Colossians 1:28-29

Father, pour out your Holy Spirit upon us. Help us to engage with our minds what your Word has

to say to us this morning. Help us to engage with our hearts, Lord, that we would not be

apathetic to your truth, but that we would engage with it with our hearts, with our affections.

Lord, would you pour out your Holy Spirit upon us? We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated.

Amen. So some of you maybe are new today. We are going through a series called Meditating

on God's Word. And so what we're doing is taking small sections of the Bible that are

either memorable, they're really good to memorize and feed on as we study them and read them,

contemplate. And they generally have one idea. So it's like one, two verses. They have

one or two ideas. And today we're looking at Colossians chapter 1, verse 28, particularly

Colossians 1:28

verse 28. So there's this one big idea, but there's also a big objection when we look at this verse.

And the big objection is that as Canadians, we want to foster respect for other people's beliefs and

would rather just live and let live. As Canadians, that's what we value. And when it comes to

Christianity, one of the big objections is that it works in the opposite direction. You kind of have

to adopt the whole Christian belief, and then you have to make other people believe it as well.

And it's your job that people would be overwhelmed by that faith, as if your faith was better than

somebody else's. That's really the core of it. And that's just not cool with Canadians. We just don't

go there. So instead of doing what our culture tends to do is critique from far away, we're going

to look at what the Bible has to say. So it would be helpful to me if you have your Bibles with you.

And we're going to look over this verse over and over again. So I'll read it again. Colossians chapter 1,

Colossians 1:28

verse 28. It says,

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom that we may present everyone

mature in Christ. So hearing words like this, alarm bells are probably setting off in our ears.

What do you mean, proclaim? Like, is your belief better than somebody else's? Like here it's commanding us

to proclaim the Christian faith. And as Canadians, we want to be agreeable. That's one of our highest

ethics. And it's what keeps, we believe that keeps us strong, is our unity. And we don't want to divide

things. So things like religion, we just have to see them as, you know, on the side. We have to put

them on the side and not have them as the center of our lives. So the Canadian claim would go something

like this. You can have Jesus, you can have Muhammad, you can have Buddha, you can have yourself if you're

a humanist, but we will all have to work together and unite and or find common ground in our humanity

because our humanity is what transcends all these different beliefs.

So that's probably the more positive way of thinking, isn't it? This is something we call pluralism.

And we see it in our workplaces, in our schools, we hear it on the radio, we see it on the TV,

in politics, in the arts, in our local coffee shop. It's everywhere in Canadian culture.

And it's the idea that all paths are equal. All paths are equal and not, there shouldn't be one path

that goes above another one and like all paths are equal. We don't want to assume that one is

better than the next. And that's the expected belief for Canadians. Several months ago, there was

a beautiful article written in the Huffington Post by Surjit Singh Flora that sort of hashed out this

Canadian ideal of pluralism, this goal that we have as a culture. He wrote,

Now, it's hard to disagree with this statement, isn't it? And as Christians, we find much common

ground when we hear something like this. And it's not only that we find common ground,

is that a list of virtues like this can be intimidating to Christians.

It's not because that, you know, it has something better to offer, but it's so agreeable to us that

there's so many things that, you know, our Christian faith compels us to do things like that, yet

it's not the same. So resisting it makes us look like a threat, a threat to something that on the

surface seems good. But here's the problem for our Canadian culture. The best that it can offer

is a list of good things to do, a list of good behaviors. And we all know that a list of good

behaviors is not really inspiring. It has its own limits. We know that when we tell a child to do

something, they often don't do it. And if we're honest, as adults, things don't really change all

the time. We also have that thing continuing in our lives. So being told to be a better human is

not very life-changing. So here's the first point, if we can have it. Martin, or Sana, thank you.

Christianity proclaims a person. Canada proclaims values. Christianity proclaims a person. Canada

proclaims values. British historian Tom Holland, who's an agnostic, said in a conversation that they

had with N.T. Wright, who's a Christian, he's a bishop of the American church, and he's a theologian

apologist. So in a conversation that they had, Tom Holland, an agnostic, said, compacted in this very

small amount of writing, Paul's writing he's referring to, is almost everything that explains the modern

Western world. And also how the West has gone to shape concepts like international law and human

rights. Ultimately, they don't go back to Greek philosophers. They don't go back to Roman imperialism.

They go back to Paul. Paul's letters, I think, along with the four gospels, are the most influential,

the most impactful, the most revolutionary writings that have emerged from the ancient world.

Now, I'm not bringing this out to say that, you know, Canadian culture is actually Christian.

I don't think that's the case, or I'm not trying to say that the Apostle Paul is a superior human

being, but rather to show that when we talk about tolerance and equality, human rights, and so forth,

they have a source. This idea comes from somewhere, which Tom Holland claims is the Christian gospel.

So what does this mean for Canadians living in Canada? Does it mean that we, since we have a

distant heritage of Christian values, that we should just concern ourselves with being good Canadians?

Would that not be enough? Can we have our second point, Sana?

The gospel is inspired by a savior, not just a better way of living. The gospel is inspired by a savior,

not just a better way of living. This is hugely important because, like every other worldview,

Canadian pluralism or Canadian values present us with a potentially better way of living. It could

work in the end. So it's really just a list of things to do, and that's the starting point. It gives us

the task, and it says, go for it. Be a better human so we can live together in harmony.

And on top of that, you can't, well, you can have your religion, the religion that you want,

as long as you're a good person, as long as you're tolerant in other beliefs, and that you don't push

your beliefs on other people. So pluralism is often explained in this analogy. So there are three blind

people that are walking around in a zoo, and they arrive at the elephant. And so the one person who

obviously is blind, they can't see the elephant, they start feeling the elephant, and they feel the leg,

and they say, wow, like the elephant is big and round, and it's like a tree. But then the other person

says, no, no, no, I'm touching something that's very flat, very soft, and that's what the elephant is like.

It's flat and soft, almost like a stingray or something. And then the third person is saying, no, no, no,

you have it wrong. The elephant feels like a snake. It's narrow, and it's like, and they're touching

the trunk, right? And so this is what, this is supposed to be compared, or supposed to be an

analogy for all the worldviews, that we only have a part of the truth, only a small portion of the

truth. But all together, everyone sees a little part of the truth. Now that sounds very, very humble,

very tolerant. But here's the thing. There aren't only three people in the zoo. There has to be a

fourth person to say, no, no, no, that's not what the elephant is like. That's only part of the

elephant. And the assumption is that this fourth person is not blind. This fourth person can see

perfectly the full image. They don't just see a portion of it, or they don't just feel a portion of

it. They see the whole thing. That's why they can say, what you're touching is a leg, not the full

elephant, or the trunk, not the full elephant. So we have a problem with this worldview, is that when

it says that all views are equal, it doesn't live up to its own standard. It self-implodes.

Tim Keller, in response to this analogy, wrote, how could you possibly know that no religion can see the

whole truth unless you yourself have the superior, comprehensive knowledge of spiritual reality?

You just claim that none of the religions have.

So there's a problem with this. It claims that all religions are equal, and then you have to live up

to this standard in order to live in harmony. But in contrast to this, the Christian worldview

has a different starting point. It says that the gospel, the sacrificial love of God, God so loved

the world that he gave his only son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal

life. That is the starting point of the gospel. And that's what we see in verse 28 here in the Bible.

That it says, him we proclaim. Him we proclaim. It's not saying values we proclaim. This is a better way of

living. These are the 10 steps for your, I don't know, freedom or whatever, how to lose weight or

whatever, right? It's saying him we proclaim. It's a person, that there's a person who inspires us,

a person who changes our life. And it's this love that Jesus had that led him to the cross.

But first, he came to earth, took on human flesh, took on the human experience, and he became one

of us, lived a perfect life, and he went to the cross in order to save us, in order to save us from

this bondage that we have that is stuck, that has crippled us in our hearts and our souls.

So Christianity is about the person and work of Jesus. Can we have our next point? Christianity is

about the person and work of Jesus. Friends, this is how we ought to read the Bible. We read it in the

lens of Jesus. Whatever we read, we want to see Jesus. It talks about Jesus. This is how we grow

and spiritual maturity. We look to Jesus. We look to what Jesus has done, what he's accomplished,

who he is, the love that he has for us. And this is how we grow in joy. Our faith is completely

about the person and work of Jesus. So who is Jesus? And what did he do? This is a big question. We don't

have 10 hours to talk about this, but see, this is a good question. We were supposed to proclaim Jesus,

who is Jesus. The rest of chapter 1 in Colossians gives us a really, really good summary of that.

And I'm just going to condense it so that we can read it together. So if we can have the next point.

So let's read that together. This is basically a summary of what Colossians 1 says about who Jesus is.

So let's read it together. Jesus Christ is Lord over all creation. He entered history to reconcile

us with God through his death on the cross. His resurrection is victory over death, providing us

eternal life by faith. He will make all things new at his return. Amen. Now you might be thinking,

Jonathan, this is all great, but there's a catch. I can smell it. See, I can accept that Jesus did all

these things, but that's not all. Now the expectation is that I'm going to have to jump through all these

religious hoops to impress God and become like every other Christian. Is that true? Now let's read

again verse 28. So it says,

See, as Canadians, we love our personal comfort. And when we read words like warning and teaching,

again, the alarm bells, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, they go off. And we get uncomfortable by that

because as Christians, or it's trying to say that Christians only stay Christians because of fear

and brainwashing. So you get in, you get into the Christian faith, things are good, but then you have

to change your life. And then fear comes in and they try to fill you with fear so that you won't

leave. Is that really what's happening? No. Verse 28 is saying that when we are gripped by the gospel,

again, the first statement is so important. Him we proclaim so that when we are gripped by the gospel,

we in turn learn to live to God's glory. That is following Jesus' teaching not only in church

or at the Bible study, but at home, at work, on the road, etc. It's moving us to integrity.

So if we can have the video at this point. Last week, Daniel Avitan shared an illustration

from Seinfeld. And I was so inspired. I thought about it this week as I was studying this. I

thought another Seinfeld analogy. And so while Father George is away on vacation, we're opening

the big vault of Seinfeld analogies. And we're going to have a video this time. I'm trying to

outdo Daniel Avitan here. Okay, so what's happening here? George has two lives. And this

is what I will call the George Costanza syndrome, is that George has his relationship life, the

life where he goes dating with women. And I don't endorse the show because of a lot of the

things that are happening in the show. But he has this relationship, George, and the independent

George. And things are well when those two spheres never interact. They never intersect.

Now, this is a human problem. This is not just the George Costanza problem. And if we have

our next point, that would be great. There's the church me and the everything else me. I fear

losing control of my life if I merge the two. See, this is a common problem. We want to have

control of our lives. We want to keep our faith here and have everything else there. Have our faith

on Sundays and have everything else happening under our own authority. And in our hearts, in our heart of

hearts, we say, stay over there, Jesus. When it comes to things like our retirement goals, our investments,

our relationships, sexuality, leisure, work, ambition, etc. We want to have our own space.

And we want to tell Jesus where he can go into our lives.

And it's as if our faith, I'll give an illustration, it's as if our faith was like parsley. Parsley on a

plate. You go to the restaurant, you order a nice dish, you have a bit of parsley, and this parsley is

supposed to spice up your dish. It's supposed to make it livelier, it smells better, it looks better,

has a bit of a taste, but ultimately it's not the dish. Jesus is more than parsley on a plate. He's

not a decoration that adds a bit of oomph to your life, like most people would see spirituality in

religion. It's a bit hip to have this worldview or, you know, you can get into a circle of friends or

what not. Jesus is not like that. I mean, think about it. If Jesus defeated death on the cross

and invites us to share eternal life with him, how much should that change our lives?

Like seriously, if he really, really, really defeated death on the cross and opens up the door

of heaven so that we can have eternal life in the presence of God, how much should that change our

lives? Last year, some family members traveled to Spain, and I remember they were talking with my

wife over the phone, and they were learning Spanish, or they were sharing Spanish words that they were

learning, and they were learning about the culture, the different foods, and the sites that they were

going to go visit, and it was fun. It was great, and that's usually what we want to do, is that if we want

to profit the most from our vacation, we look forward to it, and so we're going to prepare for it.

And if we have our next point, Asana.

While some say that life is not about the destination, but about the journey,

the gospel says that the destination is so good that we journey in light of the glory that awaits us.

While some say that life is not about the destination,

but about the journey, the gospel says that the destination is so good that we journey in light of the glory

that awaits us. This is the core of the Christian faith, of Christian maturity,

is that we want to live in light of the glory

that is to come.

Our lives become interrupted by the gospel that Jesus

comes into our lives, and that the hope that we have, all these things,

really influence the way that we live

in our journey.

But the danger is

that we leave

this whole idea of Christian maturity

for other people.

Maybe you're more seasoned in age

than me,

at least, and you're thinking, well, this is

something for the younger generation.

They really need to hear something like this.

And if you're a teen,

you're probably thinking, I'm glad my parents are listening

because they're so stuck in 2005.

I don't know what that means.

But

maybe I'm just past that threshold.

But this text is not talking about the other person.

It's not calling the other person

to Christian maturity.

If we read it again,

verse 28,

we see,

warning everyone

and teaching everyone

with all wisdom

that we may present

everyone

mature in Christ

three times,

as Paul says,

everyone.

This is an invitation for all of us

to experience and taste

the glory of God

breaking through darkness

in this life,

in every area of our lives.

As a new Christian,

I thought that

when I was going to church

and was hearing the preaching,

I thought

I will have to abandon

my aspiration

of becoming a musician

and become a pastor.

And I was a bit bummed about that

because I love music.

I thought

that as a Christian,

the natural thing

that you should do

is become a pastor

or work for the church

or do some type

of ministry.

Is this what

Christian maturity

is all about?

And you might be wondering,

is this what,

is this,

like,

growing in Christian maturity

means that I have to

do these things

and

I don't see that

working with me

because I love science.

I love art.

I love,

I want to be a stay-at-home mom.

I love computers

and I want to go

into these things.

I feel like God's

calling me to that.

So what is Christian maturity?

I just don't know

if we can have

our next point, please.

Christian maturity

is bringing the goodness

and love of God

wherever we go.

See,

God has given us

gifts,

talents,

interests,

so that we should

go into those areas

and bring the gospel,

bring the light

of God's good news

into those areas

so that these areas

can be restored,

so these areas can,

so the people

in those places

can come to the saving

knowledge of Jesus Christ.

That is Christian maturity

is learning to

see

our vocation,

our place of influence

as important

to God

and to see

and to hear

God's calling

in that particular place.

This is why

we can be scientists

and engineers

and artists

and electricians

and politicians

and stay

or stay at home

moms or dads

and stay faithful

to Jesus

in that way.

Just a while back,

I met a friend

who had just recently

converted to Christianity

from Hinduism

and he told me

this story

about a friend

who's also

a friend in common.

I know this other person

and they were

at university.

They both live

in a residence,

in a Catholic residence

at UFT

and we all know

how university students

are filthy rich.

They just have

too much money,

right?

But anyway,

what happened

was that

a lot of the young men

in that house

were struggling

with pornography

and so this other friend,

the friend that we have

in common,

he thought,

you know what?

This is important.

So I'm going to ask

the house,

the people who run the house,

if they can get a filter

for the internet

and that way

these people will be able to,

these young men

will be able to fight

against pornography

and so he did that.

He asked and he said,

no, we can't do that.

It's too much money

and just couldn't believe it.

Like how,

like how is that?

So anyway,

this filthy rich

university student,

he's not rich at all,

by the way.

He's getting married

in a few months.

Money's tight.

He's doing his masters

and he decides

to take on

the $250

that it costs

to get the filter

for everyone in the house

and

this is,

this is what

I believe

Christian maturity

leads us to do

is when we're gripped

by the gospel

that we want to see

other people

be set free

to experience

the glory of God

in all of life.

At Church of the Messiah

we have this,

this,

I guess our motto

or vision statement

is that,

is to make disciples

of all nations

who are gripped

by the gospel

and learning to live

for God's glory

and that's really

the core of Christian maturity

is that God's love

for us in Jesus

propels us.

The beauty of eternity

that was revealed

in Jesus

in his life,

in his ministry,

in his death

on the cross

is what inspires us.

that's what makes us

want to change.

That's what makes us

want to experience

the truly beautiful

in life

which is the radiance

of God's glory.

It changes us

in the way we think

of our retirement goals

and our investments

in our relationships,

in our sexuality,

in our leisure,

in our work,

ambitions

so that we don't waste

our time pursuing

these things

but we see these things

in light of the gospel.

We see these things

in light of Jesus Christ

and we want to live

for what really matters

which is loving God

and loving others.

Now just to wrap up here,

maybe you're here

and you're realizing

that you've had Jesus

in your life

but he was over here

and you had the rest

of your life there.

What do I do?

Or maybe you've been

a Christian for quite some time

and you're realizing now

that you've loved

other things

above Jesus.

Is there hope?

Well, this text

implies that yes,

there is hope

that when we believe

in Jesus,

we start walking

toward him

in steps of faithfulness

then we'll be able

to grow

into a godly service.

Our affections

will start changing.

This idea

of being part of a church

is not just

to go there on Sunday

and leave right away.

We mingle with people.

We get to learn

from other people.

We get to share

with other people.

We get challenged

by other people

and we grow

in that way.

But first,

it starts with

crying out to Jesus

and maybe you've never

really done that.

Crying out

to Jesus

in humility,

saying,

Jesus,

Jesus,

I need you.

I need help.

I need the gospel.

And so,

here's the last point

and I think

this is good news.

This is really

the core message

of this text.

It says,

Jesus is my savior

before he is my teacher.

His salvation

teaches me

to live.

Now,

this next point,

I'm going to,

I'm going to put up

a prayer

so that we can pray

this together.

Maybe this is your

conversion prayer.

Maybe you've never

walked with Jesus before

and you want to have

Jesus,

have the promise

of eternal life

with Jesus

and be transformed

by his likeness

and by the Holy Spirit.

we can pray this prayer.

It's not about the words.

It's really about the heart.

And maybe

you've been wanting

to deepen your allegiance

with Jesus

and

so this is a good

first step.

So how about we stand

together

and we'll pray this.

Almighty God,

you entered

human nature

and experience

in the person

of your son,

Jesus Christ.

I did not spare him

from suffering

and death

but sent him

to die the death

we deserve

so we could have

the destiny he earned.

Deepen in us

the knowledge

of your salvation

and pour out

your Holy Spirit

that we may proclaim

Christ faithfully

and attain

godly maturity

to the glory

of your name.

Through Jesus Christ

our Lord.

Amen.

Father,

would you pour out

your Holy Spirit

upon us?

Lord,

as we

seek to

to have

a good life

here in Canada,

help us to

live in reality.

Help us to be

real about

who we are

and to be real

about who you are,

Lord.

Would you lead us

to that place

where we can

abandon ourselves

to you

and that we can

trust you

and love you,

Lord.

And then we can

love our neighbors.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.