 The Rev. Kathi Johnson
C Lectionary 15 – 14 July 2013
Text: Colossians 1:1-14
Our Redeemer Lutheran Church, Grand Prairie, Texas
+ INJ +
Grace to you, and peace, from God
our Father.[1]
Amen.
Today, we continue our series about
this summer’s epistle lessons – the letters written at the time of the
beginnings of the Christian church. We spent several weeks looking together at
the letter written by Paul to the church in Galatia. Now, we transition in our
readings to the letter to the church in Colossae.
Colossae was a fairly important
merchant town in the First Century – it was located in what is now western
Turkey. Being a merchant town, it had a fairly diverse population, including a
good-sized Jewish population.
Unlike Galatia, Paul had never been
to Colossae. The church there was actually founded by a man named Epaphras –
mentioned by Paul in Colossians as one who was a “beloved fellow servant” and a
“faithful minister of Christ.”[2] So
Paul is writing to a community that he has never met – introducing himself, as
it were – as well as giving them his words of teaching about the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
In today’s reading from Colossians,
we find the beginning of the letter. There is the customary greeting –
identifying Paul as the author, along with his “brother” in Christ, Timothy. He
offers them grace and peace on behalf of God, and then he launches right in to
the next part of the letter – the part missing from Galatians - what we call
the thanksgiving portion, in which he expresses thanksgiving for the
Colossians’ faith in Christ and the love they show to others.
Colossians is short, and it is also
densely packed. It would seem that the Colossian church was facing temptations
in their community to add extra elements to their Christian practices: like the
worship of angels, for instance, or focusing too much on festivals or Sabbath
days.[3]
The four chapters of Colossians, then, are full of Christ-centered language, as
Paul tries to explain to the Colossians and other readers in the region that
the Christian faith is – really – all about Jesus Christ. It’s all about Jesus Christ
– whom he says “is all and is in all.”[4]
When I was in college, I worked for
a couple of years at a family-owned Christian book and church supply store on
the north side of Austin. Our shelves were full of books – we had books about
angels and books about demons; books about heaven and books about hell. There
were books about living a Christian life now and books to learn about Church
history. And not just books, but Christian music, Bible software, pencils with
the Lord’s Prayer – and on and on. If you go into any local Christian bookstore
now, you’ll find similar products.
We Christians really like to
surround ourselves with all of this stuff – go in my office and look at all the
books in there! Much of it can be very helpful in our learning about God, the
Church, and the Bible.
But what happens when we strip it
all away? Do we even realize that when we strip all of that stuff away, Jesus
is still there? Are we even aware that while we might find all that stuff very
helpful and comforting, God doesn’t really need that stuff at all?
That’s what the letter to the
Colossians addresses – that when we strip away that other stuff: it’s all about
Jesus Christ. Jesus crucified, Jesus risen, Jesus reconciling us to God, Jesus
“making peace through the blood of his cross.”[5] So
while all that stuff can certainly help us to “lead lives worthy of the Lord,”[6] it
is vital that we remember that it is God who gives us spiritual wisdom, God who
makes us strong, and God who rescues us from the darkness and puts us into his
marvelous light.
It is this marvelous light that
helps us to see the world around us – to see what needs there are, and to address
those needs in whatever ways that we can. In seeing the needs, and responding
to them, we fulfill God’s call to “bear fruit in every good work.”[7] To
bear fruit - like the fruit of caring for someone else - like the story of the
Samaritan in today’s gospel lesson. The real beauty in this story is not only
found in the fact that an injured man was helped by someone, but rather that an injured man was helped by someone who
was an enemy.
This story from Scripture is but
one example of someone bearing fruit in their good works – there are many other
stories in the Bible, but there are stories here, too, among us – stories of
each of us, bearing fruit in ways both big and small. Whether it’s
re-organizing closet spaces in our building here, or arranging for an elderly
family’s roof to be repaired, or calling to check on a friend, or teaching
Christian Ed, or bringing items for the Food and Clothing Co-op – the stories
of us bearing fruit are truly all around us.
And, my dear brothers and sisters,
the need for us to bear fruit is never-ending. The world needs the love of God
brought out into it and we are the ones called to that task. We are the ones
called to share the hope of the gospel, the word of truth, the very love of God
– and not only with our stuff, but with our very lives. We are the ones called
to say to one another and to all we encounter: “God loves you.”
I give you this encouragement, as
it was given to the church in Colossae:
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and
beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and
patience…
…let the peace of Christ rule in
your hearts….And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly…
And whatever you do, in word or
deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the
Father through him.”[8]
Amen.
+ SDG +
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Saturday, July 13, 2013
It's All About Jesus Christ - Colossians 1:1-14
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