Learning Church

Sermon by: Rev. Mary Alice Mulligan, Ph.D.

Scripture: Colossians 1:1-14

Last week we began a series on the Church, hearing part of Paul’s letter to the churches of Galatia. He was concerned that outsiders were tainting what he had taught. Today we will hear an introductory part of the letter to the church in Colossea, which indicates the Colossian church was started not by Paul but by a local person, Epaphras. In Colossea, similar to the situation in Galatia, newcomers brought ideas which were different from the Gospel they had first learned. Apparently, these newcomers had a list of dos and don’ts; they judged the Colossians according to whether they avoided certain foods, participated in specific rituals, or had distinct mystical experiences. The letter comes to straighten out the confusion.

Most scholars agree Paul is not the actual author of Colossians. The ideas are similar to Paul’s, so the author had probably worked closely with him, but the vocabulary often differs from Paul’s and there are stylistic and slight theological differences between this letter and the letters we are certain Paul wrote. In the ancient world, it was not considered “lying” to use someone else’s name on a work. Such practices showed connection to the person or to their authority. So the Colossian letter, written from within the Pauline camp, came to the church to relieve the faithful from the pressure to conform to outsiders’ tests, but also to direct them how to grow in their commitment to Jesus Christ. Turn now to Colossians 1:1-14.

One of the commentators described the opening of Colossians is like watching an active clothes dryer – all the pieces are there, but they are tumbling all over one another. How are we to make sense of it? We will spend a few weeks in Colossians, not unpacking every idea, but pulling out a few to look at more carefully, to guide us in living together as part of the church of Christ and to help us understand our life together in Christ. So where do we start?

An important starting point is that Christians claim Christ. Anyone who is a Christian came to a time when they decided to follow Jesus. No one is born a believer. Christ may put a claim on our life, but we have to respond.

Think of it. Some of us were born into the church, so we were baptized or dedicated as infants, but the vows made there were by our adults, who promised to guide us toward a life committed to Jesus. We were not able to make promises on our own as infants. But somewhere along the way, we chose to follow Jesus Christ. Others of us may have become Christian after feeling a hunger for some unknown nourishment greater than food or possessions. Perhaps we dabbled in various self-help projects only to be disappointed, until someone invited us to church, where we found an Almighty Love that will never disappoint.  Still others of us may have grown up in church, taken a confirmation class, joined the church, served as an usher, a deacon, a council member, become very active in projects, but then some Sunday morning, sitting in worship, minding our own business, not bothering anyone (especially not God), when suddenly we heard the word of the grace of Jesus Christ as if for the first time. We might have been almost knocked unconscious by the amazing reality that Jesus Christ loves us beyond our ability to measure, loves us no matter how long we ignored him and forgives all our lazy excuses. At such a moment, our faith became real. We have a word for those experiences of coming to the faith, finding what we were hungering for, or after getting knocked out by Jesus’ love completely by surprise. The word is “converted.” Somewhere along the line, every Christian makes a commitment to Jesus. We realize the presence of Jesus makes a difference in our life. We discover, in spite of all the mess of living we have created, we are infinitely loved, accepted by God, made new. Our life of faith begins by claiming Christ.

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