Today is New Year’s Eve. Tomorrow is the day that we begin a brand-new year, full of hope and promise, anticipation and expectation. Today is the day we slough off the old, tired, worn-out, unrealized dreams, and start looking toward our new goals.
Today is also the day when we make our New Year’s resolutions. When we vow never to do this or that again, or to spend a lot more time doing this, make an effort to sometimes do that. Today’s the day when we hone our resolutions to a fine point, trying to make them realistic, easy enough to pull off at least for a while.
I think the resolution made by most people is to lose weight. I’m never going to eat sweets again. Never going to eat another gram of fat. Going to exercise every day and twice on Sunday. Going to lose 100 pounds by next month. Harsh goals.
Others vow to quit smoking. Going to put those cigarettes down and never look at them again. Going to quit cold turkey. Going to be a non-smoker. Unrealistic goals.
Some vow to get rich. Others did it; I can do it. I’ll put money in the stock market. I’ll start day trading and do it all myself. I’ll quit spending money on anything but the bare necessities and funnel it all into a money market account. I’ll start my own internet company and get rich overnight. Unattainable goals.
Some vow to quit drinking. Others to quit doing drugs. To stop beating their wives. To stop screaming at their children. To put an end to that affair they’ve been having. To stop stealing. To go to college. Innumerable resolutions made by innumerable people. All made in good faith with every good intention. Most of them broken by the middle of January.
Then there’s the resolution that covers pretty much everything. I resolve to be a better person. Beautifully evasive and non-committal. Not to do anything specific, or to quit doing anything specific, but to just be a better person. Well, for some people it wouldn’t be hard to keep this resolution. Any change at all would be an improvement.
So why am I yammering on about New Year’s resolutions? Well, if we take a closer look at today’s scripture, I think you’ll understand.
Paul has written a letter to the church at Colosse, where some problems have arisen because the people there are trying to mix paganism and Christianity, or Judaism and Christianity, or Greek thought and Christianity. This letter to the Colossians is Paul’s attempt to straighten things out.
In the passage we just read, Paul has made a list of the things the people of Colosse need to do to live a holy life. He begins by reminding them that they’re God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved. He’s doing this so they’ll know that they’re special. God chose them even before they were born to be his special people. And any instructions God has for them will be given out of love, and because God wants what’s best for them.
These words don’t mean that the people at Colosse are the only ones who are holy and dearly loved. These words are addressed to Christians everywhere, in every time. They are aimed straight at us, just as they were aimed at the ancient Christians, and we need to take them to heart.
"Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience." The first thing God wants us to put on is compassion. When we think of compassion, we usually think of sympathizing with someone else’s pain. They feel pain, we’re sorry, and that’s about it. But the word used here for compassion means a lot more than that. It means actually feeling someone else’s pain. Experiencing their pain just as they’re experiencing it. Actually entering into another person’s pain and sharing it with them.
Compassion also involves showing mercy to people who are shunned or hated by others. Jesus was really good at this. He showed compassion for a tax collector and called him to be his disciple. He showed compassion for the woman caught in adultery and sent her on her way with all her sins forgiven. He showed compassion for the people who crucified him, and asked for forgiveness on their behalf. Jesus was truly compassionate.
Next, God wants us to put on kindness. What does it mean to be kind? Basically, it means treating others without harshness. Kindness is treating other people with respect and honor. It’s attributing value and dignity to another person. Jesus was good at this, too. He valued every living thing. He showed respect for the woman at the well. He valued children and took the time to listen to them. He healed slaves and little kids. Jesus was kind.
Humility is next, and I think this is something most of us have a problem with. In our lives, we haven’t been taught to be humble. Quite the contrary, we’ve been taught to be proud of ourselves. But there’s a difference in taking pride in ourselves and being downright conceited. You can take pride in yourself and still be humble.
True humility stems from accurately understanding our own importance - or lack thereof. It comes from understanding that everything we have comes from God. It comes from knowing that anything we manage to accomplish is not through our own efforts, but through God’s work in us. Humility is knowing our own sinfulness and that we exist only through the grace of God.
At Philippians 2:3 Paul tells us to "in humility consider others better than yourselves." That pretty much sums it up. Consider others better than yourself. Look at others and try to see them the way God sees them - not in terms of their relation to us, but as people that God loves.
Next is gentleness. Some synonyms for gentleness are tenderness, affection, compassion, kindness, and warmth. In today’s society, gentle people are often looked on as being weak, which is definitely not a trait to be desired. But Jesus was gentle, and he was anything but weak. Look at the way he treated children, and was concerned about widows and orphans, the less fortunate, and those unable to look out for themselves. Jesus was gentle, but he was also strong. And that’s what he wants us to strive to be.
Patience is next on Paul’s list, and this is definitely something most of us are lacking. In today’s busy world, we often zip around from one place to another, trying to get done all that we have to do. We’re in a hurry, and we get irate when things don’t go as smoothly or as quickly as we need them to. People are rude, inconsiderate, or completely unconcerned with our needs, and we end up being rude right back. We’ve all seen people who get loud and belligerent because their needs aren’t being met quickly enough. We’ve all dealt with people who seem determined to work our last good nerve.
We get outdone with children who never seem to understand what we’re trying to teach them. We get irritable with older people who don’t hear as well as they used to and we have to keep repeating ourselves. We don’t have time to mess with people who are new and just learning their jobs. In other words, we lack patience.
What we need is a reminder that there have been times when we got on someone else’s nerves; when we didn’t hear exactly what was said to us; when we were rude and inconsiderate. What we wanted more than anything was for people to be patient with us, and when they weren’t, that just upset us all the more. We have to keep those times in mind, and react to others the way we’d want them to react to us - with patience.
The next instruction Paul gives is to bear with one another. We’ve heard this expression used countless times. Just bear with me, and I’ll eventually get it done. Bear with me and I’ll be finished soon. In other words, be patient with me and things will eventually work out.
But this isn’t exactly what Paul means here. The meaning here goes much deeper and carries much more weight than the bearing with others that we think of. Here Paul is intimating that we have to actually take upon ourselves the burden of another person and help them to carry it. Do you see how beautiful that is? When another’s pain and grief is too much for them to bear, then bear with them, and take some of that pain and grief upon yourself. When their burden is too heavy to carry any further, take some of that burden upon your own shoulders and bear it for them. Frankly, I can’t think of anything better that we could do for someone else. Think of what Jesus bore for us, a weight that we didn’t bear with him, and maybe you can get an idea of the love that has to be involved in bearing with someone else.
Forgiveness is next. Paul tells us to forgive others whatever grievances we may have against them. We’re to forgive as the Lord forgave us. How is that possible? The key to forgiving others is remembering how much God has forgiven you. It’s extremely difficult, bordering on impossible, to forgive others who have wronged us. But it can be done, if we’ll only take the time to remember how God has forgiven us so much. Realizing God’s infinite love and forgiveness can help us love and forgive others.
Over all these virtues that we’ve just named, we’re supposed to put on love. The image I get here reminds me of putting on winter clothes here in Missouri. First you put on longhandles and wool socks; then you put on shirts and pants; then sweaters and jackets; and last but certainly not least you put on insulated coveralls or a heavy coat. In God’s closet, we’re supposed to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Then over all of that, to make everything work as it should, we’re to put on the heavy coat of love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Just like the wardrobe we’ve needed here the past weeks, we need all these layers of characteristics in order to act as God’s chosen people. And just like the winter clothes we need here, none of them will work alone. We need all of them in order to be properly clothed.
Then Paul tells us to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, since we’re members of one body and have been called to peace. Christians should live in peace, but to live in peace doesn’t necessarily mean that all differences in opinion are automatically eliminated. It does mean that Christians should work together despite their differences. Love like this means that we have to consciously make a decision to meet the needs of others. If we try to live in love with each other, then that love will lead to peace, at church, at home, and in the community.
Sort of as an afterthought, Paul adds the words, "and be thankful." He doesn’t elaborate at all on this, he just tells us to be thankful. It could mean that we should be thankful that we were called to peace. It could mean that we should be thankful that we’re members of one body. I think it probably means that we should take the time to give voice to our gratitude to God. All too often we’re in a hurry to ask God for something or to tell him what we need. We sometimes forget to stop and take stock of what all God has done for us and actually thank him for it. When our kids are given things by other people, the first thing we ask them is, "Did you say thank you?" We need to ask ourselves this same question.
Paul tells us to let the word of Christ dwell in us richly as we teach and admonish one another. And we’re to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. The early Christians had the Old Testament to read and study, but not the New Testament. The stories about Jesus were memorized and passed on from one generation to the next. One way they did this was to set the words to music and teach the songs to each other. We all know how effective this is. To this day I can’t say the books of the New Testament without singing the little song I was taught as a child. We should be passing those songs and stories of Christ on to our children and grandchildren, our neighbors and friends, our new acquaintances and everyone we meet.
The last instruction Paul gives in today’s scriptures is, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Doing "all in the name of the Lord Jesus" means bringing honor to Christ in every aspect and activity of daily living. As Christians, we represent Christ at all times - wherever we go and whatever we say and do. What impression do you think people have of Christ when they see or speak with you? Are there changes that we should make in our lives in order to honor Christ?
So, back to New Year’s resolutions. We’ve all made them, and we’ve all broken them. Some of us have made more for the new year to come, and some of us have given up completely on the whole idea. But maybe we need to stop and rethink the whole idea. Instead of resolving to lose weight, or make more money, or exercise more, maybe we should resolve to live the kind of life that God would have us live.
God doesn’t really care if we lose weight. God doesn’t really care if we exercise every day. And God certainly doesn’t care if we make a lot of money. But God does care how we live. And God does care how we treat each other. And God has given us the instructions we need to live a life which is worthy of him.
So let’s resolve to live that life this year, and next year, and every year from now on. Let’s resolve to follow the teachings of Paul and try to be more Christ-like. Because when people look at us, Christ is mirrored in our faces, and in our souls. What image do you want people to see when they look at you?
