Pentecost 9 Therefor1
Therefore…
Pentecost 9 7/29/2007
Col. 2:6-19
† In the Lord’s Name †
May the grace and peace, of God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ, be yours, and may you treasure it always.
It may surprise some of you, but it is recorded in the annals of history, indeed in his own words, that Martin Luther had a bit of a temper. At least, in his writings, there is evidence of such, as he spitefully, and some would claim with great hatred addresses both the pope and leaders of the Catholic Church, and often, the religious leaders of the Jewish Communities in Germany, and in some cases, protestant leaders like Kaarlstaadt or Zwingli.
His words were venomous, and have in days since, been used to justify great evils towards people, including the horrors of the Russian pogroms, and the holocaust.
I do not want to justify what Martin Luther said, some of it was over the top, and taken out of the context of his life, is easily used to justify evil behavior, by Christians, and non-Christians alike. I did seek to understand why he said what he said, and what I see there, is a shepherd’s heart, nearly broken as people fell under the power of philosophies, and traditions of mankind, that would steal from them the one, most incredible thing that Martin Luther had encountered.
The Love-filled grace of God.
Those that would rob people seeking that grace, that they be made rich, or famous, or so that they could build cathedrals – would infuriate Luther. As would those that deny it, saying only pure obedience to the law would bring peace with God, or that the grace of God was only for certain people, and not available to all.
Basically – try to separate God and His people, by denying the grace given to them in Christ, and delivered to them by word and sacrament, and he would respond, as if there was nothing more evil that a person could do.
Though I might not advise people to burn down the houses of those who would steal people away from the presence of God, I agree – those who do such, are as evil as Satan. In today’s epistle passage, we see Paul’s words against being the victims of such people, as they try to manipulate us away from God in Christ, and away from Grace.
What has been received…
The Fullness of God in Christ
Which dwells in us!
Sin and stuff cut away, and nailed it to the cross!
Joined in death and new life in baptism
Made alive!
Our incredible passage today, urges us to walk in Christ, even as we received Him, in it’s very first verse. That is one of the two main thrusts of the passage, to help us realize how we received Him, and what that means. The other thrust of the passage is to treasure walking in Him, and to be on guard against those who would lead us away from the incredible grace! So let’s first look at what we receive in Christ, that we may realize why it is such a great treasure.
As the passage begins to describe Jesus, it uses the following phrase,
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.
How incredible, that this man, who walked out planet, even as we do, was indeed the fullness of God, the very being and image of God. Not just a vision, nor a holy man; but God, was here amongst His people; living and breathing, eating and sleeping, working and bathing. This is the Jesus who has been given all rule and authority over all the universe! Paul claims that this is the Jesus who fills us; whose Holy Spirit indwells our bodies in the same manner as the father dwells in the temple!
It goes on, to compare the work of God in our lives to a circumcision, not a physical one, but a spiritual cleansing, where all that is not Godly, is carefully and with great precision, removed from lives by God. It is summed up well, in verse , 31 And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses,
The passage describes it well again, using the description of our baptism. Saying it joins us to Christ’s death, and we trust, we have faith that God’s incredible power is at work giving us life, real life, abundant life, life with him.
This is what Paul doesn’t want Christians to let others steal from us, and those that attempt to steal or charge for grace, Luther considered as evil as any demon!
My friends, we have been made alive in Christ – to use the word from the old form of the creeds, we have been quickened! Given the blessing of the incredible presence of God, with all sin, all guilt and shame, every burden, every problem that would separate us from God, was nailed to the cross, and left there.
Therefore
Don’t let anyone steal it,
By philosophy, empty deceit, tradition
Questioning behavior with food or drink, or by vain visions
By observation of festival days – Luther Quote
Christ plus message? NOT ON MY WATCH
Treasure the words of Christ!
This is the grace, the incredible blessing of God, which sustains us through the most horrendous of weeks, even when we don’t realize it.
That is why this passage is so insistent that we don’t let anyone steal it from us, or fall for some deceptive counterfeit, that would “charge” us for the grace that is so freely given.
We see the tactics, outlined in the passage,
Using the philosophy of mankind, and holding it superior to the word of God. We see this so much today, as many mock belief in God’s word as being uneducated, or ignorant. You cannot have faith, or they attempt to reduce our faith to a level of morality, and then mock us again, for not being truly enlightened.
Using empty deceit, especially leaning upon man’s tradition to “back up” their charging people, either directly for cash, or to completely modify their behavior to a created standard, before God will love them enough to forgive them. While I do believe, that the more we understand God’s love for us, the more we will love Him, and show that love to our neighbor; that love of God is not given after we have met His standard. For how could we?
Another example of the modifying behavior that those who would steal the grace freely given is by challenging our diets, demanding that we all live like John the Baptist, or refrain from certain foods or beverages. Again, they twist things, for surely there is benefit to a good diet, and too much of certain beverages, or even a little for certain people, is bad for them. But is such abstinence required prior to receiving God’s grace?
IN the days of Paul, and among certain groups in both Judaism and Christianity, there were mandatory, obligatory days where you had to be at church, or you would forfeit your place in heaven. I love what Luther wrote about such,
“Yet the people are to be taught that the only reason for keeping these festivals is to learn the Word of God. If one wishes to do manual labor, he may do so in his own way. For God requires observance of these church ordinances by us only on account of the teaching, as Paul says in Col. 2[:16]: “Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or new moon or sabbath.”
Beyond such regulations, which were made for the sake of good order, are others, such as regular fasts and abstaining from meat on Fridays, which were instituted in the thought that they would be a special service to God, to appease God and secure his grace. Now Christ teaches in Matt. 15[:9] that it is futile to appease God by the observance of such regulations, for he says: “In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.” In I Tim. 4[:1] Paul teaches that ordinances made with the intention of appeasing God are “doctrines of demons.”[1]”
A more modern pastor, a conservative Anglican named JI Packer, wrote about it this way,
In Galatians, Paul condemns the Judaizers’ “Christ-plus” message as obscuring and indeed denying the all-sufficiency of the grace revealed in Jesus (Gal. 3:1-3; 4:21; 5:2-6). In Colossians, he conducts a similar polemic against a similar “Christ-plus” formula for “fullness” (i.e., spiritual completion: Col. 2:8-23). Any “plus” that requires us to take action in order to add to what Christ has given us is a reversion to legalism and, in truth, an insult to Christ.[2]
My friends, realize the incredible grace given to you, that frees you from so much, and gives you so much, in Christ Jesus. Don’t fall for “Christ-plus” messages, that are out there in the world, attempting to distract us from the incredible hope that Paul discussed in the first chapter of this book of Colossians,
25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. Colossians 1:25-28 (ESV)
Stick to Jesus, walk in Him, the one that conquered all, satan, sin, and death, that you would be united with Him forever and ever…
And may the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, continue to guard your hearts and minds, in Christ Jesus!
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[1]Luther, Martin: Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (Hrsg.) ; Oswald, Hilton C. (Hrsg.) ; Lehmann, Helmut T. (Hrsg.): Luther's Works, Vol. 40 : Church and Ministry II. Philadelphia : Fortress Press, 1999, c1958 (Luther's Works 40), S. 40:298
[2]Packer, J. I.: Concise Theology : A Guide to Historic Christian Beliefs. Wheaton, Ill. : Tyndale House, 1995, c1993