MAKING THE CHRIST CONNECTIONS
V. “Connected in Freedom”
3-6-05
Ken Peterson
Colossians 2:6-23
Text: So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in him,
rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col 2:6-7)
INTRODUCTION
A teacher was sitting at her desk grading papers when her first grade class came back from lunch. One of her students informed her, “Robert had to go to the principal’s office.”
“I wonder why?” the teacher mused.
“Because he’s a following person,” the child answered.
“A what?” the teacher asked.
“It came over the loudspeaker, ‘The following persons are to go to the office.’”
The Christian life is about being a “following person.” Jesus is the one we follow, trying to follow His teaching and desire for us in all that we do and in the way we live. But just how do we do that? Instructions over a P.A. system might be helpful at times– a direct message from Jesus telling us what to do. In lieu of that, our text this morning is a wonderful prescription of that process of being a “following person.” These are a couple of wonderful verses to memorize, for they not only describe the theme of Colossians, but also offer a good a summary of the Christian life.
GROWTH
Today, we are awash in advice on how to stay healthy. I’m afraid I’m rather vulnerable to all the suggestions I read about this supplement or that one to keep our bodies healthy. So, in addition to a multiple vitamin, I’ve ended up with a rather embarrassing shelf of other things I read about somewhere that I should take– half of which I’ve forgotten what they are for. There’s a garlic capsule since it sounds like garlic is good for almost anything, and I’m not eating a clove of raw garlic a day (for which you can be thankful). There’s glucosamine for my knees, selenium for my prostate (I think), fish oil capsules for something else, etc. I was taking vitamin E for my heart, and now we are told maybe that isn’t good. I read that green tea is supposed to fight cancer. I don’t really like green tea, but I found green tea capsules, so they went onto the shelf. I know it’s a little nutty, but at least I recognize my nuttiness. I hope that means I’m not over the edge!
We are constantly bombarded with new studies suggesting how to alter our diet to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, or coronary disease. Trying to follow all the advice we’re given (and it’s often conflicting advice) is confusing. It can make you long for simpler times when we didn’t know about cholesterol and the dangers of frying things in good old bacon grease.
The people in the church in Colosse were having similar trouble in their spiritual journey. There were those coming into the church advocating all kinds of “secrets to spiritual growth.” Some
were claiming special knowledge of angels and visions. Of course, as always in the early church, there were those insisting on keeping the Old Testament ceremonial laws, being circumcised, observing the dietary rules, and keeping the various religious festivals. There were those who wanted to over intellectualize everything, making it complex, hard to understand. Listen to how The Message paraphrases some of these verses: Watch out for people who try to dazzle you with big words and intellectual double-talk. They want to drag you off into endless arguments that never amount to anything. They spread their ideas through the empty traditions of human beings and the empty superstitions of spirit beings. But that's not the way of Christ. Everything of God gets expressed in him, so you can see and hear him clearly. You don't need a telescope, a microscope, or a horoscope to realize the fullness of Christ, and the emptiness of the universe without him. (Col 2:8-9)
Don't tolerate people who try to run your life, ordering you to bow and scrape, insisting that you join their obsession with angels and that you seek out visions. They're a lot of hot air, that's all they are ... (Col 2:18).
Against this backdrop is the setting for our text. I like the simplicity of this text and its Christ-centeredness. It demystifies Christian growth and discipleship. Notice first, he tells us how growth happens. Then he explains a couple of things we can do to cooperate and facilitate growth to maturity.
How growth happens– just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught. How did your Christian life start? Was it by works, earning merit badges with God? No way. It was by receiving Christ through faith. We are saved purely by grace. It is God’s doing, not our doing. (Eph. 2:8-9). That’s the same way we grow to maturity– God does it. Notice the emphasis on Lord– you received Christ Jesus as Lord. It begins with submission to Him as Lord and the Christian life continues the same way. Somehow, many believers seem to get the idea that now that they’re saved, they need to work hard and grow. Sermons sometimes mislead us by prescribing this or that we need to do. Soon we acquire an intimidating list of stuff we think we’re supposed to do to maintain our life in Christ:
- read this book;
- attend this conference, it will change your life;
- volunteer to help with this or that, then you’ll really grow;
- here’s some new secrets to a successful prayer life.
Paul is saying, relax. Just as God saved you in Christ, implanting His life within you without your doing it, He’s going to also work within you producing growth to maturity. It will not be your efforts that make it happen.
Rooted and built up in him– Do you see how this follows? Roots grow as a byproduct of life. In a slight variation of this, Jesus uses another illustration in John 15 of the vine and branches. The branch doesn’t do it by its efforts. Fruit just happens if the branch is connected to the living vine. Jesus is the vine, we are the branches. Abiding in Him, trusting Him in and through everything is what grows us to maturity.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we have nothing to do with our growth. But the focus of our efforts are to be in keeping connected to Christ in and through everything. The means of doing this are simple and basic:
- spending time in His Word, meditating upon it, applying it, letting our roots sink deep;
- prayer– especially time listening to as we present our lives and concerns to Him;
- worship with God’s people, including the sacraments.
The word Jesus uses is, “abide in me and my words abide in you” (Jn. 15:7). Paul often refers to this as being “in Christ,” an expression he uses 164 times in his letters.
Our tendency is, when we have a personal problem, to attack it head on. When we have trouble forgiving someone, we want to read, study, figure out forgiveness. If it is a problem with a sin that keeps tripping us up– we think we need to focus on that. If it is a marriage problem, we want to read books on marriage. This isn’t always wrong, but often it is not the most helpful approach. Sometimes when someone comes to me asking what to read to “fix” this or that in their lives– whether spouse, children, or a besetting sin, I suggest they not read about marriage or whatever it is they’re dealing with. Instead, I urge them to read other spiritual books, mediate on Scripture, spend time in prayer– not neglecting worship with God’s people. This is not focusing upon the problem, just getting close to Jesus. As we walk with Him, He then takes care of the rest. Often I get a rather confused look in response. After all, here’s the problem, shouldn’t I just go to work on it? But you see, that puts us front and center, in charge. That is absolutely what we don’t need.
We need to get out of the way so God can work and accomplish His will.
It’s a little bit like what I’ve read about that we should do when our feet are cold. Our tendency is to put on an extra pair of socks. But they say the best thing to do (if your head isn’t covered) is to put on a hat. Although what’s above your shoulders is only 10% of your body, you lose a whopping 30% of your heat through your head. So, to warm your feet, you go to the opposite end and warm it. Then your blood will be able to keep your toes warm.
Jesus’ way is to be rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith. Intensifying the ordinary practices of the Christian life in mediating on Scripture, prayer, worship, spiritual reading, and daily obedience to Him are the way that happens. In doing that, we facilitate the growth and change needed. God does it– we don’t. We only, in faith, open ourselves to the way He works. As His life grows and prospers in us, we walk in His will, and He works on the problem with His power.
Overflowing with thankfulness– I believe gratitude is one of the best indicators of a believer who is growing in Christ. We see Christ in everything and everyone. His grace and love continually overwhelm our hearts, so we end up overflowing with thankfulness. We live with that sense that Jesus is with us and in control of all things.
BAPTISM (11-12)
Circumcision was one of the biggest issues in the early church– Jews insisting Gentiles follow the Old Testament law in circumcision. Paul deals with this head on, saying Christ sets us apart as belonging to Him by what He does in our hearts, just as circumcision in the Old Testament witnessed to being one of God’s chosen people. Paul refers to baptism as being our witness that we belong to Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith.... (12). Furthermore, he says your old sinful nature was put off– dead, left under the water in baptism and we are raised to new life in Christ.
Just as an interesting aside, the fact that Paul draws an analogy between baptism and circumcision, is often used as Scriptural support for those of us who practice infant baptism. Since circumcision involved infants, shouldn’t baptism? Just as circumcision marked a child as part of the covenant, chosen by God, so does infant baptism. Of course, Protestants have never said baptism saves a child. Children must make their own decision in confirming those baptism vows taken on their behalf by their parents as they get to an age where they can make a responsible decision for Christ. Infant baptism declares, signifies, and seals not what we do but what God has done, does, and will do for us. The initiative in salvation is with God, not us. He alone saves us.
Paul goes on with a powerful declaration of this new life we enter into in Christ, witnessed to in baptism:
When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross. (Col 2:13-15)
Dead people are not responsive to anything, and they are powerless to do anything about it. They cannot change their condition. That’s how we were in relationship to God, Paul says. Absolutely dead, unresponsive because of our sins– totally cut-off from Him. The written code of the law was the witness to our sin. None of us could keep all those regulations. But God removed all those old regulations we couldn’t keep, replacing them with a whole new way, the way of Christ. For those accepting God’s offer in Christ on the cross, He forgave all our sins and gave us new spiritual life through Christ. The life is the power to live like Christ and enjoy relationship with God.
Paul reminds us that on the cross a great victory was won over evil powers and authorities. Christ has triumphed over them. If we are “in Christ,” we too participate in His victory. We need not be intimidated by the darkness and evil that threatens from this world or the spiritual worlds. Stand in the strength and power of Christ.
CONCLUSION
We need to be rooted, grounded, built up in the truth in Christ so we won’t fall prey to people who would make us captive to their ideas. In Eph. 4:14, Paul expresses it like this,
Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming.
And our salvation can depend upon it.
A story out of the recent tsunami in Asia illustrates this. In Phuket, Thailand, Tilly Smith, a determined ten-year-old girl saved her parents and dozens of fellow vacationers because she was rooted and grounded in the knowledge she’d received in a geography lesson. As she and her family were enjoying a day on the beach, the sea began to bubble and rush away from the shore. The adults were merely curious, but Tilly was terrified with fear.
“Mummy, we must get off the beach now!” Tilly cried. “I think there’s going to be a tsunami.”
Most of the adults didn’t understand her warning until she referred to it as a tidal wave. Believing her, they evacuated the beach. Minutes later, the water surged over the beach destroying everything in its path, including the resort. It was one of the few places along the shores of Phuket where no one was killed or even seriously injured.
Tilly credits her geography teacher for his lesson on how earthquakes cause tsunamis and the signs signaling a tsunami. Fortunately, Tilly paid attention that day and remembered the lesson.
Are we paying attention to our lessons in Christ? Are we “following persons?” Our text challenges us to take the daily lessons seriously and grow to maturity in our faith. Let’s repeat the text together as we prepare for communion:
So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in him,
rooted and built up in him,
strengthened in the faith as you were taught,
and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col 2:6-7)