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.

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.

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.

Colossians 1.15-28

Hands up all the Gemini’s  …..

The point is that we all know about these things. (I hope you understand that they are total rubbish) Nonetheless, they are part of our popular culture.

In the same way I was siting in a Tea Shop in Colchester and I saw this notice ’Working with your Guardian Angel.  Angels are having a boom time and in most cases this is not at all a Christian thing.

It might seem a long way from Colchester to the riots in Genoa, [At the time of this sermon the Meeting of the G8 leaders  at Genoa had seen particularly violent demonstrations] but there is a similar belief at work there. That the World is in the grip of unseen forces. In this case a demon by the name of ‘Globalisation’ who has possessed the leaders of the World and who must be cast out.

On one level Paul would not have quarrelled to much with that attitude. He believed in the reality of Spiritual forces. What would cause him to get upset was if these forces began to loom so large in peoples minds that they began to obscure God.

This was what was happening at Colossae. As far as one can judge those causing the trouble are proponents of what scholars now term Gnosticism. It is a vague term. Something like ‘New Age’ in our day – More a tendency than a unified movement but with certain defining characteristics.

The chief of these tendencies was to detach God from the World. Not simply in the Christian way, of making him glorious, transcendent and majestic, but by putting between him and the world a whole order of beings. God cannot touch the World, because the world and all matter is intrinsically evil. It exists not as God’s good creation, but as a misbegotten blob the property of malign Spirits.

What you have to do then to be saved is to know your way past these beastly beings. This is the knowledge (Gnosis) which Christ came to bring and to which they of course have access, while the rest of you poor plebes do not, so Yah boo sucks.

This teaching Paul refutes, not simply by saying, “What a load of old cobblers”  but by firmly re-establishing certain basic Christian beliefs. Re-establishing them but making them more clear cut and brilliant.

He says of  Christ in effect what John says at the start of his Gospel
² He was with God in the beginning.³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made John 1.2f

What Paul actually says is.
“¹⁵ He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.  ¹⁶ For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.  ¹⁷ He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”

Far from being detached from the world Christ came and dwelt in it. Not only dwelt here but died here, to save us not simply from a lack of esoteric knowledge but from the much more serious defect -Sin!

¹⁹ For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him,  ²⁰ and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

And again:

²² But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation.

Far from it taking a special knowledge to beat the system it requires only one simple trick. The humility to let yourself be forgiven.

Far from being distant absent and detached, the Christian God loves this world. Loved it into being as creator. Died to save it as redeemer.

So let me give you your Christian Horoscope. Virgo, Gemini, Leo and all other signs. The Earth is going round the Sun so the indications are that this week you will sin: Probably on Monday Tuesday Wednesday, Thursday, Friday Saturday and on Sunday driving to Church. However the Son has moved into the house of his Father so for everyone breathing this week there will be grace mercy and free forgiveness; just remember to confess your sins with humility and faith.

You are not a victim of blind fate you are a beloved child of your heavenly Father. Just remember the stars are a long way away, but Jesus Christ is closer to you than breathing

Gen 18.1-10                :        Colossians 1.15-28   :        Luke 10.38-end

[Apologies these notes are unusually cryptic. I hope however that some of the allusions may be thought provoking. ]

Not do but be.

Be: Caught up in Christ. – in you the hope of glory. In Him Spotless.

And realise how magnificent a thing this is.

The attempts to diminish Jesus. We do have a very diminished comprehension.

A figure in history.

But for Paul [ Also particularly for John & Hebrews] history is in this figure. He is the centre, but also the beginning and the end of History.

So it is a farce to set him among other figures. At Colossae there were those who wanted to place him among angels. Today people would group him among other inspired leaders.

It is to miss the point. He is king of angels. More they owe their being to him.

There is no power that is not subject to his authority, and under his judgment.

The Barman Declaration: “We reject the false doctrine, as though there were areas of our life in which we would not belong to Jesus Christ, but to other lords–areas in which we would not need justification and sanctification through him.”[i]

Conforming to the way of the world leads to a false view of Christ. But trying to escape from it can have its own dangers. The religious mind loves subtlety for its own sake. The esoteric as intimacy with God.

For Jesus intimacy with God comes through loving your neigbour. And loving God. But not  from loving something in between.

That is the point. Jesus is the Way to the Father. He opens God up.

You are made in the Image of God. What you would you be like if you were God? -Like Jesus.

Jesus reveals the open heart of God,  the revelation of the Father.

He comes to bridge that gap. (Between what we were made to be and what we are)  To reconcile. No system does that. Not even the C of E! You really have to trust in Jesus to save you from the vicar.

All that is needed, is to acknowledge the need;  the alienation from God.

Our problem is our refusal to face up to sin. Our problem is the denial of the problem.

It should not be too hard to twig. The signs are all around us in our culture: The death of creative ideas. The efflorescing complexity; it reminds me of late Medieval Theology. The anxiety of our society.  The death of hope.

Christ in you the hope of Glory. The potential waiting to be realised. The new perspective on the world and its obsessions.

Above all the new perspective on yourself. Christ is in you and, “Neither height nor depth nor anything else  in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom. 8.39 

Deut 30.9-14        :        Colossians 1.1-14 :        Luke 10.25-37

I want to tell you that you are wonderful people, that God loves you dearly and that you are an example to all other churches everywhere.

It pays to get your audience on your side. So that is how Paul starts out his letter to these folks in Colossae.

It was true of course, and it is true of you. When I pray for this church I have to give thanks for the many good things and good people that there are here.

Things are not that different. The church then was not made up of supermen and wonder-women. It was ordinary people like you and me, coping with the ordinary problems of life, home and work, marriage and children and the problem of being a Christian in a largely indifferent or hostile culture.

Let’s not think of them as supercharged Christians or else we shall think that the things Paul says to them do not apply to us. They do, they are true just the same now as then.  And the truth is they (we) were doing all right – but could do better. There was reason for hope – but a few worries.

The worries will become apparent further into the letter. They are as usual, caused by a loss of focus on Jesus. So this introduction drips with the name of Jesus, and references to God as his Father and ours. Where there is that loss of focus, there follows as night follows day a loss of confidence. So this introduction is full of  hope and encouragement.

So, Reasons to be cheerful. The Colossians are full of hope and love. They have grasped the gospel

What they need to be reminded of is that the gospel is triumphing. We need to get that fact into our heads. In the last century the faith of Jesus Christ has burst out from being the polite pious gloss on Western culture to a dynamic force that is active in every continent – In Africa, In South America. In parts of Asia and stunningly in China, the Church is growing hugely. Not only numerically, but also look at the contribution Christians are making to the fight against poverty; the lifting up of the poor, the education and empowering of the downtrodden.

Where is the church weak – only in Europe? And European culture is past its peak. It is literally dyeing out. . We see the fruits of its apostasy in what is now being called the broken society.

In all the world the Gospel is bearing fruit. It is bearing fruits of love, not terrorism.

They and we need encouragement. We also need to renew our faith. Paul prays that “God will fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.”

We need to cultivate a reliance on God not on ourselves. If we are wonderful it is because of God’s love for us, not our own charm and brilliance.

We need that reliance for the challenge of living up to our calling. Paul does not pray this in order that they will feel good, but in order that they will ‘Live a life worthy of the Lord’

And he wants them to have power. Not for kicks or easy answers, but in order to have endurance and patience (another fruit of the Spirit)

But now comes something we might like to learn. In the endurance they are to give thanks joyfully.

We tend to contrast endurance and Joy.                                           
You endure with grim determination. It is no laughing matter. What’s to be joyful about.                                                               

Well, do you ever give thanks when things ar tough that you still have your faith? It may have been a near thing at times, but rejoice, you came through. You are here when others have dropped away. You have overcome, rejoice. You are still on the road to heaven – Rejoice.

You see God has qualified us for heaven. He not us!

The heresy that Paul will have to argue with in the next chapters cast doubt on that. By losing the focus on Jesus it cast doubt on the certainty of God’s saving love. It always does.

Because it is in Jesus that we have the redemption. He has gained it for us by the cross

It is Jesus we need to know. Jesus we need to follow. Jesus will see us through. Because he has already gained for us a crown if life – Rejoice,

Colossians 1.1-14          :        Luke 10.25-37         Proper 10C

Colossae. Where is it? Up the Meander River and turn right up the Lycus Valley. This part of what we now call Turkey; it was very much the cradle of early Christianity.

To this Church Paul writes, because they need encouragement and some degree of correction. (He had never been there, merely sent one of his henchmen, Epaphras, but as Apostle he is the one with the authority to correct and to lay down doctrine.)

What they really need is a full confidence in Christ and Paul will have much to say about what Jesus has achieved for us.

However Paul starts off by telling them what they are doing right. There is much to be thankful for. They are full of faith and love, (v4) and they are full of hope. (v5)

Moreover it seems that their Church was growing (v6)

So what does Paul wish for them? Basically more of the same, more of the knowledge of God, which their faith implies, more good works and fruitfulness.

But one of his wishes couples things that we normally separate: Endurance and patience and joy. If someone needs patient endurance it usually indicates that there is not much going on to make them happy. Yet the New Testament (Not only Paul) makes frequent references to Joy in the face of suffering. (Acts 13.52, 2Cor 7.4, 8.2,  Heb 10.34 12.2 James 1.2 1Pet 1.6-8)

Joy was a mark of the early church. (Love also of course -Agape a little used word in the ancient world which Christians made their hallmark).

Joy – it was not a joyful age. Even their statues look gloomy. It looked back to a golden age rather than forward to the future. The quote “Count no man happy till he is dead. Until then he is merely fortunate.” will do to sum up the attitude and send everyone over the edge into depression. (In strict honesty it dates well before the N.T. Period. It  has various attributions eg Solon c. 638 BC–558 BC & Aeschylus 525 BC – 456 BC. However the multiplicity of sources and its frequent repetition indicate that it was a widespread attitude.)

Christians had joy because they had their eyes lifted up. They had the promise, the inheritance with the Saints in light. So even death was not a source of gloom, but a gateway to glory.

What a pity that joy is not a word people associate with Church.

I have never seen a General synod report advocating more Joy, nor is there a Diocesan advisor on Joy. . As a mater of fact, surveys for what they are worth show that religion does promote a sense of well-being. (The Wikipedia article on happiness has a section on religion, with a selection of references to original sources)

Of course it cannot be planned. Joy/ happiness can only happen on by accident. Even so positive document as the U.S. constitution only gives a right to “The pursuit of happiness”, with no guarantee you will catch up with it But if Joy is a consequence of something else. What is that something? It is the sense of being firmly held. Secure in the love of Christ

He has made us rich -the inheritance (v12)

He has rescued us from darkness (v13)

He has redeemed us from our sins. (v13)

That should be enough to be going on with.

2Kng 5.1-14       :        Galatians 6.7-16                 :                  Luke 10.1-11  & 16 -20

Paul is drawing to a close. But he does so as a summary of all that the has been saying.

And this is it: ^“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” 6.14

And what flows from this: “What counts is a new creation.” 6.15

If I have read Paul aright, then speaking clearly about the cross, bringing its meaning home to people is a life transforming experience for them and for the preacher. It mediates the grace of God in the most tangible form possible; in a way that transcends logic, and surpasses any philosophical sophistication. The mental somersault which it creates puts the believer in touch with the nature and the power of the divine. By that same grace, this message and this transformation can be effective through weak humans, who are themselves in need of grace and transformation.

Those who were opposing Paul were fixated as so often the religious mind is on the forms and ceremonies. But for Paul what matters is not the externals in that sense, but the internal transformation.

There are to be sure externals which are signs and tests of this inner work of the Spirit. Paul summarised them in Galatians 5.22f But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  23 gentleness and self-control.

In this chapter he gives some concrete and practical instructions (some of which we skipped by omitting vv1-6.)

But he puts the challenge of the Christian life very well in this one sentence. “Let us not become weary in doing good,” 6.9

1. The conclusion to Galatians

Paul has shown how the Law, human religious pretensions, human moral rectitude cannot achieve our salvation. Indeed they hinder it for they stand in the way of our grasping the salvation which has been achieved for us in Jesus Christ.

By faith in Him we may stand, with confidence. More than that we may call  God “Abba Father.” Indeed our salvation consists just in this, that we know that intimate bond. We are His children. We are the heirs of eternal life.

All this we have, not just individually but corporately. We are created a part of a new nation. Neither Jew nor Gentile, but pan-human. These (which in our passage Paul calls the Israel of God) are the Spiritual descendants of Abraham, the fulfilment of the promise made to the patriarch that in him all the Nations of the world should be blessed.

And we have received that blessing, which is the gift of  the Holy Spirit, so that all these things of which I have spoken are not to be abstract facts written on a page but living realities engraved in our being by the Holy Spirit. Indeed this Spirit, the Spirit of Jesus lives in us, becomes our spirit, the animating principle of our lives. For our old drives, our self centred existence has been destroyed, crucified with Christ.

Therefore, to live as a Christian is to live by this Spirit. According to its nature in love and joy and peace. 5.22

2. But before He signs off Paul has some unfinished business:

What prevents this spiritual freedom  lapsing into subjectivism. anarchy and lawlessness?

The answer is fellowship. For we are not called to solitary salvation. We are called into a people. So there is to be:

            Mutual criticism in meekness.     6.1

                                    (Was the original basis of the Methodist class system and the Catholic Confessional?)        

            Mutual support which legitimates it       6.2

            Self criticism            6.3&4

            Self help. For you have a task which is special to you. 6.5

Sow to the nature of the Spirit. This is not an undefined term any longer. It is the law of Christ. (Love one another). But we can give it a prompt.        6.7-9

The end is that we show acts of goodness and kindness. Who can doubt it. Discipleship which does not end in Charity is religiosity  of the worst kind. 6.10

Inside the church and without. (Inside stressed because there was the danger here of dissension)

3.  Paul signing off          -The Cross of Christ            6.11-15

The Cross works this wonderful transformation. The new creation.

For this reason this is not just a letter to the Galatians. It is a letter to This Church, a letter to me.

It is the challenge to live this new life. It is also the most striking offer of that life.

Christ died for you – aren’t you  dying to live for him.

2Kings 2.1-14      :        Galatians 5.1 &13-25         :        Luke 9.51-end

The one thing you cannot accuse Tony Blair of is abusing the benefit system. He loses his Job as PM one day and he is strait in as special envoy to the Middle East. Though why he wants the job I cannot imagine. It is likely to be thankless, dangerous, frustrating and ultimately unsuccessful.

However I do have a suggestion that would help him in his difficulties. It is my master plan for world peace, and Israel/Palestine would be a good place to try it out. What he has to do is call all the Palestinians and Israelis together in one place. Mount Sinai would be a good one. Then – this is the masterstroke, – he has to tell them to be nice to one another.

Why can’t people be nice to each other?

The problem with human behaviour Paul says is ‘The Flesh’. Now he knows what he means by that, but most people do not. If you say sins of the flesh people immediately think of sex or gluttony –depending on their age. But that is nor where it is at, it is not so much the type of activity that is in view, as the manner and intention of the activity. That is the point; is the activity performed in openness to God, or in a self centered, self indulgent way. It is a distinction which sometimes seems a bit subtle and tripped up the Catholic Archbishop Basil Hume. He wrote, quite rightly, in one of his books. “It is right to thank God, for a fine wine, a pretty girl, or the gift of music.” In the papers it appeared as “Archbishop says yes to wine women and song”

To quote the old song, it’s not what you do it’s the way that you do it” Even more for the New Testament it is really a matter of the sort of person you are. What animates you? If it is the flesh then whatever you do it is perverted and sinful. You can even have sinful religion. In fact we have it. Islamic Extremism is perverted Religion. But it does not have to be that extreme.  Some traditional western patriotic religion can err in similar ways.

Most of the proceedings of General Synod take place ‘In the flesh’.  They work on party lines, pressure groups, and vested interests, careful calculation and worldly wisdom. I have been to prayer meetings that were exercises in theological point scoring. And of course the Galatian Church that Paul wrote to was in a fine old mess (Lets not even think about the Corinthians.)

In contrast to ‘The flesh stands ‘The Spirit’. And not surprisingly it depends on the Spirit in which it is done. If it takes place in an attitude of humility; is focused on God not on self; if it takes place in openness not the measured calculated goodness of law.

To sum it up as Paul so beautifully does, it takes place in a Spirit of, ’Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.’ v23  Then it is in the Spirit  The Holy Spirit.

Please note how many of those have a double reference. They are not only about how you feel inside, they are about how you relate to others. Love, peace, patience, kindness, faithfulness, and gentleness all fall into that category.

Paul does not think we will all immediately behave perfectly like that at all times. But he does urge that as Christians we make the effort to do so; that we let the Holy Spirit not the flesh direct our dealings.

We may not always succeed, but it is making the effort that counts. Let us keep in step with the Spirit.