We conclude part one of our Summer Series this weekend with an emphasis on grace and forgiveness. Part one is the “Meet the Bible” section where I asked the congregation to submit to me questions about the Bible that we then explored in both worship and Bible study during the week. We covered a wide range of questions and concerns and are concluding with two thematic studies. What does the Bible say about heaven, that was last week. And what the Bible says about grace and forgiveness this week.
I confess, when I first saw this theme on the survey sheets, I was upset. We’d just covered grace during Lent this year. We talked about forgiveness in the midst of that and in other places. Surely we’ve got it now. Surely we know what grace and forgiveness is, or are, or whatever! One of the survey forms even read like this: “I know we just covered this, but I need to know more!” More? C’mon people!
But then, I thought, Jesus seemed to come back to this theme again and again. The Bible as a whole covers grace and forgiveness from beginning to end. The precedent is set. The need to explain again and again and again is clear. This is something we wrestle with. Something that seems out of reach, inconceivable in some ways. You mean, we ask, we don’t want what we deserve? We want mercy? And that’s what God prefers anyway? Wow. So, here we are again, trying to comprehend the incomprehensible.
To help us out, we’re going to get practical. If you can join us for worship at Southport UMC this weekend, we have a story to tell that will give you a new appreciation for the working of grace and forgiveness in real human lives. To understand something is one thing, to live it or see it lived out is another. So come and see, or come and hear and maybe understand a little bit more about the power of grace and forgiveness in the world in which we live.
But there are some who can’t make it, I understand. So, instead, I’ll give you a real world example. Look in the mirror. Seriously. Look. Particularly at your outfit. What are you wearing? As you go out and about in the world, how do you dress for the part? I know, it sounds weird. But I didn’t come up with it. It’s not my question. It’s Paul’s. Don’t believe me? Take a look.
Colossians 3:12-17 As God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. 13 Bear with one another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. 14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in the one body. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; teach and admonish one another in all wisdom; and with gratitude in your hearts sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to God. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
Is it? Is it you? Is it me? Does designer Paul have the outfit to die for? Or maybe to live for? Clothe yourself, he writes to this little church. Clothe yourself. Colossae is a small town that got bypassed by a Roman road and was hitting hard times. Once a busy center for the manufacture of a bright red wool, Colossae now struggles to keep up with the bright lights of Laodicea, a new city founded to compete with the industry Colossae made famous. And on top of that, there was an earthquake that nearly destroyed everything. One while Jesus was at work in Israel and the surrounding area and then another some years later. Paul’s letter may be in between the quakes. The city was rebuilt both times, but it never really got going again. It was almost as though they were afraid it could happen again, so they lived their lives afraid of things out of their control.
We don’t know how the church got started there. Paul says he planned to go, but never made it. That’s what he tells his friend Philemon, who was from Colossae. So, it was probably planted by one of Paul’s converts, or co-workers. Which is why Paul wants to keep in contact. He feels responsible for them, even though he has never met them face to face. He heard, somehow, that they were struggling. He heard that what was once a strong faith, what was an active church was now floundering. How serious was the decline? We don’t know. They seemed distracted, when you read between the lines of Paul’s letter. In the second chapter he warns them not to be thrown off track by a variety of arguments, to not let others challenge their faith and their practice. To stay true, to stay faithful, to stay trusting.
It was like they lost their grip on the why and the what. What did they believe and why do they do what they do? So, Paul addresses that. He blesses them and then sets out to teach them the theology they thought they knew but lost somewhere along the line. He talks about who Jesus was and is, about the fullness of God and the source of strength and hope and joy. He talks to them like he is their father and they are his children. He tells them what is on his heart, how he longs for them, for their well-being and their growth in the faith. Oh, did I mention he is writing this from prison? Yeah, this note of encouragement, of uplift, of instruction comes while Paul is under arrest and awaiting his execution. Even there, even then his first thought is not of his own circumstance, but of a church struggling to find its way in a complex world.
To help him minister to this troubled church, here in the third chapter he turns to the matter of fashion. First, before our passage, he talks about cleaning out the closets. He talks about what you need to take off and throw away. He talks about the wide ties and the leisure suits that you are still trying to get by with and he says, for heaven’s sake, just chuck it all away. It doesn’t fit anymore, since you’ve become a new person. Since you’ve had your makeover, your whole wardrobe is for someone you aren’t anymore. So, get rid of it! It makes you shudder when you look at it anyway, what were you thinking when you bought some of that stuff anyway?
Now that you’re back from Goodwill, let’s go shopping, says Paul the couturier. Better yet, let’s look at my spring collection. Try it on! Put on then compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Oh, yes, that’s what will turn heads. That is so you. Or at least the you you long to be, the you you are becoming.
But wait, there’s more. You’ve got to accessorize. Sure compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience is a good look. But to move through the crowds, to interact with the in crowd and the out crowd, you need a finishing touch - forgiveness. The ability to put back together what has come apart. The ability to heal what has been broken. The skill to stitch a tear in the fabric of relationship and community. A useful skill, to say the least.
Did I say finishing? No, wait, there’s more. Every good ensemble needs a belt, needs something to hold it all together, to bind it up and harmonize the different elements of the outfit. Above all else, put on love, which binds everything in perfect harmony.
Now that’s a good look, says Paul as he stands back to gaze at the transformation taking place in front of him. You are a wonder, a vision, you are the body of Christ. So, what do you think? Is it you? Are you ready to live into the possibility of wearing this ensemble?
Are you going out wearing that?
Shalom,
Derek
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