Life in Christ

It's been a while since I have posted to my blog. Maybe 2016 will provide more time for me to blog some thoughts. I'll kick it off with my sermon from this past Sunday at Weatherly Heights Baptist Church. 

Life in Christ

Colossians 3: 1-17

Rev. Patrick Streeter

Theologian N.T. Wright offers this analogy to describe a life in Christ. “It is like someone taking off in an airplane just as dawn is breaking and flying rapidly westward, catching up with the end of the night and arriving in the new country in time to experience dawn all over again. One’s body and mind know it’s already daytime, while the world around them is still waiting for the dawn to break. That is the picture of the Christian, living in the new day of God’s kingdom; a kingdom launched by Jesus while the rest of the world is still turning over in bed. Paul’s vision of Christian virtue, centered here as elsewhere on faith, hope, and love, is all about developing the habits of the daytime heart in a world still full of darkness.”

I like this thought a lot. To live a life in Christ, we must develop habits of the daytime heart in a world still full of darkness. That is the goal to a life in Christ. Paul outlines in our passage how we are to pursue this goal and how we deal with the realities in the darkness of this world. We live in a world that is too often dark. We live in a world filled with pain and suffering. We live in a world of scandals, corruption, terrorism, and fear. The political climate and win-at-all cost doesn’t often inspire confidence in our leaders. This past year, we have struggled within our own community to understand how we are to love others, accept others, and welcome all with diverse opinions. Paul speaks to this world that we live in, here and now. What does it mean and what does it look like to live a life in Christ in a dark world? What Paul challenges us with today is that to pursue a life in Christ, there are things that we must let go of so that we can pick other things up.

When I was growing up, I had a red radio flyer wagon, similar to the one on our stage today.  I kept it at my grandfather’s house. He had over 6 acres of woods and farmland that I would spend my summers and weekends exploring.  I loved to go all over the place and would take my red wagon with me. I would take it when I went down to the orchard to pick apples and pears. Many times the branches were too high and I would use my wagon as a platform to stand on while I picked some of the fruit and then would carry my stash in my wagon. When I decided to build a tree house in the large magnolia tree, I would use my wagon to carry supplies from the house to the tree. There were several large hills on the property and I would often use my wagon as a go-cart to ride down the hills. I took my wagon everywhere. I put things in the wagon and took things out as my journeys took me everywhere.

As we travel throughout our own journeys in life, there are things that we will pick-up that will follow along with us. Some of these things will be due to the circumstances that we are in, some will arise from our responses to situations and people and some of it will be the baggage that we hold onto as we move away from a situation. Some of that which we will pick-up will be good, but some will not and Paul encourages us to unload that which keeps us from a life in Christ.

Paul writes about those things that we are called to unload from our wagon. He says, “Put to death, therefore, whatever in you is earthly: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire and greed.” This first list that Paul writes about are the sins of exploitation, using the body of another person to quench one’s obsession with self-gratification. Paul continues in verse eight by saying, “But now, you must get ride of all such things, anger, wrath, malice, slander, and abusive language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another.” This list is sins of abuse that are intending to break down and destroy another. These are things that can we put into our wagon. We must remove them so that we can put in things that point us to a life in Christ. I don’t know about you but I don’t intentionally go looking to fill my wagon with anger, slander, evil desires and greed. That is not who I am, and not who God has made us to be. But, I do know that like you, I fall short. I fall into temptation and I mess up. It is with those mistakes, lessons in life that sometimes these things fall into my wagon.

What do you need to remove from your wagon? What are you carrying in your wagon that it is time to let go of? You wagon is only built to hold a certain amount and is your wagon filled with the good stuff? Or does your wagon weigh you down with that in life that we are called to release? N.T Wright says this about the behaviors that we may carry in our wagon: “ The behavior outlined is characteristic of distorted humanity. Being itself out of shape, it tends to twist everything else- people, by manipulation or anger; facts, by lying- to make them fit in with its own distortions. The humanity which has been straightened out according to the perfect model, that of Christ, has no excuse for this behavior. The standard now is the life of heaven.” Don’t miss this. We are called to unload our wagon with that which humanity often says is right because Christ sets the standard for us. A life in Christ is to pursue the mark set before us.

Just as we unpack our wagon, we must fill it back up. Carrying an empty wagon will leave us susceptible to filling our wagon up again with things not worthy of Christ. God is there to give us the tools that we need to load our wagon. Paul reminds us of that which we should pick up and put in our wagon, but he begins with a reminder of the invitation to the life in Christ. Did you catch that? Beginning in verse 12 Paul writes, “As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,” Paul writes these words with intention. He writes these words as a reminder to us. As the chosen ones, we are called out by God. As the Holy, we are set apart and as the beloved we were loved before we even thought to ask for it. There are no barriers to the body of Christ. That is how God designed it; the barriers put up are out of our self-reliance and not on our reliance in Christ. We must remember that we were purposed by God. God has chosen us, set us apart for God’s purpose and has loved us even before we realized the need for God’s love. Don’t take lightly how hard God is fighting

 for you.

            The verse continues and Paul gives us the list to pack into our wagon. Put in compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. You will face situations in life that will give you the opportunity to show compassion and kindness, to demonstrate meekness and patience, and to embrace humility.  How will you respond? Out of love? Through forgiveness? When we put these things in our wagon and we encounter situations what difference does this make? It makes all the difference. I must take a moment and confess; I find it difficult to forgive sometimes. I don’t know if you struggle with this as well, but I sometimes do. Part of my struggle includes the need to be right. I want validation for my hurt feelings. I want validation that I was done wrong. Often though, to forgive, we must understand that is it not about being right, but about being loving. Forgiveness comes through the realization that it’s not about being right, it about being loving.

            Thomas Edison was working with several others on a crazy contraption called a “light bulb”. It took a whole team of men 24 straight hours to put just one bulb together. When Edison was finished with the one light bulb, he gave it to a young boy helper, who nervously carried it up the stairs. Step by step he cautiously watched his hands, obviously afraid of dropping such a priceless piece of work. In his nervousness, the poor young fellow dropped the bulb at the top of the stairs, where it shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. It took the entire team of men 24 more hours to make another bulb. Finally, tired and ready for a beak, Edison was ready to have his bulb carried up the stairs. To the other’s surprise, Edison gave it to the same young boy who dropped the first one. As difficult as it may be sometimes, we are called to forgive. A life in Christ requires us to forgive others and to receive forgiveness. Christ offers us unconditional forgiveness and we are called to do the same for others.

            Paul was well aware that conflict arises within churches and he gave instructions for those situations as well. Paul says, “Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other, just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” This past year has been a difficult year in the life of our church. We have been faced with decisions and opportunities to respond.  What does it mean to be a church that lives together in community but respects each other’s differences? What does it mean to be a church that welcomes and accepts all, while still respectful to each ones views and values? What does it mean to forgive when we have been hurt or have hurt others? We have wrestled with these and other questions. I hope we have come to believe and realize that our differences in how we see and view things are not greater than the common bond that we all share in Christ Jesus. A life in Christ calls us to embrace compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Once we have embraced these things we are called to share these things with our community and world. A life in Christ calls us to share our experiences with others.

The boarder message of Paul is his call for unity. This call for unity is met through love. So, if you forget all that I have reminded you about compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience, remember that all you need is love.

           

“Above all, clothe yourself with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” Often we close our worship services with the song Blest be the Tie that binds.

“Blest be the tie that binds, our hearts in Christian love; the fellowship of kindred minds is like to that above.”

“Embrace love, but embrace a costly love. Costly love has real risk and consequence. It is a kenotic love that drains your own self to give new life to someone else. Costly love is sacrificial. This is why when we look for our picture of love, we look to the cross. In the context of Colossians, true love requires real investment. Forgiving in a deeply loving way is letting go of debt or complaint so that you may be free to embrace without obstacle or hindrance. This requires a serious and long-term investment in reconciliation.”

            So we do all of this, we unpack that which hinders us from embracing a life in Christ. We fill our wagon with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience. We forgive and we embrace a costly love. And while we do all of this, we allow the peace of Christ to rule in our hearts. It is fitting and not a mistake that Paul closes this section with this reminder. What would dealing with conflict look like if the peace of Christ ruled in our heart? I think we would see clarity in the trust that we are to follow as Christ guides us along. We would no longer feel lost and alone as we struggle to deal with the realities of every day. A life in Christ allows the peace of Christ to guide every decision we make. The peace of Christ gives us clarity and assurance. When we are sitting in our little red wagon, about to go down the hill, the peace of Christ steers that wagon and the contents in it. May our life reflect a life in Christ. May the peace of Christ consume us and fulfill us. Amen.

Foolish Wisdom

My Thoughts from Holy Weekthis past week:

1 Corinthians 1: 18-31

I love to retreat to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. This is my special place, and my favorite place to visit. If you have driven from here to Western North Carolina, you have likely taken the route of going up through Chattanooga and then Knoxville, and then the final stretch east on I-40 to Asheville, North Carolina. There is a windy stretch of about 15miles between the Tennessee and North Carolina border where you begin you descend into the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is a sight to see them in the distance and the closer you get, the bigger they become. The close you get, the larger they become and the smaller you seem to feel. You get into the valley of the mountains and you are surrounded by the towering mountainous forms that seem to engulf you and your car. You begin to experience and feel the greatness and grandeur of the mountains. This is what drawing close to something magnificent will do. It will make you feel smaller and smaller by comparison. This is precisely the dynamic that occurs in our own hearts when we draw near to the starkest, most magnificent display of God’s glory, the cross of Jesus Christ. This is the power and the experience that Paul was trying to draw the Corinthians to.

            As we continue through Holy week it is fitting that we focus on the cross. As Christians, the symbol of the cross is a powerful reminder of what was done for you and for me. In this present day it is a religious symbol, one that can be found in every church and somewhere in many Christian homes. To some extent, we have sanitized the cross and domesticated it. We gold-plate it and wear it around our necks. To those in the first century, this would have been unthinkable. To the Corinthians and others of that time, the meaning of the cross was not the same. In that time and place, the cross was a symbol of a horrific and cruel death. For one to be hung on a cross, you must have committed a pretty serious crime. Often those who were hung on a cross took several days to die and experienced immense suffering and pain.  In this passage, Paul reminds the Corinthians that the central Christian message was found in the cross- the message that Christ was crucified for our salvation. This notion seemed to be foolish to many wise people of this time. The Greeks of this time prided themselves on their wisdom while the Jews hoped for signs of a kingly Messiah who would make the nations strong. For the Greeks, this did not make sense that a man hanging on a cross would save the world. The Jews were focused too much on expecting signs and requiring God to prove Gods’ self to them before they would submit. Both thought the idea of a crucified Messiah or a god who could suffer and die was foolish. The simple message of the Gospel was God’s wisdom, yet some people continued to look for wondrous signs and other bold declarations and hidden truths.

            By Christ hanging on a cross, it turned upside down the world’s ideas of success and failure, victory and defeat and power and weakness. To save us from ourselves, Christ had to die. The foolishness of God is wiser than the greatest wisdom of the world. Our ways are not God’s ways. The Corinthians struggled with this foolish wisdom and we do as well.  Where in your life does the world’s wisdom seem to make sense more than God’s wisdom? How is the world’s wisdom guiding your life right now? If the world’s wisdom seems greater than God’s wisdom, consider that in those places of your life that you are seeking control rather than letting God take control.

            We live because He died. We are free from sin and suffering because He suffered for our sins. Our past sins, our present sins, and our sins yet to come. Because He lives, we can face tomorrow. But this was all done because of what was done on the cross, through the cross. Thomas Kempis writes, “In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection against our enemies; in the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of mind, in the cross is joy of spirit; in the cross is excellence of virtue; in the cross is perfection of holiness.”

            Everything that we do and believe should be based upon what has been done through the cross. Our hopes, dreams, fears, doubts, worries and desires must be in the cross. Where in your life do you need a reminder of the power of the cross? Where is the foolish wisdom of this world filling your heart? Has your idea of success, victory and power, been turned upside down by the cross? Sometimes we must be brought to our knees through suffering to embrace the power of the cross.

            There is a young woman and her two boys who are going through another rough time in their life. This family’s life has been filled with many scars. This family has been subject to an abusive husband and has had to deal with the emotional and physical scars from that time in their life. The younger son is autistic and is going through a difficult time in his life trying to make sense of everything. The mother has just been fired from her job because she has been diagnosed with MS. The family has no support system, no savings and no financial security to pay the bills and now is trying to make ends meet. I have asked what I can do to help and the response was to please pray. Pray that something works out so that food can be put on the table and they can receive the mediations they need to help their family. Pray for peace and direction as to where to go next. This is a family that knows what it means to lose everything, to be scarred by the wisdom of this world. This is a family that is beginning to see everything fade around them and all that is left is the cross before them.

            There is power in the cross and we are foolish to think otherwise. Too often the desires of this world can hide the power of the cross. We put other things before the cross that we think will fulfill us and sustain us. We put our jobs, our desire for money, our need for acceptance, our pursuit of earthly treasures, and our secret sin, in front of the cross. We rely on these things to give our life meaning and purpose. But these things will consume us and crumble before us because this is the world’s wisdom. This is what we are foolish to think will fulfill us and sustain us. Paul writes, God is the source of our life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.  Our victory in salvation and life can only be attained through the cross.          

You may remember the movie, A River Runs through It. The movie chronicles two brothers coming of age in early 20th century Missoula, Montana. The boys grow up under the stern direction of their minister father. This preacher teaches his sons about life, grace, and love, through the art of fly-fishing. But as the boys mature and follow very different paths (one straight-and-narrow, the other wild) they find that fishing is the one bond that still draws them together as adults. Thus, the title A River Runs through It was not a description of the land as much as it was a description of a recurring theme in their lives. When all else failed, they could always go back to the river and bond around their love of fly-fishing.

What if the Cross is meant to be the constant in our salvation. When all else fails, we can always go back to the cross and bond around our love for the One who died for us there. Ultimately, all that we believe is wrapped up in the cross of Christ. It is the central truth of the Christian faith and the preeminent event of human history. The cross is our message, our hope, our confidence. It is our badge of honor and the emblem of suffering and shame. Therefore, let us love the cross, preach the cross, stand by the cross, and never be ashamed of the cross. Hold it high as the banner of our salvation. Lift it up as the hope of the world. There is no power greater than the power of the cross. It is the only power that can lift men and women out of their sins, release them from condemnation, give them new life. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. May we put aside our own foolish wisdom and acknowledge the power of the cross. Amen.