Holding it Together

Colossians 1:10-20New International Version (NIV)

10 so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, 12 and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.13 For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

The Supremacy of the Son of God

15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.19 For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

As I prepared for the message this morning, everything I kept reading said that the preacher would be better off only to focus on a 2-3 verses of this scripture otherwise the parishioners would like be overwhelmed by the amount of theological meat in these 11 verses.  As I began to prepare and write, it was overwhelming to me.  Where do I start?  What do I do?  Which two or three verses do I choose?  What if I don’t choose the right ones?  What if I don’t speak to the topic most of the hearers in the congregation need to hear?  What if I get it wrong?  What....? what....? What.....?  Since I was having a brain cramp with what to write and how to start, I did the only logical thing I could think of... I started scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed.  I stumbled across this article from Relevant Magazine called the Dangers of Theological Pettiness: Why the Who of Faith has a bigger impact than the What.  It was like a theological slap across the face.  I was entirely too focused on the “what” of the message instead of the “who”.  There are not many scriptures in the New Testament that lay out the “who” much better than Paul does here.  If someone you know is struggling with understanding the role of Christ, then this scripture is an excellent go to.  It will also serve as a great reminder to us this morning as well.

I have kept you pretty well versed in the struggle that is bed time for Cora.  Here is an update: it hasn’t gotten any better.  Everyone is in bed by 7:30 and it is usually at least 8:30 before Cora is asleep.  There have been some updates to the routine which include either taking pajamas off if she put them on before going to bed or putting them on if she didn’t.  We read a book.  The same book, each night.  She has to touch the ceiling, the ceiling fan, and jump higher which is a free fall to bed from 2 feet above it.  One of the additions is kind of neat though, she asks me to pray with her.  I ask her what she wants to pray about and it typically includes the events of that day, going to nanas, going to school, tumbling and she even likes to throw in swimming lessons in which she did not partake in and were four months ago.  As I was praying one evening, she asked me what and where God was.  I told her God was the creator of the universe, that He made everything she could see.  That He loved us and was all around us.  I could see her start to panic.  She stops me and asks, “Is God in here (in the room) with us?”  I said, “of course He is” thinking that this would ease her mind.  It didn’t.  She said that she didn’t want God in there.  It was overwhelming for her to think He could be in there.  A gesture that seemed kind of silly to me at the time.  But as I read the aforementioned article, her concerns started to make more sense.  She was so set on “what” God was and is instead of the “who” and the “what” was overwhelming and intimidating.

It is important that I reread the “who” found in verses 13-20 where it is outlined it pretty well:  For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.  The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.  He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.  And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy.  For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.  In short, Christ rescues us from the darkness, is the image of the invisible, firstborn over all creation, he is the head of the church, and peacemaker.  This is the essence of Christ.  He gives God a face.  He gives the love and grace of God an identity through his actions and words.  Jesus is the “who” and we sometimes turn him into the “what” which causes a whole host of issues.

Generation after generation has argued over the “what”.  A look at the landscape of church denominations perfectly illustrates this.  The “what” of faith polarizes and divides.  It overwhelms and intimidates.  We can get too caught up in the what...  This is not to say that the particulars of faith aren’t important.  They are.  But they can become too important.  I had a conversation the other day and the person whom I was speaking with said they left the church because they were asked to do too much.  They just wanted to go to church to worship and fellowship.  They didn’t want to be on a committee or the board any more.  In a pastor’s perfect world, everyone’s faith would inspire them to want to participate outside the pews and inside the inner workings of a church.  However, if this particular “what” becomes too much of an issue, we are losing sight of the “who”.  This is one of the many examples of the “what” that may drive people away from the church.  So many of us are afraid of change, myself included.  But if change is needed to better suit those who fill these pews then it is not just an option.  It is a must.  

So, here we are on the cusp of Thanksgiving and the start of Advent and we are going to spend the next month on the baby “who” that changed the world and I will be doing a sermon series on Romans 12 the first three Sundays of Advent.  It is my hope that this will better enable us to focus on the “who” rather than being too focused on the “what”.  As we close today, I will echo the sentiments of Paul’s prayers for the people of Colossae as we prepare for the Thanksgiving and Advent, “may you live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.”  Earlier I said, Christ gives God a face and gives God an identity through his actions and words.  You are now that face, you are now that identity.  How are you making God look?  What illustration are your presenting to the world?