Him We Proclaim
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Colossians
Colossians
One of the difficulties with Pauls’ letter to the Colossians is that it has this condensed quality to its writing. Or more correctly, because we are heirs of the Reformation tradition and therefore so used to and familiar with the Paul of Galatians and Romans, which are written in response to very specific circumstance, Colossians, which reads like Ephesians, which is more of a general letter, allows us to see a different aspect of Paul’s theology, which because we are unfamiliar with it, can feel overwhelming.
Take for example the cosmic Christology of vv. 15-20 of this same chapter. That’s not the type of language you typically find in Paul, which doesn’t mean that this letter was written by someone other than Paul, as some would argue, but Paul was writing in a different context. He doesn’t need to play the justification by faith card here in Colossians, and so he doesn’t, at least not like in Romans and Galatians, and instead we get this incredible vista of some of the most stunningly glorious theology in the New Testament.
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.
For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
*Exhale*
It’s easy to get lost in that type of theological view, and so Paul dials it back just a bit and makes it more personal.
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
He says to his Gentile audience that they were once cut off from God’s plan, hostile, doing evil, but now ...
he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
as part of Christ’s reconciliation of all things to himself, Christ has reconciled them for a purpose: that they would be holy, blameless, and above reproach, if, he says,
if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
they continue in the faith. Being reconciled to Christ isn’t a one-time thing, like an event, something that happens to us and then we can move on and forget about it. Being reconciled to Christ is a life long process of becoming who we already are in him. It’s a sprint, not a marathon, but the race has already been won in Christ, so all we have to do is keep running. Oh, and btw, the energy to run comes from the Holy Spirit, but that’s a different sermon.
It’s after this that Paul says something seemingly outrageous.
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,
What exactly does Paul think is lacking in the afflictions of Christ? Soteriologically, that is, in terms of salvation, nothing. Nothing. Clearly, nothing. Then what is missing? In first century Judaism there was a belief in something known as the Messianic sufferings, which is to say that a period of suffering would proceed the Messianic age and the Messiah would take that suffering on himself for the good of his people.
Considering this in light of v. 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,
it seems as though Paul believes part of his ministry was to suffer for the sake of the church, that is, let the enemy keep his arrows aimed at him so that the church go grow and thrive. Of course, this is not something different than the suffering of Christ, it’s just making it present, and of course, this is all part of ...
the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints.
the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to the saints, which is
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.
Christ in you, the hope of glory. If Christ is in Paul, then Paul’s suffering for the church is not different or in addition to Christ’s suffering but rather a visible manifestation of it, in the same way that we don’t recrucify Christ in the Eucharist but in the sacrament the sacrifice is made real and present. It’s all interconnected because Christ is reconciling all things to himself. He is present when his people suffer, he is present in the Eucharist, he is present in you and me.
In fact, it’s this interconnectedness that is our hope. What we hope is that what is true of Christ is true of us. If it’s not, we’re all in serious trouble. What we hope is that when God looks on us, what he sees is his Son. What we hope is that the Father will do for us what he did for Jesus, namely, raise him from the dead, never to die again, that is our glorious hope.
And so, he is what we proclaim.
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
Paul says in 1 Corinthians
For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And given all that Paul has said about Jesus in these previous verses and how he is reconciling all things to himself, what else is there to proclaim other than Jesus?
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
And this is, finally, at last, where I wanted to land. I have nothing to tell you other than about Jesus. I have nothing to proclaim other than him and his cross by which he is reconciling the world to himself. And I do this, I teach and I preach and whatever else I can in the hope that one day I may present you all before him as mature disciples in Christ Jesus.
This has been on my mind a lot lately as we’ve been having our conversations about a new building and renovation. I said this at a meeting the other day and let me say it here publically. When I stand before the judgment seat of Christ, he will not ask me how many members I had at my church, and he will not ask me about our average Sunday attendance nor about our annual giving. However, he will ask me if I am able to present you all as mature disciples in him.
That’s no small burden. Nor is it mine alone because we are a community, and we say that our vision is to see the world and especially the communities in which we live, work, and worship filled with disciples of Jesus Christ
Perhaps we should have said “filled with mature disciples of Jesus Christ,” but either way, we are all engaged in this project, from the rector, who holds the greatest responsibility, on down.
Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
And so what we’re going to do is we’re going to keep proclaiming only him and his cross by which he is reconciling all things in heaven and on earth to himself. And with the start of this new school year which our practical church calendar revolves around, our focus will be discipleship, specifically intergenerational discipleship so that all of us, from the youngest to the oldest, can be involved in this project of presenting each other to Christ because that’s our vision… our vision for the whole world, and especially for the communities in which we live, work, and worship. It won’t be easy. Paul says in conclusion
For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
It won’t be easy, but it won’t be us. It will be him… his Spirit in concert with our prayers working through everyone in this community that we might all continue in faith, stable and steadfast, until we are all mature disciples in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Amen.