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.