Colossians 1:21-29 Sermon

Nineth Sunday After Pentecost

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS) 

“Finding Your Fulfillment in Christ” Series: Communicating Christ

Colossians 1:21-29

21 Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. 22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—23 if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant. 24 Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church. 25 I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— 26 the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. 27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. 29 To this end I strenuously contend with all the energy Christ so powerfully works in me. (NIV)

Unless you happen to have a special interest in either Japanese or World War 2 history, you may not recognize the name Hiroo Onoda.  Onoda fought for Japan in World War 2.  He served on the Philippine Islands in the Pacific Theatre.  Over time Onoda became an expert at hiding in the mountains and carrying out various acts of guerilla warfare against the enemy.  What is truly remarkable about his story is that he continued to do this for over 29 years.  Now that should sound odd to you, seeing as 29 years is almost 5 times as long as the entire duration of World War 2.  So how did Onoda manage to continue fighting for so long?  He never received the official word that the war was over.  His superiors hadn’t informed him that atomic bombs had been dropped and that Japan had officially surrendered.  The war was in fact over for Japan, but that important message had not been communicated clearly to Onoda. 

There is an even greater message that needs to be communicated, and yes, one that has a direct bearing on Finding Your Fulfillment in Christ.  Last Sunday we heard that one of the steps to take to find fulfillment in Christ is to celebrate Christ and the fruit he is bearing through the gospel all over the world. But it’s hard to celebrate Christ if you’ve never heard of him or the profound impact he’s had on the world. That’s why communicating Christ is essential. To celebrate something you have to be aware of it; to benefit from Christ it is necessary to know and believe what he has done. Finding Your Fulfillment in Christ involves communicating Christ.

Each of our days is filled with options from sunup to sundown, starting from the moment we wake up. We have the option of staying in bed and sleeping longer or getting up right away. We have options when choosing what to eat, what to wear, what to read, what to watch, and so on. While some of the decisions made surrounding those choices will certainly have more serious ramifications than others, nevertheless, whether big decisions that need to be made or little ones, we have options.

Our topic for consideration today, however, does not fall under that category.  Communicating Christ is not optional.  Or at least it shouldn’t be.  But it’s easy for us to treat it as optional, isn’t it?

Do we Christians need a wake-up call?  Have we begged off for far too long in an area in which we have absolutely no right to?  I don’t communicate Christ to my children because they already get it in our elementary school.  I don’t communicate Christ to my spouse because she’s already a Christian.  I don’t communicate Christ to my neighbor or my coworker because I’m more concerned about offending them with the cross than I am about rescuing their soul from Satan.  Whether they burn in hell for eternity or not is of less concern to me than putting a target on my own back for being a Christian.  If these things are true for us, I wonder if the through shouldn’t cross our minds that perhaps the Lord God wasted his efforts on us, for instead of bringing in this fold faithful soldiers willing to risk everything to battle for his cause, he has unfortunately brought in greedy misers who are content to hoard the treasures of salvation for himself and call it a day.

Have we taken for granted what the Lord of love has done for us?  Did you not hear Paul’s words to the Colossians?  Have they not yet sunken into your heart deeply enough?  Remember what you were!  Listen to him again. Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation” (v.21,22).  Remember that when Paul wrote this to the Colossians, he was writing to people who had lived some portion of their lives in unbelief, alienated from God before the life-altering news of a repaired relationship through Jesus had reached their ears. No, most of us here would not fall into that category; most of us have been life-long believers.  Yet these words apply to us in the sense that our sinful nature, which has resided in our hearts from the moment of conception, had alienated us from God.  And, one could also take Paul’s words as a warning that you run the risk being alienated from God down the road if you ignore Paul’s exhortation to “continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel” (v.23).  So while we recognize that we weren’t like the Colossians in that our lives was not at one time governed directly by unbelief, the scary truth is that we can become what the Colossians once were if we cast the news of Jesus aside.  That could happen down the road – that will happen down the road – if we do not communicate Christ.

So we ask the good Lutheran question, “What does this mean?”  What does it mean to communicate Christ?  It means speaking the message Paul spoke.  It means telling those who were estranged from God that Jesus Christ has forever changed that relationship, which had been one of irreconcilable differences, and brought us back into the Father’s favor.  It wasn’t our decision to cease evil behavior that reconciled us to God, as if that could ever happen.  It wasn’t some personal sacrifice on our part that reconciled us to God, as if that could ever happen. No, our relationship with God was restored “by Christ’s physical body through death” (v.22).  Reconciliation with God came because God’s flesh-and-blood Son died a flesh-and-blood death.  Communicating Christ to others means telling them of Christ’s death. It does not mean telling them of tolerance for all people and any sin. It does not mean telling them of a scatter-brained God who threw justice and truth out the window and simply declared that everyone goes to heaven. Communicating Christ to others means telling them of Christ’s death, and that by that death and subsequent resurrection, we’re at peace with God.

If that is what it means, then who is qualified to carry out this monumental task?  Surely not one of us here this morning would put ourselves on the same plane as Paul; surely we don’t share his qualifications, right?  Oh, but we do.  That’s just it.  What Paul knew Jesus had done for him, each of us knows Jesus has also done for us.  That means we’re qualified.  Communicating Christ only requires that the one speaking knows of Jesus’ death and passes it on to someone else.  Therefore, each of us is qualified.

And who needs to hear that message? Really two groups: your family – those you love and those with whom you wish to spend eternity.  They make up one group.  The other group?  Everyone else.  That’s great news, as it means we’re never wasting our time on anyone when we communicate Christ, because everyone we could possibly tell needs to hear of Christ’s death.

We should take note that communicating that message wasn’t easy for Paul.  Notice the tone with which he expressed his service to the Lord: “Now I rejoice in what was suffered for you” (v.24), “I have become its servant” (v.23), “to this end I labor, struggling with all his energy” (v.29).  Paul endured many struggles as a result of communicating Christ.  It didn’t come without its challenges.

Nor will it for you and me.  Parents, your child needs to have Christ communicated to him, and your child needs you to do it.  There simply is no substitute for the influence you have on your child.  Just accept right now that it will be a daunting challenge that will require great sacrifice on your part.  And then do it anyway.  Do it because the energy with which you do it comes from Christ himself.  Don’t stop with your children, but go on to extended family and communicate Christ.  Move on to coworkers and neighbors, all the while realizing that while communicating Christ is a challenge – one of the greatest of your life! – it isn’t an option, and it will bear eternal fruit.  Putting others first to communicate Christ is what it’s all about.

One man recognized an opportunity to reflect that.  He and another worker were sinking a shaft.  While it was a dangerous line of work, it was an essential part of blasting rock.  Typically the team of two would use a sharp knife to cut the fuse before preparing to set it off.  Then one of the men would be carried up first, then the bucket would be sent back down the shaft for the other man, who would light the fuse before giving the signal to be pulled up to safety prior to the explosion.  On one occasion they had forgotten the knife, and rather than returning to the surface to retrieve it, they simply used a sharp stone to cut the fuse.  However, it happened to set the fuse off at the same time, putting both men in immediate danger.  They quickly jumped into the bucket to be raised up to safety, but it was clear that only one could be carried up at a time.  One of the men jumped out of the bucket and said to the other, “Up with you; I’ll be in heaven in a minute.”  The other man was quickly drawn up and saved just before the explosion took place.  The other workers later descended back down into the shaft, fully expecting to find the mangled remains of the other miner.  What they found instead was a mass of rock that had been dislodged and lay diagonally across the man, protecting him but from a few burns and bruises.  When he was asked why he allowed his coworker to be rescued, the answer he gave would cause skeptics to laugh.  How did he respond when asked why he insisted on the man’s safety?  He said that he knew his soul was safe, because it belonged to the One who had redeemed it at the cost of his only Son.  His coworker, however, was an awful wicked fellow, and he thought that he still needed another chance.

The only way anyone “gets a chance” is if we make the sacrifices necessary to communicate Christ.  When we do, it’s a win-win situation.  Others hear about their Savior from sin, Jesus Christ, and you increasingly find your fulfillment in Christ.   Amen.

                                                              

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)