Sermon Cloud

We’ve been in the book of Colossians for the last couple of weeks, and I need to apologize. It hasn’t been my intention to do more talking and less dialogue, but… the way the author of this book, Paul, writes- it’s different than much of the narrative we’ve been in for the last couple of years- the Gospels, the Old Testament… Paul is just theologically dense- there’s a lot packed into each little section, so… I’m trying, I’m trying… I really am. So, I ask for your indulgence as I try to figure out how best we as a community can process what’s here, still be taught and still have room for discussion…

Talk to me about change- does change happen in people’s lives? And how? Can I really become someone different? What do you think?

VS 9-10

There are a good number of implications to this verse…

Let’s move backwards- here again, in vs 10 is one one of those amazingly subversive and dangerous statements in Colossians that we don’t necessarily hear the same way they would have when this was written in the 1st century.

He says “Christ, who is the head over every rule and authority.” In their minds, they read this and think: Even Caesar?  Yes- especially Caesar- Paul tells them that Christ supercedes all authority, even the authority of government. And especially those governments who somehow claim religious import, like Caesar, who set himself up as a god, and mandated that all Roman citizens do a small but significant act of worship each year… and many early Christians went to their death for refusing to do just that.

See, it doesn’t matter, left, right, centrist, anarchist- all power structures, all authorities whether we’re talking about political power structure, economic power structures, racial ones, whatever… they all have the potential to become rivals to Christ- to call people to submit to them over and above even God in a short-sighted attempt to find a fuller security… even those who are trying to live the relevant yet counter-cultural life of a Christ follower. And this is what is so dangerous- Christ has no real rivals, no real competition. And when governments figure that out, they inevitably do one of two things- either attempt to wrap themselves in Jesus and try to claim His authority for themselves, or try to minimize or even outlaw Him. One thing they can never do, it seems, at least for very long is to recognize the supremacy of Christ, and live in the tension of being a contingent authority- not an ultimate one.  Which, not coincidentally, sounds like the same struggle we have as individuals…

But back to verse 9. He says “In Christ, all the fullness of God lives in a human body.”

It’s interesting- the way he said this back in chapter one was more of a past tense. And this is a present- this was, is and continues to be the reality about Christ. Humanity wasn’t just a passing thing for Him- but rather something He took to Himself forever, eternity- a total commitment to us.

What do you think the implications of “Since Christ is God in human flesh, you also are complete through your union with Him” might be?  What’s he saying? What’s he NOT saying?

I think in context, he’s making a point about whether we would ever need anything other than Jesus to be in relationship with, to be connected to God. And that’s a really strong, strong statement about the relatively modern idea that somehow all roads lead to God.

Now, hear what I’m saying and don’t hear what I’m not saying- I’m not saying that anyone’s particular brand of Christianity- whether Jerry Falwell’s or the Pope’s or yours or mine is the ultimate expression of thoughts about God and that any one way of looking at things answers all the questions and is complete in itself.

What I am saying is that over and against our religious fumblings, Christ is complete. All the fullness of God- The complete expression of God to man. All that the unknowable yet self-revealing God wants us to know about Him, we know through the person of Christ- the Old Testament promises Him, the New Testament delivers Him, and any religion including the one known popularly as Christianity is either on track or off-base only in so far as it accurately reflects and points to the person of Christ.

While no religion, no thought system is one hundred percent wrong, that is, there’s a level of truth in all of them, some thought systems get Him so completely wrong and so bury that small amount of truth that may be present there under such a huge heap of crapola that it becomes a practical impossibility to connect to the God who is through that system because  Jesus, as He is, not as we wish Him to be or think Him to be is absent.

And lest you think we’re just picking on others, let’s consider the ways Christianity misses it too- I’m a Christian, no doubt- a Christ follower, but I recognize that, as Dallas Willard said once “We’ve buried Jesus under a heap of trivialities.” In many ways aligning yourself with the religion of Christianity is a very different thing than being in relationship with the living Christ, and claiming to be a Christ follower and yet adding to Jesus, for instance, certain political positions whether right or left that may or may not follow from a good reading of the bible and making them seem somehow essential to life in Christ is a dangerous thing. Ditto musical preferences, hard and fast rules about non-hard and fast things like alcohol, smoking, tattoos, all that stuff. Majoring on the minors is an easy way to lose Jesus like a needle in a haystack of silly things we might want to do in His name. 

If in Christ we find all the fullness of God- The complete expression of God to man, then Paul says that those who are connected to Christ, those who are in relationship with Him, following Him, they are complete. And again – Hear what Paul is saying and don’t hear what he’s not saying. He’s not saying that if you have Jesus, you don’t ever need anything else. That kind of thinking can go to weird places, especially with those who have sick kids and refuse to give them medicine, because, well- we’ve got Jesus! Why would we need chemo?

Paul is saying this in the context of those he’s warning the Colossians about- those who would try to saddle them with more laws, more restrictions… and those who would try to sell them a philosophical or religious bill of goods as though Jesus is good, but here’s something that’s good too, that we wouldn’t find if we just confined ourselves to Jesus…

Paul says- If you are in relationship with Christ- that’s what you need spiritually and that’s all you need spiritually- Because Christ is God Himself, come to rescue and renew us. If the end result of spirituality is meant to be connection with God, you don’t need to look any farther than Jesus. Why? Because He Himself is the total equation.

VS 11

He’s the total equation-First, He deals with the negative- our sin. The stuff here about circumcision sounds really odd to our ears… especially I think to those of us with female ears- “when you came to Christ, you were circumcised.” Yeah…

But now you know how guys feel when we start talking about being the “bride of Christ”… What is Paul saying with this? Any ideas?

I think this is good picture language- He’s saying- when someone comes along and says you have to be physically circumcised to become a Christian (which, while no one is saying that now, some were when Paul was writing), you tell them- thanks, but, uh… no need. What that pictured was the cutting off of sin (and honestly- I have no idea why that’s the picture that was chosen. But it was. I just would have loved to see Abraham’s face the first time he heard about this…). And what that pictured, that cutting off of sin, has now been decisively dealt with by Christ- so no need for the picture, thanks very much. At least, no religious need. No need for the picture because the reality is here.

“Christ performed a spiritual circumcision- the cutting away of your sinful nature.” In addition to being a rather disturbing mental picture this is also probably a poor translation. I think, the way Paul phrased it, it’s not so much performed by Christ, but rather in the sphere of Christ- this is something that happens when someone comes into relationship with Jesus. And the cutting away of “the sinful nature”… How many of you feel like your sinful nature, your tendency to do wrong has been cut away, has been decisively dealt with? See- that’s one way to read it, but… What this literally says is “the cutting away of the body of the flesh”- which is a bit ambiguous- the word “flesh” in the Bible often does mean that sin nature. Sometimes it means the physical body. I think here, it contrasts with what he says next- the old life in contrast to the new.

VS 12
He not only deals decisively with the negative, the old way of life which hurt us and hurt others, which was killing us, but He fills the void- He offers something positive. “And with Him you were raised to new life.”

What do you think he means when he talks about “new life.” What’s been your experience of that?

He puts baptism in the middle of all this- Baptism is that picture of identifying with the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus. In the same way He died, was buried and was raised again, for our sins, for us, in baptism we picture dying, being buried and rising again to our sins, for Him. If you are new or newer to following Jesus, baptism is the next step- telling the world that you’ve died to an old way of living and come alive to a new one, because now you trust God. He’s saying that in the same way that circumcision was, in the OT a visible sign of belonging to the people of God, now, the visible sign is identifying with Jesus, with his death, burial and resurrection in baptism.

Speaking to those that have made that decision, he says…

VS 13

Spiritually dead: tied to the old way of life, enslaved to it, mastered by it. Spiritually alive with Christ: a freedom from the old way of life, mastered by something, some one new, forgiven.

Is there a more beautiful word in the world? Forgiven.

What so many people work so hard for- freedom from the past, freedom from guilt and shame, freedom from judgment and condemnation, Christ provides. The old way of life cut off, gone. A new way of life started.

Forgiven. All of it- Past, present and future.

This is the morning for picture and metaphors… In the same way that baptism identifies us with the death, burial and resurrection of Christ- communion identifies us with the forgiveness He offers. His body, given for us, He standing in our place for punishment, His blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins. When we take it, we picture our acceptance of what Christ has done on our behalf- we picture our need for forgiveness and our acceptance of it. So, even if it’s the first time for you- if you accept the work of Jesus on your behalf- the forgiveness of God that comes through Christ’s death, then take part in this today.

It would be a good thing as we do this to list mentally the things God has forgiven you for and say thank you. It would also be a good thing if there are things which you have never expressed regret over, wrongs which you have been holding onto, to ask for forgiveness- to hold those up to God and say “This too? Even this? You will forgive even this that I’ve done?“

We’ll take communion- when you feel ready, whenever you want, come to the table. Like God’s forgiveness, it’s waiting for you.

We’ll take a minute of silence, we’ll pray a prayer together and then we’ll sing. Come when you are ready…

Communion/ Songs

If you took communion this morning and truly meant it, if you really are in relationship with Jesus, following Him, leaning on Him, if to you He’s not just the Savior, but my Savior, then it’s my privilege this morning to tell you- to remind you- you are forgiven. No matter what shame you still needlessly carry, no matter what others try to remind you of, you are forgiven.

The same power that raised Christ from the dead has done this for you as well.

VS 13-14

We’ll talk more about these verses specifically next week- about this written code, about what Jesus has cancelled and what He has disarmed, and what the implications are for us… But for now, what do you want to ask. We are in one of the most theologically rich and so conceptually tough passages of scripture- this must bring up some questions in your mind. What do you want to ask? What do you wonder as we read through this?