Vicaring - A sermon resource for all those involved in Christian ministry

First preached               Trinity 7              25^th July 2004

Colossians 3.1–17         *        :        Luke 12.13-21

*As noted in the sermon the reading is longer than that set in the lectionary, which ends at v11

The doctrine of the two ways: The way that leads to life and the way that leads to death, as used here by St. Paul, is traditional

We do not teach it anymore. ‘Moralising’ has become a bad word. We have as St. Paul describes it set our mind on ‘Earthly things’.

[The items below were major mews stories at the time that the sermon was written. They may have dropped out of thye news for now, but the facts wil remain. Nor, sadly will t behard to finf current items to make the same point.]

I offer two news items from this week from a nation which has chosen ‘The things of earth’ :

The reported massive increase in Sexually transmitted diseases. Not once did I hear any mention in regard to the problem of teaching on fidelity and responsibility. People asked what was the cause and no one said: Take a look at the attitudes which pervade our popular, even our serious, media and you will  find the root causes of the problem.

The Prevalence of self harm. Why in a society that has so much are there a large and increasing number of people so unhappy with themselves and their life that the will inflict pain and injury on themselves?

There is a paradox here to which Jesus in this parable alerted us 2000 years ago. The correlation of wealth and well being is a fallacy.

Beyond certain limits (I do not deny the benefits of adequate diet, clean water, warmth, housing and decent clothing) research shows, happiness is not related to the tangible but intangible. And among those intangibles those listed by Paul obviously have negative correlations.

(Recently displayed in a much reviewed book, ‘The Progress Paradox by Chris Coyne While every material index of well-being has increased dramatically over the last 50 years, the subjective indictors of happiness have hardly budged and people often believe things were better in the past)

‘Nostalgia isn’t what it used to be.’

The point is that our society has opted for earthly things in a big way and at the end of the day they are not enough. They lead to death, or at the least leave us looking foolish in the face of our own mortality.

Yet the danger of such talk is you sound like a grumpy Old Man. – Puritanism: ‘The sneaking suspicion that someone somewhere may be enjoying themselves.’

Which is why I lengthened the reading. We need a positive context. This passage (Col 3:1-17) for all its sombre core starts and ends gloriously:

The opening given by Paul. ‘You have been raised with Christ’ This is the hope of glory. Life lived with a focus – A Purpose Driven Life.

It has purpose because in Christ we have glimpsed an alternative way. Therefore let us pursue it wholeheartedly; let us pursue its fullness (The unhappiness of the half & half)

The positive alternative of life in Christ points to aa more positive way of living

‘The Power of Positive Thinking’ may have its problems, but have you ever tried to make progress against a barrage of negative thinking. People thrive on hope.
 The grateful life: It was one of the conclusions of Chris Coyne cited above, that we need to be more thankful. Yet how can this be self generated? It can only come from an outside reference. Someone to be grateful to. The sense of grace, of good being given, not earned. This is what we have in Christ. Be grateful!

The power of praise.

Our duty to each-other.

Living in total dependence:- When you hang on to God, you can hang on through anything the world can throw at you and you will emerge victorius.

• Proper 13 C

First Preached         29th July, 2001        Trinity 7

Colossians 2.6-15 [16-19]

There are some things in life which are intrinsically difficult. Like trying to explain Test Cricket to an American:

“Well you see there are two sides and they toss a coin to see which side is in. Then two men from the side which is in go out and the other side tries to get them out. When one of them is out another man goes in until they are all out. Then the other side is in. And so on for five days. Unless they are all out earlier, or unless  it rains in which case it is all up.”

Life can be very complex, but the secret of successful living is not to make it more complex than it has to be. Which fact seems to have eluded a great number of otherwise intelligent people. Not least the members of the European Commission.

St. Paul However had it bang to rights. He basically keeps repeating one basic theme:-  You have all that you need in Jesus Christ. The grace of God poured out through him cancels all your sins and brings you the greatest possible resources to live according to His will.

This does not of course mean life will be simple. Life is complicated knotted and twisted by human ingenuity. And human ingenuity reaches its highest point when it comes to sinning. Geoffrey Archer for instance never composed a plot for one of his novels anywhere near as convoluted as his real life.

People actually love complexity and give great esteem to those who can produce it, we call them experts, or scholars, or authorities.

The best field of all in which to be an authority is religion. Not necessarily the most profitable but certainly the most fun. Because there are very few fixed points so you can say almost anything if you say it in a sufficiently mysterious way.

Which is what had happened at Collosae. A group of people had got in who knew a lot. They had a complex theory of the universe. They had special insight into heavenly things, and they saw visions which they reckoned were vitally important.

None of these things would have upset Paul too much he was a fair hand at visions himself. Except that they were getting in the way of the central truth.  Christ was becoming one thing among others, and maybe not the most important.

So Paul has to remind them. (Colossians 2:9) ”For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form”

You will not find out more about God than you can know in Jesus.

And you will not find a more complete transformation of your being than you can find in him. (Colossians 2:13)” When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins,”

And there is no Spiritual force greater than Him and no other Lord to whom we have to bend the knee. (Colossians 2:15) “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”

From this overwhelming fact there flows an equally awesome consequence:

Therefore we ought to live ‘graceful’ lives. (Colossians 2:7) ”rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. “

That is quite difficult enough. It will land you in al kinds of hot water in the complexities of this world. To live straightforwardly in a crooked situation among perverse people will create unimaginable complications. That is unavoidable.

But it is all the more important that you do not complicate your starting point. The world is full of ifs and buts. But as Paul says elsewhere, “The promises of God are yea and amen in Christ Jesus Christ” (1Cor 1.20)

Christianity is not difficult to understand .”God Made you alive with Christ” The teaching should not be made needlessly complex. For to live it out that is where the real demand lies.

• Proper 12 C

First Preached16/8/98

Colossians 2.6-end  :       What  Christ has done for you.

 To deal with everything in this passage I need at least an hour!

 So I will say nothing about the Colossian heresy nor its modern parallels. Nor about Christ’s divine nature, nor the consequences of all this for Christian living. I want to talk solely and simply about the work of Christ in our lives.

  This is the essence, that in Jesus we are changed and will go on being       changed.

The New Testament uses a selection of phrases to denote this transformation. John & Peter talk of being born again; Paul of a new creation. In this passage he refers to the transformation no less than eight times under different descriptions.

1. You received Christ Jesus as Lord v6. A change of authority in our lives.
2. You have been given fulness in Christ. v10. Filled to overflowing with blessings, with spiritual power with the very presence of God.
3. Circumcised. v11 . You were an alien and an outcast. Now you are within the covenant, But now you are in the Kingdom of God. And what has been cut away, not a bit of flesh, but your sinful nature. (forgiveness yes, but also power over sin.)
4. Buried and Raised v12 share in Christ’s resurrection life.
5. Again – Made alive in Christ. v13
6. Forgave our sins v 14
7. Canceled the list of our obligations v14 (Greek obscure) Tore out the page, reformatted the disk. By his work on the cross.
8. Gave us victory over our spiritaul enemies. v15

All this Christ has acheives through the cross and by the power of his resurection. These are the two sides of the same coin.. The cross is the end of our old life the resurrection is the power of the new.

There are so many images there  -which grabs you the most? They are all there for you. But if none connects. You are in trouble Then you are still dead. v13

This All is the basis of Paul’s appeal, he will go on to argue the consequences. But he expects Christians to know this:- That Christ is at work in us. Has worked in us and does work in us.

• Proper 12 C