Title: Things that Matter
Text: Colossians 3:10-11(3:1-15)
Thesis: As we get to know God we become more and more like Him… understanding what matters and what does not.
Series Title: Living with others at home and at church: How to walk hand in hand when you don’t see eye to eye.
Introduction
A few weeks ago I rented Moneyball. It’s a story about the Oakland A’s and their GM, Billy Beane, played by Brad Pitt. The A’s had just finished a dismal season and he is attempting to devise a strategy for assembling a team for a competitive new season. The team is losing their star players and the organization is strapped for cash so things look bleak for Beane and his A’s.
In the process he met Peter Brand, a young Yale economics graduate, who had some radical ideas about assessing the value of a prospective player. Essentially, if memory serves me correctly, they decided to simply go with guys who had pretty lack-luster careers but who had a propensity for getting on base. So they recruited a boat load of low budget marginal players and won 20 consecutive games the next season before losing the first game in the play-offs.
The word was that Beane and his brain child, Peter Brand, had concocted a strategy that ultimately would not work… Beane was bummed.
So Brand took Beane into the film room and showed him a clip of a 240 pound catcher named Jeremy Brown, who was notoriously known for being afraid to run to second base. In the game clip the pitcher started off with a fast ball. Brown smacked the ball deep center, dropped the bat and ran… rounding first he started for second, had second thoughts, dropped to the ground and crawled back to the base.
The crowd is in an uproar laughing at him. This is his nightmare. And then he realized that he had just hit the ball out of the park so he got to his feet and jubilantly rounded the bases for home.
Of course the lesson for the disgruntled General Manager who had just won 20 consecutive games is that he is not stuck on first. He has just hit a home run with that kind of a season. He needs to be celebrating with a victory lap around the bases. (PreachingToday.com, Moneyball, Sony Pictures 2011, Directed by Bennett Miller, Chapter 16)
I think that is where many of us are in the Christian life. Christ has hit the homerun, so to speak, and we now have our identity in him. We are winners who need to be done with and put off our seasons of losing and put on our new life in Christ.
That is exactly how our text begins today. Put on your new nature.
I. Put on your new nature
“Put on your new nature…” Colossians 3:10a
This week, an old friend from our Western Kansas days, posted a wonderful quote on Facebook. “Every saint has a past and every sinner has a future.” When you commit your life to Christ two wonderful things happen. Your past is forgiven and forgotten and your future is filled with hope.
A. Your past is forgiven and forgotten
In my devotional reading this week I came across a Henry Ward Beecher quote: “We are never more like beasts than when we kill. We are never more like men than when we judge. We are never more like God than when we forgive.” Among all of the descriptors of who and what and how God is… forgiving is of huge importance to us.
One of the things I like about reading the bible is the powerful way God uses imagery to communicate spiritual truth. This is particularly true in helping us understand what happens to our sins when God forgives them.
Here is what happens to your sin when God forgives you:
Removed as far as east is from west – Psalm 103:10-12
“He does not punish us for all our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve. For his unfailing love toward those who fear Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west.” Psalm 103:10-12
Blotted out and forgotten – Isaiah 43:25
“Yes, I alone will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.” Isaiah 43:25
Forgiven and forgotten – Jeremiah 31:34
“I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:34
Trampled underfoot and tossed into the ocean (where they are irretrievable) – Micah 7:19
“Once again you will have compassion on us. You will trample our sins under your feet and throw them into the depths of the ocean!” Micah 7:19
Cancelled and nailed to Christ’s cross – Colossians 2:13-14
“You were dead because of your sins and because you sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ, for he forgave all your sins. He cancelled the record of charges against you and took it away by nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:13-14
Clara Barton was a very unusual woman. She began teaching when she was 15 years old. She even offered to teach without salary if tuition were waived. She later became involved in the Civil War in caring for soldiers and doing many of the things the Red Cross, which she founded in 1881, is doing today.
On one occasion she and a friend were reviewing a guest list she had prepared for a dinner party in her home. When her friend saw the list she saw the name of a person who had once done a cruel thing to Miss Barton years before. Without hesitation she blurted out, “I can’t believe you would invite her! Don’t you remember what she did to you?” “No,” Clara answered, “I distinctly remember forgetting that.”
Clara Barton is a human example of the divine attribute of forgiving and forgetting.
No matter how much you have fouled up the past, we receive the forgiveness that is ours in. Christ God really forgives us… our sins are removed, blotted out, forgiven and forgotten, trampled underfoot and deep sixed in the ocean, cancelled and nailed to the cross.
Because your past is forgiven and forgotten you have a future filled with hope.
B. Your future is filled with hope
Generally, whenever we begin something new we do so with hope. Often times we are leaving something behind in order to begin something new and sometimes we are especially glad to be dumping the past in order to fully embrace the future.
. We all know the excitement and anticipation of doing a new thing. I have a friend who has been searching for a new job for some time. He recently was invited to interview for a position that he thought had been filled. He interviewed and was hired. This is how he described his emotional state, “I’m giddy with anticipation.”
This morning we can be a bit giddy with anticipation as we move forward with a word of newness and hope as we put on our new life in Christ.
In Ephesians 4:22-32 we read of this new life. “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life… instead let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God – truly righteous and holy.”
So how do we do that? How do we go about putting on the new way of life so that we may become like God?
II. Be renewed
“…be renewed as you learn to know your Creator and become more like him.” Colossians 3:10b
One of my favorite biblical texts is II Corinthians 4:16-18 where we are urged to never give up in our service to God and others because, “Though our bodies are dying, our spirits are being renewed every day.”
The word translated “renewed” in our text is in the present tense which means we are in the continuous process of being renewed. Since we are being renewed every day in Christ our new life never grows old or wears out.
Our former way of life is likened to a worn out, filthy, tattered rags that is good for nothing but stripping off and throwing away. Our new way of life is likened to putting on a new suit that never wears out because every day it is being renewed just like it was from the first time you took it off the rack and put it on.
So how does this process of being renewed work? Two things work together to bring about this process of renewal:
A. You get to know God
Our text speaks to our being renewed in knowledge or learning to know your Creator or God. Sometimes it is helpful to let Scripture interpret Scripture. So in this context we look back at what was written in Colossians 1:9-10 to gain some additional perspective.
“We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while you will grow as learn to know God better and better.” Colossians 1:9-10
The word for knowledge in this case is a compound word made up of two parts: epi and gnosis or epignosis.
To have gnosis is to have knowledge or know the facts. But to have epignosis is to know the facts and also know what to do with those facts. The knowledge in this instance means God wants us to know God and understand what to do with that knowledge… it is understanding that translates into practical application or in the case of the Christian life… character and conduct or knowledge and practice or simply how to live a Christian lifestyle.
There is definitely a difference between knowing and doing. There is a difference between having knowledge and having the wisdom to apply that knowledge. Having an IQ of 176 does not mean you know what to do with it.
On an episode of The Big Bang Theory, the character Sheldon Cooper is portrayed as a brilliant theoretical physicist who does not have a driver’s license. His roommate cannot drive him to work for several weeks and he refuses to take the bus so he turns to his friends to chauffer him around. Eventually this all wears a bit thin so his friends stage and intervention and insist that he get his driver’s license. They even bring in a simulator for him to practice driving but he is alarmed that the simulator does not have air bags. In the end Sheldon cannot master the simulator and decides he is too genetically advanced to drive a car. Sheldon can memorize the driver’s manual but he can’t even drive a simulator.
Becoming a follower of Christ and learning about God and the bible is intended to inform you and transform you. The Christian intelligence you gain about the God and the Christian life is intended to translate into intelligent Christian behavior, i.e., you become more and more like Christ. And as you become increasingly aware of God and God’s will and as you begin to put into practice this new way of living you are becoming more and more God-like.
You get to know God and…
B. You become more like him
In Romans 12:2 we are challenged to resist conforming to the ways behaviors and values and mindsets of this world but rather to let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think.”
Warren Wiersbe describes this process this way: “We were formed in the image of God, and deformed from God’s image by sin. But through Jesus Christ we can be transformed into God’s image once again.” See Romans 12:1-2
Jesus taught a parable about two men who each set about to build a house. One man began to build his house on the sand… maybe like one of those beach houses in Galveston, Texas that do not fare well in Hurricane season. The other built his house on bedrock. When the hurricane came the house with no firm foundation collapsed and was washed away while the house built on bedrock stood firm throughout the storm.
Jesus said, “Anyone who hears my teachings and follows it is wise, like the person who builds his life on a solid rock. But anyone who hears my teachings and doesn’t obey it is foolish like the person who builds his life on sand.” Matthew 7:24-29
The bible teaches us that “The Lord, who is the Spirit, makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.” II Corinthians 3:18
The bible teaches that “God, who began a good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” Philippians 1:6
Corrie Ten Boom is a perfect example of how getting to know God results in the transformation of our character. As you know Corrie and her sister were Jewish and imprisoned at Ravensbruck where she and her sister suffered all the horrors of Nazi concentration camp life and death. Her sister died there.
While speaking to a group of Christians after the war she spoke of the love of God and of God’s forgiveness. She went on to speak of forgiveness as not being an emotion but an act of the will. And then she saw him. She saw one of the cruel guards who had treated her and his sister so inhumanely… and her blood ran cold.
Following the church service the guard came forward, extended his hand and said, “A fine message. How good it is to know that, all our sins are at the bottom of the sea. You mentioned Ravensbruck in your talk… I was a guard there. I know God has forgiven me for all I did there but I would like to hear you say it too.” Extending his hand he asked, “Fraulein, will you forgive me too?”
In the moments that followed Corrie Ten Boom struggled with her emotions and silently asked God for help as she extended her hand and said, “I forgive you, my brother! With all my heart I forgive you too.”
It really does work that way… as we get know God more and more, we become more and more like Him. As we become more and more like Christ we begin to see a wonderful new truth that is so very liberating. It is a truth that is absolutely essential to our being able to walk hand in hand with the people with whom we live and serve when we do not see eye to eye.
We must see others just as God sees them.
III. Break down the barriers
In this new life it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized (Scythians), slave or free. Christ is all that matters and he lives in each of us.” Colossians 3:11 (Galatians 3:28 adds male and femaie.)
“Here,” as in Christ or “In this new life,” things that once mattered no longer matter.
Last week we spoke of sexual immorality, rotten attitudes like anger, rage and malice, evil speech like slander and filthy language and deception as all being barriers to our being able to live and love in our homes and in our faith community. All those kinds of things are to be put to death or gotten rid of or stopped so that we may live into who we are in Christ. And now in verse 11 we are confronted with a series of attitudes that must be dealt with if we are to be able to live together as new people in Christ. God says whatever barriers to your being able to live together in love are henceforward broken down.
Two points about these matters that no longer matter.
A. You may acknowledge distinctions
In the culture to which this was originally written, Jews looked down on everyone because they were the chosen people of God. Jews looked down on non-Jews as outside of God’s grace. Greeks looked down on the barbaric and uncivilized Scythians, who were even more barbaric than the barbarians, because Greeks were more cultured than everyone else. Free people looked down on slaves because… even though they may be poor, at least they weren’t slaves. Slaves were the least in that culture. And additionally, Jesus breaks down all the gender barriers as well. Jesus Christ levels the playing field on every front. The home and the church are places where one in Christ.
This new life in Christ is intended to be understood as a radical change in the way we think, speak and relate to others… so much so that it is intended to carry over into our relationships on every level of life.
This expanded text deals with five distinctions that tend to divide people but no longer matter for those who are in Christ:
Racial Distinctions, i.e., Jew and Gentile. (Regardless of nationality or ethnicity in Christ everyone is welcomed into the Christian community.)
Religious Distinctions, i.e., Circumcised and Uncircumcised. (Religious ceremony, ritual or preferences are no longer barriers to fellowship.)
Cultural Distinctions, i.e., Greeks and Barbarians. (The cultured and the not so much, the scholarly and the unlearned sat at the same table in the church.)
Economical Distinctions, i.e., Free and Slave (Wealth and poverty as well as all social distinctions are irrelevant in Christ.)
Gender Distinctions, i.e., Male and Female (Culture no longer defines gender and gender roles… God does. Men and women are one in Christ.)
So what does that really mean for us to all stand together in Christ as Children of God?
B. Distinctions no longer matter to you
These distinctions do not disappear in our homes or our church… they just no longer matter! These distinctions certainly continue to exist but they are no longer a barrier to fellowship and Christ-like interpersonal relationships.
In the story of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Toula, who is from a Greek family, fell in love with a non-Greek and decides to marry her non-Greek fiancé. Her father is devastated. He is against the wedding from the onset. But finally he does some Greek rationalizing and gives a speech at the wedding reception.
He says of the non-Greek fiancé whose sir name is Miller, “Miller comes from the root word milo which is the Greek word for apple.” He then continues referencing his daughter’s sir name which is Portakalos. He says, “Potrakalos comes from the root word portakali which is the Greek word of orange. We are different but in the end we are all fruit.” (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Playstone Pictures, 2002, Directed by Joel Zwick, PreachingToday.com)
It is not my intent to make light of distinctions and the divisiveness that exists when people decide those distinctions matter. We cannot think and act for other people but in our homes and in our church we can think and act like Christians. And in Christ, any distinctions perceived or real, simply do not matter.
Conclusion
In a Christian home and in a Christian Church people can learn to walk hand in hand when we do not see eye to eye because we now are identified in Christ, we have put off the old and put on the new. We live Christ-like lives and treat people in Christ-like ways. And we can be in relationship with anyone else who is in Christ because our differences do not matter.
Race and ethnicity do not matter. Differences in faith and practice do not matter. Gender does not matter. Old hymn lovers and contemporary music lovers can sit in the same pew. NRA people and PETA people can sit at the same table. Silver-spoon people and plastic-spoon people can sit at the same table. Democrats and Republicans can sit at the same table. The generations can sit at the same table. Men and women may sit at the same table. The 1% and the 99% can sit at the same table. Rednecks and bluenecks can sit at the same table.
This is what matters… In Christ we no longer see ourselves as different, we see ourselves as the same… Christ is all and Christ is in all!
