Keeping Christ in Focus

This is the last message in a series looking at the theme of Colossians—a theme which talks about giving a focus to our faith. Today I want to pull just a few verses from the ending of Colossians that points us towards some of the practical implications of a faith that is focused on Christ. In particular, the apostle Paul concludes his letter to the believers in Colossae with some indicators, or benchmarks, of what a Christ-focused faith looks like.

Most of the time when I give a message, we will first read through the entire passage and then I will work us through it pointing out the various features that tie it all together. These verses for today are going to work a little better if we go through this an a more expository way. That means we are just going to proceed one verse at a time through this sermon. Let me set the theme in front of us again. The letter of Colossians has been working this whole time to tell the church that Christ alone is sufficient. All these other things we do and embrace as our part of being religious people is meant for one thing and one thing alone—to point us towards Christ at the center of our faith.

how Christ-centered faith can continually grow and take shape

Now in the closing remarks of this letter, the apostle Paul is leaving a few reminders of how a Christ-centered faith is nurtured and maintained. I suppose it only makes sense. Paul argues through the first three-and-a-half chapters of Colossians for a faith that focuses exclusively on Christ. It would be good to add a little bit about how this kind of faith can continually grow and take shape in us as believers of the gospel.

And we absolutely need to note that these verses here at the end of Colossians do not make a comprehensive list to that effect. There are so many things we could say about growing and maintaining a Christ-centered faith that comes from other parts of scripture. We could point to the necessity of faith in the context of Christian community—that our faith grows together. We could also point to the necessity of the Holy Spirit as an essential component to Christ-centered faith. Those things are all true and we can find it elsewhere in scripture. Both those are different sermons for another day. Today let’s look at what scripture says here in Colossians—even though we can acknowledge it is a partial list.

Colossians 3:15 (NIV)

Colossians 3:15 NIV

15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts

let your heart be ruled by the peace of Christ what is it that rules in your heart?

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts. Maybe first glance tells us this means find ways to be a more peaceful person. But that’s not it. There is more to it than simply engaging in or advocating for peace. Let me rephrase it—not by changing any of the words, but by moving them around. Let your heart be ruled by the peace of Christ. The instruction in this verse raises a significant question. What is it that rules in your heart? Calvin Philosophy professor Jamey Smith addresses this question in his book, You Are What You Love. The point being this: our hearts are all ruled by something. What is it that rules your heart? Maybe we have to back up one step from the instruction in this verse and acknowledge, I cannot let the peace of Christ rule in my heart if my heart is already being ruled by something else. A Christ-centered faith must take a good honest look in the mirror and truthfully confess to God what it is in this world that competes to rule our hearts. Because the peace of Christ will never rule in your heart as long as your heart is ruled by something other.

rule — to be controlled by | requires submission to the peace of Christ

Perhaps we should consider a little further Paul’s choice of the word “rule.” It is not about advocating for peace, and behaving in more peaceful ways. The Greek word means to be controlled by. It is a word that requires submission. I am not just a cheerleader for peace. I am not just a practitioner of peace. It is more than that. I submit myself to the peace of Christ. I live in submission to the peace of Christ. A Christ-centered faith submits to the shalom-flourishing peace of Christ. Nothing else rules your heart except that—except Christ.

Colossians 3:16 (NIV)

Colossians 3:16 NIV

16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.

let the message of Christ dwell among you richly

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly. You gain the sense in this verse that Paul is steering this instruction towards worship and knowledge. The message of Christ is the gospel message of grace. A Christ-centered faith nurtures and grows by responding to the Holy Spirit’s prompting to be molded and shaped and formed by the grace of God revealed to us in the gospel message of Christ. A Christ-centered faith responds to this amazing message of God’s saving grace by overflowing in worship.

responding to the gospel with overflowing worship

Maybe sometimes we think of worship as that activity we do here in church for one hour on one day of the week. Paul’s instruction for a Christ-centered faith places this message of Christ so firmly within us that this overflowing response of worship is continual. It becomes a life of worship, not just an activity for one hour on one day of the week.

lasagna

One of my better recipes in my kitchen is lasagna. I make my own pasta from scratch, so the noodles don’t come from the store out of a box. So, I make lasagna by layering fresh uncooked noodles into the pan along with the sauce and the cheese and seasoned meats. Then, in the oven, the noodles cook by soaking and absorbing in all those other flavors that are layered around it. It comes out of the oven with noodles that are the perfect al dente but still tender, and they have taken on all the flavor of the lasagna because the noodles have been baked in it.

let the gospel of God’s grace bake into your very being

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly. Don’t just make the gospel of God’s grace another layer. Rather, let the gospel of God’s grace bake into your very being. Let the flavor of God’s grace become so baked into your life that the grace of God becomes your flavor too.

Colossians 3:17 (NIV)

Colossians 3:17 NIV

17 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.

do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus

the meaning of God’s name — Jesus = savior | Christ = anointed

Do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus. This is a reminder for us that in the Bible names have meaning. The meaning of a person’s name communicated something about them. The name of Jesus Christ has meaning. The name Jesus literally means “savior.” And the name Christ literally means “anointed.” Jesus is the one anointed—or specifically set aside and called to the task—to be the savior of the world. A Christ-centered faith goes about every single deed with the truth of Christ’s salvation in mind. The way I treat other people when I am at the store, or in the office, or in class at school is always filtered through the lens of seeing all those other people invited into the saving redemption of Jesus. The work that I do with my hands and the things that I design or build or repair is always filtered through the lens of seeing this created world around us as saved and redeemed by Jesus.

Christ-centered faith sees everything we do as being in harmony with the saving and redeeming work of Jesus

A Christ-centered faith sees everything we do as being in harmony with, in connection with, in confluence with the saving and redeeming work of Jesus. Because Jesus is savior of the world I treat other people as those loved enough by God to be given his salvation. Because Jesus is savior of the world I treat the creation itself—the environment of this world—as something precious enough to be given God’s complete redemption and restoration.

Colossians 4:2–4 (NIV)

Colossians 4:2–4 NIV

2 Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. 3 And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. 4 Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should.

devote yourselves to prayer

Devote yourselves to prayer. I am going to take verses 2-4 altogether as one instruction because verses 3-4 are subcategories—or further explanation—of what it looks like to be devoted to prayer. This instruction is not a complete lesson of everything about prayer. There are many things we can say about the place of prayer in the life of a Christian. But here in particular, Paul talks about one aspect of prayer which lends itself towards a Christ-centered faith.

devotion to prayer that aligns our hearts with the heart of God

In particular, this is a devotion to prayer that aligns our hearts with the heart of God. It is a request for prayer that the door may always be open for sharing the gospel message, proclaiming and declaring the mystery of Christ. It is a prayer to God that he would change our hearts to be so captivated by the gospel of Jesus that other people cannot help but to see that expression of God’s grace in us and hear that expression of God’s grace in our words.

Christ-centered devotion to prayer is the kind of prayer that changes the one who is doing the praying

A Christ-centered devotion to prayer is the kind of prayer that changes the one who is doing the praying. It acknowledges that I cannot communicate the unconditional love of Jesus to others unless I am also changed by God to be a person of unconditional love for others. I cannot communicate the forgiveness of God unless I am also changed by God to forgive others. I cannot convince anyone of God’s grace unless I am also changed by God to be a gracious person. A Christ-centered devotion to prayer is a prayer that changes me to be so very Christ-centered that other people cannot help but being pointed towards Jesus by what I say and what I do.

Colossians 4:5–6 (NIV)

Colossians 4:5–6 NIV

5 Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6 Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.

be wise in the way you act towards outsiders

Be wise in the way you act towards outsiders. The Greek word translated in our English Bibles as act literally means “walk.” Be wise in how you walk with others—how you go about living with others, and conducting yourself with others. What does this wisdom look like? That’s where verse 6 comes in. I know verses 5-6 come across in our English Bible translations as two sentences that almost seem as though these are two separate instructions. But in Greek these two verses are tied together in one thought. I would almost rather see verse 6 begin with “letting” instead of “let.”

by letting your conversation be always full of grace

The way you live a Christ-centered faith that is wise in the way you conduct yourself with others is by letting your conversation be always full of grace. It is easy enough to embrace and express grace here inside this church community among one another. Paul is pressing a Christ-centered faith to express that same grace outside of this place in all our contact with those outside who may feel abandoned or far away from God.

TV baseball settings

During the summer months I tend to watch quite a bit of Colorado Rockies baseball. In fact, more times than not during the summer, whenever I turn on my television it was to launch the MLB app that let me get the Rockies game broadcast. And since this tended to be the usual app channel for when I turned on my television, I changed the default settings on my TV to go there automatically when turning on the television. I think we all know what it is like to have some complicated electronic devices that all come with default settings. And often those default settings can be adjusted.

The default is what happens automatically. My television is programmed to turn on by default to the menu selection that allows me to pick where I want it to go from there—to Hulu or YouTube or wherever. I just reprogrammed the default so that the TV would start with MLB network right at the first selection. And I programmed by MLB network so that the Colorado Rockies would automatically be the selected team broadcast. It means I can turn on my TV and press one button to display the Rockies baseball game. I made that the default so that the TV would just do this automatically by itself as the very first thing every time.

Christ-centered faith has grace as its default setting

default setting of grace always considers the question in every situation we face, what is the most gracious thing I could do about this? what is the most gracious thing I could say?

A Christ-centered faith has grace as its default setting. A Christ-centered faith automatically turns to grace as the very first thing every time. And maybe it takes a little work on your part to change those default settings. Maybe it takes some intentional action on your part before it becomes automatic. But as the Holy Spirit works sanctification into your life, a default setting of grace becomes evident. A default setting of grace always considers the question in every situation we face, what is the most gracious thing I could do about this? what is the most gracious thing I could say?

particular concern towards outsiders — those marginalized and pushed away

Of particular concern here are those who are identified as being outsiders. Those who have been pushed away and marginalized are the ones for whom a default setting of grace is most important. A Christ-centered faith always defaults to a setting of being gracious whenever and wherever possible.

one feature woven through all these Christ-centered-faith instructions — thanksgiving

Let me close with one observation woven throughout all of these instructions. Thanksgiving. Look at the passage for today. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts; and be thankful. Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly; with gratitude in your hearts. Whatever you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus; giving thanks to God. Devote yourselves to prayer; being watchful and thankful.

let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts; and be thankful let the message of Christ dwell among you richly; with gratitude in your hearts whatever you do, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus; giving thanks to God devote yourselves to prayer; being watchful and thankful

Thanksgiving is meant to just be a holiday we remember once a year. Thanksgiving and gratitude are woven into the heart of a Christ-centered faith. A faith that keeps its focus on Christ is a faith that weaves thanksgiving and gratitude through all of these instructions. Because giving thanks reminds us that all of this comes to us as a gift from God in the first place. The only reason we can have the peace of Christ is because Christ has given us his peace, the only reason we can extend grace to others is because God has given us grace. The thanksgiving we give this week begins as thanksgiving to God. Our Christ-centered faith comes to us first as a gift from God for which we give thanks.