You belong here...or a sermon reimagined as "Quit bickering!"
Texts:
I am reading more than the bulletin indicates today…because
it matters.
Colossians 3:1-15 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
So if you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that
are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on
things that are above, not on things that are on earth, for you have died, and
your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life is
revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly:
fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed (which is idolatry). On
account of these the wrath of God is coming on those who are disobedient. These
are the ways you also once followed, when you were living that life. But now
you must get rid of all such things—anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive
language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have
stripped off the old self with its practices and have clothed yourselves with
the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of its
creator. In that renewal there is no longer Greek and Jew, circumcised and
uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave and free; but Christ is all and in
all!
As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves
with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Bear with one
another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other;
just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. Above all, clothe
yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And
let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in
the one body. And be thankful.
This is the word of God for the people of God.
Thanks be to God.
PRAYER FOR ILLUMINATION…
I am guessing that you heard some media coverage of the
Democratic debates this week. Even if you didn’t actually witness them, there
was so much news coverage about them that it was very, very hard to avoid.
I was struck, the morning after the second debate, by the
tenor of the conversation about how the media framed questions, bating
candidates into arguments.
Now…I confess that I did not participate in competitive debate
as a student. I have never been formally
trained in skills of debating, but I do know that part of the reason I avoid watching
political debates to this day is that I find debaters get a wee bit uncivil as
they try to prove themselves right, most often by proving another to be wrong.
As I wrestled with the epistles text this week, it occurred
to me that part of what is good news about this advice to the emerging church
at Colossae is that the author, either Paul or someone writing as if they were
Paul, is shutting down a debate. Not so much by choosing a side, but by
declaring the argument unnecessary. And in fact, he’s giving instruction about
how to fill the time, how to live this life, how to build community because the
community does not need to be torn apart by debate.
Let’s start by remembering some things about the Epistles:
The earliest churches were following Jesus who was a teacher
in the prophetic tradition. His teaching
focused on critique of structures of power in present day Galilee and the
surrounding areas. In the hard
circumstances of being oppressed by the Roman Empire, the teachings that this
man offered in his lifetime were a breath of fresh air. He was taking ancient messages about economic
justice and bringing them to life amidst the turmoil of people’s lived
lives. In the midst of hard societal
standards about who would climb the economic ladder, who could lead
politically, who was worthy of a warm dry place to live and who owed what to
the Roman rulers, Jesus taught about justice and compassion and the “Kingdom of
God” where the last were first. He was reminding people that God’s power was
greater than any political power in the day – that allegiance to greater causes
of goodness, love and justice were greater than allegiance to Caesar.
And so, after Jesus died, even when news spread about his
resurrection, small communities of followers were still learning these
teachings from his apostles. And while they were learning, they were trying to
structure communities where love and possessions were shared equally, where
justice reigned, where mercy and compassion flowed…because that was very
different from the place and time they were all living in.
And it was always the case that there were “false teachers”
clamoring for attention and a share of the market. They were asserting a need to follow specific
rules while the apostles and their followers were working hard to understand
what it meant that Jesus died, was resurrected, appeared to them and was
ascended.
That kind of feels familiar to me…wanting to follow this
teacher who has suggested the last will be first, and that the meek are
blessed. And in the midst of all that,
finding yourself in a society struggling mightily with homelessness, income
disparity, gun violence, addiction…a society trying to figure out whether it
can be a place where all thrive or whether it might just be the wild kingdom
where survival of the fittest is the law of the land. And then add a layer of
needing to discern true teaching from false teaching…you really must follow
this rule and that rule.
How is it that the way we live our lives SO THAT love and
goodness reign?
In the early church, there is a lot of arguing going on
about who is in and who is out. We’ve
talked about this some already – who eats what, who is circumcised. The early church was going through the hard
work of becoming something new – something that had never before existed. And there were people who were Jewish but
following the apostles who taught about Jesus, the Messiah. And there were gentiles who had never been
Jewish like Jesus was, but were still amazed by what he had done and
taught.
The writer of Colossians reminds the reader that because
Christ lived and died for them, because through baptism they have died to
themselves and risen with Christ, they should not worry about the things of
“this world.” Rather, they should set
their minds above.
One of the things I love about this passage is the way the
author is reminding the community that they are already living in
Christ…anything they do at this point is not to make up for what they might
have done in the past.
And let me introduce you to one of those fun and slightly
geeky translational controversies that can make this passage even more
powerful…
In the version you heard, the first verse begins “So IF you
have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above…” It is translated as an if / then formula. If you have been raised with Christ THEN you
should live this way.
But there is a translation, reflected in the New
International Version in which the greek rendered “IF” in our version is
rendered as “SINCE” instead. SINCE you have been raised with Christ, seek
the things that are above.
What a difference a word can make. The counsel on how to live is not a
conditional statement. It is instead
including everyone who hears and receives the message. The call is NOT to
change what you are doing SO THAT you can be part of this promised
salvation…instead the challenge is to receive the grace that is already yours!! And that translation of “SINCE” matches the
rest of the conditions of the scripture.
“You have died, and your life is hidden in Christ.”
“You have stripped off your old self.”
“Indeed you were called in the one body.”
We who gather in the hearing of this word are NOT called to
live as if we are running after our salvation, and I would recommend we are NOT
called to decide WHO ELSE is saved and included and belongs. Instead, we are to grasp this new life we
have in Christ and:
set our minds on things above
live our lives as one hidden in the messiah God
strip off dysfunctional or destructive practices
clothe ourselves in the identity of the Messiah
and live as a community held in love.
A five part formula for living in Christian community. A
five part way of being. A five part way
of living into our call to do justice, love kindness and walk humbly with God…
while not bogging down in debate. And not taking it upon
ourselves to determine who is in and who is out.
Please hear me say that we MUST be in conversation with one
another. But we have already been
saved. Christ died for us while we were
yet sinners. That proves God’s love
toward us…
We are the body of Christ, redeemed by his blood, broken and
given for the whole world.
We forget sometimes that Easter is not just a day…we are
Easter people. We are redeemed and made
whole. That work is done. It is not ours to do. It is not ours to do to or FOR
others. Our work is to be the living
presence of love in the world.
You belong here.
There is no question about that.
And so does everyone else. And
the work is to live as people who have really embraced that gift of grace.
The work is already finished. Christ has opened
paradise.
What if we lived as if it were so – as if our call is to
live out of the joy and thanksgiving and sheer love of that act?
May it be so.
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