Welcome to the pre-preview service of MERCYhouse nights. I am excited about what we are about to do, but I have a confession to make. Tuesday night I couldn’t sleep. My mind was racing a mile a minute. I had a ton to do both this week and last, for MERCYhouse proper, and for the church plant, and I didn’t know how everything as going to get done. It got to the point where I was doubting whether I should even be planting a church right now. I thought for a few hours about what else I could do with my life, since I have a math and physics degree, and could get into political science grad school, I figured I could get a “real” job somewhere, but nothing seemed right. I thought maybe I could just go back to manual labor and live life, and things would be easier. I was so stressed my eye began twitching (which happens to me about twice a year), and all I could think about was cigarettes. I wasn't sure I could write a sermon this week, and thought, maybe we can just launch next week, or maybe we should just do a house church and launch in the Spring, and many other things as well.
I would like to tell you I prayed about it and everything got better, because that seems like a very pastoral thing to say, but that is not what happened. I did pray about it, and things got worse. Things I had forgot I had to do came to mind, appointments with people, Ryan’s birthday party, tasks that need to be done around the house, working Circe Du Soliel next week for IATSE. So my prayers we answered with more stress and another few hours of no sleep. I would also like to tell you I fell asleep and woke up and prayed and God had worked out everything and it was all solved, because that also seems pastoral, but alas, that too is not what happened. What happened is I woke up, didn’t pray, really, I mean I did, but quickly and not sincerely, and then went to my second job at the Jones Library. And while I was delivering books like I do every Wednesday and Friday, all I could think about was how I don’t have enough time.
When my shift ended at 11 am, almost half of the day wasted, I couldn’t get my thoughts straight. I was only focused on how I couldn’t write a sermon and do everything else that needed to be done. We will see Sunday night if I did get everything done. My guess is that I will, but I will not see Sarah many nights this week, because I am a slight workaholic, or rather I have workaholic tendencies. But here I am, writing a sermon, so something had to have happened. And what is it that happened? Nothing, really. I mean something happened, but nothing monumental. It is not like all my other tasks were taken away, or I magically was able to have 26 hours in my day by going really fast (which is a Relativity joke, Einstein would laugh), or anything else. All that happened is I went to Panera, which is where I go to write sermons, checked my email, did some other things online, made the MERCYhouse Nights logo (which if anyone wants to touch up, I would not be opposed to), and cut and pasted the text I was going to preach on this week to a Word Document. Now, before we go on, I have to tell all of you that I get the text online, so there is a lot of footnotes and ads that come along when you copy the text from the website I use, which I was upset about, because it was just one more task impeding my sermon writing. I began deleting all the footnotes, and end notes, and commentaries and ads that came along with the text this time, and as I was doing this, the sermon started to take form.
See, as I was deleting all this crap I didn’t want, it was near impossible to not read the text. I needed to know where to stop deleting, and where the next edit had to be. So this text that I had picked out a few days before, with a completely different intention, began to affect me immediately. I knew the sermon that I was supposed to preach, and so, right after all the undesirable text was removed, I began writing this introduction, which brings us to where we are now. What impacted me so much that I began writing a thousand word introduction? Turn with me to your programs.
In Colossians 1:11-14 we read:
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
It was a reminder of who we are, what we have, and where we were. Paul writes first that we would be strengthened, next that we would endure, then give thanks to God; that we have an inheritance and that we have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness, from this world, and brought to a new kingdom, a better kingdom, the kingdom of Heaven, ruled by God’s Son, Jesus Christ, and that through him we have redemption and have been forgiven all our sins. It almost seems like the entire paragraph should be written in reverse though, doesn’t it. Doesn’t is seem to make more sense to tell them they are first forgiven, and then redeemed, and then part of a new kingdom, and then should give thanks, and then they would be able to be strengthened? But this is not what Paul says. And I think there is a good reason for this.
First, the section of the text we are not reading tonight is Paul talking about all he has heard about the Colossian church. He then goes on to pray for them. The conclusion of the prayer is where we begin this week. Paul is not writing to non-Christians. He is writing this to the church. This is important. I think if he were writing to non-Christians, the order of the text may well be reversed. There would be a call to faith, and then the promises of that faith. But he is not doing that here, he is praying for his brothers.
As I lay in my bed unable to sleep, by fears were not that I wasn’t a Christian, or that my Identity was a fraud. What I didn’t need was a prayer to reconcile me to God, per se. What I needed was assurance of what my Identity gave me. What I needed first was a prayer for strength, and then the assurance that this would be answered. That is what Paul is doing here as well. He is praying for the Church. These are people, who I imagine sometimes had the same problems that I had. They were still sure of their salvation though. When we cry out that this world sucks, we are not looking for salvation, but sanctification, and even glorification.
What Paul is doing is praying that we would know more of God today, that we would be continually sanctified. He knows that they have fears and stress and weaknesses. He knows that sometimes life wears on us and we feel like there is nothing we can do. Paul, then, is approaching the Colossians in this manner. He doesn’t need to pray for their salvation, they are already saved. What they need, what we very often need, is the assurance that God is making things better, not someday, but now. There is strength to be had, and endurance and patience and joy. When I set out to write this sermon and felt overwhelmed, what I didn’t need was a discussion about how Jesus saved the world, what I needed was the truth that since I am His, He is here now.
Paul doesn’t end there though. It is almost trite to tell someone God will work it out, is it not? How many of us have been hurting and had someone say, “Don’t feel sad, when God closes a door, he opens a window.” And then they go on their merry way. So Paul begins praying that they would be strengthened, but he ends this section reminding them why they can be. He reminds us that we have been redeemed. He tells us that we can be strengthened, but this is only because of God and our new Identity in him. Remember, we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light. Remember that God himself qualified us for this, and that because he has qualified us, we have a share in an inheritance. We are now in the realm of God’s beloved Son.
Paul says be strengthened, but be strengthened in your Identity.
May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. 13He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, 14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.
Know what God has planned for you. See what he had already done. Look to the future, as you look to the past. Know who you are, and in this truth, know that God will give you all things. This is how Paul sets up this section, and how he sets up so much of his letters through out Scripture. And this must be the first lesson for us today. Having the Gospel firmly in our hearts, we can be strengthened by God himself. When we have sleepless nights, things look bleak, we are suffering, we can be sure that God will strengthen us, because we have been moved already to a new kingdom. Not because of anything we have done or could do, but because God himself qualified us. When we feel distant, or like we may fail, or we are weak, or we can not endure, Paul tells us we can. This strength is not found in us, in our actions, or in our deeds and thoughts, but rather in God himself. We then can be strengthened by this. As we read a few weeks ago in Romans
8:31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
As we plan on planting a new church and changing this Valley, we need to have this always at the forefront of our thoughts, even when sometimes we can’t sleep and want to give up. Scott’s going to come up and lead us in a time of worship in a minute, and then we will continue in the text. I encourage you to use this time to know God more fully and the plans he has for you. He will strengthen you and give you all things. He has already moved us from the realm of darkness to light, and now will do so much more.
Let’s pray. God thank you for your promises. Thank you for your strength. Thank you for our new Identity. Thank you that we have been redeemed, that we are of a new kingdom, that we have an inheritance. We give you this time, our visions, this church, our lives. May we glorify your name. May we rest in your Peace. May we know the truth of our Salvation more daily.
(Scott Leads us In Worship Time)
In his letter to the Colossians, the first thing Paul does is remind us who we are. He is telling us about our Identity. He is rallying us around what God promises we can be, and what we are. But that is not the end. Paul sees the Church at a point in time. He recognizes what the people are struggling with, what we all struggle with, and he is reminding us of the greater truth that we have. He tells us about the greater reality. He speaks of the greater Identity we possess. And then he changes gears slightly. In this next section we don’t read a thing about ourselves. Paul writes in Colossians 1:15-20
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Paul reminded us about who we are, and now he is reminding us about whom God is. We have a new Identity in Jesus, and Paul tells us why this is important. He reminds us who Jesus is. Paul goes through a list of attributes. These are important. They are very important, especially in light of the last section. We are putting our hope in Christ, and if he is weak and powerless, so is our hope, and ourselves. But Paul tells us that Jesus is anything but weak. Here are his character traits
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
This Jesus isn’t some lowly shepherd who is meek and powerless. He is the image of the invisible God! He is the creator, and the reason for creation. In Revelation he is called the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and End. He is so far above all ruler and authorities, above bosses, and jobs, and promotions, and laws, and bureaucracy, and politicians. One of the things that I have been stressing about these past few weeks was getting a place for us to meet. There is a lot of red tape and work involved, and at the end of it all, someone can just say, “No.” And Paul would say why worry. Remember Christ will strengthen you, and remember who Christ is. These rulers and powers are his. They were created by Him, and for Him. He is their ruler. He is the Lord of Lords.
And Paul goes on. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. Not only is he eternal, and creator, but he is in the mix. He is not some distant deity watching from Olympus and we can go along our merry way not running into him if we are real careful. He is right here, all the time. Nothing exists, holds together, with out him. He is not some watchmaker who created the universe from afar and lets it go its course, he is much more like an incubator that holds his creation from within and sustains it every moment. He is a present and intimate God. He is not far off, even when we feel he is. He is here with us, in us. He is the head of the church, the beginning, and the firstborn among the dead that he might be preeminent in everything. In everything, he is first. There is not an aspect of creation he doesn’t own, know, sustain.
Paul begins this section in the heavens. It is a picture of a very large, powerful God. It is God as Creator and King. But as he speaks, we see God continually coming closer to us. Finally, in the last attributes given to Him, we see that he was human, that he was pleasing, that he died. The last attribute is the cross, and what this act did. This God, who is so big He is preeminent in all things, is also so big that he can empty himself of Godhood, come to earth, suffer and die, and rise again so that we may be reconciled to him. This God who is so large he sustains all things, all things, was also the God who decided to make peace the only way he could, by giving himself up as an offering, by turning himself over to save the ones who would have him killed. This omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent God also became a helpless babe and died upon a cross in shame so that we whom he loved so much could be reconciled to him.
This is the God to whom Paul tells us our Identity is secure in the first part of this section. This is the God who will give us his strength. This is the God who will help us to endure. This is the God that rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us the kingdom of light. This is the God on and in whom our hope rests. And this is the God who is still in charge today. It is he who is still in control, who still sustains, who still strengthens. This is the God to whom we cry out in our pain, and stress, and insecurity. As we look out to our Valley, we see a dark place. We see few Christians, fewer churches. We see an uphill battle. We have decided to plant a church, and I stay up all night worrying about how this will get done, or if we will find favor with the building rental people, or do people even want to come. I look out and feel the weight of near impossibility upon me. I see others who have tried and failed and think that maybe the current trends of the decline of Christianity might be inevitable. I see powers and rulers aligned against the church, and I wonder how we can over come. I find myself awake, afraid, and weak. And I imagine some of us here today may feel the same. But then Paul, in my weakness, reminds me of God’s strength.
This God, who rules the Universe, also rules this Valley. This God, whom kings will bow to, is also Lord of our bosses, of Amherst, of Umass. This God, who is so big I can hardly imagine Him, is the same God who died. This God, who is preeminent in all things, has also called us to himself. This God, who could have chosen not to sustain his creation anymore, is the same God who made peace and reconciled all of Heaven and Earth to himself. This is the God that Paul tells us we find our hope in, our strength in, our life in. He is not a weak Palestinian Peasant, but the mighty ruler of the Universe, and it is he, and no other who has not only reconciled us to himself, but given us new life, a new kingdom, a new identity.
Scott is again going to come up and lead us in another time of worship. Meditate on this Jesus that Paul speaks of. Know His power and might. Know who he really is, and be in awe. Know this Jesus anew.
Let us pray. God thank you for who you are. I confess that I often forget who is in charge, and how big you are. I ask that you would keep yourself in the forefront of our thoughts as we plant churches, talk with friends, work our jobs, eat our meals. That each and every breath would be recognized as your intimate hand sustaining us. I pray that we would know more fully your power and your intimacy. That we would remember that You were both before creation, and entered into it. That we would see that you are so big you could make yourself so small. Thank you for who you are.
(Scott Leads us In Worship Time)
Which brings us to our final section. Paul reverses himself here. Where we were talking about where we can be, and who God is, now Paul will remind us where we have come from to further inform where we can be. We read in the conclusion of this section in Colossians 1:21-24
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
You who were once alienated and hostile in mind. Remember, he says, as we hold onto these truths, that we used to be as lost as the rest. We were evil in deed. God did not reconcile us to himself because we were good. We were evil. He did it because he is good. We need to keep this in mind. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I forget this sometimes. I think that I am a great person now. You laugh, that’s good. I need to be constantly reminded that I was evil. It is not that I did some bad things but was basically good. I was hostile to God. There was nothing redeemable in me. What Jesus did, that same Jesus we just read about, was reconcile me to God in spite of all this. And even more, it is not that we are still evil, but just get a pass, we are holy and blameless. Sometimes I hear the Gospel presented as follows.
We are wolves. We are evil and murderers and we kill the Farmer’s valuable sheep, which he loves. (I know there are some wolf lovers out there who may be upset, remember, this is not my analogy; I am in fact disagreeing with it.) The bigger problem is that only sheep get into Heaven, not wolves. What Jesus did was to be the spotless lamb and die so we could get in. The way it works, apparently, is that he stands at Heaven’s Gate and hands us his wool. It is beautiful and white, and we put it on, and we are saved. (Now I know the fur lobby will have a problem here. Remember, not my analogy.) This is not the Gospel though. We don’t put on Jesus coat and sneak past God, like he is some senile old man who doesn’t see a wolf dressed up as a sheep. The truth is much more profound. In this analogy of a farmyard, we actually become sheep. It is not some false righteousness that we put on to get by a gate keeper. We are presented before God as truly holy and blameless and above reproach.
Jesus holiness isn’t loaned to us to get in to Heaven, it becomes ours. Though we were evil, we now become good. Though we were once hostile to God, now we are righteous. Though we once lived in the kingdom of darkness, we now have been moved to a kingdom of light. Though we were once alienated from God, now we are his sons. This is the Gospel. This is what we need to remember.
The tendency, at least of me, is to hear the first two sections of encouragement, and forget this last. I then begin thinking about how much strength God should give me, and how good I am, and I forget that it is not me who reconciled myself, or did anything good, but God. So I try to rely on my own strength and get everything done, and I get stressed and I stay up late wondering how it will all work out. Or, quite honestly, I do just the opposite. I remember how bad I was, and how I screwed up so much in my life, and I start thinking I will do it again, or that I can’t do anything. And I stay up late wondering how all will get done, and worrying about conversations I had earlier in the day, or the year, or decade. Both places lead to hopelessness and despair. That is why Paul gives us these three sections.
We need to remember where we have come from, who God is, what he has done, as well as the promises of where He will take us to truly have the Gospel. We need all three of these sections if we are going to plant a church. We need all three of these sections if we are to truly live a redeemed life.
Paul ends here with a warning, and I don’t want to get into a debate about lost salvation or any of that, I will leave that to the professionals. But I think it is a warning we need to heed nonetheless. It is fitting and telling that he ends with it instead of beginning with it. He could have said that we need to not loose faith, but rather remember where we have come from, what God has done, who God is, and where we are promised to go, but that is not the order of this section, or Colossians 1 as a whole. I think the reason he leaves it for the end is not because it necessarily deals with lost salvation, but it calls us back to the beginning. I believe that this warning is the same warning Paul is giving the Colossians in the first section.
In that section he prays that they may be strengthened, that they, and we, might be able to endure and have joy. He reminded us why we should have these things. He is praying that the Colossians don’t despair. He would only pray that they would endure if there was danger they wouldn’t. When I was up all night, it felt like a crisis of faith. I could either chose to believe in God and what he has planned, or go find another job. Paul prays that the Colossians might endure because they very well could give up the life God gave them and find a new calling. Remember, though, I never doubted my salvation or God, just everything else. And Paul, in this section, reminds me to continue to faith in him. He is reminding us that this is not a one time thing. We don’t pray a prayer and everything is good. Sometimes we need to endure, be strengthened. Sometimes we feel weak, and don’t have much faith at all.
Paul is saying here, remember the Gospel you first heard. Remember everything we just talked about. He says continue stable and steadfast. The image I get is that of a tug boat verses a speed boat. The tug boat is slow and steady, but it can tow anything. It is not ruined by rough seas, bad weather, or shallow bottoms. It may be tossed and turned, have to slow down and hole up, but it will not sink. The speed boat on the other hand, is fast and flashy, but is broken in the slightest gale. We are to be tug boats. Sometimes it may not seem like we are going fast. It may feel like we are going to capsize, but we hold onto by faith, what we know, and we can make it through. We need to remember how our vessel is constructed, and take solace in the fact that it is not going to sink, even if it feels that way.
We need to remember this Gospel. We need to not shift from this hope. We need to be steadfast. This is Paul’s conclusion to this section, and it is mine to. As we go out from here and try to start a movement there will be plenty of obstacles. There will be storms and shipwrecks, swells and capsizes. We may at times feel like we are going to drown, or maybe that we are drowning already. There will be times when we stay up all night wondering what we are to do, feeling helpless and hopeless. There will be times when it is all we can do to wake up, when we feel the world against us, when we feel God distant and uncaring. There will be times when we don’t doubt our salvation, but everything else. And there will be times when we doubt our salvation. And what Paul says, what I say, is hold firm to the faith you have been given. Be steadfast and stable. Remember the hope of the Gospel. Remember the Gospel.
Remember everything that we talked about today. Remember who God is. He is here, he is intimate. You are saved. You are a citizen of a new kingdom. You no longer walk in darkness, but light. You have an inheritance. Remember God himself reconciled you to him. It is not because of what you did, but because of who He is. Remember that you were once evil, and are now righteous. Remember creation was made through Him, and for him. Remember He sustains it. Remember he died on a cross. Remember he is preeminent in all things. Remember he died so that you might live. Remember you were alienated, but now are his son, holy and loved. Remember the hope we hold on to, the love we hold onto, the God we hold onto.
On the night he was betrayed, Jesus took bread and he broke it. And he said, “This is my body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way he took the cup and said, “This cup is the New Covenant of my blood. Do this as often as you drink in remembrance of me.” As he spoke these words he instituted the sacrament of Communion. He did this as a way to remember and reunite with him. He did it only hours before he would go as a sheep to be slaughtered. Tonight we take it to call us back to this Gospel that we have. To remember the hope that we have. To remember the sacrifice that we have. To remember the Identity that we have.
Scott's going to come up and lead us in a final worship time. If you are a follower of Christ, you are welcome at this table. Before you come though, I encourage all of us to reevaluate what Paul says to us here in Colossians 1. Remember who you are, who God is, what he has done. Remember his promises and his person, and come to this table worshipping our Creator, Sustainer, Savior, and Friend.
Let us pray.
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