         |
|
Remember Who(se) You Are (Part Eleven) “Body Life” Colossians 3:12-17 |
April 2, 2006 Pastor Tom Marcum |
I had lunch, this week, with one of my pastor buddies and, as often happens, we spent some time swapping stories about some of our more unusual pastoral experiences. Among the stories that he shared with me was this one.
He said that following a recent worship service he met a couple that introduced themselves as first time visitors to his church. After exchanging some pleasantries they asked him if he could spare a few minutes to speak to them privately. The pastor invited them to his office.
Once there, the couple began to speak with great enthusiasm about a most unusual ministry vision. They said, “We have an idea that we think is going to be very exciting to you. It sure is exciting to us. We’re starting a brand new ministry for church hoppers.” They said, “We know that there are a lot of people out there who, like ourselves, enjoy going to church but don’t want to be tied down to any one church in particular. So, our vision is to go to a different church every week and then create a web page that identifies the churches that we’ve enjoyed; churches that we think other church hoppers like ourselves would enjoy visiting. And since we had such a great time here, today, we’d like to include your church in our brand new Church Hopper’s Directory. So, what do you think?”
My friend said that he hesitated for a few moments and then in his most loving, pastoral way said, “I think you’re nuts. What’s more, I don’t think either one of you have the slightest idea about God’s vision of the church or about what life within the church is all about. If you did, then you’d stop hopping from church to church and get involved in the life of a church.”
Well, sadly, they decided not to add his church to their Church Hoppers Directory, after all.
But their story leads us to the question of the day, namely, “What is life inside the church supposed to be like?” What is the experience of being involved in the life of a church family supposed to feel like and look like?
For the past several weeks we’ve been working our way through the book of Colossians and the text that we’re going to consider this morning is going to answer that question. Colossians 3:12-17 is all about God’s vision of life within the body that we call, “church.” So, I’ve titled this message, today, “Body Life.”
Now, to help us fully understand the meaning of this passage, let’s take a few moments to review the lessons that we learned last week as we studied the verses preceding today’s text. In that passage, Colossians 3:1-11, Paul was speaking about a radical change that has already taken place in the life of every Christian. The moment we bound ourselves to Christ by faith and said, “Yes,” to the gift of salvation that Jesus offers us through the cross….in that very moment…we became brand new people. Our old life…the life we lived before Christ came into our lives…was buried with Christ and we have now been raised with Christ to a whole new way of living. Our lives are brand new.
In verses 9-10 Paul described the process like this: he said that when Christ came into our lives we took off our old selves, discarding them like an old, worn out piece of clothing and we then, “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”
Now, supremely important to notice, here, is the fact that this “new self” that we have now “put on” is a work in progress. It is “being renewed.” When we invite Christ into our lives and take off our old self and put on our new self, God immediately goes to work, molding and shaping our “new self” to this end—that with each passing day we look more and more like our Creator. God is continually working in us so that His image is more and more evident in us.
And in verse 11 we discovered that one of the first things that God does to make His image more evident in us is to destroy our natural, human preoccupation with all of those distinctions…things like culture, religious traditions, ethnicity, economic differences, and so forth…all of those distinctions that we just love to focus on because they allow us to boast in ourselves. And, of course, as we focus on these distinctions they inevitably end up driving wedges between us, separating us from one another. But, when we “put on” our “new self,” God goes to work destroying all of those kinds of distinctions and, instead, fills each us with a brand new, passion for Christ and this mutual passion for Christ now draws us together.
That was Paul’s point in verse 11 when he said, “Here...(that is, among us who have come into a saving relationship with Jesus)…there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.”
So, what all of this means, folks, is that God is up to something totally new and unique in the church. He is in the process of creating among us a family comprised of people who have discarded their old self who’s primary interest was in itself and, in its place, have put on a brand new self who’s primary interest is Christ. Finally, we have “put off” the foolish, worldly notion that says that life is all about me and come to realize that life, in fact, is all about Christ who, “is all, and is in all.” And now He has drawn us into His body, the church, so that we can experience the blessings that can only be found there. And verses 12-17 show us what life within the church, “Body Life,” is all about.
Our first glimpse of “Body Life,” is seen in the opening words of verse 12 which say, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved…” Let’s stop there for a moment.
I’ve titled this series of messages leading us through Colossians, “Remember Who and Whose You Are,” and this portion of verse 12 speaks to both of those key issues.
Who are you? Whose are you? You are “God’s chosen people.” He has had designs on you from the beginning of time. Every good work that God is now doing in your life is work that He initiated according to His eternal plans. You are God’s chosen people.
Who are you? You are holy people. That word “holy” has two implications concerning our identity. First, it means that we are people whose character reflects the character of God. And, secondly, it means that God has set us apart for Himself. And that means that every Christian has a two-fold calling. We are called to be holy. And we are called to be His.
Who are you? You are “dearly loved.” You are not only the focus of God’s design and plan; you are the focus of God’s love, kindness and affection. I don’t know the specific details of all of God’s plans for each of your individual lives, but I do know this—every one of those plans originated in the heart of a God who dearly loves you.
Who are you both individually and collectively as the body of Christ, the church? You are chosen…every one of you. You are holy…every one of you. And you are dearly loved…every one of you. Therefore, as you live with one another in relationships designed by God and empowered by Christ who, “is all, and is in all”…therefore, Paul writes in verses 12-14,
“…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
What’s so new about the life together that God has waiting for us in the church? Well, for one thing, freed from a preoccupation with self and focused, instead on Christ, we begin to desire and delight in the virtues that characterized the life of Jesus.
Verse 12 identifies 5 of them. Compassion. Kindness. Humility. Gentleness. Patience. None of those are possible so long as our primary interest is in ourselves. But when our primary interest is in Christ, not only are they possible, they abound.
Verse 13 identifies 2 more virtues. The first is to, “bear with each other.” It speaks to putting up with those whose behavior is, in some way, other than what we would have expected. And the second virtue is to, “forgive” every grievance, even as the Lord has forgiven you. Bear with each other and forgive each other.
Folks, when those two virtues are coupled with the five previous virtues and then are set free in a church, do you know what you get? You get a family in which every member says to every other member, “If I am ever offended in any way by any one of you I will take the initiative to set things right between me an you and I will do so in compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. I won’t wait for you to come to me. I won’t leave the church and go somewhere else. Christ drew me into this church and Christ is the head of this church and He’s all that matters to me. And I know that He’d want me to make things right with you.”
So, what do you think? Would you like to be a part of that kind of a church? Guess what? It gets even better.
In verse 14 we find one final virtue as Paul writes, “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Those of us who are “dearly loved” by God are now called to demonstrate God’s love in all of our interactions with one another.
Compassion. Kindness. Humility. Gentleness. Patience. Bearing with each other’s shortcomings. Forgiving each other’s failures. And always—always—always— acting in love.
--So, let me ask you—Is that different from what you generally experience in the business world that is governed by the principle of looking out for #1?
--Is that different from what you generally experience in the world of the social climbers and status seekers that is governed by the principle of “at least I’m better than you?”
--Is that different from what you generally experience at school; at work; in the marketplace; and in general?
Folks, the truth is, the quality of life, “Body Life,” that is being described here can only be experienced in the church because it is only possible by power of Christ who is the head of the church and who, “is all, and is in all.”
Now, as we move on to verse 15, Paul introduces a new “Body Life” virtue, saying, “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”
The basic command here is quite clear—our heart…the very core of our being is to be ruled by the peace of Christ. And that means that our decisions and actions are always to be governed by peace. That’s the basic command. But that simple command has far reaching implications for us as a church family.
It means that we are never to do anything that cannot be done in a spirit of peace. Every decision we make is to reflect the peace of Christ. And why is this so important? Because we are “members of one body,” the body of Christ and our actions must always reflect that essential unity.
--When our actions fail to reflect the peace of Christ, something has clearly broken down because members of one body are now working against one another.
--On the other hand, when our actions reflect the peace of Christ they demonstrate that this body is one and this body is healthy.
And the call to thankfulness that we see at the end of the verse fits well with the call to peace because a grateful heart tends also to be a heart at peace.
And that brings us to verses 16-17 where we find a command to cultivate one final “Body Life” virtue, namely, dwelling in the word of Christ. Paul writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”
That phrase, “the word of Christ,” essentially means, “the Gospel.” It encompasses everything that the scriptures tell us about Christ. So the lesson is basically this—“Body Life” is the result of being totally focused on the source of our life, namely, Christ. We are to be Christ-centered in all that we do.
Our teaching and admonishing is to be focused on Christ. First we offer Christ centered teaching and then we admonish or encourage one another to apply what we’ve learned to our lives.
What’s more, our singing is also to be Christ-centered. The style of music may change from psalms, to hymns or spiritual songs…but regardless the style the content remains focused on Christ.
And Paul concludes his lesson with this wonderful, overarching guiding principle—you are a Christ-centered people. So let the presence of Christ be evident in everything you do.
The church that dwells in the word of Christ will be blessed with the quality of life that only Christ can give—Body Life.
I received an email a few days ago from a gentleman who has been attending PVBC since the first of the year. He said, “Pastor Tom, I can’t begin to tell you all the ways that my life and the life of my family have changed since we’ve gotten involved in this church family. It’s just incredible. We are so glad to be here.”
Obviously, I love to receive those kinds of emails. I knew immediately what was happening to him. He has had his first taste of Body Life and it was a transforming experience. And how could it not be?
When you take off the old self and put on the new;
And you immerse yourself in the life of a family that is totally focused on Christ;
And you surround yourself with people who are completely secure in who they are—chosen, holy and dearly loved;
What you get is “Body Life” and it’s real, it’s powerful and it’s life-changing.
It’s also what God wants every single one of us to experience.
If you’re not yet experiencing it, I’d love to talk with you about how you can do so, right here.
© Copyright 2006 Pastor Tom Marcum