Ugly Actions

This is the fourth and final sermon of our Ugly Christmas Sweater Series. For the past few weeks we have looked at the ugliness that can take place during the holidays. Today I want to look at the ugly actions.

During all seasons we have to be mindful of our actions, but Christmas is a season when we can make conscious decisions to bless people because of the blessing God gave us by sending Jesus to earth. We have the ability to live like Jesus, but often we end up acting like an ugly Christmas sweater. Kind of like this scene from Jingle all the Way.

Video - Jingle all the Way: The Fight for Turboman

It is at Christmas time when we often see the best of humanity and the worst of humanity, all at one time. We celebrate the birth of our savior in a dimly lit room with candles and sing Silent Night. Suddenly the next day, many of us join in with the rest of the country pushing and fighting for the newest iPhone at Best Buy and arguing over all kinds of things.

How is it that these two extremes happen all at once?

The Bible tells us we have two natures constantly warring against one another. One nature inspires us to love people around us and live humbly, while the other nature causes us to want to look out for ourselves first while pushing others down. This battle begins when we are very young and unfortunately does not get any easier as we grow older. But, by the grace of God and his spirit living inside of us, we can grow to treat others the way God would treat them.

Paul wrote the book of Colossians as a letter to the people living in Colossae. The Colossians are a lot like you and me in that they were a group of people who were trying to figure out what it looked like to love people well in light of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Somehow and someway, the sacrifice of Christ should have a profound impact on us as followers of Jesus. if not, if we never make the shift from being ugly Christmas sweaters to something more beautiful. It’s time for our ugly actions to become Godly actions.

Here are two truths to remember during the Christmas season.

1. People Do Crazy Things in the Name of Christmas

Think about all the decorations we put up. We drag all the decorations out to put all this stuff up in our house and on our front lawn for one month. We go out and spend lots of money to buy things we don’t need for people that we won’t talk to for possibly another year.

There is something about this time of year that causes people to reorient their entire lives around the holidays. This one holiday will cause schedules to change, attitudes to change, and budgets to change.

Why? All because it is simply Christmas.

As Paul is writing to the Colossians, he is making a plea for the followers of God to reorient their lives in the same kind of way. To be willing to live in unique and countercultural ways because of the love of God.

Paul is very persuasive in telling his audience that there can be no more excuses for not living life God’s way. He expects it. He says it this way in chapter 3.

Go to Colossians chapter 3.

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.

Paul has a long discussion and then shares his final thoughts with his readers with this verse.

Everything we do in life, whether in word or deed, needs to be done in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. How much of our life? All of it. All of our lives should be lived in the name of Jesus.

So, how are you doing with this? If you were to look over the past month, how much of your life is lived based on your relationship with Jesus? What percentage of your words and deeds are centered on Christ? More often than not, our actions do not look like Jesus and are rather selfish and self-serving.

Paul tells us to make sure our actions are reflective of the fact that we are grateful for God’s grace in our lives. When we give thanks for all God has already given us, then we are more ready to treat others with love and respect. All in the name of Jesus.

The kind of intention it takes to wear a great outfit to a party is the same kind of intention it takes to live as God’s people. You don’t just wake up each day with godly actions instead of ugly ones. It is your choice.

Living the way Paul tells us to live is a lot like choosing a Christmas sweater.

2. You Pick Your Outfit

No matter what kind of crazy sweater someone chooses to wear, they picked it. Paul writes to the Colossians and gives them this insight for the kinds of actions their lives exemplify.

Go to verse 12.

Colossians 3:12 NIV

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.

The Greek word for “clothe” or “put on” is the word “Enduo.”

cloth or put on is Greek word “Enduo” which means to sink into a garment or to cover yourself.

Enduo literally means to sink into a garment or to cover yourself. This is an active word Paul is using to paint a picture for his readers. In order for us to love people well and not act like an ugly Christmas sweater, we must intentionally put on new and better kinds of actions.

The kind of intention it takes to pick out a great Christmas service suit or Christmas morning pajama set is the same kind of intention it takes to live as God’s people. You do not just wake up each day with godly actions and avoid ugly actions. We make the decision each day how we will treat others How we treat our spouses is important. How we treat our children is important. How we treat our friends is important. Paul lists out what kinds of actions the spirit requires of us.

Look at what He says to clothe ourselves with. First, he says, “Clothe yourselves with compassion.”

Compassion

This is the ability to see a situation from someone else’s vantage point. To feel what someone else is feeling. compassion is what leads people to serve others or to give sacrificially. Compassion is the key to changing a broken world. This takes a selfless attitude and results in people actually listening to one another.

Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with kindness.

Kindness

Kindness sounds like a simple word but it is much harder to actually live out. Kindness is what happens when we are always looking for practical ways to serve one another. Mowing a neighbor’s yard, buying groceries for a family under financial strain, or writing a letter just because you want to bless someone. Kindness is saying the right thing at just the right time or taking action when you are in a position to make a difference. Kindness is doing the right thing to positively impact those around you.

Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with humility.

Humility

Humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking about yourself less. Humility is taking on the kind of mentality Jesus taught us and modeled for us. Selfishness is ugly and is the basis of all sinful action. Humility then is the way in which sin is overcome and the way of Jesus is made a reality.

Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with gentleness.

Gentleness

This comes from a word meaning controlled strength. This word is not about weakness, it is about power. This power comes from the spirit of God living in us, and it helps us control our impulses. In gentleness, our actions express themselves in service to the weak and powerless among us. This is not a word that describes a wimp; it describes someone who is not afraid to step into injustice or brokenness to instigate change.

Paul tells us to clothe ourselves with patience.

Patience

This word can be translated as long-suffering. It means to put up with something for a long time before getting angry or giving up. Clothing yourself in patience allows you to love people who are hard to love and serve people who are hard to serve. Patience is the key to becoming someone who looks like Jesus, because spiritual maturity does not happen overnight.

None of these attributes come naturally to us. We must choose them and put them on.

We have to clothe ourselves with them.

Colossians 3:12–14 NIV

12 Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Think about your favorite ugly Christmas sweater. You wear all the time to all the parties and then one day it gets a snag. You carefully try to pull it to snip it off or tie it up only to find that if you pull it any more the whole sweater could possibly come unraveled. This is a dangerous moment and the moment you realize it is all connected. Every thread is part of another thread.

The same is true for the Christian. All of the things Paul says in these verses have a common thread. that thread is love he says above all else, put on and clothe yourself in love. This action gives life to every other one. Without love, all the other attitudes unravel and mean nothing. The Christmas season is all about a God who loved us enough to send his own son to us to save us. Therefore, it makes sense love would be the binding attribute for us to love others with godly actions.

Love is a Verb

In order to really love others, we have to put love into action. to move from ugly actions to godly ones starts with love. The word Paul uses for love in our Colossians passage is a very specific word. It is the Greek word agape, which means a sacrificial love.

Agape - a sacrificial love

Agape is a love that will cost us something. The question is, are we willing to pay the cost to live with love? We cannot just say we love people; we must show we love people through our actions.

If we are going to live with love this Christmas season, it must start with God’s love. We must first realize God truly loves us.

John 3:16–17 NIV

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

God himself was motivated by love. This love prompted Jesus to come to earth in the first place. God did not send Jesus to come and condemn the world, but to rescue it. Every action Jesus takes throughout his life and ministry, and even his death and resurrection, is based upon a love for all of humankind.

1 John 4:8–12 NIV

8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

We have the incredible opportunity to love people around us. In loving others, we make God evident to a world who cannot see him. The mark of a Christian is someone who is dedicated to embracing God’s amazing love for us and allowing this love to overflow.

Love is action.

Therefore, today, Christmas day, and the rest of this week, I want to challenge all of us to choose one person or one family to offer sacrificial love to. To put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience in the way we treat them.

It could be a stranger or a neighbor or a brother or sister.

Let’s Pray