Majoring in Minor Prophets #3

LET IT POUR:

WHY YOU NEED THE SPIRIT

If Hoshea was a romance, and if Zechariah was a court-room drama, the prophecy of Joel could be called an ecological horror story.

            Imagine a bright sunny day, blue skies and warm weather. Suddenly it turns dark as if a great cloud had banished the sun. You look up expecting to see rain clouds, but instead your eyes grow wide at the sight of millions of locusts. They descend on the land and begin obliterating everything green. In their voracious hunger the locusts even chew the bark off of trees, the wool off of sheep, maybe even human flesh.

            This is not the imagination of Alfred Hitchcock; this has happened many times in the history of the world. In 1915, Palestine endured a locust plague that caused great devastation and hunger. The female locusts were about 2 ½ to 3 inches long and laid hundreds of eggs while feeding on the land. It was estimated that as many as 65,000 to 75,000 locust eggs were concentrated in a square meter of soil.[i]

            We don’t know exactly where Joel fits into the history of Israel; he doesn’t give a lot of clues. What we do know is that he speaks hope to Israel after a severe swarm of locusts ravages the land. After the locusts leave and the people return to God, the rains return, the land becomes green again, and the people are able to grow food and eat.

            When we read the Prophets we find that the stories are mostly about coming back to God and God delivering the people from invaders, exile, or locusts. If that were the whole story, if that is how we perceive God, then we would be like baby birds in a perpetual state of infancy. We get into trouble – God delivers us – what miserable beings we are that we never learn and never progress past our imbecility.

            That’s not what the Prophets wanted their hearers to believe. Joel does remind Israel that the LORD provides food for his people, but when the people’s stomachs are filled he tells them there’s more to life than bread. Joel promised them that one day God would pour out his Spirit on them. If they have the LORD as God why do they need his Spirit? Why do you need the Spirit?

1. I will pour out my Spirit

God wants to give his people more than food, more than land, more than a panic button to call on him in times of trouble. The LORD is a relational being; he wants more from his relationship with humanity than humble servitude. But how does an infinite God relate to a finite being? How does a human begin to understand God?

            Joel foretells of a solution to this chasm between God and humankind, “And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, and your young men will see visions. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days” (28-29).

a) When will this promise be fulfilled? Joel writes “afterward” implying that the blessing of God’s Spirit comes after the judgment on unbelievers in Judah. But the precise fulfillment of this promise does not happen immediately. There is a future tone to the promise that links it to the Day of the LORD, commonly thought of as the “end of time.”

b) What does the promise give the Jews? In the OT era we read of heroes like David suddenly being filled with the Spirit, or Samson having the Spirit “rush upon” him. The Spirit was certainly active in the kings and prophets, but not in a permanent way. At various times the word of the LORD was rare and visions were uncommon.[ii] We might compare the presence of the Spirit to drops of rain in the lives of the saints.

            According to Joel, the LORD will one day pour out his Spirit. These are no longer droplets of water but a waterfall of the Spirit. Joel implies with this “outpouring” that the presence of the Spirit will be permanent as opposed to temporary.

c) Who will receive the promise? This is where Joel gets radical. In the OT era, male leaders were typically the recipients of the gifts of the Spirit, be it Samson’s strength or David’s prophecy. The LORD says “I will pour out my Spirit on all people.” Joel and every Jewish reader would understand the Spirit to be poured on believing Israelites. But even here those who receive this outpouring are not only the elite or the leaders or the very smartest. God will not discriminate in pouring his Spirit out – not on the basis of sex, since both sons and daughters will prophesy – not on the basis of age (old men dream; young men have visions) – and not on the basis of class (servants/slaves, men and women). Everyone in the kingdom of Israel will receive the Spirit.

            This fulfilled a desire Moses once expressed. Having called the elders together for a meeting, the seventy elders experienced the Spirit resting on them and they prophesied. Two elders who did not make it to the meeting, Eldad and Medad, were in the midst of the camp and prophesied there. A young fellow ran and told Moses (as if to tattle on their truancy) but Moses replied, “…I wish that all the LORD’s people were prophets…” (Num. 11:24-30).

d) How will this promise be expressed? Through prophesying, dreams and visions. Prophecy is often thought of as foretelling (future stuff) but the prophets themselves saw it as “forth-telling.” They saw themselves as witnesses to God’s truth, telling people about the character of God and his truth. Together, these three expressions are about revelation. People will not simply have cool hallucinogenic visions as if on drugs; they will have revelations about God, who he is, what he does, and will discern his work in their world.

            Do you see how God works? Do you see what God wants? Joel reminds me of when Jesus fed the 5000 (John 6). A great crowd was following Jesus because he had healed the sick and cast out demons. Jesus looked up and saw the crowd and he wanted to feed them. They were a long way from any village and were physically hungry. So Jesus performs a miracle to feed all these people. They keep following him because of this miracle, because their stomachs were filled. But Jesus wanted to give them something more – the bread of life, himself, the presence of God.

            Human nature is like that. We are so quickly fascinated by the temporal things that we miss the eternal.

2. I will show wonders

Without the Spirit we will fail to see the deeper things of God. Without the Spirit we cannot begin to understand the difference between judgment and salvation.

            Joel speaks of wonders in the heavens and on the earth in 30-31. Blood, fire, and smoke are symbols of judgment. They send shivers of fear up and down the spine of the bravest people. Fear makes us do dumb things.

            Last week we endured quite a storm; rain, wind, lightning. Our neighbor’s kitten climbed an oak tree and refused to come down for two days, until Sharon rescued the kitten. Even then the kitten wanted to go up the tree or cling to the bark.

            In the face of judgment men and women will not run to God but away from God. Consider how people reacted to Jesus when he healed the man born blind (John 9). Rather than praising God for the miracle and desiring to know more about the Christ, the authorities wanted to prosecute the formerly blind man and hunt down Jesus for healing without their say-so. And because of this unbelieving response men and women bring judgment on themselves. This is humanity without the Spirit of God to enlighten them. 

            On the day of Pentecost, Peter and the 120 followers of Jesus began to speak in tongues, languages that all the visiting pilgrims spoke. They thought these people must be drunk. Peter’s response was a direct quote from Joel. Peter said to them “this is it – this is the fulfillment of the promise.” Consider the parallels with Joel’s prophecy:

When – the last days (Peter begins Joel’s quote with “In the last days…”

What – Only three months before, Peter and the apostles were so afraid they cowered behind closed doors. Now they presented a powerful testimony of the risen Christ.

Who – The 120 were uneducated fishermen, tax collectors, former terrorists and women (Mary, Mary Magdalene, etc).

How – They spoke in tongues previously unknown to them to people from all over the world. Peter spoke boldly about the crucified Christ and how God raised him up.

            How did the crowds respond? They were cut to the heart (Acts 2:37). They felt the judgment of these words. What were they going to do with this experience? That response would make all the difference in their lives.

3. Everyone who calls will be saved

What does it mean to be saved? Salvation is what we have termed a “Christianese” word, a word that means something only to the initiated (those who go to church). If salvation means what it did to Joel’s people, it means God will save us from locusts and other disasters in our present context. There is no greater disaster to the human condition than sin; unrepented sin keeps us from approaching God. If we can’t approach God we cannot be saved. Salvation.

            But isn’t salvation more than being saved from the fire of hell? Considering what Joel was trying to tell his people, deliverance from calamity was just the start of something huge. “And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance…” (32).

            God can save us or deliver us from trouble without pouring out his Spirit. He’s done it before. Why give people his Spirit?

            The answer begins in Peter’s Pentecost message. He presents Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of prophecy, the miracles he performed, the cross on which he bled, all pointing to God’s breaking into our world to show us himself. And when the people realized what God had done in Christ, they were cut to the heart and said “Brothers, what shall we do?” (Acts 2:37).

            Peter responds, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ so that your sins may be forgiven. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (2:38). God saves men and women from their sins through Christ so that they may begin to know God. We are saved to know God. And the Holy Spirit is instrumental in showing us more of God.

            Tim Keller said this, “When I go to the Truth of God, and the Spirit is giving me access, do you see what happens? You can read about the power of God. If you just read about the power of God, without the influence of Spirit, you say, ‘Oh, God is powerful.’ Without the influence of the Spirit, all that can do is make a superficial impression on the top of you, but when the Spirit of God is there, you read about the power, and there’s access. The truth begins to shine. It begins to change you, and what happens is your heart develops courage.

When you read about his goodness, it develops peace in you. When you read about his forgiveness, it develops relief in you. You shake off your guilty fears. When you read about his forgiveness, it develops generosity and mercy in you. When you read about his holiness, it develops conviction of sin and humility in you. Don’t you see? Only when the Spirit of God is doing that do you see real access happening. Only then.”         The prize is Jesus. Being saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, we begin to know God better. And with our eyes on the prize – Jesus – we unwittingly become better people.

When I first thought of how this message would go, I imagined a great response. Preachers have this temptation to see themselves as the catalyst for revival or some such thing. So what I pictured was a crowd of you coming down the aisle to receive whatever the Holy Spirit wanted to show you. I was hoping for an experience that would shake us to our boots.

            I realized suddenly that this was selfish on my part. Not that I would refuse God’s gifts if he decided to do something amazing among us. But to want it in that way was rooted in a selfish desire. I wanted to experience something out of the ordinary, something supernatural.

            In contrast, the LORD led me to think of Ezekiel 36:26-27, which reads, “I will give you a new heart and a put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.”

            Do you see what I see? God wants to put his Spirit in you so that you can see better what his heart and person are like. He wants us to choose obedience to be like him, to follow in his ways. The flashy stuff is cool – speaking in tongues or having an ecstatic experience – but it is only for a moment. God wants a long obedience in the same direction.

            One fellow put it this way. It’s awesome to pour gasoline over a pile of wood and watch it go whoosh. But put gasoline in a fuel-efficient car and it will travel for near 800 km.

            Why do you need the Holy Spirit? He is the person of God given to you so that you can recognize God in the every day. He reveals the hand of Jesus in your life so that you might know him better.

            Has the Spirit been poured out on you?

                                                            AMEN

---

[i] John D. Whiting, December 1915, National Geographic (511-521).

[ii] 1 Samuel 3:1

Majoring in Minor Prophets #2

“OUT, DAMNED SPOT”:

GOD’S SOLUTION FOR THE POLLUTED SOUL

Lady Macbeth could not stop rubbing her hands together.

            She sleepwalks and mumbles a conversation she had with her husband when they conspired to murder King Duncan. Once they had the crown, she tells her husband, there would be nothing to fear. Lady Macbeth did not count on the amount of blood Duncan would produce.

            As Lady Macbeth replays this scene for the eavesdroppers, her doctor and her lady in waiting, she not only incriminates herself, but also reveals the pangs of conscience she had ridiculed in her husband. She rubs her hands as if to wash away the blood. Her maid notes that she does this for fifteen minutes straight, pauses, and then begins again. Lady Macbeth eyes an imaginary spot on her hand, a blood stain, and yells, “Out, damned spot.”

            This is no coffee stain, it is blood. Macbeth himself said how an ocean could not wash his hands clean. Such is the nature of a guilty conscience. Shakespeare keenly observed how the sinful act was impossible to erase from one’s mind.

            Jeremiah noted too, “Although you wash yourself with soda and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me,” declares the Sovereign LORD,” (Jer. 2:22).

            Our world is polluted. We have become fastidious about environmental waste and restoring our ecology. We groom our lawns, wash with antibacterial soap, and are careful to wear clothes without stains. But our hearts have suffered pollution too, the pollution of living in a sinful world. We bear the stains of sin simply by our dwelling here. How can we serve a holy God when our souls are polluted with sin?

            God solves our pollution issue by an act of grace ministered through a perfect priest.

            Zechariah 3 tells us how God solves our pollution problem. Zechariah was a young prophet, born in Babylon but who returns to Jerusalem in 538 BC. Impoverished, without resources and a dim future, the Jews who returned to Jerusalem after 70 years of exile have little hope. Zechariah began to prophesy to the Jews and encouraged them to rebuild the temple. In the eleventh month of the second year of King Darius, Zechariah was given eight visions. This is one of them.

1. Satan accuses while God chooses

In the vision, Joshua, the high priest, stands before the LORD to minister for the people. Satan (the adversary/the accuser) stands beside him on the right side in the place of the prosecuting attorney. Satan’s plan is always to oppose God’s plan to save his people. Joshua, as priest, represents the remnant of Jews who returned to Jerusalem. So Satan attacks them all by focusing on Joshua.

            What is Satan’s accusation? Satan argued before the LORD that the ministry of this high priest was invalid because he was a sinner. How can a sinful high priest atone for the sins of God’s people? If Joshua is unclean, his ministry cannot be effective and so the people themselves are still in their sin and cannot be saved.

            Normally we say that when Satan talks he speaks his native language: he lies. But for a brief moment here, he is right. How can we minister the gospel of grace to people who need to hear the good news of Jesus when we ourselves have a regretful past? We have sinned; we still sin. Where is the victory in that?

            Even the good we do is stained with the blood of our guilt. Isaiah said, “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags…” (Is. 64:6). Satan has a case against us.

            God knows Satan’s aim is to prevent people from being accepted by God. The LORD rebukes Satan in this vision and utters a proverbial saying, “Is not this man a burning stick snatched from the fire?” (cf. Amos 4:11). The LORD has chosen Jerusalem (aka the People) and delivered them from exile in Babylon, he will not abandon them. God has chosen them.

            You know how it is when you grab a stick of wood out of the fire – it is blackened by the soot of the fire – makes your hands dirty. The people have been rescued but they are not without stain from their time spent in a foreign land.

            Believers in God, you have been snatched from the fire, delivered from destruction, but bear the black soot of your past. God chooses you to serve Him, but how do you serve with your past sins staining your person?

2. New clothes make the man…or woman

The Persian king, Darius, allowed the Jews to return to the land of Israel to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. But they were poor and had few resources. Joshua served before the LORD in tattered, filthy clothes. They were all he had.

            Satan no longer appears in the vision. God has dealt with him by the declaration that Joshua was chosen. When God chooses you there is no argument against that choice.

            The angel of the LORD commands some unidentified persons near Joshua to “take off his filthy clothes.” Then the LORD says, “See, I have taken away your sin, and I will put fine garments on you,” (4b).

            There are two aspects to God’s gracious act. First, he does what Joshua cannot do himself – take off the filthy clothes. Second, he invites Joshua to “see” – “see” means “open your eyes; look at; consider God’s Word.” The LORD said, “I have taken away your sin,” in other words, “I alone have done this; I alone can do this.” He has not taken away a million sins and left one – he has taken them all away.

            These filthy clothes, these are a picture of sin removed. They have taken every piece of his priestly vestments away, everything that was defiled, and there he stands in nakedness. But there is no defilement on him – all filth is gone. So it is with every pardoned sinner who comes before the cross of Christ in repentance. As easily as we take off the barn clothes and put on a suit, so easily does God take away our sin. And not only does the LORD take away our sin, but the consciousness of it too. If you feel that you could not serve God because sin was too heavy on you, look to Jesus who bore all that sin away and hear him say “It is finished.” Yes, you still sin, but know that you are blood-washed sinner, saved by grace, and now wear your Savior’s clothes – holy clothes – clothes that allow you into the presence of God.

            They say that clothes make the man. Shakespeare actually said something of that nature. Woman or man, it doesn’t matter, when you put on good clothes, you feel like a different person than when you wear your dirty work clothes. An internal change takes place. Try going to a banquet in ripped and dirty jeans and see if you psychologically can stand it. The suit or outfit does something to you. God does something to you more powerfully when he dresses you.

3. New clothes, new responsibility

A popular clothing company sponsors a suit drive every year. They invite people to donate their gently used suits for a discount on new suits. The donated suits are then given to men who are re-entering the workforce. I don’t know if they are recently released prisoners or folks who have experienced hard times and homelessness. The suits help them feel good, equipped to work.

            Joshua was given new clothes. And with new clothes came a charge. Joshua was recommissioned to serve in the temple on behalf of the people. “This is what the LORD Almighty says: ‘If you walk in obedience to me and keep my requirements, then you will govern my house and have charge in my courts, and I will give you a place among these standing here” (7). 

            There are two parts to this charge: First, Joshua is to walk in God’s ways. That means committing himself to knowing and living according to God’s revealed character and purposes. Sounds easy, right? Well you know it’s not. Second, Joshua must perform faithfully the rituals of his priestly duty. This was an area of failure for Israel before the exile. Basically, God is asking for faithfulness and obedience.

            What does God expect of the restored servant? To serve. Satan wanted to disqualify you because you bore the filthy clothes of your past – you could not serve. God has put new clothes on you – we are clothed with Christ – to re-enter the workforce of God’s kingdom and serve.

            This part of the vision reminds me of Jesus’ parable of the talents. Each servant was given a charge and the master expected the servant to do something with it. Two servants took this charge and made it grow. The third took his suit, as it were, and buried it. You have been given clothes to serve the LORD with, now what will you do with them?

4. Can we keep these clothes clean?

No! We still live in a sin-polluted world. Do you remember when we used to have wear Sunday clothes to church and then wear them all day? I did. It was hard to watch my friends playing outside our house in the autumn leaves. If I went out and joined them, my clothes would not only be awkward for play but would become dirty.

            In the final scene of this vision, the LORD tells Joshua that his role as priest, and the role of Zerubbabel (the governor/king rep) are but a foreshadow of things to come. While the job of the king is to establish a righteous and just kingdom, the job of the priest is to minister to the souls of the people. These two roles are going to be fully met in one person, something unheard of in the history of Israel.

            The LORD tells Joshua that he will send his servant whom he calls “the Branch,” whom he turns and describes as an all-seeing stone. Through the ministry of this branch/stone, the LORD says, “and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day” (9b). That is an amazing feat. Can you imagine the sins of this land gone in one day? The Jews, with all their rituals and sacrifices offered bulls for days and days for the sins of the nation. One day would have seemed unbelievable.

            The Branch is not identified in this text. The LORD does not give any clues to his person. But we read further in 6:12-13 about this Branch. It is said he will build the temple – this is the dwelling place of God. Where will this temple be located? Then it says that the Branch will rule on the throne like a king and he will be a priest also. And there will be no conflict in his performing both roles. Who is this Branch?

            You know its Jesus. In Hebrews 4:14-16 we read about this dual role. The writer tells us we have a great high priest – the one performs the ritual to remove sin – and he is Jesus the Son of God – “Son of God” is an ancient term for the Israelite king. Jesus is priest and king who clothes us with grace to approach the throne of grace in our time of need.

            Can we keep these clothes clean? No, but he will. “Unlike other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (Heb. 7:27). Sin and guilt are covered by Jesus. We can serve God without wringing our hands and worrying over the spots of blood stain. We are free!

“The woman who was caught in adultery (John 8:1-11) and brought before Jesus was viciously accused by a ring of self-righteous finger-pointers. She was torn from the bedroom-caught in the very act-the Scripture says. If she was clothed at all she must have been clothed somewhat like Joshua was in this vision, in some shred of clothing, grabbed at the last moment. Disheveled-certainly guilty-she stood in public before the Lord himself. The servants of Satan ringed her, accusing pointing their fingers, deriding and belittling her, spewing out incontrovertible facts about her. The crowd wanted to stone her and urged Jesus to lead in the judgment of this woman. But his word, his actions, his strength and his power saved her. He was the one who silenced the voices of accusation. No one else could have done so. His understanding of human nature and his authority from God stopped all of her accusers and sent them away in subdued self-examination. The word of Jesus Christ had clothed her in clean garments as well: Neither do I condemn you he said. Because he had the authority to forgive her she was forgiven utterly for what she had done.”[i]

            Zechariah’s prophecy began with the word of the LORD: If you return to me, I will return to you. Joshua, the priest, was standing before the LORD. That’s exactly where he needed to be.

            If you have stood before the cross of Christ and repented of your sin and declared that Jesus is both Lord and Savior, nothing can hinder your service to him. Satan can accuse you, your own conscience can betray you, but Jesus has chosen you and in him you are clothed anew.

            Look at your hands – do you see the cursed spot? It’s not there. Look at your neighbor’s hands – do you see that cursed spot? No, it is gone, covered by the blood of Jesus. Now use those hands to serve the LORD!

                                                AMEN

           

---

[i] Steve Zeisler, from a sermon Priest and King, Jan. 23, 1983, Peninsula Bible Church

Colossians #7

CHANGED AND CHANGING

The greatest defense of the gospel is a changed life.

            Has the gospel of Jesus Christ changed your life? Do your loved ones notice that you have changed? Do they notice that you are changing as you follow Jesus?

            I have been reading a 17^th century Puritan named John Owen lately. He proposes that the grace of Christ is irresistible and that the change (he calls it regeneration) is the work of the Holy Spirit. To read Owen you would think that you are changed whether you want to change or not. I would not say I agree with everything Owen says, but he has an interesting perspective on the Holy Spirit.

            What the Bible teaches, and what Paul teaches in Colossians 3:1-11, is that the work of Christ changes us when we believe on His name. However, the Bible also teaches us that we must choose to change our behavior to match the life of Christ. So it can be said that we are changed and also in the process of changing.

1. Changed because of Christ

Paul makes one more theological statement before moving on to the practical half of the letter to the Colossians. Before he launches into the “how-to” of Christianity, he wants to lay a foundation for how the Christian is supposed to live. He does this in all of his letters – doctrine and then practice.

            What Paul reinforces in this letter is the change in the believer’s status before God. Christ is enough for your salvation – you need nothing and no one else – and so you have changed because of your faith. So Paul says this:

            “Since, then, you have been raised with Christ…” (3:1a). These words introduce a new paradigm for living. But they also echo some earlier words that highlight this change. Paul said, “Since you died with Christ…” (2:20). These nearly identical phrases indicate a major shift in the life of believers.

            We talked two weeks ago about legalism, the adherence to rules as a means to gain God’s favor and salvation. That’s what Paul refers to in 2:20: Since you died with Christ on the cross, you died to man-made rules and regulations. They no longer have a hold on you, so why do you act as though they controlled you? That’s the old life.

            With this new statement we can see the other side of this work of Christ. Since you died, you died to sin and rules. Now, since you have been raised with Christ, the old order of things passes away so that you now live in the new order of things. Gone are the “shoulds” and the “supposed to’s” of legalism; here now are the joys of living for Jesus.

            Paul directs the gaze of the believer from earthly values to the values of heaven: “…set your hearts on things above…set your minds on things above…” (3:1&2). What is above? This direction is qualified by the phrase “where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.” Paul refers to Psalm 110 here that depicts Jesus as King and Lord.

            So the Christian needs to set his or her gaze on Jesus, to set your heart (the emotions, the will, and our conscience) on Jesus, to set your mind (your knowledge and thinking; the intellect) on Jesus. In other words, we need to reorient the way we look at our world, to see it as temporal and passing away, and to look at life through the lens of Jesus. When we see life through Jesus, we see what’s really important. Our worldview is changed. The messed up politics of our time should not get us down, because Jesus is sovereign over all. Our ambition and successes or failures take on a different sense when we remember that Jesus is Lord.

            “For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God” (3:3). What does it mean that your life is hidden with Christ in God? On the one hand it means that your friends who do not have faith in Jesus will not understand the change that has taken and is taking place in you. On the other hand, to have your life hidden in Christ really means that your life is safe with Him. No matter what happens to you in this life which is passing away, your life is safe with Jesus. Nothing that this world can do to you can take that away.

            And if Jesus is our focus, if we take our eyes off of the earthly things and look to Jesus as our most precious gift, we will look forward to His coming (v. 4). We are changed because of the cross of Christ, we are being changed by the Holy Spirit, and we will be changed completely when Christ appears again (1 John 3:2).

2. Changing your hearts and minds

Putting your faith in the crucified and risen Christ changes you. He works to transform you and me from an enemy of God to a child of God. We are not merely the objects of divine surgery, however, we are also involved the process of change.       Theologically, we set our hearts on things above, and we set our minds on things above. Practically speaking, we are to put to death those earthly things that keep our hearts from Christ. I could define each word Paul uses – sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed which is idolatry – but the overall theme is one: sex. Each of these terms has to do with the misuse of God’s gift of sex. Even “greed” used in this context has little to do with money and everything to do with the desire to possess something more than is healthy, in this case – sex.

            One would suspect that the Colossians had a problem with an over-sexed culture. Good thing we are more advanced in our culture today. But seriously, sex then, as now, had such a powerful influence on life. Pagan religions were full of sexual ritual and prostitution and immorality. It was an accepted part of society. For a person to believe in Christ in that culture, the change would be so drastic there is no way you could hide your new faith. So while the Christian view of sex would have been reserved for marriage between a man and a woman, a Christian’s public perspective made them stand out from the crowd.

            In other words, our change should cause us to be radically different. Surveys have shown, however, that those who call themselves Christians are just as likely to get divorced, buy lottery tickets, watch R-rated movies, become addicted to porn, or use alcohol as much as anyone else.

            A heart change will make us peculiar in our world. So what? God wants our hearts, and the change that directs our hearts from the world to God will come from a natural response of a heart that loves God.

            Again, to set our minds on things above, Paul tells the Colossians to “rid yourselves” or “put off” things like anger, rage, malice, slander and filthy language. These terms fit one category and appear to proceed from one instrument – the lips (v.8). Angry words do not befit the changed life of one who follows Christ.

            Jesus said, “The mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Matt. 12:34b). That challenges me to the core. I know that when there is malice in my heart, my words become crasser. When I feel that my way, my agenda, or my feelings are abused, my mouth loses its guard. A changed mind will learn to control the mouth; a guarded mouth will mark a changed heart and mind.

3. Changing the old self for the new

This is what we are really talking about – the changing of the old self, the life controlled by the sinful nature and the lusts of the heart (the heart wants what the heart wants), for the new self that wants only to follow Jesus and love God.

            Paul implored the Colossians, “Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in the knowledge of its Creator” (3:10).

            The image of baptism clothes comes to mind here. In some traditions, and possibly back in the first century, baptism candidates would take off the old clothes of their sinful life and put on the new clothes of the Christian life. Even if the old clothes were fine and clean, they still represented the old life and the filth of sin. It made no sense then to put the old clothes back on since it would signal a return to the old life. It would appear as though nothing had changed. You have taken off the old clothes, don’t put them back on. You have put on Christ as a garment. Now live in the newness of Christ.

            Last week we had a really good church camp. And over the weekend I toured a couple of pretty nice trailers. There were no motor homes this time. Motor homes are a kind of paradox when it comes to camping. They have all the conveniences of a home on wheels. With these vehicles you no longer have to sleep on the ground in a sleeping bag, you don’t have to cook outside, and you can even have running water inside. Some even have A/C and satellite TV. So basically it’s a home away from home. Getting back to nature was never more comfortable. But what’s the point? If you want to get back to nature, plant a pine tree in your backyard. It’s the same thing. Otherwise you are not really camping.

            One pastor suggested that we have a lot of motor home Christians. He said that these people want to carry all the baggage from the world with them into the new life of Christ. They want the benefits Jesus offers, but not the discomforts and sacrifices the Christian life requires. They want the comforts of the world but don’t want to change anything.

            What Paul described to the Colossians was transformative; by following Jesus they would change so much so that you could not help but notice. “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Cor. 5:17).

We are changed and changing!

            On the one hand, Christ through His Spirit is effecting change in you. You are not what you were, and you are not yet what you will be. On the other hand, the process of becoming who we were meant to be before Adam sinned rests partly in our efforts. We are to “put to death” those old desires; we are to guard our lips and quell the anger that breeds spiteful speech.

            Are you different because you know Christ? Are you changed from coming before His cross? Yes, a resounding yes, even though you do not see it now. Christ has changed you. And you are willingly changing because of Christ.

            The first Law of Thermodynamics says that no mass or energy is ever destroyed, that it merely changes form. When a piece of wood is burned, it is not gone. Some of it becomes heat; some deteriorates into the ashes. But it is not destroyed - it just changes. When a lake dries up, the water is not gone. It has evaporated into the air, only to fall to earth again someday.

            If we can see this all around us in the physical world, is it so hard to conceive of it in the spiritual world?

            If we can see the first Law of Thermodynamics in nature, can we see it in the sphere of faith? We, too, can have the same confidence that the apostle Paul had when he said, "We shall all be changed."

            I am not what I was, but I am not yet what I will be.

           

                                                AMEN

Colossians #6

GUARD YOUR FREEDOM IN CHRIST

One of the great threats to vibrant Christian faith and to the testimony of the church is legalism. Laws are necessary for order and the maintenance of civil liberty. Sometimes in order to keep the spirit of the law we invent rules to assist us. In time, the rules become like law themselves. Buried under rules, regulations, and traditions lies the truth, but we forget the heart of the law. We call this legalism.

            Throughout the U.S. there are rules on the books that demonstrate the intention to keep the law, however misguided and unfounded:

- In Indiana, it’s illegal to attend a public event or use public transport within 4 hours of eating onions or garlic.

- In Wyoming, you may not take a picture of a rabbit from January to April without an official permit.

- In Arizona, if you are found stealing soap, you must wash yourself until the bar of soap has been completely used up.

- A motorist with criminal intentions must stop at the city limits and telephone the chief of police as he is entering the town in Washington.

- And in Waynesboro, Virginia, it’s against the law for a woman to drive a car on Main Street unless her husband is walking in front of the car waving a red flag.

            When applied to our faith, legalism promotes performance as a way to gain favor with God. It is the human effort to gain salvation or prove one’s spirituality by an outward show of living by “do’s” and “don’ts.” Some would call this “good Christian conduct.”

            In our passage this morning we read of how the Colossians were being convinced that their faith was lacking. False teachers led them to believe that tradition and rituals would make them more spiritual. Paul responded “NO – Christ died to set you free from such legalism. And now that Christ has died for your freedom, guard that freedom from the laws that brought us death.”

1. Be wary of Legalism

From our text we can deduce that these false teachers may have been Jewish, although the Jews do not have prohibitions about drinking certain beverages, only unclean foods. Whoever they were, these teachers were trying to impose their version of good behavior on the believers at Colossae. Paul warned the believers in 2:8, and now a second time, not to let these philosophies become a stone around your neck.

            “Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day” (2:16).

            When such restrictions or requirements are imposed, legalism becomes the focus of our living instead of Christ. What does legalism do and what does it look like?

a) Legalism is myopic (narrow-minded) – We can all be legalistic at times. We judge each other by standards we believe are true and acceptable. Sometimes we think our sins smell better than others and we have very little tolerance for those who do not agree with our definition of sin.

b) Legalism dulls our faith – It acts like a wet blanket on enthusiasm and snuffs out joy. Many who seek freedom in Christ can be burdened by the expectations of older believers.

c) Legalism puffs up – We may not realize the subtleness of our self-righteous attitude, but our evaluation and categorizing of others fills us with pride. We believe we are doing Christianity right and expect others to follow our example.

d) Legalism divides us – We believe “everyone needs to be like me.” When we think this way, we miss the delight of diversity in the church.

e) Legalism blocks our view of Jesus – Nothing pushes a seeker away from the church and Jesus more than a list of rules. When we focus on rules we are not presenting Jesus. Some people want to control others – but if we allow them to do this we give them the place that is reserved for Christ.

f) Legalism gives a false sense of security – We feel good that we are doing all the right things and don’t realize that we are simply conforming to peer pressure. We have not come to Christ at all.[i]

            Paul says that these rituals and rules and traditions are really ten steps backwards in faith. Some of the rules were good. The celebrations, the Sabbath – they were pointing to Christ; they were symbols of hope of the coming Messiah. But now that Christ has come, there was no longer any need for those rules and traditions, they were a shadow of the reality (2:17; Hebrews 10:1a).

            I read about a family that owned a German shepherd named Rex. He was a ferocious looking dog with the heart of a chicken. Rex never bit and he never barked. One thing made Rex bark however – when a flock of birds would fly over his yard. But he chased after the shadows on the ground and barked wildly. One bird flew in circles over the yard, Rex running in circles trying to catch it. Poor dumb Rex didn’t know it was only a shadow, that it wasn’t real.

            To focus on the rules of Christianity and miss the person of Christ is like chasing shadows.

2. Watch out for Legalists

Rules are important – don’t get me wrong – but if the rules are everything, we miss the joy of living. A few years ago when I coached soccer here in Kleefeld, I didn’t care if my young players stepped out of bounds with the ball. I just yelled, “Keep it live! Bring it in!” I liked to keep the game going, to have fun. One game, though, the opposing coach was a stickler for the rules. It slowed the game down, and we argued about the importance of the rules. Soccer, and any sport, needs rules. But we all know that too many rules can ruin the game.

            Paul seems to echo this when he said, “Do not let anyone…disqualify you for the prize” (2:18). To be “disqualified” is an athletic term – it carries the idea of an umpire calling you “out” for disobeying the rules, like being red-carded in soccer. What’s the prize? You know…Paul told us “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14). Christ is the prize…and you don’t win the prize by stellar spiritual performance, but by humbly confessing that Jesus died for your sins and accomplished everything you needed to do. Don’t let anyone disqualify you with rule-keeping then.

            Legalists have definable characteristics that we can identify, according to Paul. They delight…

…in false humility. They present themselves as humble and holy. It’s really a paradox or a contradiction of character. In reality, they are filled with their own sense of importance and pride. They present themselves as meek, but believe they are superior to other Christians.

…in worshiping angels. Their focus is on spiritual beings other than Christ. This can work the other way too, by paying too much attention to spiritual warfare and finding demons everywhere.

…in sharing visions. These people are eager to tell you the “latest word from the Lord.” The danger of these visions is the reality of subjective bias. We cannot trust our own imaginations or emotions. We want so badly for these impulses to be from God. When a legalist has a vision, they are certain that it must be a revelation and follow it religiously.

…in idle notions. They draw false conclusions. They come up with a teaching that promises to lead you to God but it really leads you away.

            When legalists succeed in building into you a fear of making mistakes or not living up to their standard of faith and life, we become like ill-taught piano students. We play our songs, but we never really hear them or enjoy them because our main concern is not to make music but to avoid flubbing and getting into trouble.

            Then…then we know… that they…and we…have lost connection with the Head, that is, Christ.

3. Remember that you are Free

Whether you are prone to being legalistic or are a victim of legalism, you need to remember the essence of this letter to the Colossians. Christ is supreme; Christ is the sustainer; and Christ is sufficient. Christ is enough. You are saved by what He did, not what we can do.

            Paul refers to 2:11-12 (we were buried with Christ in baptism) when he says, “Since you died with Christ to the elemental spiritual forces of this world, why, as though you still belonged to the world, do you submit to its rules?” (2:20).

            You no longer belong to this world. Is vibrant Christianity defined by one’s refusal to dance or enter a bar? Are you more saved because you are an environmentalist and recycle? The rules “Don’t taste! Don’t touch!” focus on personal denial. They were trying to help people to put the brakes on the appetites of the flesh. Sounds reasonable. And we are definitely called to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Jesus. We need discipline. But these legalists were saying that the rules themselves made them more acceptable to God. Nothing you do can make you acceptable to God, because Christ has already made you acceptable to God.

            You are not bound by rules then. It seems that we are drawn to making rules so that we can put everything in a category. People who are orderly and neat like it when everything has a place. I know that I am like that; I am someone who appreciates rules. We need to remember that rules are a human invention and belong to a world that is passing away. They are based on “human commands and teaching” (22).

            The Pharisees and teachers of the law once asked Jesus why His disciples did not live according to their traditions, traditions that had been passed down from generation to generation. Jesus replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.’ You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men” (Mk 7:6-8).

            Do you see the difference in Jesus’ words concerning commands and traditions? God’s commands are at the heart of knowing who He is, so we don’t abandon His law in that sense. Human traditions, however, distract us from the heart of God. We must differentiate between God’s command and our own rules about those commands, how we think we ought to keep those commands.

            You are free from the flesh. Since we died with Christ, our sinful nature is buried with Him. We are no longer slaves to the sinful nature because we are essentially dead to it. So Paul says that even though these rules look wise and helpful, and denying oneself harshly seems spiritual, “they lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (23b).

            Since legalism focuses on superficial spirituality, it seems easier to keep the external rules than actually deal with the issue of the heart. It’s easier to “not play cards,” or whatever, than to deal with a bitter heart. It is easier to conform outwardly to the standards of a social group like the church than to put on the nature of Christ. Thus we can pretend to “be” Christian, all the while struggling inside with our guilt.

            But you are free in Christ. Guard that freedom. “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery” (Gal. 5:1). If we believe that Christ is enough, then our righteousness does not need to be earned by rule-keeping; Christ is the only person who kept the law 100 percent; we never could. Put your faith in His work on the cross and know that you are free indeed.

            Extreme adherence to the letter of the law can come back to bite you in time to come.

            One year Dave Hagler was working as an umpire in a rec-baseball league in Boulder, Colorado. Unfortunately, Dave got pulled over for speeding one day. He tried to talk the officer out of giving him a ticket. Dave asked for leniency since it could make his insurance go up. But the officer was relentless and told Dave that he could take the matter to court if he didn’t like the ticket.

            Fast-forward to the first game of the next baseball season. Dave was umpiring behind the plate when he recognized the policeman coming to bat. The officer also noticed Dave and asked how the whole ticket thing turned out. Dave simply replied, "You better swing at everything!"[ii]

            You will notice that I did not get specific about the rules we follow. I did not want to be legalistic in pointing out legalism. I leave it to you to take these words and evaluate your own path in life.

            Let me ask you this: "What is your Christianity like?"

1. Is it focused on yourself or on Christ?

2. Is it focused on sin and failure or grace and           forgiveness?

3. Is it anchored in personal experiences or in the Word        of God?

4. Has it set you free or tied you up?

5. Does it make you cry, or dance?

            Remember your freedom in Christ; Guard your freedom in Christ.

                                                            AMEN

---

[i] These definitions of legalism are a compilation and improvisation of two pastors’ works: Bruce Goettsche and Brian Bill. I used their ideas and came up with my own list, as it were. 

[ii] Source: Everybody’s Normal Till You Get To Know Them, John Ortberg, 2003, p.158 (Found in "In Other Words - June 2007 #2 - by Dr. Raymond McHenry) From a sermon by Rick Crandall, "God’s Plan for Our Relational Health" 2/19/2009

Colossians #4

THE STRUGGLE FOR CHRISTIAN MATURITY

Paul says, “I want you to know how hard I am struggling for you…” (2:1). He was continuing the thought at the end of chapter one where he explains his ministry purposes. “To this end I labor, struggling with all his energy…” (1:29).

            Before we look at the purpose of Paul’s struggle, I want to focus on that word “struggle” itself. Your translation may have “contending” or “struggling,” but the Greek word is “agona” from which we get the English word “agony.” The Greeks tended to see everything as a fight between two opposing sides. Memorizing your lines for a school play is an agon, a fight between you and the play. Getting up in the morning when you are still tired is a battle between your mind and your body. The conflict between eating a cheeseburger and a salad is an agon, a fight. Even a courtship is an agon where one person tries to win the other’s heart.

            One of my greatest agonies involves stepping onto the treadmill. I really don’t enjoy being forced to walk at 4 miles an hour for fifteen minutes (after which I switch to the stationary bike), but I know that my cholesterol and blood pressure demand it. My agony intensifies when I look down at the timer to discover that only three minutes have gone by when it feels like ten.

            Agony does not feel good but to agonize or to make an effort produces good results. We will not win or succeed unless we strive to win. In the same way, Paul agonized over the Colossian believers to present them as mature in Christ. He agonized in prayer: “We have not stopped asking God to fill you…” (1:9); he agonized in suffering: “…I rejoice in what was suffered for you…” (1:24); and he agonized in teaching (1:28-29).

            Like Paul, we must agonize, make an effort, to be what God has called us to be: Mature in Christ. Salvation is not the end but the beginning of our spiritual journey. Maturity is our goal. So let us consider the maturity that Paul seeks in us.

1. Mature Christians are encouraged in heart

Paul states his ministry goals clearly: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart…” (2:2a). We know that a heretical group, some false teachers, had discouraged the church and caused them to doubt. These teachers had tried to convince the believers that they lacked knowledge of the holy things. Paul revealed the sufficiency and supremacy of Christ to them to encourage them: “You are on the right path.”

            The word “encourage” comes from the Greek term “to call alongside.” This is a similar term that Jesus uses to describe the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit coming alongside them, they can know the joy of knowing Jesus.

            An encouraged heart knows the joy of the Lord and joy is a protection against discouragement (Phil. 3:1; 4:4). Discouragement leads to a spirit of defeatism. When we feel defeated in our Christian life we find we can’t serve, we have no energy to fight the good fight. Defeatism can cause us to turn to other sources than Jesus, other comforts or vices.

            We all have an Achilles heel, a secret button (known to some) that causes us to crumble into discouragement. Paul’s preventative defense is joy. Rejoice in all situations. “Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds (Js. 1:2).

2. Mature Christians are united in love

One aspect the false teachers emphasized in their pursuit of the great mystery of the universe was knowledge. They sought knowledge as the be-all-end-all of life, like it was the key to spiritual enlightenment. Knowledge is good, but without love, the church is just an institution of higher learning. Paul’s goal included love: “My purpose is that they may be…united in love” (2:2b).

            God is love. To know God is to know love. When people come to know God’s love, they find they can love each other. Some of your translations say it better: “My purpose is that they may be…knit together in love.” I like that. God’s people will be like knitting, intertwined and joined together when they allow love to draw them together. “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up” (1 Cor. 8:1b). Love characterizes the people of God. Only as Christians are “rooted and established in love, can they comprehend or grasp the fullness of God’s love” (Eph. 3:17-18).

            One preacher addressed his congregation with his understanding of what love looks like in the church. He said that this love is magnetic or attractive when it is lived out. True love in the body of Christ means:

-          We treasure each other

-          We spotlight gifts and abilities; not faults and failures

-          We celebrate others’ gifts without resentment

-          We rally around each other in times of loss

-          We allow each other to have “bad days”

-          We are quick to forgive

-          We act in kindness to one another

-          We defend each other

-          We are willing to give in to other ways of doing things

-          And we listen to a list like this and wonder how we could love better rather than grieving that we are not better loved.

Mature Christians allow their love for a brother or sister to rule over “feelings” that are contrary to godliness.

3. Mature Christians have a full understanding of Christ

Knowledge without love is cold. Love without knowledge, or a proper understanding of the truth, can be very dangerous. These false teachers at Colossae targeted the deity of Christ, the sufficiency of Christ, and the effectiveness of the gospel. Without a sufficient knowledge of Christ and the gospel, we will be led astray by any and all new teachings (Eph. 4:14).

            This is why Paul agonized over these believers “in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” (2:2c-3).

            While the teachers were saying “Christ is not enough,” Paul countered saying “Christ is everything you need to know.” Personally knowing Jesus is the only way you will know the depth of divine wisdom. You need a personal relationship with Jesus to truly understand life.

            We can know Jesus primarily through studying the Bible. Only through a knowledge of the Scriptures can we grow in maturity. Here are a few reasons why:

            Knowledge of the Bible gives substance to faith. When you do not know the truth, you are forced to rely on emotions or feelings or someone’s opinion.

            Knowledge of the Bible gives stability in times of testing. When you know God’s promises we have something to hold on to in the midst of the struggle.

            Knowledge of the Bible equips us to handle the Bible correctly. The more we know the Bible, the better we are able to understand it. Then it forms our values, rather than using the Bible to validate our opinions.

            Knowledge of the Bible equips us to detect error and confront it.

            Knowledge of the Bible equips us to walk with God. The better we know the Lord, the better we understand what He requires of us and how we can please Him.

            Knowledge of the Bible filters out our fears and superstitions. God’s Word silences the voices that distract us.[i]

            Paul calls Christ the mystery of God – not that the mystery is found in Christ – the mystery is Christ. And in Christ we find the mystery of what it means to be godly – He is the way to godliness, as it says in the ancient hymn (1 Tim. 3:16).

4. Mature Christians can stand firm against opposition

Just as the Colossian believers faced heretics who did not believe in the supremacy of Christ, we face similar groups today. False religions today still refute the divinity of Christ: Jehovah’s Witnesses, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the Church of Scientology for example. And more and more within the church in North America, we find that Christians disagree on the person and role of Christ in the life of the believer.

            Paul, however, delighted “to see how orderly and disciplined you are and how firm your faith in Christ is” (2:5). With their love of Christ and each other established by their knowledge of Christ, the church was standing firm against the onslaught of heresy and unbelief.

            Paul used two military words in this verse “orderly” and “firm.” The greatest enemy of the church is Satan, and he uses external and internal means to dismantle what Christ is doing in us. He will use “truths” that sound like truth, that is so close to truth, some can’t tell the difference. We are in a battle and so military language is appropriate. To be “orderly” means that like an army, we must stand in formation. Everyone in a formation has a specific role (form square). If one member does not hold formation, Satan gets a foothold. When one of us is disgruntled and refuses to submit to the will of God, or refuses to use their gift, a door is opened to the enemy. But when each person holds the line of faith and life, the formation is dynamic and unbeatable.

            To be “firm” means standing together no matter what comes out the door. That’s what Maximus told his fellow gladiators when they faced an unknown enemy in the arena. Stand firm no matter what comes. Put on the full armor of God so that when the day of evil comes you may be able to stand your ground (Eph 6:13).

5. Mature Christians continue to walk in Christ

It is said that the next two verses summarize the whole letter to the Colossians. Indeed, they summarize what we have been hearing Paul say this morning about maturity in Christ. “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness” (2:6-7).

            Salvation is just the beginning. By faith in Jesus who died on the cross as an offering for our sins, we are forgiven and reconciled to God. Now, with that same dependency on Christ, we walk with Him.

            To walk with Christ is to grow more to be like Him. I imagine that walk to be something like a small intimate group crowded around Jesus, hearing Him talk, listening to His stories and thoughts about life, seeing Him interact with people along the way, and even getting to ask Him questions. As this group walks with Jesus, each of us takes turns coming up beside Him and having a moment to ask that probing question that sits heavily in our thoughts. While we walk with Jesus, we grow. This is the journey of life. The crowd is the church. We don’t walk alone with Jesus; we walk together, enjoying His person as a community of disciples.

            Paul seems to mix his metaphors in these two verses. But one thing characterizes all of them: growth. These two verses challenge us to…

Grow downward, sinking deep roots into the life of Jesus.

Grow upward, being built up in character to be like Him.

Grow inward, strengthened in the faith, the beliefs and doctrines of Christ, who He is and what He came to do.

Grow outward, overflowing with thankfulness, like a river overflowing its banks, unable to be contained because we recognize the work of God in our lives.

            The mature Christian grows and keeps growing until the Lord Jesus calls us home.

How can we tell if we are mature Christians?

            In life we mark maturity in several ways. We feel “grown up” when we receive our driver’s license at 16 years of age. We graduate from high school and maybe College or University a few years later. I remember one friend of mine saying that she felt invisible in our Winnipeg church until she got married – all of sudden people noticed her. Are these the marks of a maturing life?

            Throughout the years, in moments of immaturity, people have told us to “grow up” and “act your age.” Implied was their opinion that you weren’t acting maturely. If maturity means sitting quietly with a sour expression on our faces, then I don’t want to grow up.  

            At my age I would have thought that I would feel mature, or at least more mature. But in fact I feel as though I still have some growing up to do.

            How can you tell if you are a mature Christian?

Rick Warren wrote, “There are no short cuts to maturity.

It takes years for us to grow to adulthood, and it takes a full season for fruit to mature and ripen. The same is true for the fruit of the Spirit. The development of Christlike character cannot be rushed. Spiritual growth, like physical growth, takes time.

            When you try to ripen fruit quickly, it loses its flavor. In America, tomatoes are usually picked unripened so they won’t bruise during shipping to the stores. Then, before they are sold, these green tomatoes are sprayed with CO2 gas to turn them red instantly. Gassed tomatoes are edible, but they are no match to the flavor of a vine-ripened tomato that is allowed to mature slowly.”[ii]

            That’s why life in Christ is pictured as a walk and not a ride in a Shelby Mustang. It takes a lifetime to walk with Jesus and grow in maturity. Paul agonized, he made every effort, to help the Colossians grow. In the same way, I present to you these words of Paul’s so that we all might grow in maturity together.

                                                AMEN

---

[i] Adapted from Charles Swindoll’s “Six Benefits of Being Spiritually Informed”

[ii] Rick Warren, The Purpose Driven Life (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2002), 217.

Colossians #3

LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF TRUTH

There are competing voices in every aspect of life (environment, politics, and faith). Which voice do we listen to? You might choose the voice that best fits your core values and belief systems. But even then we may be setting the course of our lives on a subjective, emotional response that only seems right but is in fact leading you astray.

            The story is told of a man who used to stop by a clock shop every morning and stare at one particular clock in the window. One morning the owner of the store came out (sensing a chance for a sale) and remarked that he had seen the man stop there every day to look at that "beautiful" clock. The stranger replied, "I am somewhat embarrassed to admit that I stop here every day because my watch is not very accurate. Every morning I synchronize my watch with this clock. You see, I am the time keeper at the factory and I am the one charged to blow the whistle at 4:00 to signal quitting time." The shopkeeper began laughing. He said, "I must admit that this clock is not very accurate either. Every day I set it by the 4:00 whistle at the factory."

            Obviously, when neither of these clocks is a dependable standard, the standard will become more and more corrupted. This is exactly what is happening in our world. People are determining their standard of right and wrong (and their view of God) by the prevailing view of public opinion. And Public Opinion is determined by the prevailing standard of right and wrong! Is it any wonder, then, that our society drifts deeper and deeper into the mire of perversity? There is no standard of truth! There is no fear of God before their eyes!

            The Christians at Colossae were listening to the voices that so confidently declared that the gospel they believed was too simple. Those voices invited the believers to discover the deeper mysteries of faith beyond Christ and the gospel. Paul’s response was to bring them back to the simple truth that secured their faith and gave them hope in a hopeless world.

1. Truth: You are not what you once were

Having established that Christ is the image of the invisible God, the Creator, the Sustainer of all things, the Supreme and utterly effective Savior of the world, Paul turns to the Colossians themselves. He recalls their former situation: Who were they? What was their status before God?

            Paul describes their pre-Christian condition (and ours) in three jarring expressions. These expressions sound a lot like Eph. 2:1-3 and remind us that all of us were once lost and worse “objects of wrath.”

            The first expression in this letter is this: “Once you were alienated from God…” In the Greek, the word “alienated” means “to be separated as a stranger, to be shut out from.” There is quite a difference between being an alien and being alienated. Every foreigner in Canada is considered an alien, unless they become a citizen of Canada, renouncing their allegiance to their former country and being subject to Canadian law and life. But if a Canadian were to reject Canada and become a citizen of Iran, for instance, that person would be alienated from us, especially if that person fought against the country that gave him or her birth.

            Sin alienates us from God. While we live in our sin, we are shut out from relationship with God. Isaiah states this quite bluntly, “But your iniquities have separated you from your God; your sins have hidden his face from you, so that he will not hear” (Is. 59:2).

            The second expression builds on the first: “… (you) were enemies in your minds…” To be in a state of alienation from God breeds hostility. We hate God because we perceive that God opposes us. Our rebellion rejects His authority, our unrighteousness hates His righteousness, our inferiority hates His supremacy – we want our way, not His way.

            I have spoken about syncretism recently and it fits here. Christians try to straddle the line between faith and the world and it is a difficult and impossible task. We try to be friends with the world in order to attract the world to our faith. But our faith becomes worldly. As James wrote, friendship with the world is hostility towards God (Js. 4:4).

            And the third expression is a product of the first two: “evil behavior.” What we think we are apt to do. Alienation from God conjures hostility towards God and thus we act out in rebellion. But to cover up this behavior we justify our actions. “Sin” is old fashioned and politically incorrect. This attitude leads to Denial (“I didn’t do anything wrong”), Diversion (“Everyone does it”), Repression (avoiding value judgments), Rationalization (“It’s not really stealing”), and Renaming (It’s not sin, it’s a syndrome or disorder).

            Thankfully, Paul opened with “once” indicating that this is a past condition of those who now believe in Jesus. We do, however, need to be reminded of what we have been saved from. Believers must never forget their sinful nature. G.K. Chesterton wrote in response to a question in the London Times. The question: “What’s wrong with the world?” Chesterton replied, “I am. Yours truly, G.K. Chesterton.”

2. Truth: You are reconciled to God

That was then, this is now. When Epaphras came preaching Christ, their status changed when the Colossians believed. Praise God, Paul notes this change with the words “But now.” The drama of those two words cannot be over-expressed.

            “But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation - ”

            The message of reconciliation has both a cosmic and a personal aspect to it. We tend to think of reconciliation as only about us and God, but in v. 20 God is shown to send Christ to reconcile to himself all things. That means that all of Creation has a serious problem. All of Creation suffers from the effects of sin and longs for restoration (Rom. 8:20-21). Creation groans for its liberation from frustration.

            The personal aspect certainly appeals more to us. We see this illustrated in Adam’s sin in Genesis 3:8 when God came looking for him. What did Adam do? He hid. This is a picture of man’s relationship to God – he hides from God. Light has come into the world when Jesus arrived, but people hated the light and hid in darkness because they were evil (John 3:19-20).

            To be reconciled to God is to be changed from one thing to another. We were messed up, broken, unfixable – we had to be completely changed. This was only possible through the physical, bodily death of Jesus. “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God…” (1 Pet. 3:18).

            False teachers in Colossae claimed to have knowledge of a mystery and offered to share this mystery with them. It was said to be a door to greater spiritual awareness. Mystery religions were prevalent in those days. You see that Paul takes that word “mystery” and redefines it in vv. 26-27. Here is the true mystery revealed: While we were enemies of God, Christ, God’s Son died for us. The mystery of the gospel is not just that we are made acceptable to God, it is that God wanted us at all. The mystery of the gospel that Paul was a faithful steward of was that those who were once enemies of God are now called His friends. The mystery goes deeper in that God makes these friends His children – we are now family. That is truly a mystery.

            With this new status we are presented as holy in His sight, no blemish, with none who can accuse us and win. Corrie Ten Boom used to say, “Jesus takes your sin, past, present, and future, dumps it in the ocean and puts up a sign that reads ‘No Fishing.’”

            Contained in the mystery is this fantastic statement “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (27). His literal presence in our lives is the promise of hope; hope is that quality that despite the trials and travails of this life, there is something better in store. Christ is in you, the hope of glory.

3. Truth: You need to continue in your Faith

Since there are so many voices competing for our attention and allegiance, we can at times feel like a tiny row boat tossed about on a stormy sea. Paul’s “if” in v. 23 can seem like a point of doubt but it is really a reminder to stay the course.

            Consider the “if”: We are reconciled, holy in God’s sight, free from blemish and accusation – “if you continue in your faith, established and firm, not moved from the hope held out in the gospel” (23).

            The word “if” takes away the safety of living as you please while enjoying the grace of God. This response to our reconciliation with God takes for granted the cost that Christ incurred for our sakes. So the “if” implies that there is a condition or a consequent course of action that is appropriate regarding the gift. The writer of Hebrews employs the “if” in discussing our participation in Christ when he writes, “We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the confidence we had at first” (Heb. 3:14).

            To put such a condition on our salvation is not unusual or illogical. Consider an illustration from marriage. Let’s say a man marries a woman and has an elaborate wedding ceremony. Following the ceremony, however, he never sees the young woman again. He wears the ring, tells people he’s married, and enjoys the status of a married individual. So a relationship with the woman never develops: he doesn’t put in the work of nurturing the relationship, to “love and obey, in sickness and in health” never enters his mind. What kind of marriage is this?

            This is where the “if” enters the picture. If you invest yourself in the marriage, if you sacrifice for your spouse, if you endure hardships together, if you spend your whole life serving your spouse, then you will reap the joys of marriage.

            There are people who acknowledge Christ, even attending church services, showing themselves to be disciples, but they have no real relationship with Christ. Sadly, one day, Christ will say, “I never knew you.”

            The message of reconciliation lands squarely on the fact that we are reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. Our faith has a doctrinal element to it: We believe in the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Christ for the sins of the world. But, and this is the “if” element of faith, it also has an element of commitment and obedience to follow Him. When you really believe something it will affect how you live. (More of this in ch. 3).

            This is why Paul is so adamant about his ministry to the Colossians. His ministry, and the ministry of all pastors including myself, is two-fold.

            On the one hand, Paul knows that God has called him “to present to you the word of God in its fullness” (25). I know that you know this but it bears repeating. The word of God, the scriptures, that Paul taught everywhere he went was the OT, the prophets like Isaiah, from which he revealed the person of Jesus Christ. The NT would come later. The Bible that early believers read was primarily the OT. That is why we preach the whole word of God in our church. We believe and affirm that the Bible is true from beginning to end.

            On the other hand, Paul had a deep desire to proclaim this word of God “so that we may present everyone perfect in Christ” (28). We know that we will not be perfect in this life. But we also know that the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives through the word of God is to perfect us in the meantime. This is a process that spans our lifetimes and beyond. We participate in this process by learning to obey Christ.

            That is the significance of “if.” Don’t let anyone rob you of the faith and hope that you have in Christ. Live it standing firm in your belief. We must never be moved from the gospel by other voices.

This is a simple truth. You know this truth. Yet, as the hymnist once wrote, “prone to wander, Lord I feel it.” So you let me remind you once again of this standard on which we build our lives.

            If we forget what we once were, we ignore or deny the sinful nature that had us enslaved to sin. The church cannot allow “sin” to be renamed or considered passé in today’s culture of tolerance and acceptance of each individual’s choice. To do so is to water down the gospel and make it irrelevant. If we allow that to happen, the church becomes irrelevant and many will close their doors.

            The acknowledgement of that sinful past makes the message of reconciliation that much more poignant. Paul declared, “For if, when were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life” (Rom. 5:10). The message of reconciliation loses its power if sin is of no mortal consequence. But we see that it is of spiritual and physical consequence, and thus we worship God more vibrantly because we know we have been truly saved.

            Then, having seen the power of God’s love through Jesus Christ’s bodily death and how it brings us to Him, we surely must respond with gratitude, living our lives with the holiness and purity that Christ won for us.

            Listen to the voice of truth. This is the message of reconciliation. This is our message.

                                                            AMEN