Putting Down Roots: Living the Dream

Introduction and Scripture

Colossians 2:6-7

Colossians 2:6–7 NIV

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians

Colossians 3:1–4 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Today we are focussing on this part of our verse:

Colossians 2:6–7 NIV

So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Pray.

Whenever someone asks me how things are going…I have two responses. Living the Dream and I am busy..... two responses that carry a lot of baggage. Think about how ridiculous the response, Busy is. Who isn’t? And I am really not saying anything relational to the person who just asked me how I was doing. What scared me even more as I thought about this....am I so busy that this is the only think i can think of when someone greets me.

Living the dream is ridiculous because I am half joking. There is a layer of cynicism in my voice.

Last week we talked about the first step in putting down roots. Baptism and the declaration that Jesus is Lord is the first part of putting down roots. It is the “moving to town” so to speak. Maybe for some it is embracing the life sealed in baptism even if it has been years or decades since that moment.

The first step in all of this is to “receive Christ as Lord.” I have been reflecting a lot on what this looks like in our context.

DMin stuff.... less than 20 people in a decade.

Receiving Christ in baptism is to make what is real in the past become real in the present.

Then continue living your live in him.

As NT Wright points out: The Colossian Christians have entered the new age, and, belonging there by right, do not have to struggle to attain the status of membership in God’s people: they already have it. They simply allow its life to be worked out in them.

So a lot of times we see a list of sinful behavior like what follows in and think this is the cost of entry. This is not the case!!!

sexual immorality

impurity

lust

evil desires

greed

idolatry

if that list doesent get you, keep reading from chapter 3:

anger

rage

malice

slander

filthy language

do not lie

This is not the price of admission, to live in this way without these sins so that God loves you. Brother and sister in Christ you are as loved as you ever will be. However, these are not life.

Again according to NT Wright: “continue to live your life” is a Jewish literal rendering of “walking in life.” You have it, walk in it.

Putting down roots is about now living in the town you moved to. Exploring and investing in people and relationships. For the Christian journey it is now investing in yourself and in this life that you now have.

What does it mean to walk in this life? Well this is what Paul says....

Colossians

Colossians 3:1–4 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Live your Lives in Him

There are three focal points in the verses of chapter three that we just read. These three points are Paul’s layers of what it looks like to live your life in him, to walk in him.

Life is already reality

Life involves the mind and the will

Life is focused on the Kingdom

Life is already reality

We have talked about this but I just want to make sure it is clear....for those in Christ life is a reality. Paul is instructing us to not do those things that lead to death.

Carlos Wittaker is a pastor who wrote a book telling the tough story of healing coming back from an addiction that almost cost him his family. His book, Kill the Spider, is inspired by a story his dad told him as he went to therapy retreat to trying and start over.

“When I was early in my ministry in Panama, I was preaching a three-day revival in a small church by the ocean. That first night I preached mi corazon [my heart] out. I preached hard and loud. Many were touched by God. Toward the end of the invitation, Ms. Ramirez stood up. She made her way to the center aisle and walked very slowly toward the front. When she finally got to me, I asked why she had come forward. Her answer was simple.

“‘Pastor, I need you to pray that the Lord cleans the cobwebs out of my life. I have so many cobwebs. Could you please pray?’ she asked me.

“And so I obliged. I prayed that the Lord would clean the cobwebs out of her life. She thanked me and went on her way. On night two of the revival I saw her get up again — Ms. Ramirez. And she came walking down the aisle with a little more certainty.

“‘Pastor, could you pray again? Could you please pray again that the Lord cleans the cobwebs out of my life?’ she asked.

“I reminded her I had prayed the night before for this very thing, and that the Lord would honor our prayer. But she insisted I pray again. And so I did.

“Son, listen to me. The last night of the revival — I couldn’t believe it — she got up again. She made her way down the aisle even faster this night. I wondered if she was going to tell me that her life had begun to take a turn for the better — that the Lord had begun to clean the cobwebs.

“‘Pastor Fermin, please, one last time? Can you please pray that the Lord cleans the cobwebs —’

“I stopped her mid-sentence. I stopped her because I realized we were praying the wrong prayer.

“And so I prayed, Father, we do not ask You tonight to clean the cobwebs from Ms. Ramirez’s life. In fact, Lord, keep them there for now. But tonight we ask for something much greater. Tonight we ask that You KILL THE SPIDER in Ms. Ramirez’s life. In the Name of Jesus I pray. Amen.

“Carlos, I have watched you your entire life. You are a professional at cleaning the cobwebs from your life. You are amazing at playing the part and being used by God in spite of your circumstances. But do not go to this place and try to clean up your life. That won’t work. You have to kill the spider. You must find the producer of all the cobwebs in your life and kill it. It is much more difficult, but that is why you are there. To kill the spider.”

Walking in the way of life requires steps of obedience. My executive coach often says as she instructs about leadership but it applies to the Christian walk: “Do the next right thing.”

Take the next step, and the life you choose will actually be life giving.

Life Involves the Mind and the Will

Secondly, life involves the mind and the will. It is both/and. It is a mental practice and discipline that is married to actionable obedience. Training the mind develops healthy habits . However it is possible to lean and learn and never do.

“Set your hearts and mind on things above”

The Mind: Our lives are too cluttered and filled with all of the distractions. We have no capacity for prayerful reflection, we have no attention to spend more than a couple of minutes in Scripture and when we do it is not the dopamine producing experience that our smart phones give. If you do not believe me about our addictions to busyness, distractions, etc… listen to these statistics.

According to a study done by dscout and reported by Businessinsider:

The typical cellphone user touches his or her phone 2,617 time every day, according to a study by research firm Dscout. But that's just the average user: The study found that extreme cellphone users — meaning the top 10% — touch their phones more than 5,400 times daily.

Over 2.5 hours and an average of 75 sessions.

Holocaust survivor, Corrie Ten Boom would often say in her public speaking opportunities: “If the devil cant make you bad, he will make you busy.”

Think about it. Sin and busy have the same consequences....keeping your from God.

Busy is our greatest threat. In his book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” John Mark Comer describes the deadly cycle we are stuck in:

Busy is our greatest threat. In his book “The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry” John Mark Comer describes the deadly cycle we are stuck in:

It may be the case that:

(1) Christians are assimilating to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload, which leads to

(2) God becoming more marginalized in Christians’ lives, which leads to

(3) a deteriorating relationship with God, which leads to

(4) Christians becoming even more vulnerable to adopting secular assumptions about how to live, which leads to

(5) more conformity to a culture of busyness, hurry and overload. And then the cycle begins again.

We need to think seriously about how technology and our calendars are affecting us.

On the flip side of things: we can spend our whole life in church and still be racists. We can take in every bible study on the Holy Spirit and not live a life marked by the fruit of the Spirit. This is why discipleship accountability is important. Learning to be “doers of the word” as the book of James puts it.

Life is focused on the Kingdom

The object of the activity of our minds and our will are in the kingdom of heaven. Look at it again:

Colossians 3:1–4 NIV

Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

Walking in life is to keep your mind and heart actively focused on heaven. This is not like the trite saying “too heavenly minded to do any earthly good.” No, for those focused on heaven, they begin to see where heaven has already come on earth and more importantly the potential of it.

One commentary...

Colossians and Philemon: An Introduction and Commentary i. Live in Christ, the Risen Lord (3:1–4)

The command to aspire to the things of heaven is a command to meditate and dwell upon Christ’s sort of life, and on the fact that he is now enthroned as the Lord of the world. The Bible does not say very much about heaven. But its central feature is clear: it is the place where the crucified Christ already reigns, where his people already have full rights of citizenship (Phil. 3:19ff.). To concentrate the mind on the character of Jesus Christ, on that unique blend of love and strength revealed in the Gospels, is to begin on earth to reflect the very life of heaven.

Over 2.5 hours and an average of 75 sessions.

2020 Vision: There are poor congregations all over the world being subjected to cheesy preaching this month. Millions of pastors could not resist doing a sermon series called 2020 Vision: Seeing clearly , or something like that. I have been doing my duty in passing on a little grief to my brothers and sisters that have chosen this route. Youre welcome that our staff somehow resisted as we are not above bad pastor gimmicks. Segway into this illustration: This is the corrective lens through which you can see how things were supposed to be, how they can be, and how they will be....by focusing your heart and mind on heaven....you will begin to reflect the very life of heaven all around you.

To live in life given in resurrection is to refuse to wait for heaven but to live in heaven now.

The other night at prayer and worship....there was response of trying to find quiet time… this is not that.

When I went to seminary, I went through this tough season. We were engaged to be married and all I could do was look forward to when Lauren would join me there. It was really hard. All I could do was think about what I didnt have. I will never forget sharing with my roommate and he interrupted me at one point and said “John, you have to live your life man…you will be better for it when she gets here.”

You have to live your life. I saw a preacher in the news again this weekend saying something stupid, trying to hard to be charismatic. I dont want to do that. I dont want to be that. Trying to say something emotional or wording things together so you feel something. I desperately want God to come alive in you because I want you to live the life that has already been raised from the grave.