

We ARE perfect now in Christ, fully forgiven. We are being made perfect in Christ, completed to look like Him.

All that we lack, Christ provides. And Paul says that this even includes the energy to do whatever work God has for us to do.

Each of us has a different role to play in the kingdom of Christ, but each one of those jobs brings glory to God. And each one of our jobs has this in it’s description – helping to make others whole by the message of Christ’s love.
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My grandfather Leland Grams left this world many years ago. It was both a sad, and a happy time. If you’ve had loved one died in Christ, you know what I’m talking about.

Grandpa Leland knew that it was coming. And when he realized that it was, he said something that has stuck with me. I don’t remember his exact words, but he said, “If only I had done more. If only I had reached more people for Him.”

He was fully confident in his own salvation in Christ. He said what he did because he simply wished he had made more people whole by bringing them Christ.

A person who is WHOLE, can leave this world with confidence. In Christ we stand fully forgiven. In Christ we are complete.

Prayer: Father in heaven, thank you for making us complete in your Son, Jesus. Thank you for patiently loving us through our sinning, patiently turning our hearts back to you. Give us peace, and confidence in all that we do because we know that when it comes to salvation and forgiveness, we are whole. Give us strength and wisdom to put on the good character traits that your Holy Spirit offers us. Fulfill us with your fullness.

Amen.