Colossians: Alive in Christ | Colossians 2:1-7

Let us pray.

Father, in this season we remember that in between time when the disciples were waiting.

They had seen your son Jesus go.

They were awaiting a promise.

They were awaiting your Holy Spirit.

And so now, Holy Spirit, we acknowledge you in our presence and ask that you would work among us.

That as the word is read and preached, that it would enter our hearts and change us, Lord.

So that we would more and more resemble your son Jesus Christ, Father.

For our good and for your glory, we pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.

So we're in the seventh.

This is the seventh Sunday of Easter.

It started.

The Easter season started on Easter Sunday, seven weeks ago.

And it concludes next Sunday, which is Pentecost Sunday.

In this season, we've been walking through Paul's letter to the Colossians.

And today we come to the passage on which this whole letter turns.

It begins with Paul pointing out in verse 1,

How great a struggle I have for you.

Now when I think of Paul and his struggle, my mind goes through several paintings that Rembrandt did of the Apostle Paul in prison.

Here's one.

You can see the look.

Well, maybe you can't see.

I can see because I'm right next to it.

And you can see the look on his face.

It's one of intense concentration, perhaps enlightenment.

One of struggle.

And his eyes are focused to the right.

I don't know if you can see it because of the contrast.

But there's a sword right there on the right.

Not something ordinarily somebody's allowed to have with them in prison.

But this is like Paul's name tag, right?

Rembrandt would have a sword in paintings of Paul because it was an emblem of his struggle.

It points forward to Paul's eventual martyrdom.

But it has another meaning.

The sword is just above a letter that Paul is writing there.

So this is the sword of the Spirit.

Rembrandt is showing us that this is the Word of God.

The sword is the sword of the Spirit.

It's the Bible.

And Paul is wielding it on behalf of the church.

This is his struggle.

In today's passage, Paul is struggling to protect the church from making a serious mistake.

He's writing to a young, brand new congregation in the little town of Colossa.

And Paul knows that as soon as a congregation like this is established,

that the devil wastes no time and immediately begins assaulting a church like this.

And what does the enemy like to do?

The enemy goes for the roots.

The enemy tells lies to try and erode the foundation

by diluting them with plausible arguments,

as it said in Colossians chapter 2 verse 4,

Colossians 2:4

what Deborah read for us earlier.

So, speaking of roots and foundations,

let me show you a couple pictures from my yard.

This used to be thriving ivy, and it is no longer thriving.

And if you're immediately wondering, I'm sure,

how in the world did Dan manage to kill ivy, right?

So when that meteor comes and hits earth and everything is wiped out,

ivy will be the one thing that survives, right?

And yet I managed to kill it.

Behold, I am the world's worst gardener.

See, the soil was getting too wet, right?

There wasn't enough sunlight on it.

So the moisture was causing the roots to rot,

and the ivy got sick, and it died.

Here's another picture.

This is in the back of our house.

Do you see how the structure appears compromised at the bottom?

It's because that's really bad, actually.

So when it rains, there's nowhere for the water to go,

and it just goes down into the soil and down to the foundation

and erodes the soil from underneath of the foundation,

and then you can begin to see cracks above the ground.

And by then, it's unfortunately too late.

So, yeah, the easiest way to prevent all of this from happening

would be for it to not rain, right?

That would solve my problem.

But it's always going to rain.

It's always going to rain.

You can't escape the climate.

And so what you have to do is just protect the roots,

protect the foundation.

In the same way, Paul's audience had a faith

that was built on a solid foundation.

But immediately, the structure of their faith

is being subjected to the cultural climate around them.

And it was inescapable.

One of the things that their culture,

the culture of the Colossian church,

was telling them that wherever you look,

there are powers at play.

If you're experiencing love,

then it's because Aphrodite is at work.

And if you're experiencing prosperity,

then it's because Mammon is at work.

And if the Roman army is conquering Britain,

it's because Roma is overpowering Britannia.

And if this worldview is constantly raining

on the faith of the Colossians,

and if the Colossians aren't careful,

then the foundation of their faith will begin to erode.

And then eventually, over time,

it will seem completely plausible for them to say,

yes, Jesus is Lord,

and if I want to experience love,

then I should probably get Aphrodite on my side.

Yes, Jesus is Lord,

but if I want to make some money,

I should probably get Mammon on my side.

And then their faith becomes Jesus plus something else.

And to our ears,

it might sound a bit absurd,

but to them,

it would have felt completely plausible

because they were swimming in a culture

that allowed that to seem possible.

In the same way,

we swim in a culture

that allows for all kinds

of plausible-sounding reconfigurations

of the Christian faith.

One big philosophical tenet

that our culture clings to

is expressive individualism.

This holds that each person

has a unique core of feeling

and intuition

that should unfold

or be expressed

if individuality is to be realized.

Until I do that,

until I pursue the things that satisfy me

and help me become who I truly am,

I cannot be happy.

This is the culture we swim in.

It's the culture our children swim in, right?

It's time to see what I can do

to test the limits and break through.

No right, no wrong,

no rules for me.

I'm free.

Let it be observed.

That's not quite what Jesus said.

As a matter of fact,

it's the exact opposite.

Jesus said in Luke chapter 9,

Luke 9 · chapter mention

if anyone would come after me,

let him deny himself

and take up his cross daily

and follow me.

For whoever would save his life

will lose it.

But whoever loses his life for my sake

will save it.

So if something in our culture,

that's a lie.

Opposed to the gospel.

Opposed to what Jesus says is true.

But like the Colossians,

our faith can slowly become

Jesus plus something else.

In this case,

this is just an example,

Jesus plus self-fulfillment.

I'll never forget a conversation

I had with a friend of mine.

He, if you had seen him,

this happened a few years ago,

if you had seen him in church,

you would have said,

that's the guy that really loves Jesus, right?

He's standing there singing

with his arms up,

like singing his heart out.

And yet one day,

he decides to leave his wife

and his family

for a woman he met on the internet.

And on the phone,

he gave me the whole story

and summarized it all by saying,

I just don't want to miss out

on my last chance for happiness.

That's a lie straight from the devil,

isn't it?

And yet he was able to hold

the two together.

Jesus is Lord.

I need to do this for happiness.

Because to him

and to many in our culture,

a culture which says,

pursue happiness at all costs,

a stardom marriage

is our illegit thing,

that all feels plausible.

It feels plausible.

Plausible.

And we mustn't believe

that all of us

are not guilty

of the exact same thing.

We are.

To our Christian faith,

I, we,

are constantly tacking on

things our culture says

about money,

about our bodies,

about success,

about truth,

about productivity,

about busyness.

So what are we to do?

How are we to protect ourselves?

What does Paul say?

He says,

therefore,

as you received Christ Jesus,

the Lord,

so walk in him,

rooted and built up in him,

and established in the faith,

just as you were taught.

Now we can reverse the clauses

and say,

walk in Jesus

in the same way

that you received him,

or live in Jesus.

in the same way

that you received him.

So what does it mean

to receive him?

Well,

if you look at this passage

in the larger context,

especially what comes later

in this chapter,

I believe he's talking

about our baptism.

In your baptism,

you were marked

as Christ's own

forever.

So Paul says

to live

in that reality.

let your actions

be determined

by your belonging

to Jesus.

In the middle

of the film,

The Lives of Others,

one of the main characters,

a famous actress

in East Berlin,

is on the verge

of making

a very bad decision.

Bad both morally

and relationally.

She knows it's bad.

But just before

she goes

to do this thing,

she ducks really quick

into a restaurant.

Now,

also,

in this restaurant,

there happens to be

the Stasi agent

that has been

spying on her

for quite some time.

And unbeknownst to her,

she has changed

his heart.

She has won

his admiration.

And he knows,

because he's been

spying on her,

what she's about to do.

So he approaches her.

He's trying to stop her

from doing this.

And upon approaching her,

she says,

do we know each other?

And he says,

you don't know me,

but I know you.

Many people love you

for who you are.

She says,

actors are never

who they are.

He responds,

well, you are.

I've seen you on stage.

You were more

who you are

than you are now.

Not great.

On stage,

you were more

who you are

than you are now.

And when he reminds her

of her identity,

in this case,

an identity

that was forged

through artistic expression,

she decides

not to make

this really bad decision.

She acts according

to who she really is.

Now, I would suggest

that at your baptism,

you were most truly

who you are.

In that,

in your baptism,

you were given

your true identity.

You were marked

as belonging

to our Lord,

Jesus Christ.

And your life

in Christ

is to conform

to that moment

when you were marked.

So how do you live

in the manner

that you received Jesus?

Well, you remember

your baptism.

Remember your baptism.

Remember the vows

that you made.

Remember that you

have renounced

the devil

and all his works.

You've renounced

the vain pomp

and false values

of the world.

You've renounced

the sinful desires

of the flesh.

Remember that you

have turned

to Jesus Christ

and accepted him

as your savior.

Remember that you

have promised

to follow

and obey him

as Lord.

Remember that you

are sealed

by the Holy Spirit

and baptism

and marked

as Christ's own

forever.

You were marked

as Christ's own

forever.

You

are Christ's

own

forever.

Do you want

to keep the torrents

of our culture

from washing away

your foundation?

Do you want

to keep your roots

healthy?

Then as you

received Christ

the Lord,

so walk in him,

rooted and built

up in him,

and established

in the faith

just as you were

taught,

abounding in

thanksgiving.

Next week we'll

have the opportunity

to remember

our baptism

when baby

Juniper is

baptized.

And when she's

baptized,

she's going to

receive a book.

We give a book

to all of

our babies,

our children

who are baptized.

It's called

At Your

Baptism.

This book is

instructional for

us as adults.

It teaches us

how to remember

our baptism.

So I'd like to

end our time

together

by reading

that book

together.

You are

baptized

because you

belong to God

and to God's

family.

Your baptism

is a time

to see and

hear God's

promises.

At your

baptism,

God tells you

that for you,

Jesus Christ

came into the

world.

God sent

his son,

Jesus,

into the

world to

become human,

like us,

but without

sin.

For you,

he lived

and showed

God's love.

While he

lived on

earth,

Jesus was

a healer,

a teacher,

a friend,

and so much

more.

For you,

he suffered

the darkness

of Calvary

and cried

at the last,

it is

finished.

Jesus showed

his great love

for us by

dying on

the cross.

The Bible

tells us that

Jesus' death

takes away

the sin of

the world.

For you,

he triumphed

over death

and rose

in newness

of life.

But death

was not the

end.

Jesus came

back to life.

Now we can

live each day

with God's

power.

When we die,

we can live

with God

forever.

This is

something that

we celebrate

today,

the ascension

of our

Lord.

For you,

he ascended

to reign

at God's

right hand.

When Jesus

left earth,

he returned

to heaven.

He talks

to God

the Father

about us

and sent

the Holy

Spirit

to be

with us

all the

time.

All this

he did

for you

before you

knew anything

of it.

He lived,

died,

and rose

for us

because he

loves us.

We don't

have to do

anything

to earn

his love.

And so

the word

of Scripture

is fulfilled.

We love

because God

loved us

first.

We see

God's love

for us

through Jesus.

Jesus

shows us

how to

live so

that we

can love

God

and other

people.

Now when

you think

about your

baptism,

remember

that God

loves you.

Remember

that you

are part

of God's

worldwide

family.

family.

No one

can ever

take these

promises

away from

you.

Let's pray.