Redeemed and Reconciled

 Read Colossians 1

I am going to tell you a whole bunch of things that you already know.  Don’t check out mentally or just go home.  Instead, remember that God takes all things and works them for good for those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Yes, that’s from Paul’s letter to the Romans, but keep it bouncing around in your mind while we begin this new study of the Colossians.

Paul again was writing from Rome in some sort of imprisonment.  He likely wrote this letter before he wrote to the churches in Ephesus and Philippi.  His letter to the Galatians was penned more than a decade earlier.

Why are Paul’s letters in this order?  They are organized by length in most of your Bibles.  You can get Bibles that put the books Chronologically if you want them that way, but for the purposes of our study of these four books, the letter to the Colossians was probably written a little before the one to Philippi and about the same time as the one to Ephesus.

Do you remember on which missionary journey it was that Paul went to establish the church in Colossae?  Yes, it’s a trick question.  Paul did not establish this church.  It was a missionary effort of the church in Ephesus.

Epaphras was likely the main church planter.  Understand that this was a church that Paul did not start, that he had not visited, and that was something of a second-generation body of believers.  Those who believed the gospel that Paul had shared with them shared with others in another town and they came to believe.

The church was growing beyond the impact of these first apostles, in this case Paul. The church in Rome was also such a church but we look to Paul’s counsel to these believers in Asia Minor—hard core pagan country—at this time.

Paul acknowledged early in this letter that the gospel was moving well beyond the places that Paul had touched.

Paul addresses these Colossian believers as holy and faithful brothers in Christ.  He greeted them with grace and peace. This is a warm letter to beloved followers of Christ Jesus, most of whom Paul has never met.

Paul tells these believers that he continues to pray for them.  Those in ministry continued to pray for them.  They prayed that this body of believers receive knowledge, wisdom, and understanding so that they may live a life worth of the calling that they have received. OK, that’s the way Paul put it to the Ephesians.

Here Paul says so that they (also we) might live a life worthy of the Lord and pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work.

Paul doesn’t stop there.  He adds that they (we) might grow in the knowledge of God, be strengthened in his power, so that you will have great endurance and patience and joyfully give thanks to the Father in heaven who qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints.

Consider that qualified means that God did it all.  Jesus paid it all.  All to him I owe.  We are saved by grace through faith so that none of us can boast that we did anything to earn our salvation.  God himself qualified us for salvation.

We are not only saved from sin and death; we are part of the Kingdom of God.  That’s our home. By now, you should see some strong connections among the letters to Ephesus, Philippi, and now Colossae.

We know Christ is the one and only Son of the one true God.  He is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  He is the first born of all creation.  He is the head of the church.

At the name of Jesus, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and this will be to the glory of God.

But Jesus is also the image of the invisible God. He makes visible to us that which is not visible to us—holy God.

Jesus told his disciples that because they had seen him, they had seen the Father. 

Where is all of this leading?  It’s bringing us to an understanding that Jesus didn’t die on the cross just to save humankind.  His sacrifice was to reconcile all things to himself—to the image of the invisible God.

He reconciled all things to himself—the head of the church, the one who is at the right hand of the Father, and the only one who ever fulfilled the law and was qualified to take away our sin and make us right with God once and for all.

But not just us.  Not just on earth.  Not just Hebrews who had professed Jesus as Lord. The blood of Jesus reconciled every vile and rebellious thing to himself. 

Think to our human nature—our sinful human nature if you will.  When we are at odds with someone, our first nature is to be right.  Being right is more desirable than being reconciled.  That’s why we don’t see much reconciliation in this world. It is not our nature.

But it is God’s nature.  We were at odds with God, enemies if you will.  God was right and there was no argument.  We deserved wrath.  We deserved condemnation.  God chose to redeem us and he desired that the entire creation be reconciled to him.

We deserved wrath.  We received redemption and reconciliation.  OBTW—we didn’t earn any of it.

We may not see this reconciliation yet, but the work is done.

It’s hard to understand everything reconciled to him when we have tornadoes and earthquakes and drought. That doesn’t seem like reconciliation.

It’s hard to visualize all things reconciled to him when people do not value life from inception to old age. You would think that all would value life.

It’s hard to conceptualize that all things are reconciled to him while this sinful human nature wants to regain a place of prominence in our lives. Will the good work that he began in us not be complete?

But we must realize and embrace that the work on the cross was a work for redemption and reconciliation.  It is finished!

One day, all will see it.  Today, we must embrace it and live according to the law of love.

We must know that at one time we too were enemies of God.  Until we professed Jesus as Lord, we were God’s enemies.

We were sinners and we were saved by grace but we are redeemed and reconciled to God in the blood of Jesus.

We were:

·       Sinners

·       Saved by grace

We are:

·       Redeemed

·       Reconciled to God

·       A new creature

Do you remember Paul’s paradox—already done but not yet?  We are made perfect by God but we are still living as a work in progress.  God’s work to make us right is done.  We are still working on living up to that right standing.

It is the same thing with his reconciliation.  We—the whole creation—is reconciled through the work on the cross.  We are living out our lives in anticipation of its full manifestation but make no mistake, the work is done.

You might be thinking, Tom just preached a whole bunch of stuff that I already knew. You will get no argument from me on that point. In fact, I told you in advance that I was going to do that and I’m glad this was not the first time that you heard most of this.

For the moment, while all of these things are being refreshed in your mind, consider that God was pleased to have his fulness dwell in his Son.  The fulness of God the Father was manifested in Jesus the Son. 

In Christ we have all that we need. He and the Spirit act in total accord with the Father but we seek to live a Christ centered life. The term Christology is frequently used with this letter.

A basic definition would be the study of Christ, but it’s more of the centrality of Christ in everything.  The fullness of God was within him.

John’s gospel tells us that it was this way at the creation.  Now understand it was and is this way for redemption and reconciliation.

We understand that we are saved from sin and from death but do we understand that we are no longer enemies of God, not by what we have done but that through Christ we are reconciled to God.

It’s not like, you are saved but you are still scum.  We are redeemed.  We are reconciled.  Through Christ and in Christ we are made to live in right relationship with God.

The will of God has been accomplished on the cross.  The creation has been redeemed and reconciled.  Our response is to live as redeemed men and women in a new creation.

We have not yet seen the new heaven and new earth  but we are a new creation qualified to live in God’s Kingdom.

Eye has not seen and ear has not heard what the Lord God has in store for us, but it is in store for us as God planned all along. The work is done.  Our inheritance is set. We are a new creature and a new heaven and new earth await us.

The world looks like a complete mess but God has reconciled everything to him.  Live out your salvation knowing that there is harmony and accord in store for you.

We have a glimpse, a taste, a deposit of what is in store for us.  Let that be enough for us to live a life of love in response to the grace and peace that has been bestowed upon us by almighty God through the person of Christ Jesus.

Consider all of the turmoil and hurt and pain and hatred and contempt and rebellion and apathy that you have known in this world, not to mention the bad hair days. Consider the wars and carnage and devastation that you have seen wrought upon this world.

Consider the proliferation of lying and deceit and falsehood seeking to overcome the truth.

The world deserves the wrath of God but God desires redemption and reconciliation. The work required for these things has all been done by God himself.  He has made you a new creature.  Will you trust him that he has made a new creation for you to dwell in?

Trust him in the turmoil.

Trust him with rebellion all around you.

Trust him even when the world hates you for it.

Trust him.  Through Christ Jesus all things have been reconciled to God. Show God that you trust him.

Live as the new creature he made you to be.

Live a life of love in response to salvation and redemption that you know in the blood of Jesus.

Live with joy in your heart.

Live with peace that only God can give.

Live knowing that God has reconciled all things to himself.  The day will come when we will see this for ourselves.

Today, we see as through a glass darkly, but one day we shall see fully. Yes, I took that phrase from Paul writing about love to a church in the middle of turmoil in desperate need of reconciliation. It fits here as well.

Today, we are called to live as a new creature in a new creation  trusting God through Christ that we will see everything reconciled to him one day.

We will see what Christ has already accomplished.

Amen.

Before the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord

 

 Read Malachi 4

Creation is moving to some point in the future that we will call the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord.  It’s coming.  We can’t mark it on our calendars or register it in our phones, but it’s coming.

For the wicked, it will be worse than they can imagine.

For the righteous, it will be greater than the human mind can conceive.

For the wise, we are to always be ready and live as if that day is upon us.  We don’t wait for the two-minute warning to start living as God has directed.  We are to be known by our love this day and every day.

We are to live our lives in response to the love of God that we know in Christ Jesus and do our best to follow the example of our Lord.

We know God through his holy word—the Bible—and through his Holy Word in the Flesh—Christ Jesus.  The people of Malachi’s time knew God through his holy word—mostly read to them by the scribes and priests—and by their interaction with their priests.

As they looked forward in time, they knew judgment was coming at some point, but they did not fully comprehend a Messiah or a Savior or an Anointed One. They had an inkling of these things but nowhere the knowledge of them that we enjoy today.

The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord was mostly going to be terrible, especially for those who rebelled against the Lord.  We can’t fault them for their thinking.  Malachi promised that before this day, Elijah would come.

The people knew of Elijah.  How could they not?  Think to the encounter of Elijah and the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel some 400 years earlier. 

The kingdom had gone astray.  Elijah was a wanted man but he confronted the king and caused all of the prophets of Baal to meet him on Mount Carmel to settle the matter of who truly is God.

This was not of Elijah’s own doing.  God set this in motion with the promise that he would send rain upon the drought-stricken land, but first the wicked needed to be purged from the land.

You know the story.  Both Elijah and the many prophets of Baal prepared a bull for a burnt offering.  There were 450 prophets of Baal plus 400 prophets of Asherah—those who ate the Jezebel’s table. 

So there are 850 prophets who had led the people astray to worship false gods, and there is Elijah.  Elijah said, let’s settle this once and for all.

Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”

Here is how we will sort this out.  We each make an altar on which to burn the sacrifice.  We each prepare our animal and place it on the altar.  Make sure there is plenty of wood.  So they did just that. The prophets of Baal were up first.

No person would like the fire.  Each would call upon their god to light the fire of the sacrifice.  The prophets of Baal called out for hours without response.

Elijah had not yet called upon his God.  He hadn’t even repaired the altar that was in disrepair, but he was not silent.  He mocked the false prophets.  He taunted them.

You had better shout louder.  He can’t hear you.

Maybe your god is busy.  Did he put you on hold?

Maybe he is in the bathroom and he isn’t getting enough fiber in his diet. 

Elijah had to be having the time of his life.  False prophets wanted real fire from a false god.  They started slashing their own bodies to draw blood.  This was sometimes practiced and surely needed now as their god seemed to be taking a long nap.  Maybe he was hibernating.

When evening came, Elijah stepped up and said, it’s my turn now. The people had become bored with the false prophets' futile and frantic efforts to elicit fire from their god.

Elijah addressed the altar that had been neglected. He first surrounded it with 12 stones representing the 12 tribes and took the stones to build an Altar to the one true God.  Then he loaded it with wood

That wasn’t enough.  It was time to taunt the false prophets again.  He dug a trench around this altar.  That wasn’t all.  He had people fill 4 large jars with water and douse the offering and altar.  Once was not enough.  He would have the jars of water poured on the altar twice more until it was soaked and the trench around it was full.

The false prophets were probably thinking that this was going to be a draw.  It would take hours for the wood to dry enough that it might catch fire.  The status quo could continue.  Elijah could say what he wanted and the 950 false prophets could continue spewing their nonsense without fear of ever being held accountable.

But Elijah would not wait for the wood to dry.

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command.  Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

There would be no waiting to see if God would answer.

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

It burned the offering and the wood and even the rocks. It even burned the dirt.  Have you ever been camping and said, let’s round up some rocks and dirt and start a fire with them.  Every drop of water was consumed. 

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

The people were convinced.  This was crossing the Jordan and the Red Sea on dry land convinced.  This was sweeping through the Promised Land with their enemies fleeing convinced.  This could only be the hand of the one true God.

Elijah seized the moment.

Then Elijah commanded them, “Seize the prophets of Baal. Don’t let anyone get away!” They seized them, and Elijah had them brought down to the Kishon Valley and slaughtered there.

OBTW—the rain came shortly thereafter.

Why do I tell the story of Elijah and the false prophets?  This Mount Carmel encounter was the image seared on the minds of God’s Chosen People.  The wicked were exposed.  They were taunted.  They were discredited and they were killed.

When God told his people that he would send Elijah before the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, they were looking for a man who took care of business the way they would take care of business.  Think about it—850 false prophets dead in one afternoon.

The denomination sends me an email every couple of months noting the pulpit vacancies in our denomination.  On rare occasions, all the pulpits in our presbytery are filled.  That’s a momentary celebration.  Across the denomination, there are always two dozen churches searching for a pastor.

Imagine, having 850 vacancies to fill.  Elijah gutted the mechanism for worshiping false gods.

And yes, by way of confession, I do look to see if there is a CP church in need of a pastor in Honolulu. 

The people of Malachi’s day were looking for someone to come and set things right and if wicked people had to die in the process, then so be it.  Elijah would be perfect.

But God had other plans for Elijah.

He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents; or else I will come and strike the land with total destruction.”

Destruction will come for the wicked but not before there is a chance for people to repent and truly know God.

Elijah would begin the reconciliation that would be completed in Christ Jesus.  For those who rejected the invitation to life, there would be destruction, but God desires that none perish.

Before the Great and Terrible Day of the Lord, there will be a chance to repent and be reconciled to God.  We live in that time now.

Elijah has come.  We preach that all must repent and receive Jesus Christ as Lord. 

There is a Great and Terrible Day of the Lord on the horizon.  Our job is to bring as many as we can to the great side of this day before it arrives.

Elijah has come.

Jesus has come.

Jesus will come again.

We are to be ready and bring as many to him as we can before he arrives!

Amen.

What you intended for evil...

This has been a tough year for violence—senseless violence.  Just when you think it can’t get any worse, evil finds a way to do more and more.  In this post-modern century, evil is still at work in the word.

Evil is still at work in the world.   Don’t you just wish that you could turn back the clock to another time?

This morning, we will turn back the clock about 4000 years and introduce a man named Jacob.  He was the son of Isaac who was the son of Abraham.  God would call him Israel.  Read chapters 32 and 35 when you get a chance.

He had many sons himself, from 2 wives and 2 maidservants.  One of these sons was named Joseph.  The Vacation Bible School that just took place centered on this man named Joseph, his dreams, and his journey from prison to palace.

Joseph and Benjamin were the youngest children, born to Rachel, but it was Joseph whom was given a richly ornate robe.   Today we have come to call it his coat of many colors. 

His brothers were jealous.  Imagine hearing, “Dad loves you more” from 10 older brothers.  Benjamin was younger.  Perhaps this jealously would have just played out in wrestling matches and double dog dares, but Joseph had dreams and he shared them.

Sheaves of his brothers bowing to his own sheave and even the sun, moon, and stars bowing to him upset his brothers and even his father.  What are you saying here kid?  You will rule over us?  Is that it?

It seemed that everyone was upset with Joseph, but note verse 37:11.  Jacob kept the matter in mind.  That is, he pondered these thoughts of his young son as more than just the crazy rebelliousness of a young man.

The story of Joseph really comes into full swing when his 10 older brothers are tending flocks and Israel sends him to check on them.  He heads out to Scheckem and finds they are not there.  After some discussion with a local, he believes them to be in Dothan and sets out to find them.

The brothers saw him coming.  Perhaps this is the first known use of the overused saying, “They saw you coming.”  It fits.

They saw him coming and started plotting.  Among the schemes was an option to kill their young brother.  Reuben intervened and convinced them to throw him in an empty well.  Don’t think that Joseph was just going along with whatever his brothers decided.  He did pleaded for his life.

During this time when Joseph was in the cistern, Reuben went somewhere.  We don’t know exactly what happened next.  Perhaps it was Reuben’s turn to watch the sheep, but what happened next transpired without the oldest brother present. 

A caravan of Ishmaelites was headed their way.  The brothers had decided not to kill Joseph.  Even if they hated him, he was still flesh and blood kin.  They decided to sell him to the traders and received 20 shekels of sliver for him.

When Reuben returned he was furious.  Well, not upset enough to go after his little brother.  The question remains unanswered whether or not he took his cut of the 20 shekels.  That’s a good topic for Monday night Bible study.

In any case Joseph was gone and they needed a cover story.  Upset or not, even Reuben would be complicit in this.  They took his ornate robe—no way that was included in the deal—and ripped it to pieces.  They slaughtered a goat and dipped it in its blood.

This is where you get to scratch your head and think, “And out of these men will come the tribes of God’s Chosen People.”

They are each 2 shekels richer by selling their brother.

Surely the flesh of the goat didn’t go to waste.  They had a goat roast party to celebrate their ill-gotten gains.

Finally, they bring the pieces of robe back to their father presenting it to him in feigned innocence saying, “does this look like your son’s coat?”  It’s pretty good as far as criminal thinking goes.  If you let dad draw his own conclusions, you don’t have to get 10 stories straight.

The story shifts back to Joseph.  He was sold to Potiphar, the captain of Pharaoh’s guard.  I’m sure you are wondering the same thing that I am.  What was the price?  The wholesale cost was 20 shekels of silver; what was the retail price of the man who would ultimately save Egypt and God’s Chosen People?

We don’t get that answer but we do get this:  “And the Lord was with Joseph and he prospered.”

Joseph, at whatever price Potiphar paid, was a bargain.  He was successful at everything he did and pretty soon he was running everything that his master could put in his charge.

I can imagine hearing the captain of the guard talking at the officers club.  “You wouldn’t believe the deal I got on this Hebrew kid.  He is smart, industrious, and it seems like everything I give him to do he finds a way to make it work.  I think I made the deal of a lifetime.”

The problem was that Joseph was what we might call a strapping young man and it seems that Potiphar’s wife was something of a cougar.  Yes, she wanted him.

In an encounter where she grabs his robe and he runs away not wanting any part of betraying his master, she is left with his robe and he is fleeing the scene.  The script gets flipped and Joseph is branded the aggressor.

Welcome to the Pharaoh’s prison where we are told that the Lord was with Joseph once again.  He became the warden’s favorite and even made a couple of friends. 

These were the Pharaoh’s former cupbearer and baker.  Each of which would present Joseph with dreams and Joseph would explain them.

The explanation was good for the cupbearer and not so good for the baker, but Joseph asked that when the cupbearer was restored to his position that he put in a good word for him.

Here we see that Joseph is faithful to trust in his Lord but not stoic.  He tells the cupbearer that he got a bum rap.  He was brought to Egypt not of his own free will and once here committed no crimes.

Of course that story goes around a few hundred time a day in prison, but Joseph saw an opportunity to get his case before Pharaoh and he was proactive.

The cupbearer was restored to his position and immediately pleaded for Joseph’s release.  No he didn’t.  He forgot to mention Joseph for a full 2 years.

He didn’t remember of his own accord but because the Pharaoh had dreams and nobody could help him to interpret them.  But the cupbearer remembered Joseph.

The Pharaoh’s dreams consisted of 7 fine looking head of cattle coming up out of the Nile followed by 7 of the scrawniest cows you could imagine.  To top it off, the scrawny cows ate the big healthy cows.

He had a second dream involving grain that portrayed the same message—a message that it took Joseph to reveal to the Pharaoh.  Egypt would be blessed with 7 years of abundance that would be followed by 7 years of famine.

Joseph didn’t stop there.  He prescribed what must be done.  In every part of Egypt, 1/5 of the harvest must be collected and stored for each of the 7 years.  That is 20% of each year’s harvest was to be held back by the government to weather the lean years to come.

Joseph then told Pharaoh that he must appoint a wise man to oversee this most important project.  Pharaoh knowing of no such man among his counselors and commanders and seeing God at work in Joseph, appointed Joseph.

At the Age of 30, this man who was discarded by his own brothers, sent to prison without cause, and seemed to be forgotten was now in charge of all of Egypt—all of it.  Only Pharaoh himself would not be answerable to Joseph.

He was given an Egyptian name:  Zaphenath-Paneah.  We don’t know what the name meant at the time; perhaps it was “Revealer of Secrets” or  “God Speaks.”  He was given a wife.  He was in charge and over all things in Egypt.  Joseph did what he had always done because the Lord was with him.  He executed the plan that would save many lives.

Now we return to Jacob and his sons.  Famine has come.  They are hungry.  Egypt has grain so he sends all but Benjamin to buy grain.  There are stories within stories that transpire next until Joseph finally reveals himself to his brothers.

We jump ahead somewhat to God’s chosen people moving to Egypt, being given land in the hill country of Goshen, and beginning to grow into the nation of Israel in this foreign land.

Jacob—Israel lived 17 years in Egypt with all of his sons as this young nation began to emerge.  Then at the age of 147 years, he died.  He had given instructions to his sons that he was to be buried in Canaan in the place that Abraham had purchased long ago.

The Pharaoh granted Joseph leave to bury his father—how could he not.  Joseph had saved a nation, actually two nations.   So Joseph and his brothers buried their father.

Reality sunk in for the brothers.  Dad’s gone.  Our brother Joseph is the most powerful man in the world.  We did him wrong.  Now we are surely going to pay for what we did.

These brothers longed for forgiveness but know at best they can only be slaves.  Long ago they sold themselves into slavery.  These men are without hope.  They fall down at Joseph’s feet declaring themselves to be his slaves.

But Joseph said, “What you intended for evil, God intended for good, and the saving of many lives which is being accomplished now.”

Make no mistake, these brothers acted long ago with malice aforethought against their brother.  They plotted his death but settled for selling him into slavery.

This was hate in action.

They did evil.  They did wrong.  They did it to their own brother.

But Joseph reminded his brothers that he was not God and he did not sit in the judgment seat.  For all that Joseph had been through he was now in a position to save many lives and many lives were being saved.  Joseph’s heart and mind were set on reconciliation, not retaliation.

He told his brothers that he would not only care for them but for their children as well.  We see wisdom and mercy and a heart of reconciliation in Joseph, but we also see that there is evil in the world.

There is evil in the world but God has not orphaned us to deal with it on our own.  In Joseph’s darkest hours, we note that the Lord was with him and he prospered wherever he was.

There is evil at work in the world today.  We hear about it more frequently across more media platforms every year.  It is there.  It is not going away in this age and we should not be surprised.

What is surprising is how many Christians forget that God is with us.  The Lord is with us and will prosper us.

The Lord has given us gifts and talents and special abilities that we are to put to use and then we are to trust in the Lord that he will work things for good for those of us who love him and are called according to his purpose.

Today, let us take a lesson from Joseph.  He was not stoic.  He didn’t go through life saying, “It’s nothing.”  He knew that he had been wronged.  He didn’t like it but he trusted God.

He made the most of every circumstance that was thrust upon him and the Lord was with him and what he did prospered.

We have been here many times before.  We don’t focus on the world.  We are aware of what is going on in the world but we focus on what God has called us to do and trust him to direct our paths.

We work at everything we do as if we are working for God and not for others.

We go into this dark and sometimes evil world as salt and light and love.  People need to taste the goodness of God in us.  We need to be a light in the darkness.

But we must trust God even when our circumstances seemed to be turned inside out and upside down.  We need to trust God and put our gifts and talents to use even when everything seems to be going against us.

It only took a moment for Joseph to go from the depths of prison to commanding everything in Egypt and in a position to save many lives, including those of his own family.  In a single moment everything can change.

For Joseph, Egypt, and God’s Chosen people acts of evil and hate had been stripped of their own selfish intent and replaced with God’s purpose.

The Lord was with Joseph and the Lord is with us.  We will not become discouraged even when evil seems to prevail all around us for the Lord is with us.

We will prosper in everything the Lord calls us to do.

Amen.