12 January 2007

We will end the week as we continue to look at who we are under the Reign of Christ.

And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him - provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. (Colossians 1:21-23)

I want to quickly note that this text may sound like it has a conditional note to it. It does...but it is not like any of the conditional notes we sometimes hear from religious folks today. It is not a condition that included punishment or forced exclusion if we don't "get in line." Let me attempt to deal with how I am reading this text today.
First, through Christ, we are reconciled to God - completely. We are "holy and blameless and irreproachable before him." That is the foundation. That rock cannot be washed away. That is the truth even when others and we ourselves try to say it is not.
Then, we have something that sounds a bit conditional. After Paul has noted what Christ has done for us we hear: "provided you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard." The condition is that we trust the foundation beneath our feet - the love of God in Christ, Jesus, that is eternally (that means without end...no matter what) with us. We are not doing something exceptional and this gift to us is not pulled away due to how we act. Rather, it is ours and it will be the power for life in and through all times. There is no other foundation - trust this. If we go off trusting in other gods - who are less than God - we will be stuck with them...and they will ultimately fail us. Our God gives us a great gift of undeniable power and life...but we are also given the freedom to turn to other powers. And yet, even as we turn and go away - turn away and shift from the home promised, here will be our God as promised. Not only that, the Holy Spirit serves as the power to keep wooing us back to this gift that is ours - a gift without end. Paul ends this note by simply saying: I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. This is not simple a preacher talking about good news, this is a preacher who has lived it among them - that is why they kept his letters. It is a word about life when other words lack life.

Connection: Yesterday at Church Church council I asked everyone on the new council to introduce themselves with their name and then "I am blessed by God." It is true. It is what will guide us all as we continue to say it and trust in the hope it offers to us.

Come, O Lord who is our hope and strength in all our days, come and whisper to us again that promise for we so often find ways to forget and then we turn to listen to other voices and powers that never give life as you give it. We give you thanks for the refreshing word of grace that washes over us as hope for the day we enter. Amen.