The Season of Good Will

Reading

Luke 2: 1-19

Talk

We've heard again the story of the angel telling the shepherds about the birth of Christ, and then a whole host of angels appearing, praising God and announcing awesome news. We're probably more familiar with the older translation of what they said, which goes, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.”

The strange idea that has grown out of this text is that Christmas is the “Season of Good Will” as if this is the only time of year when we should be nice to each other! But actually, the angels were announcing something far more significant. To understand what they were saying, let's fill in a bit of background.

Human beings are designed to live in communion with God. But, almost from the start, we decided we would do things our way, independently of God. And, as a race, we still do that today. That results in two problems.

Firstly, we make a mess of the wonderful world that God put in our charge. You only have to watch the news to see how good we've become at making a mess, from the chaos last week at Gatwick airport to the horrors of the Syrian war.

Secondly, we set ourselves up as enemies of God, alienating ourselves from him, breaking away from the relationship he always intended us to have with him.

Try as we might, we can't sort out our own mess, and we can't, of ourselves, put an end to our conflict with God—we don't want to!

Fortunately for us, God loves people. The angels were really announcing that God's means of making peace for us has now come to earth, and the way is open for us to return to God, if we're willing to take it.

He sent Jesus to live among us as one of us. The first Christmas launched the mission to end our conflict with God and to bring in his kingdom, where our mess can be sorted out.

The Apostle Paul writes about God “[rescuing] us from the dominion of darkness and [bringing] us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Thirty-three years after that first Christmas, Jesus achieved for us what we can't do for ourselves. We see him riding into Jerusalem on a donkey to shouts of praise and honour, and, within a week, being crucified, paying the penalty of our sins for us, all as foretold in scripture.

God gave us Christmas knowing there would be Easter. He did it willingly because he loves us so much. As the Apostle John wrote in his gospel, “… God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

This is why, as Christians, we celebrate Christmas: the time when Jesus came to live among us, so that through his death and rising again our living can be transformed by his power.

God offers us life through Jesus, whatever our sin, however dark and deep our shame.

Since that first Christmas, God's season of goodwill is every day, all year round. His offer of peace is always open to anyone who will turn back from their own ways and become a follower of Jesus.

Each new disciple is a new member of God's kingdom, which has been growing for over 2000 years.

And it all began with the wonder of a baby in a manger.

Mary

Reading

Luke 1:39-56

Introduction

I've been asked to speak today about Mary, the mother of Jesus. As a Protestant who has worshipped in a variety of Protestant traditions, Mary has never had a high priority in my understanding of faith. Orthodox and Roman traditions have a very different view of Mary, venerating her almost (if not actually) above Jesus himself, calling her “The Mother of God” – which is something I can understand, within limits – or “The Queen of Heaven” – which is an idea I have no time for.

My wife and I went to Cyprus this year, and we visited some religious sites in the Troodos mountains. There are many small churches in that area with very ancient frescoes of religious scenes. We visited one of them and walked around, trying to understand what was depicted. One scene showed what seemed to be the visit of Gabriel to Mary, another the presentation of the infant Jesus at the temple. Then the guide joined us and put us straight: the images were not about Jesus, they were about Mary, the mother of Jesus. I discovered that there's a whole tradition about the birth, life, and death of Mary. Later research has shown that these traditions come from dubious post-New Testament apocryphal writings that reflect a growing veneration of Mary from the Second Century onwards.

Setting the Scene

Scripture itself says very little about Mary. In the old testament, she's an unidentified virgin who “shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Immanuel.” She has cameo roles in John's gospel and Acts. Matthew puts her in Joseph's shadow, and Mark doesn't mention her at all. Almost everything we can reliably know about Mary comes from Luke's gospel, and Jewish culture of the time fills in some of the background for us.

When we first encounter Mary in Luke's gospel, she's a young Jewish girl engaged to be married (by parental arrangement) to a decent Jewish boy with a reliable trade. So that makes her no older than 15 when the angel Gabriel appears.

As an ordinary Jewish girl, she'd have been well-versed in the Old Testament scriptures, and fully engaged in national and family festivals and celebrations and Sabbaths, and in synagogue worship. Family was important, and eastern cultures then, even as they do now, had a strong shame-and-honour basis.

Her parents had laid down a plan for Mary's life, and I'm sure she would have had hopes and dreams for what lay ahead of her with Joseph. Proverbs 19:21 says, “Many are the plans in a person's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails,” and Mary's plans were superseded when God's messenger, Gabriel, showed up. Mary's response to Gabriel—and all her responses in Luke's gospel—give us a clear example of the kind of response the Lord God Almighty expects from earth-bound believers.

She responds with:

• questioning doubt, but then
• simple acceptance, then
• faith from the heart

Questioning Doubt

As far as I know, I've never met an angel. I imagine that meeting one could be quite a shock! That seems to have been Mary's reaction: she “was greatly troubled at his words.” What had the angel said? “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”

I don't know about you, but if a messenger from God came and said that to me I'd be delighted! Isn't that what we all want to be sure of? That we are highly favoured? That the Lord is with us? But Mary was troubled by the angel's greeting, and wondered what it might mean. In Mary's culture, as a woman, and a young one at that, she was a second class citizen; men got all the attention.

The angel's next words to Mary were, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.” Again, words we all want to hear but, actually, words that are true of all of us who belong to Jesus. Isn't it good to know that God is for us, not against us? And actually, at the birth of Jesus, the angels announced that God's favour is offered to all mankind. Because of Jesus, it's possible for all and any of us to find God's favour and salvation.

Mary was an ordinary, faithful, observant, Jewish girl. She was in the right family line, betrothed to a young man also in the right family line, and it was time for Messiah to come. And that's what the angel explained to Mary.

She was going to have a baby. She was to call him Jesus. He would grow up to be great. He would be called the Son of the Most High. He would sit on David's throne. His kingdom would never end.

As a Jewish girl, Mary would know about the promises God made to king David centuries before. So she points out an obvious flaw in the plan. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” Good point!

There's nothing wrong with having doubts, although doubts can be of two kinds.

• The “I don't believe that!” kind are unhelpful; they're closed off and lead us away from faith. I heard a Jewish lecturer in Embryonics at Birmingham University say, “Parthenogenesis always gives rise to female offspring, so Mary wasn't a virgin.” (Parthenogenesis, by the way, is reproduction without the involvement of the male of the species, which some insects, fish, reptiles and birds can do—but not mammals.)
• The “How can this be?” kind of doubt leads us to questioning exploration, a search for answers. And God says that if we seek him we will find him. We may not always get the answers to our questions but, if we find God in our seeking, we can learn to live with them.

Mary asked a reasonable, rational question and she was given an answer: God is going to act out of the ordinary. This child is special. As evidence that God can do this, he's also enabled your relative Elizabeth to become pregnant in her old age. (You'll realise I'm paraphrasing very loosely here.) Nothing is impossible with God!

Nothing is impossible with God! There's a point my lecturer failed to grasp…

Simple Acceptance

“'I am the Lord's servant,' Mary answered. 'May your word to me be fulfilled.'”

This is a young woman with a right perspective in life. She is the Lord's servant. She's raised her questions, had them answered, and accepted that this is what God wants: who is she to resist?

Just think about what's being set in motion here. She's been told that she's going to have a baby, something that would normally be thrilling news! But—she's not married. What will mum and dad think? What about the neighbours? How will mum and dad cope with the shame? What will Joseph do? How will I ever live this down?

“I am the Lord's servant,” and that's enough for Mary. She's not just having any baby; she's having the most important baby ever. Whether the immensity of that has sunk in at this point we don't know but Mary is the Lord's servant. May God's will be done.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if we were more like Mary? So often, when we get an inkling of God's will for our lives, our response can be quite different. “That's not what I had in mind. This will ruin my career. My reputation will be in tatters. This can't be right—think about the consequences. Lord, I think you've got this wrong! I'm not the right person. Can't you send someone else?”

Mary has a simple acceptance of God's will and a quiet confidence in God's plan. It may be problematic for her but God is in it. And what did the angel say? “… no word from God will ever fail.”

Do you have an inkling of God's will for your life? Have your been wrestling against it for a while? It's time to stop fighting and to go with God's plan.

Perhaps you're being called simply to follow Jesus, to become a disciple, a Christian. Today would be a good day to accept God's gift of salvation.

Faith from the Heart

In recent years, televised depictions of these events have made much of the shame that would have been laid on Mary for having become pregnant out of wedlock. But Mary was not universally rejected as a harlot, as our reading clearly shows.

Mary hurried off to see Elizabeth, who was six months pregnant by then. “When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.” And Mary's step of acceptance was rewarded with clear confirmation that she had it right.

The words Elizabeth spoke were a tremendous encouragement to Mary; affirming words in keeping with what the angel had said. Words that were spoken before Mary had any chance to explain her own encounter with the angel. She was convinced that God was in all that was about to happen to her. She knew she could count on Elizabeth's support.

She was so thrilled that she overflowed with joy! Here's my paraphrase of what she said:

I'm thrilled with God!
I'm a nobody but he's doing something with me that everyone forever will marvel at.
He's so good to everyone who trusts him, all through the ages.
He's done amazing things.
He's put those who think they're something back in their places.
And those who seem actually to be something, he's taken down a peg or two.
He's blessed the poor instead of letting the rich grab it all.
He's keeping his promises to his people.
He's blessing them just like he said he would,
all those years ago!

When we step out in simple faith to follow God's calling, confirmation of that calling will come, perhaps in unexpected ways. Faith pleases God; God responds to faith and encourages it.

By now, Mary's heart is full of faith; faith that will sustain her through the months and years to come.

And Mary has another quality: the ability to hold on to things God has said to her. We read about her treasuring up the things the shepherds told her, and pondering them in her heart (Lk 2:19); she marvelled at what was said about Jesus when they presented him at the temple for the first time (Lk 2:33); The things that the 12-year old Jesus said when they found him at the temple, she treasured in her heart (Lk 2:51).

Following through on my call to preach hasn't been easy. I almost gave up at one point. But I can recall words of prophecy and encouragement that have been spoken into my life down the years, words that even now help me to keep going. We have to remember the words God speaks purposefully into our lives. When the going gets tough, rely on God's promises.

Plain Sailing?

If God has a plan for our lives, shouldn't everything be plain sailing? When we hit obstacles, doesn't that show we made a mistake—that we heard God wrong?

At this point in her life, Mary knew about God's big picture but she had no detail about what was going to happen, and she didn't have an easy time of it.

• Would Joseph still want her? Well God sorted that one out by sending Gabriel to have a word with Joseph.
• Then they had to go on the run to Egypt to get away from king Herod, who was hell-bent on destroying any rival for his throne.
• Once Herod was out of the way, they came back from Egypt to a remote existence in an unimpressive rural backwater known as Nazareth. “Nazareth! Can anything good come from there?” says Nathanael in John's gospel.
• She and Joseph had more children, but then Joseph disappears from the record with the most likely reason being that he died. Mary had to face all the challenges of Jesus' public ministry and execution without support from Joseph. 
• She suffered the loss of Jesus himself and, as foretold, a sword of pain pierced her own soul. Perhaps only those among us who have lost children can imagine how painful it must have been for Mary to watch Jesus die on a Roman cross.

The last we read about Mary is in Acts, after the resurrection and ascension of Jesus. Luke records, “They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.”

Remember Mary's words: “I am the Lord's servant. … May your word to me be fulfilled.”

Mary had been God's choice. She had been the right choice.

Remember the angel's words: “… no word from God will ever fail.”

God's plan, and Mary's role in it, had been fully accomplished.
Challenge

Mary's story shows us that no one is too ordinary for God to use, even in extraordinary ways.

When God calls, let's be like Mary and respond in simple faith.

We may have reasonable doubts or questions, but let's not let them stop us moving forward.

Opposition doesn't mean we're wrong. It means we have to rely on God's promises.

Colossians Part VIII: Final Instructions

Readings

Colossians 1:9-13, NIV
Colossians 4:2-18, NIV

Introduction

Well, we've come to the last part in our series on Colossians. Last time, we thought about what Paul had to say about various personal relationships, and we could think of what he said as balancing authority and responsibility, tempering both with an attitude of submission and humility. Today, we think of other relationships:

• our relationship with God through prayer, and
• our relationship with those outside the kingdom through our witness.

Prayer

I'm sure we've all heard many a sermon on prayer. It's something that puzzles us. Doesn't God know everything anyway? Can we really change his mind by praying? How does prayer work?

Now, I'm not the world's best pray-er. There are probably people here who know a lot more about it. But we don't have to be experts. It's just something we need to do, and the way we do it can be as individual as we are.

Prayer for me is about consciously acknowledging the presence of God, talking life and issues over with him, allowing him to influence me. It's about working with God to bring about change; God wants us to be involved in what he's doing. However strange it may seem, prayer is something that God wants us to do; it's something that Paul encourages us to do: “Devote yourselves to prayer.”

The translators have used this word devote to convey Paul's meaning to us. When we devote something, whether that be an object or time, we set it apart for a special purpose. When we devote ourselves to something, we sweep all else aside to make way for that thing. So Paul is telling us that prayer is really important—something we can't ignore.

The Greek word behind the translators' devote is proskartereo and its use in scripture suggests persistence, intent engagement, constant attention, perseverance. Prayer is not something we restrict to a specific time in our week—it's an ongoing occupation.

Prayer is much more than religiously 'saying prayers'. It's about a purposeful, expectant interaction with God. For example, just saying the Lord's prayer does absolutely nothing for us. That prayer was intended as a model, a shape for our praying. We need to get inside the Lord's prayer, to inhabit it, to understand that this is what God wants, and I want it too! We discover God's presence and purposes when we spend time in prayer!

Prayer can be dangerous! Sometimes God's answer can be, 'I want you to do something about this.'

Paul tells us in our praying to be watchful and thankful. We should keep an eye out for the needs around us, pray about them and look for the answers, then give thanks when the answers come, perhaps especially when we discover we are the answer!

Prayer can also be part of our involvement with the worldwide church. Paul says, “And pray for us, too...” A literal translation of the Greek here would be something like 'praying together also concerning us.' The word translated as together suggests we're not in intended to be doing this only as individuals. Whether what Paul wrote suggests corporate prayer in the Colossian church, or joining their prayers together with Paul's is perhaps arguable, but certainly we should be praying for those who are working to spread God's kingdom. Paul gives us some ideas of what to pray, and we'll think about that in a while.

Obviously, we are also going to pray for ourselves. What sort of things should we pray for? In Ephesians, Paul says, “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” I think that phrase “in the Spirit” re-emphasises the point about real engagement when we pray, not merely reciting prayers.

In praying for ourselves, we may pray, 'Please God, change this situation for me.' His answer may be, 'No, because I want to change you for the situation.' But pray about anything and everything. God cares for you!

There are some things we should be concerned about for ourselves, and that's why we read Paul's prayer for the Colossians again. I'm not going to preach on that passage again, but have another read of it when you get home. The things in that prayer are what Paul thought important for Christians, things that have never diminished in importance. We can, and should, pray that we might benefit from the same things today.

We also read what Epaphras prayed for the Colossians: that they “may stand firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured.” So Paul and Epaphras are praying the same things really. Should we not want these things for ourselves, for each other?

Witness

What do you believe? Why do you believe it? What difference does it make to the way you live? If it makes no difference, you don't really believe it.

We are witnesses to the saving grace of God. We're living testimonies to the difference our God can bring to the needy, and to those who think they need nothing. If we are living out our faith, people will notice. Some of them will wonder why we're different. Some will ask what makes us different. We need to be ready to tell others our personal stories of our faith.

You don't need to have a deep understanding of theology. Your story doesn't have to be spectacular. You don't have to have answers to all the questions about suffering, wars, and why God allows bad things to happen. It's just your experience, what God means to you.

Is it important that others believe the gospel? Well, if it's only in Christ that people are rescued from the dominion of darkness, find entrance to the kingdom of his Son and forgiveness of sins, then it is important, and our witness is important. We need to be ready and willing to share.

So, how can we prepare ourselves? Paul suggests three things in this passage:

• Our prayers
• Our actions
• Our words

Our Prayers

Given what we've already thought about prayer, it's no great surprise that prayer is an important part of being ready to share our stories. We really can't get by without it.

I wonder what we think of Paul. Do we imagine him to have been someone who had it all together, who fearlessly spread the gospel wherever he went? He was an ordinary human being just like us, and just like us he needed all the help God could give him. And so he asked the Colossians to pray for his ministry, specifically asking for two things.

Firstly, he wants a door to be opened for his message. He was in Rome under house arrest, so maybe he was asking the Colossians to pray for his release, or maybe he was asking for opportunities to come his way regardless of his circumstances—after all, he was allowed to receive visitors and was constantly watched over by Roman guards. Ironically, they would have been a captive audience!

Secondly, he wants to proclaim the mystery of Christ clearly. Paul was a scholar with encyclopaedic knowledge of scripture. If anyone knew how to present the gospel it was surely him. Yet he asks for the Colossians to pray for clarity, so that he might be effective in his presentation.

Now, if Paul asked for prayer for those things, these are good things to pray for our own witness: opportunities to share, and the ability to be clear in our sharing.

When we pray like this for ourselves, we're telling God we're available to be involved in his work of rescuing people.

Our Actions

Paul says, “Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders…” He isn't talking about us putting on a show. A literal translation here would be, “walk in wisdom toward the ones outside.” Our walk is our way of living, and our living should always be consistent with our faith. All those virtues we were told to clothe ourselves with earlier (compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forbearance, forgiveness) are not to be kept within the confines of our fellowship.

We're wise to remember that we're always on display. What image do we project? We're wise to show the same love to those outside our faith as we do to those on the inside. To the Jew of Paul's day, gentiles were considered worse than dogs—but Christ is for all, Jew and gentile alike. To the Islamist of today, unbelievers are scum to be used and abused and disposed of however they see fit. Hundreds of mass graves have been discovered in territories that were controlled by the so-called Islamic State. It's hardly the sort of behaviour that would attract me to join them.

Our wise conduct will show the love of God to those who have yet to discover Christ for themselves. Our wise conduct will be welcoming of those who are seeking, and generous towards the needy. Our wise conduct will show the clear difference that God has made to our living.

Our wise conduct will make people wonder why we're different and ask us. And Paul tells us to “… make the most of every opportunity.” If you're praying for opportunities, expect opportunities. Trust that the opportunities God gives you are within the grasp of your abilities. You can do it!

A friend told me about an experience he had as a young man when he started working for the Post Office. All the men made fun of his beliefs but he stuck at it. One day he announced he had tickets for a film featuring Billy Graham. All but one rubbished the idea. The most foul-mouthed villain of the lot agreed to go along—just for a laugh! He watched the film with tears running down his cheeks and was converted that very night! The other men back at the sorting office were amazed at the transformation.

We may not always be the last link in the chain that leads someone to salvation, but we never know what influence we may have. If my friend hadn't been open about his faith, who knows what would have happened to that man? And I am standing here today because a school friend was willing to stand up and be counted.

Our Words

Our words speak volumes about our character. When I was at university, there was a guy in the Christian Union who seemed incapable of speaking anything other than sarcasm. He was most offended when I told him I'd heard enough of it! We've probably all met people who are always grumpy, or bossy, or negative, or cynical, or divisive.

But Paul tells us, “Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.”

Jesus said, “… the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.” (Luke 6:45). If we find it hard to be gracious in our speech, perhaps the problem lies in our hearts…

If we are Christians, then we're recipients of God's grace. That grace should be shown in our relationships and our speech. Even when we have good cause to tell someone off!

We all know how salt adds flavour to food. Paul tells us to add flavour to our speech! That doesn't mean we should embellish the truth. To the Jews of the day, salt was an idiom for wisdom. So as well as being wise in our conduct, we need to be wise in what we say and how we say it.

Peter writes in his first letter, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”

Paul implies in Colossians that the practice of gracious, wise conversation will mean that when anyone asks us about what we believe, we'll be better prepared to answer them.

We can help ourselves by talking to each other about faith, and listening to each other, and encouraging each other. What stops us doing that? Is it that we have nothing to say? Or are we just embarrassed? Is it British reserve? A fear that we might be seen as showing off? We need to develop the habit of sharing our faith and our experiences of God. If we can't talk to each other here we'll find it almost impossible anywhere else.

Conclusion

And so, today we've shared some thoughts about prayer and about sharing our faith with others, and we've come to the end of our series on Colossians. The remainder of the chapter consists of final greetings and refers to a number of people.

Paul's letter to Colossae addressed specific needs in a particular church, and imparted some general teaching to the people there. But, just as Paul thought it would be useful for the people in Laodicea to read the letter as well, it's also useful for us. We too face opposing influences in our society. Understanding who Christ is, what God has done for us in Christ, how God expects us to live, and the liberty God has given us to live that way, will help us resist the pressures that can undermine our trust, water down our message and divert us from the path to life.

As a preacher, I want my words to be interesting, certainly, perhaps educational. But above all, I want my words to be transformative, not merely informative. I hope that you'll think about what I've said, read for yourselves the scriptures I've been talking about. I hope you've heard the Holy Spirit speaking to you, not just me.

But, having heard, what will you do? To the Hebrew, to hear was more than just listening: to hear was to put into practice. Jesus said, “My mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice.”

There are some serious challenges in Colossians, but there are also liberating truths. Read it again; read Ephesians too, and allow yourselves to be transformed by what you discover.

Colossians Part VII: Instructions for Christian Households

Reading

Colossians 3:18-4:1

Introduction

Last time, we thought about our new status in God through Christ, and the new priorities we are called to: to love God with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength, and to love our neighbour as ourselves. Paul pointed out the horrible things that old way of life produced, and told us to put those things to death. He also told us about the new set of clothes that God has given us: patterns of living that flow from the love of God at work within us.

This time, Paul highlights specific relationships, and explains how they should be worked out. What he writes also shows us something of the nature of God.

When I was a younger man, when I wasn't married, was independent of my parents and had no children of my own, and, whilst I had a job and a boss but was neither a slave nor slave owner, our reading was a passage I used to skim through. That view changed one lunchtime at work when I sat at my desk and passed the time by reading through Colossians. Whilst the relationships addressed had no direct bearing on my life, I realised that these verses gave a wonderful picture of what God is like in my personal relationship with him. 

My upbringing had a dose of the old maxim, “Do as I say, not as I do.” I realised that God isn't like that. He's very much a “Do as I do” kind of person.

Nowadays, a passage that begins with, “Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands,” is likely to be controversial. But, with proper understanding, I hope we can agree that what Paul writes here is actually liberating and life-affirming!

I'm going to cheat a little. Ephesians 5:21-6:9 gives us an exact parallel to our
passage from Colossians, and a few extra nuances. I'm not cheating very much. It's my job as a preacher to compare scripture and present a coherent understanding. Also, in Colossians 4:16, Paul tells the Colossians to make sure they read the letter he sent to Laodicea. I'm convinced that was a copy of his letter to Ephesus, which we now know was a circular passed around the churches in the area.

Ephesians has much in common with Colossians. They're like non-identical twins. Did Paul first write to address the issues in Colossae, and then pen his even more glorious Ephesian epistle? Or did he write Ephesians first and then re-cycle the material to give more targeted instruction to the Colossians? We'll never know, but reading and studying them together pays dividends.

So, we'll look at the relationships in the passage, and consider what they show us about the nature of God.

Relationships

We all live in relationships. Some of them, marred by the failings of our earthly nature, are dysfunctional. But relationships between believers should show the good things that grow out of the most important relationship of all: our relationship with God himself. Things like compassion, kindness, bearing with each other, forgiveness, love, peace, and thankfulness. We thought about these things last time. Now Paul writes about specific relationships, and there's a principle that lies behind all he says about them: the principle of mutual submission.

Submission

I quoted the beginning of verse 18 earlier (“Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands,”). The problem with this verse is not what Paul wrote but with the way it's been abused. We think of submission as subjection or, even worse, subjugation. But to understand the word that way is to take it right out of the whole context of the epistle.

In studying Colossians afresh for this series, I've become deeply aware of verse back in chapter one that underpins all that follows it: “[the Father] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ...”

Dominion, in the sense of domination and control, belongs to the realm of Satan. It's an expression of our sinful nature. It has no counterpart in the kingdom of the Son.

The Ephesians parallel passage begins with a telling statement: “Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” If you are a Christian and I am a Christian, then we both have Christ; we are both being renewed in the image of our Creator. Whatever our relative stations in life, we must regard each other with respect and dignity because Christ is in us and among us.

The same idea is expressed in Philippians 2:3, “… in humility value others above yourselves, ...” In Christ, submission is a mutual thing, and that idea is embodied in each of the pairs of instructions that Paul gives to wives and husbands, parents and children, slaves and masters.

Wives and Husbands

This section is the trickiest part to tackle—especially as I'm a man and most of you are women! And I would like to get out of here alive!

We have to consider cultural matters. Culture is sometimes a destructive influence on relationship. Undercurrents in our own culture still reinforce distorted stereotypes. It's been said that, “Woman's place is in the home.” One opposing view is that, “Man's place is in the wrong!” Notions like this do little to encourage domestic harmony…

My commentary tells me that in both Jewish and pagan cultures of Paul's time, wives had no rights. In a culture like that, we can imagine wives becoming resentful, perhaps even rebellious, and men responding harshly, perhaps using their masculine strength abusively to keep women under their control.

What Paul writes here actually elevates the status of wives and challenges the attitudes of husbands. There is nothing in his language to suggest the wife was inferior to the husband.

To wives, Paul says, “submit … to your husbands.” Borrowing the language from Philippians, we could express that as, “… in humility value [your husband] above yourself ...” This would be the wife's part of the mutual submission we're thinking about, and would remove any need for harsh treatment. It would also mean that the cultural norm isn't offended by Christian women. It might even make a good impression on non-Christian men!

Now, ladies, if you're beginning to seethe with rage at this point, wait till you hear what I have to say to the men!

To husbands, Paul says, “love your wives and do not be harsh with them.” The root of the Greek word for 'love' here is agape, the same root for the way that “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” Agape love is sacrificial love. If we look at the parallel passage in Ephesians, Paul writes, “… love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ...” Then Paul explains that Christ's purpose in doing that was to enable the church to become everything that he intended for it.

Gentlemen, that's our part of the mutual submission we're thinking about. “… in humility value [your wife] above yourself ...” Our love is to be sacrificial. If we're to follow Christ's example, then we're to give ourselves up for them, and help them become all that God intends them to be.

Wouldn't that make for harmonious homes? What impression would that sort of behaviour make on the culture of the day? Or even of our day?

Paul draws a parallel for us. Just as the church submits to Christ, who gave himself for it, so the wife should respect the husband, who is to give himself for her. So, in the marriage relationship we're called to mutual love and respect.

One problem is that we all understand love in different ways.

My parents separated and divorced just after celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. They each told me that they loved the other but, unfortunately, one of them wasn't getting the message.

For my dad, love was meals on the table, the home being managed, the children being cared for, all of which my mum did. Dad expressed love in the way he expected to receive it. He always worked, he made sure we had holidays, he maintained the car and did the DIY.

My mum wanted to know that she was valued, that what she did was appreciated. She wanted to be shown genuine affection, to be hugged and to hear the words, “I love you.” She left because she didn't get what she needed and felt she was just a slave, in effect.

If a man is to love his wife he has to learn what his wife recognises as love. And vice versa.

What can we learn about the nature of God? We, the church, are to submit to Christ as his bride—perhaps not the easiest concept to understand, especially for us men. This is in response to Christ who loves us and has already given himself for us, and who even now intercedes for us, cares for us, guides us.

Parents and Children

Paul's instruction to children is simple: do as you're told! That's how they should show their submission. Obedience doesn't just please parents, it also pleases the Lord.

As you might expect, greater responsibility is placed on the parents. Paul addresses “fathers” but we can justifiably think in terms of “parents.” Their submission is shown in the way they are to treat their children.

Putting Colossians and Ephesians together, parents are told not to embitter their children, not to exasperate them, not to provoke them to anger. Things that lead only to discouragement.

I remember interchanges in my childhood going like this:

“Don't do that!”
“But you do it!”
“Do as I say, not as I do.”
“That's not fair!”

The example of the parent is so important in the development of the child. What the parents say and what the parents do must be consistent.

Paul tells parents to bring children up in the training and instruction of the Lord. This responsibility lies primarily with parents, not the Sunday school. If we want our children to be disciples then we must ourselves be disciples. If we're not serious about our faith, we can't expect them to be.

Having said that, I was brought up in a non-Christian family, and here I am, standing in a pulpit! God is bigger than our upbringing!

I don't have children, so I hesitate to tell any parent what to do. But I've been a child, and I've seen other families with children, some getting it right, some getting it wrong. And what Paul writes seems to make sense to me.

What can we learn about the nature of God? As God's children, we are to obey our heavenly Father, because it pleases him (and he really does know best!). As our loving Father, he won't embitter or provoke or exasperate us. He doesn't want us to be discouraged; he wants us to grow up in the training and instruction of Christ.

If we find ourselves exasperated with God, perhaps the fault lies with our obedience…?

Slaves and Masters

Clearly, the Colossian church included some people who were slaves, and some who were slave owners. Earlier in the letter, Paul elevated the status of slaves: “Here there is no Gentile or Jew, … slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” In Christ, slaves were equal with all other classes.

In the world, however, they remained slaves. Obviously, since they were in the church, they must have been allowed some free time but they had no rights and were not allowed to inherit anything, but in Christ they have an inheritance—something to look forward to.

The Roman world was powered by slaves. If Paul had said, let all your slaves go free, life would have fallen apart. And what would become of the slaves? They had no means of their own. And some of the slaves would have had non-Christian masters anyway.

So Paul advocates mutual submission. Slaves were to obey their owner, to show respect and reverence, to do their work wholeheartedly, as if for the Lord himself. Might they have been better treated as a result? Might their masters wonder what made their Christian slaves different?

In Ephesians, Paul tells Christian masters to treat their slaves “in the same way”: with respect and reverence. They are to give them what was right and fair. That was pretty radical. Might their slaves be influenced by the gospel?

These days, few of us even have paid servants, and none of us has been a slave. But I think we can borrow the ethic here and apply it to managers and work force: the way we go about our work, how we relate to our bosses, how we treat our subordinates. Whatever our station in life, we represent Christ; our conduct is always on display.

What can we learn about the nature of God? We're to obey our heavenly Master with respect and reverence, and work wholeheartedly for him, knowing that we have a reward for our labour and an inheritance to look forward to.

As our Master, God treats us with respect and reverence, not threateningly (we are precious to him!), and he'll provide us with what is right and fair. We have to remember that, as his servants, we may be called to suffer for his name, so we may not see all the benefits in this life. But serve we must, and the Master's good provision is assured.

Summary 

So, we've learnt about the principle and practice of mutual submission. Paul has given some guidance on how to conduct our most important relationships, and we've learnt something about the nature of God and our relationship with him.

Colossians Part VI: Living as Those made Alive in Christ

Readings

Mark 12:28-34
Colossians 3:1-17

Introduction

Last time we saw that extreme religious rules and regulations for bringing about righteous living were of no use to the believer.  Nor were harsh regimes any good for controlling our passions.  But if we thought that meant 'anything goes' we'd be mistaken.  Christians are not to be lawless.

The problem at Colossae was the imposition of human rules and practices.  God's law, however, is rooted in the nature of God and not in human ideas.  Paul goes on in this next passage from Colossians to make clear what kind of behaviour is expected of Christ's followers.

In our first reading, we heard Jesus summing up the whole of Torah in the two great commandments:

1. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength.
2. You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Paul's discourse here reflects these commandments closely.  Verses 1 to 4, 16 and 17 rest on the first of these, and the remainder of the passage rests on the second.

So let's think first about loving God, and then think about loving our neighbour.

Loving God

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.

Paul reminds the Colossians of the wonderful status God has conferred on them: they have been raised with Christ, and stand in a new relationship with God!  He implies the freedom to choose what we do with our hearts and minds, and he exhorts them to make God the whole focus of their existence.

“Set your hearts on things above.”  You know what it means to set your heart on something.  All your hopes, all your dreams are channelled into that one thing.  And that's how God wants us to be for the things above.

“Set your minds on things above.”  Our minds our very important to us, because they govern the way we live.  God expects us to use our minds in pursuit of the things above.  He doesn't want us to fill them with worry, or with schemes for grasping the short-lived pleasures of this world.

But what are the things above?  We've already seen some of them in chapter one: spiritual wisdom and understanding, knowledge of God’s will, knowledge of God himself, power and strength to endure, an inheritance to look forward to.

If we set our hearts and minds on things above we can be confident of receiving.  Christ is at the right hand of God in the position of executive authority on our behalf!  He wants us to have these things.  And our only certain investment is in Christ.  One day, he'll bring the kingdom of God fully into being, and we will have our part in it.

As Jesus told us, loving God is of first importance.  In truly seeking after God we'll want to do the things that please him and so we'll want to know what's on his heart.  And we'll discover that we on his heart.  We are loved!  I am loved, you are loved.  And if God loves you, should I not do the same?  Wouldn't that please him?  So, our living becomes the outward expression of our inward realignment.

Loving Our Neighbour as Ourselves

Now, some of what follows could seem a pretty tall order.  Paul tells us to put the wrong stuff in our lives to death, to take it off like a garment.  And then he tells us to put on good stuff instead, like a new change of clothing.  We have to keep in mind all that Paul has already told us about who Christ is and what God has done for us in Christ.  That's what makes it all possible!  Otherwise, we're just trying to do it in our own strength, and we'll fail.

Take off (as a garment)

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 …

Paul tells us to put to death expressions of our earthly nature.  He gives us a list of what they are so we know what he's talking about.  It's a list that's just as relevant today as it was for the Colossians.  These days, we hear advice like be yourself! express yourself! follow your heart!  But if the things in this list are the things in our hearts, is it any wonder that our society is in a mess?

If we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, then we can't do these things.  People don't want to be treated in this way.  I know I don't, and I'm pretty sure you don't either.  These things are all self-gratifying at the expense of others. They lead to abuse and exploitation, not love.  We hear about the results of these things in our news programmes, things like modern slavery where innocent girls are promised a better life in a different country and find themselves forced into prostitution or slave labour.

These things make God angry, because he loves the people he's made, and he hates to see them abused!  And judgement is surely coming … !

⁷You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived …  Well … looking around at you lot, I wouldn't think it of you!  But who knows…?

I have a friend who surprised me many years ago.  One day, he decided he needed to confess something.  He was happily married, with children, but when he was away on business he struggled with pornography.  That day, he brought his sin into the light.  That day, the light banished the darkness: he put the thing to death.  That day, he found forgiveness and freedom.  From that day on he went from strength to strength and today is in full-time Christian service.

Here's another list …

⁸But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. ⁹Do not lie to each other, …

Now, there is such a thing as righteous anger—the gospels record times when Jesus was angry, and I've just said that there are things that make God angry.  But the context sharpens the meaning for us.  Paul is talking about a destructive, hateful anger.  Jesus warns in the Sermon on the mount, ²¹‘You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, “You shall not murder, and anyone who murders will be subject to judgement.” ²²But I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister [without cause] will be subject to judgement.'   And John, in his first epistle tells us that “Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer.” (1 John 3:15a)

We can't go through the whole list in detail, so I'll just pick one more.  Slander, speaking badly of others, is very easy to fall into.  It's of no benefit to the person whose character is assassinated by it, it sows distrust in the minds of the hearers, and, personally, I want to keep away from people who bad-mouth others, so it leads to their isolation too.

Gossip is a close relative of slander …

If we are to love our neighbour as ourselves, then we can't do the things in this list either.  People don't want to be treated in this way.  I know I don't, and again I'm pretty sure you don't.

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.

Paul writes that our new self “… is being renewed …”  Our transformation is a process.  We're learning more and more about what God is like, and we're in the process of becoming more and more like him.  The image of God that's in all of us, the broken image, is being restored.  This takes time.

For me, when I became a Christian, some things changed overnight—people noticed!  Other things have taken ages to get sorted out.  And that's been very frustrating, at times.

In my early years as a Christian, I thought everyone else was problem-free.  All our songs were triumphant, our testimonies were triumphant.  No-one else seemed to experience struggles with temptation and sin.  I remember thinking, “I wish there was a Church for sinners.”  …  But, of course, there is!  The church is for sinners.  This church is for sinners!  Sinners saved by grace, and in the process of being transformed by grace.

¹¹Here there is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.  ¹²Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves …

The people who had been influencing the Colossian believers were pushing their party lines: you have to be like us and do what we do.  But Paul says no to all that.  Christ incorporates all from whatever background.  Jews and gentiles alike are included equally in Christ.  Foreigners, known as barbarians by the Greeks, or Scythians by the Romans, are included equally in Christ.  (Scythians were considered a worse form of barbarian, and could also be slaves traded by barbarians.)  All are included equally in Christ.  And there's no class system in Christ; whether you were a slave or a free man or woman, you were included equally in Christ.

These were important words for the mixed population of Colossae.  And they're important words for today's society.  Whoever we are, whatever our background, if we are in Christ then we are all God's chosen people—we are special to him.  We're made holy—set apart—for him.  And we're dearly loved … wherever we are from!

Put On (as a garment)

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 one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. ¹⁴And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Now we move from the negative to the positive.  There's that word therefore again.  Paul is telling the Colossians that because they're included in Christ regardless of their background, there's a new way to live!

Paul gives us another list here; a list of virtues.  Some of them sound very like another list we know as the fruit of the Spirit.  Being a Christian isn't all about giving things up.  Yes, we have to put an end to the bad stuff.  In my experience, giving something up leaves a hole in your life.  Here are some things to fill that hole with!  Look at the list.  Isn't that how you want people to treat you?  With compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience?

Knowing that you are not yet perfect—take my word for it!—don't you want other people to bear with you?  To forgive you?  To forgive you as the Lord forgives?  Then, you do the same!

Paul tells the Colossians to clothe themselves with these things.  These things are ours to choose; none of them is imposed on us.  And all these things are bound together in love.  They are expressions of love.  Love your neighbour as yourself.  We cooperate with the Spirit of God when we choose to act in these loving ways.  Love is not about feeling.  Love is about action.  What will you choose to do?

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 message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. 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.

Some people think the peace of Christ ruling in the heart is about finding personal guidance—but it isn't!  It's about unity and our lives together.  And it's not about avoiding confrontation.  Sometimes to restore real peace, we have to confront and resolve the grievances that disrupted it.  And then we forgive, and bear with each other.  It's not about putting someone in their place, it's about ensuring that Christ's peace can flow unhindered among us, so that when we get to that part of the communion service where we “share the sign of peace,” there's nothing rankling about it, but a genuine celebration of God's shalom between brothers and sisters in Christ.  Isn't that something to be thankful for?

Paul writes about the message of Christ dwelling richly among us.  He obviously expects the Colossians to talk to each other about their faith, their discoveries about God, their experiences of God; blessings they've received from a psalm or hymn, or words the Spirit has spoken into their lives.  They all have something they can share!

We all have something to share.  Some of us may feel we don't have much to share, but it's not insignificant, and the little we have can grow! Sometimes growth happens because you share things!

We're all at different stages of our pilgrimage but we can all encourage one another.  What will you talk about over coffee?  Take your courage in both hands and share something of your journey.  Talk together about God.  Don't be shy – we're disciples together!  It's all part of expressing our love for God.

And coming right back to loving God, we're encouraged in the final verse to remember whose we are and whom we represent, and to do everything as a gift of service to him.  That perhaps gives us pause for thought about the things we plan to do.

Summary

The lists that Paul has given us in our passage show that people of the Colossian world were not very different from our own.  And we understand that God still looks for change now just as he did then—a putting off of things in the bad lists, and a putting on of the things in the virtuous list.

Is there anything we need to change?  Let me make that personal: is there anything God is speaking to you about?

Can we change?  Is it really possible?

Well, yes it is and yes we can, because we have been rescued from the dominion of darkness.  We can still be tempted, but temptation isn't sin; it's more of an opportunity to choose.  We are free to choose to put off our old ways and put on the new.  We can support each other in putting off and putting on.

We can choose to pursue God for all we're worth—for all he's worth—and to reflect the love he lavishes on us by in turn lavishing that love on our neighbour.

Shall we do that?

Shall we do it together?

Colossians Part V: Freedom for Human Rules

Readings

Colossians 2:16-23
Jeremiah 31:31-34

Introduction – an Aside on Theology

The passage we are looking at today begins, in the New International Version, with the word therefore.  This implies that what Paul has told us before this point has bearing on what he is about to tell us.  He's telling the Colossians, “In the light of everything I've just told you, take this stance; do these things.”

I've said before that Colossians has a strong theological content to begin with and goes on to provide strong practical application.  I've also pointed out that Paul was writing to counter false teaching and practices that the Colossians were being subjected to.  Paul did that by explaining what God has done for them through Christ, exactly who this Christ is, and what God wants them to experience.  It's important for them to know these things in order to live right.

It's important for us to know those things too.  If we don't know what's true, we could go off in any old direction, making it up as we go along, or being deflected by people who seem to have some impressive understanding of spiritual things.

So, when we encounter the word, therefore, as we do in verse 16, we should look back to see what we've learnt, and then look forward to see how to apply it.

So, what have we learnt so far? 

We've learnt

• that the gospel is producing fruit all over the world;
• that we can know God's will so we can live to please him;
• that God's sustaining power is available to help us persevere;
• (and here's a key truth) that we've been rescued from the dominion of darkness and placed in a new kingdom under the reign and rule of Christ where we can know that we are redeemed and forgiven; 
• that Christ is absolutely supreme over all creation and over the new order that he's brought into being;
• that we've been reconciled to God through Christ and his death for us;
• that Christ is among us and within us, and he is our hope of glory;
• that spiritual maturity is attainable for all of us;
• that, in Christ, we have everything we need;
• that our old selves have been cut away, and we have new lives, free from condemnation;
• that the dark forces that held us captive have been defeated at the cross.

These are facts that form the basis for Christian living. 

We finished last time with Paul's exhortation to live with Christ as Lord, to put down good roots in Christ, and to build strong foundations.  I wonder if you've thought about these things …  I wonder if you've done anything about them …

So, that's what lies before the therefore.  Now we're starting into what lies after it.  In our passage, we can see depictions of two ways of living:

• The Human way
• The Godly Way 

The Human Way

It seems that the Colossian believers were being influenced by Jews who insisted that they adopt Jewish practices and customs.  Paul mentions what we might understand as the kosher laws about food and drink, and festivals and Sabbaths.  But he says these things are only shadows of things that were to come.  He doesn't say that participation is wrong, only that they shouldn't listen to those who want to exclude them on the basis of non-participation.

Living in Shadows

Why did Paul describe these things as shadows?  Almost all the Jewish festivals are commemorations of God stepping in to deliver their ancestors from evil rulers. 

If we think about the Passover, that festival looks back to the time when Israel was oppressed and held captive by the Egyptian Pharaoh.  God sent plagues to convince Pharaoh to let God's people go.  The last plague was the visitation from the angel of death. The Israelites sacrificed a lamb and smeared its blood on the door posts and lintels of their homes to ward off the angel of death—a protection the Egyptians didn't have.  In consequence, the Israelites were set free, but pursued by Pharaoh's army, and then saved through the parting of the Red Sea and the subsequent drowning of Pharaoh's army; then they set off for their promised land. 

When we think of the Last Supper, we see Jesus refocussing his disciples' attention so they can understand what he was doing.  “Do this in remembrance of me,” he said.  He came to deliver his people from evil, to be their sacrifice, to rescue them from death and lead them into the kingdom of God.  The Passover festival was a shadow of what was to come, Christ brought about the eternal reality.

Making a Show

Then there were those among the Colossians who seemed to be imposing rigid styles of worship on people and making a show of humility.  As a modern example, I think of the “Heavy Shepherding” movement of the late 70s, where church leaders demanded and expected obedience from their flock. 

Some of the people in Colossae may have come from religious backgrounds with tough, ascetic regimes.  Mystery religions depicted matter as evil, so it's no surprise they should want to treat their bodies harshly.  The kind of fasting they practised would have induced hallucinations, hence they could “go into great detail about what they [had] seen.”

Some Native-American tribes still send their young men who are coming of age on a vision quest. As part of that, they are sent alone to a sacred place in nature to fast completely for four days and nights, and to cry out to the Great Spirit for visions to guide them—and they see things!

All this harsh discipline looks very pious, but Paul says that people doing these things are not connected to Christ.  And the things they do serve only to indulge their sinful nature—these things can't transform their living: only Christ can do that!

Abstinence

Then there were those who had rules about what the Colossians shouldn't be doing: “Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”  We could think again about Jewish kosher rules, and all the rules the Jews had, and still have, that explained how to avoid breaking God's law.

As an example, when my father-in-law spent some time in hospital in Jerusalem, he discovered that taps were left running for the whole of the Sabbath so that people could get a drink of water without having to do the work of turning the tap on and off!  How silly is that?  Especially in a land where water is a precious commodity!

Imagine joining a church and then being told that you had to adopt all these life-limiting practices!  In my early Christian days, there were unwritten rules I learnt to follow, very much of the “Do not touch!” variety.  We didn't drink, didn't go to the cinema, didn't dance, to mention a few.

These were all human rules and expectations, as were the extra-biblical Jewish teachings.  Paul mentions “the elemental spiritual forces of this world” which makes me wonder if he perceived something even more sinister behind these false teachers pushing ideas to keep people bound up in pointless and useless religion.

At least one commentator believes that all these pressures came from Jewish influencers, others say that some of Paul words would have resonated with people from pagan backgrounds.  Whatever the source, they were pushing practices that were only than human rules. 

All these rules were imposed from the outside to contain peoples' lives within “safe” boundaries (and perhaps to take power and control over them).  As such, they had no real “value in restraining sensual indulgence,” as Paul puts it. 

For example, think about your favourite snack.  Now, try not eating it for a whole week, and see what your mind keeps turning to!  Some of you may already have experienced this during Lent!

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told the disciples and the crowd that was listening that, “unless [their] righteousness [surpassed] that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, [they would] certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”  Why, and how?  Because their righteousness was imposed from the outside but what God wants is transformation on the inside!

The Godly Way

Now, what we have here in today's passage is only the beginning of this, and our remaining studies in Colossians will continue to explore the Godly way.

Living with Reality

We thought earlier of how Christ brought reality to what was depicted in the Jewish Passover.  Through Christ, “[God] has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.” 

I hope all of us here know that we have been rescued, and know that we belong to God's kingdom, know that we are redeemed, and know that our sins are forgiven.

In the Jewish mind of Christ's time on earth, the kingdom of God was the temple, the place where heaven intersected with earth.  Christ came and took the kingdom out to where the people were:  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near,” was his message.

The kingdom of God is still at hand, because “Christ [is] in [us], the hope of glory.”  Christ is among us and we are to show the kingdom of God to the world.
Christ has real power to change the course of our lives.

Dying with Christ

The change begins, intriguingly enough, with our death!  I don't mean you have to wait until you leave this world and go to heaven.  Paul writes, “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world...”

In baptism, we are buried with Christ and raised to new life with him.  On our declaration that Jesus is Lord we're included in Christ and his death becomes ours, and his life becomes ours.  The evil powers behind this world of humanity lose their grip on us; we no longer have to follow their dictates because Christ sets us free to follow him. 

To quote a Charles Wesley hymn,

Let nothing now my heart divide;
Since with thee I am crucified,
And live to God in thee.
Dead to the world and all its toys,
Its idle pomp, and fading joys,
Jesus, my glory be!

We become participants in God's new covenant.  Remember our reading from Jeremiah?  God puts his laws in our minds and writes them on our hearts so that we can live them out from within, not have them imposed from without.

Head and Body

In chapter one, Paul told us that “… [Christ] is the head of the body, the church,” (1:18) and in today's passage he emphasises that we are to take our instruction from Christ, our head.

Paul uses the body as a metaphor for the church.  The body has ligaments and sinews that support and hold it together as it grows.  Ligaments hold joints together and sinews attach muscle to bone.  Following the instructions from Christ our Head will make our church grow with all the ministries we need to keep us in shape, to enable us to move and work, so we can be fruitful and effective—and not just a shapeless lump. 

God wants the church to grow.  The church is growing, even though we see churches in decline in our land.  This is a challenge for us.  Over recent years, we have shrunk, not grown.  Some have died, some have left us completely, some have become only loosely attached.  The remedy to this must begin with those of us who are still here living by the instructions from the church's Head.

Jesus told his disciples they needed to remain in him if they were to be fruitful.  He said, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love,” (John 15).  We must follow Christ and his way, even when it runs contrary to public opinion.  If we are to grow as a church, we need to follow the teachings of Jesus—as real, everyday disciples.

Do we want to grow as God wants us to grow, or are we just waiting to go to heaven? 

Summary

• Introduction
• We recapped what we've learnt so far

•  The Human Way
• We've learnt that religious extremes are not required of us; these things can't do for us what Christ has already done; some practices can deceive us; some might even look impressive but can do nothing to change us on the inside.

• The Godly Way
• Reliance on what Christ has done for us is what counts; he's taken us out of the old life and brought us into the new;  we need to live under Christ's direction if we are to grow.

The Colossian gentiles didn't come from a background that gave them any understanding of what YHWH is like or what he expects, and so Paul begins to give them instruction on how to live under this new covenant.  We'll be looking at that from next time onwards, but we'll find it much clearer and much more straightforward than anything the Colossians were hearing from other quarters.

Colossians Part IV: Spiritual Fullness in Christ

Reading

Luke 6:46-49
Colossians 2:6-15

Introduction

Kenneth E Bailey, in his excellent book, Jesus Through Middle Eastern Eyes, writes 'It has been my privilege to teach short courses for the Lutheran Church of Latvia.  While I was at the Luther Academy in Riga, I observed the interviewing of new students for the academy.  I asked the interviewing committee what kind of questions they asked the applicants.  They told me, “The most important question is, 'When were you baptised?'”  And I asked, “Why is the date of baptism such an important question?”  They answered, “If they were baptised during the period of Soviet rule, they risked their lives and compromised their futures by being baptised.  But if they were baptised after liberation from the Soviets, we have many further questions to ask them about why they want to become pastors.”'

To be a disciple of Jesus under communist rule was a costly, even a dangerous, thing.

At the time of the early church, when new believers were baptised they declared Jesus as Lord.  Under Roman rule, where Caesar alone was absolute Lord, such a statement was considered treasonous and could even result in your execution. 

• To be baptised was to proclaim Jesus as Lord and to take citizenship in a new kingdom that was not of this world.
• To be baptised was to put away the old, self-gratifying, pleasure-seeking way of living, and to become a new creation set apart for the glory of God.
• To be baptised was to recognise that, through the cross and resurrection of Christ, personal shame, guilt, and the sinful nature that leads to those things were dealt a fatal blow.

In the passage we are looking at today, Paul reminds the Colossians that they've received Christ as Lord, and he exhorts them to live out their lives with Christ as Lord.   He counteracts the pressures of Jewish influencers who sought to impose Jewish practices on them.

I'm going to look at the text in a different order from what Paul wrote.  I look at what he's written under three headings:

• Christ is Enough
• The Cross makes all the Difference, and
• Jesus is Lord.

Christ is Enough 2:8-12

For the Jew, circumcision was symbolic of the covenant between God and Abraham and all who were descended from him.  The law of Moses prescribed how to live, but then they also had the Talmud, a record of rabbinic traditions and interpretations of them, which effectively set up fences around the mosaic law to keep you far enough from the commandments to stop you breaking them.

It seems that Jewish influencers were trying to convince the Colossian converts who had been baptised that they needed something more: to be circumcised and to adopt Jewish customs. 

But Paul says an emphatic “No!”  He tells the Colossians that their baptism is far more effective than anything circumcision could achieve for the reasons I've already mentioned. 

Paul, of course, had been a devout Jew.  He was a Pharisee, well versed in Jewish tradition and law.  But he'd discovered that none of that could bring him peace with God.  In fact, in Philippians, he described it all as garbage, or dung, in comparison to what he'd found in Christ!  The Colossians didn't need circumcision and weren't to be misled by anyone who tried to tell them otherwise. 

Prior to this point, Paul has gone to great lengths to remind the Colossians just who Christ is and what he'd done for them and of all that was available to them in him.  Everything they needed they already had in Christ.

If you've been baptised, I wonder what your baptism means to you?  If you were baptised as an infant, it could be argued that the person you are now wasn't actually there at the time; you were unformed and unable to answer for yourself so others made promises on your behalf. 

So what about your confirmation, the process by which you consciously ratified the promises made on your behalf?  Was this for you a declaration that Jesus is your Lord, a recognition that in Christ you've put an end to the old ways of living and set your course to live out the new?  As Paul expresses it here, by baptism we are cut off from our old nature by dying to it with Christ, and are resurrected with Christ to enjoy the life of a new nature in the kingdom of God.  We were included in Christ when he died, and we were included in Christ when he rose from the dead!

Of course, the acts of baptism or confirmation in themselves don't make anyone a Christian.  These are only outward signs of inward grace.  It's possible to be a Christian without being baptised and its possible to be baptised without being a Christian.  What makes us Christians is turning from our own ways, trusting in Christ for forgiveness and reconciliation, and setting out to follow Jesus as a life-long disciples.  In fact, while God expects and looks for those things, we don't earn salvation by doing those them.  Salvation is God's free gift of grace.

Having found Christ, Paul makes clear that we need nothing more: “For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, and in Christ you have been brought to fullness.  He is the head over every power and authority.”  That being the case, what more could we possibly find elsewhere?

Christ is everything we need to make us right with God.  Everything we need for meaning and purpose can be found in Christ.

The Cross makes all the Difference 2:13-15

All that Paul wrote to the Colossians about Christ and their relationship to God is just as true for us today.  We gentiles were without hope, we had no relationship with God.  We were as good as dead because of our sins.  But Paul tells us that, even while we were in that state, God made us alive with Christ.  There was nothing we could do, so God graciously forgave our sins.

Paul introduces a metaphor here.  He talks in verse 14 about a written bond, which was a record of indebtedness, a kind of IOU.  Our sinfulness resulted in our owing a great debt to God, which we couldn't afford to pay.  Furthermore, this IOU was backed by the legal demands of God's law.  Paul tells us that God has done away with the IOU, and therefore our debt, by nailing it to the cross.  Christ's death was full and sufficient payment for all our sins.

In his gospel, John records the last words of Jesus from the cross as, “It is finished.”  The Greek word behind that is tetelestai, which means, it is accomplished and will always remain accomplished.  Christ achieved what he came to do, and what he achieved can never be undone. 

Paul likes his metaphors!  Now he introduces another one!  When the Romans conquered anyone, they would have a procession into Rome, trailing their captives along to exhibit their triumph.  At the cross, God disarmed and defeated his and our spiritual enemies, and made a public spectacle of them.  Satan thought he had won at the crucifixion.  In fact, Christ achieved everything he came to do!  What Satan thought his final victory turned out to be his utter defeat!  The cross portrays to the world God's triumph!

What does it mean for us?  Well, do you remember that verse back in chapter one?  “… he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son…”  At the cross, the penalty of sin is paid, the power of sin is broken!  Because of the cross, Satan has no grounds for accusation against us.  We do not have to carry a burden of guilt!  We do not have to be ruled by sinful behaviour!

If we have Christ, then we have everything we need.  Nothing can be added to what he has done for us and nothing can ever be taken away.  If we have Christ, then our sins are forgiven, and we have no charge to answer!

Jesus is Lord 2:6-7

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”

Lordship is something of an alien concept to us in our culture, because we don't really have lords like those at the time of the early church.  Lords today are people with land and money (although not enough to keep their stately homes from falling into disrepair) or they've been elevated to the peerage for political reasons.  They attract little deference from the person in the street, many of whom think lords are a pointless anachronism.  For the most part, they're of no consequence to us.

But back in the day, lords had real authority that commanded respect (or fear) and demanded allegiance and obedience.  Jesus indicated something of the nature of his lordship in our first reading: “'Why do you call me, “Lord, Lord,” and do not do what I say?...'” (Luke 6:46-49). 

The Colossian believers would have declared Christ as Lord at their baptism with full understanding of what a Lord was, and now Paul encourages them to live out their lives under the Lordship of Christ: they were his to command. 

Apparently, to become one of the Knights Templar you had to be baptised as a Christian before you could go off to the crusades.  They were baptised by full immersion but kept their sword hand and their sword above the water so that they could still use it as they saw fit in battle.  Effectively, they were saying, “Jesus, I'm all yours—except for this …”

But if he isn't Lord of all is he truly Lord at all?

I wonder, what might you be holding above the water?  What things do we refuse to relinquish to Jesus?  Time?  Money?  Service?  Obedience?  This is not to say that there aren't struggles to face as we live out our lives with Jesus as Lord.  We can find ourselves wrestling with God because something precious to us has come to be an issue in our relationship with him.  It doesn't have to be something sinful; just something that we think more important to us than he is, something that challenges our commitment to him as Lord.

Paul gives the Colossians some pointers on how to live with Jesus as Lord.

In the New Living Translation, verse 7 is written as “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him.  Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.”

Paul drops in a couple of metaphors which he doesn't explore fully.  He kind of leaves them for us to think about.  So let's do that …

Imagine you are a tree.  If you are to survive hot summers and cold winters and be fruitful, then you need good roots.  Apparently, a tree has as many roots underground as it has branches above.  That shows how significant roots are.  A tree draws nourishment and water through its root system.  Roots give the tree stability in the face of howling gales.  Without good roots it withers and dies for lack of water, is puny and unfruitful for lack of nutrients, or is flattened by the storm. 

Think of the parable of the sower.  For the plant to grow and be fruitful, it needs to be rooted in good soil.  If we are to be strong in the face of the pressures of this world and have fruitful lives then we need to put down roots into Jesus.  All the fullness of the Deity lives in Jesus, and we can find in him all the sustenance we need to keep ourselves alive to God and strong in faith. 

Think on about this when you get home: what kind of things can you do to put down roots into Jesus?  You could read over Colossians again to get some ideas about that.

Now imagine you're a house.  A house needs firm foundations if the building is to be well-established and strong against the elements.  Jesus taught us that it was living out his teaching that made for good foundations and a robust building.

Paul has given us a strange collision of metaphors to think about here, but strong roots and firm foundations lead to strength of faith and thankfulness. 

We can't be lackadaisical or willy-nilly about this.  We need to put down roots.  We need to make good foundations.  Jesus must be Lord of our lives.  It's his will we're here to do.  But there's nothing tyrannical about the Lord Jesus.  His instruction is for our good.  He wants us to develop strong faith, and in following him there's plenty of cause for thankfulness.

Summary

So, today, we've considered

• Christ is Enough
• We've thought a bit about baptism, and what it implies, and that as Christians we need nothing and no one more than Christ to make us right with God.
• The Cross makes all the Difference
• We've thought about how Christ discharged our debt in full, and took away all grounds of accusation.
• Jesus is Lord
• We've pretended to be trees and houses, and thought about the significance of growing roots into Jesus and building our foundations on him so that we can go on living with him as Lord to become strong in faith and full of thankfulness.

Is Jesus you Lord?  Do you know your sins are forgiven?  Are you trusting in Christ alone for salvation?

Colossians Part III: Paul's Labour for the Church

Reading

Colossians  1:24-2:5

Introduction

Let me ask you, why are you a Christian?  Why do you come to church?  Is it because of the warmth you feel in being surrounded by your brothers and sisters in Christ?  Is it because of the security you feel in coming near to God?  If you are not yet a Christian, is it these things that draw your interest in the Christian faith? 

How would you feel if I told you that being a Christian is hard work; that sometimes it's a real struggle; that suffering for what you believe at some point in your life is guaranteed?  Yes, there is the warmth, the love, the fellowship, the security, but there is also a lot of hard work to be done and total commitment is called for.  The benefits are out of this world but the cost can be all-consuming!

In today's passage, Paul tells us just how hard he has to work in his ministry and leaves us with a lot of encouragement for those who fear to get involved because of the cost, or to those who are already involved and are finding the job to be tough.

In keeping with tradition, this three-point sermon has points that all begin with 'S’ — except for the first which begins with 'C' — and the third which begins with 'O'!  We will look at

• Paul's Commission
• his Struggles, and
• his Objectives.

Commission

Paul was a man who knew what he was about, and he wants the Colossians to understand why he's qualified to instruct them.  He had very clearly in his mind what God expected of him, and twice in  chapter one he refers to himself as a servant of the gospel.  But it wasn't always like that…

We first meet Paul in the book of Acts consenting to the death of Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and we're told he “began to destroy the church.”  Then we see him on the way to Damascus to imprison Christians but instead he encounters the Lord Jesus Christ for himself and discovers that what the Christians were preaching was all true!

Three days later in Damascus, a man called Ananias came to see him with a message from God.  God told Ananias, “This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.  I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

God called the chief persecutor of the church to promote the gospel among the Gentiles.  No-one is beyond God's usefulness.  You may feel that you've been too big a sinner to be of any valuable service.  But if God can use someone like Paul then he can use you just as easily. 

We soon see Paul preaching Christ to the Jews in Damascus and immediately paying the price for it.  He has to escape for his life by being lowered down the city walls in a basket.  He experiences such opposition from the Jews that, before long, he is taking the gospel message to the Gentiles.

What a message he had!  “… God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (verse 27). 

As we know, Paul was a Jew, and he was writing to Gentiles.  If Paul was writing to counter the arguments of Jewish opponents, his words here would have set the sparks flying: those who the Jews considered worse than dogs have a share in Messiah, without further qualification!

“Christ in you, the hope of glory” is a statement charged with life-transforming power. 

Paul told us about Christ earlier in the letter.  He's the one in whom we have redemption and forgiveness; he's the image of the invisible God, the creator of all things, the sustainer of all things; He's the one who rose from the dead and in whom God's fullness dwells.  He's the one who reconciles us with God, and brings us peace. 

This wonderful, supreme person is who Paul says is “in you.”  He's not remote but made known personally to us.  God’s mystery is revealed.  Jesus is with us—here and now, and wherever we are!

It's significant that the word ‘you’ here is in the plural (Geordies would say, “Christ in yous,” and Southern Baptists would say, “Christ in yawl”.  The presence of Christ isn't just for the individual but for the gathered church.  We could read this as, “Christ among you.” 

Some say you can be a Christian without going to church.  It's true that we don't cease to be Christians away from church; and some Christians are physically unable to attend church.  But people who say this usually mean that they don't need church.  How wrong they are!  Christians don't go to church.  Christians gathered together are the church. 

God’s plan is for a body of people who are united.  Christ himself is the uniting bond between us.  When we gather together, Christ is among us, enabling us to serve more powerfully than we could on our own, and to receive grace and help that we just can't find on our own. 

We have a log-burner at home.  I've noticed that if the logs are too far apart they cool off and go out.  If they're too close together, not enough air gets in among them to feed the flames.  It's important to get the logs in the right relationship to each other so they keep each other warm and get enough air to burn well. 

Like my logs, we need each other.  We need to relate together in community to encourage each other in our faith, and to allow space for the Holy Spirit to work so that we can truly discover and demonstrate Christ among us.  Together, we can discover Christ in ways that may otherwise elude us. 

Of course, Christ in us isn't only a collective thing.  We are individually parts of the body of Christ.  As the blood in our veins carries life to each part of our body, so the Spirit of God brings life to each of us individually.  So we can each say, “Christ in me.”

Paul gives us further cause for rejoicing.  The benefit of Christ is not only here and now.  Paul wrote, “Christ in you, the hope of glory”.  We've heard before that to hope is to look forward with eager expectation.  If we have Christ, we have heaven!

Struggles

Paul's message was exciting but, for him, that wasn't the whole story.  Paul was warned of suffering in his ministry.  He's not been alone.  The writer to the Hebrews reminds us of a great catalogue of saints who suffered hardship and torture for their faith.  Many have suffered in modern times under communist rule, and some still do in China.  Christian converts in Islamic states live in fear of their lives, and only recently we've seen news reports of churches in Indonesia being attacked by Islamic suicide bombers.  Others endure hardship in their places of ministry, sharing the poverty of those they're seeking to win for Christ.

Suffering

Paul had some interesting things to say about the adversity he endured.  He says,  “Now I rejoice in what I am suffering 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.”

Has Paul gone mad?  Rejoicing in suffering?  He's saying that all his suffering has been worth while because salvation has come to the Colossian believers through his ministry to the Gentiles.  People have been rescued from the dominion of darkness, and the troubles he endures are nothing set against that.  Besides, Christ is Paul’s hope of glory too, and he keeps his destiny in view.

Then there's the question of exactly who is suffering here, and why.  His statement is quite puzzling, but Paul doesn't imply any lack in the redemptive work of Christ.  He's really talking about the suffering he was warned would be a consequence of his work.

When Paul first encountered Christ he heard the Lord say, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”  Paul was persecuting Christians.  He discovered that to persecute a Christian is to persecute Christ.  As long as Paul worked he would endure the afflictions of Christ.  And Christ would be with him in and through it all.

Remember that this dark world has rejected the light of Christ.  If we walk in the light of Christ, the world will reject us too.  We will share Christ’s afflictions.  Paul shows us that we don't suffer alone and that we can count on Christ and his strength being present with us.

Hard Work

As well as facing adversity, Paul had hard work to do!  He tells the Colossians that he “strenuously contends” and that he wants them  "to know how much [he was] contending for [them] … and for all who [had] not met [him] personally."  Paul wants the Colossians to know how important they are to him. 

Paul worked hard.  He invested his energy and his time in the service of the gospel.  He also found secular work to support himself so he wouldn't be a burden to the church.  Any of us who works full time and has commitments to church life knows how challenging this can be.

We can imagine him wrestling in prayer against principalities and powers to win ground for the gospel, and I can't imagine that Paul would have sent Epaphras to Colossae and not supported him in fervent prayer.  Whatever hardship Paul endured, it was for all the gentiles who had in some way been influenced, even indirectly, by his ministry.

Some hold back from involvement in church life; we're just too busy.  But there's plenty of work to be done.  We have to accept that sometimes it's going to be hard work, sometimes demanding, and sometimes downright discouraging.  Serving Christ is no guarantee we'll avoid adversity or hard work.  It may even lead us into persecution.  If Christ suffered, so shall we.  But that's only one side of the coin.

Supply

What kept Paul going?  How did he cope with the load?  Paul tells us what his source of strength was: "To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me," (1:29).  God’s dynamo, which we considered on a previous occasion, was empowering Paul to do the job.  He was equipped for his commission.  We too can count on God's supply to do the work he calls us to.

The work that God gives us isn't always natural to us.  It can make demands on us for which we have no natural resources.  We have to rely on the strength he gives to get things done.  There's no shortage of supply!

Objectives

Paul writes, "I have become [the church's] servant ... to present to you the word of God in its fullness..."  (1:25). His first aim was to declare the whole Gospel, his second was to see God's people became all that they should be.  

Paul's message was Christ.  "He is the one we proclaim,” Paul writes, “admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ."  (1:28)

The Greek here repeats “everyone”: admonishing everyone, teaching everyone, presenting everyone fully mature.  Every believer is called to and is capable of Christian maturity.

To admonish someone means to put them in mind of something, and Paul's intent is to correct or prevent faulty thinking, such as the Colossians were being subjected to.

His teaching was to enable progress, growth and change.  We need to learn in order to grow: Jesus says, in John's gospel, “… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
 
The wisdom he's talking about is the wisdom that comes from the Spirit, which we heard about in chapter 1, not something based in human wisdom or thought.

Spiritual maturity has many benefits.  Paul writes, “My goal 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, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” (2:2-3)

It's in being united together in community that we find encouragement, discover together a greater understanding of all we have in Christ, and find a more intimate personal relationship with Christ who is among us.

The Colossians were being challenged about what they believed.  Paul writes, "I tell you this that no-one may deceive you by fine-sounding arguments," (2:4).  Growing in maturity was the third remedy to that challenge. 

In the age we live in, with all its distractions and contrary opinions of how we should behave, knowing what we believe and why we believe it is crucial for us.  Everything we need to grow is available to us in the Christ who is among us.

Are we growing?

Summary

• Commission
• No-one is beyond God's usefulness.
• Struggles
• Adversity and hard work can be expected.
• Christ is with us.
• God's supply of energy is available to those he calls.
• Objectives
• Our maturity
• That we should be encouraged in heart,
• love one another, and
• discover the fullness of Christ in us the hope of glory.