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“God’s
Chosen Ones”
a sermon by
Thomas L. Jenkins
Text: Colossians 3:12-17
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with
compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.”
As we have just read these words and as we hear an exposition of them;
this is being spoken to us as a church.
I am going to use the word “we”, third person plural, as much
as possible. And if I do spin off and use the word “you” I am not
preaching at you. I am
speaking to us, myself included, as the church that we are.
The reason I am emphasizing this is that these words were written to a
church by St. Paul and they were originally read to the congregation. They speak to the spiritual dynamics of real communities who
are brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ. So, as we seek to listen more
seriously to what is being said, let us hear these words realizing we
are together with one another.
This passage starts with us being led to see ourselves, as this church,
chosen by God. We are
chosen; we are holy, and we are beloved.
We are together in this church by the will of God.
God has called us to be with each other in the ministry that God
has with us. Where we are
told that we are “holy;” that does not mean that we are some kind of
pious and perfectly self-righteous people.
The word “holy” literally means “set apart.”
We are being told that we are taken out of our daily lives and
placed right here for one primary reason, and that is to be given true
faith and true worship with God, the peace and word of Christ.
This is why God has set us apart right here.
And we are holy, set apart, and led by God to be given the gift of
Christ’s faith and Christ’s worship in our gathering together
because we are the beloved of God.
We are being told that we are the “beloved.”
As simple as I can make this: we are being loved by God.
This is action. This
is happening. We are being
loved by God in the person of Jesus Christ in this church; in our times
of worship, in our times of education, in our times of prayer, and in
our times of serving the church.
We may not always see it this way.
We may not feel it at all sometimes.
We may very well be blind at times to the truth of God.
We all are at times. This
may actually be the most important prayer we should have with Christ:
“Dear Lord, heal us of spiritual blindness that we may see ourselves
and each other in your light.”
Paul then uses some figurative language when he writes about clothing
ourselves. What he is
telling us is that when we begin to see in our hearts and souls how much
we are loved by God, as we are actually opened up by faith to know and
experience God’s love for us here in this church, then we should be on
the outside of our hearts exactly what we are on the inside of our
hearts, when it comes to the truth of God.
“…clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, and
patience. Bear with one
another and, if anyone has a complaint against another, forgive each
other; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.”
Because of what God is giving us in the church, in Jesus Christ we are
to be real. That is what we are being shown here. And God certainly is all these ways with us.
God sympathizes with us in our weaknesses.
God is patient with us. God
forgives us of our sins. And
God has given us the greatest gift beyond all our imagination.
God has chosen us and set us apart by putting us in Christ. Our true lives are hidden with Christ in God.
Our whole lives are about growing in learning what this means.
We have the greatest book ever compiled by human beings over
thousand of years. We read
it every Sunday of our lives. It
is inspired by the Holy Spirit in a way unlike any other publication of
this world. And it
ultimately points to one person, Jesus Christ.
Because of the witness of this book, God is no longer called Yahweh or
Adonai; God is called Christ. Jesus
Christ is our God. Jesus
Christ is the Word of God to us. Jesus
Christ is the one who speaks to us when we hear the Word of God.
Jesus Christ died for us. Jesus
Christ lives for us. Jesus
Christ lives in us. And we
live in Jesus Christ. And
the truth of our eternity is that we will spend all time in the life and
love that Christ has with God the Father in the Holy Spirit.
And it is right here in the church that God brings this home to our
hearts. It is in the church that we experience this eternal truth.
And that is why we are being told how to behave in a way that is
connected with who we are in our hearts.
It is here in the church that God regenerates our souls, and it
is here in the church that we are to be who we truly are in Jesus
Christ.
We are to sympathize with one another.
We are not to spend our time disagreeing with that person.
We are to understand them, why they are being the way they are,
why they are feeling what they feel in their lives.
And in relating to them in this way we are to show kindness to
them, not meanness.
We are to be kind with one another, show humility with one another, and
even apply meekness, i.e., not some kind of personal strength.
Dave Wasserman, who is the executive presbyter of Grace Presbytery,
which is similar to being a bishop, once told us in a sermon, we are to
approach one another, in the church, in this attitude, “I love you and
I might not be right in my opinions.”
Do we approach each other in that mindset, with that attitude in our
hearts? Do we realize in our hearts, that because we are in Christ
and Christ is in us, that we do love that person, and when it comes to
our opinions and our views about something, are we humble enough to
realize that we may not be right?
When we relate to someone with this attitude: “This is what I think.
I am right. I do not
care what you think. This
is the way it is going to be, whether you like it or not.
If it hurts you I do not care, because, frankly I do not really
like you anyway.” If we
relate to someone with this attitude in the church, then we have put on
the wrong clothes to wear to church.
We are not dressed properly.
How we dress in church is not about whether we wear a coat and tie, or a
dress or elegant slakes; how we dress in church means to wear, coming
out of our hearts, Christ’s loving attitude toward us and giving it to
our brothers and sisters around us.
God does forgive us even when we wear the wrong attitude in church.
And when we go home and change how we dress in our hearts when we
are in church, serving in the church, worshipping in the church, taking
care of the church, and come back to church clothed in the Holy Spirit
of Jesus Christ, then we forgive one another and reconcile broken
relationships with one another.
Are there broken relationships within this church?
Are we seeking God’s help in reconciling them?
The final verse we read was, “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.”
This is not easy. It takes
effort. It takes our making the decision that this is important to
us. This is something we
have to be dedicated to, and pray personally and ask for God to help us
keep this attitude in our minds and hearts.
Whatever we do in this church, whatever decisions we make to do or not
to do, whatever we say to one another, we are to do in the name of the
Lord Jesus. And as we do it in his name, thank God the Father for our
being in the Holy Spirit.
Let us pray…
Amen
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