Colossians 1:15-28
Lectionary 16 in Ordinary Time 9th Sunday after Pentecost
July 17, 2016
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible (vs. 15-16a). The author of the letter to the Colossians writes to the people about Jesus, and who Jesus is. Who is Jesus to you? Does who Jesus is depend upon what your circumstances are?
I love bad movies, and Talladega Nights is one I really like. Ricky Bobby, the lead character and a race car driver in the movie addresses his dinner blessing to “Dear Lord Baby Jesus.” When his wife reminds him that Jesus did grow up, Ricky responds, “Well, I like the Christmas Jesus best and I’m saying grace. When you say grace, you can say it to grownup Jesus, or teenage Jesus, or bearded Jesus or whoever you want.” Ricky’s friend, Cal, chimes in. “I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T-shirt, cause it says, like, “I wanna be formal, but I’m here to party, too.” Ricky’s father-in-law responds, “I like to picture Jesus as a ninja fighting off evil samurai.” Who is Jesus to you?
Theologian Brian McLaren writes in his book A Generous Orthodoxy[1] how his understanding of Jesus Christ has changed over time. His struggle began when he realized his focus was on Jesus’ innocent death on the cross. He found his understanding individualistic and legalistic. As McLaren studied, he saw Jesus as being present and involved in everyday life. While his understanding broadened, both views of Jesus did not address Jesus’ connection with the world. This led him to focus on Holy Communion and ancient traditions, but he was troubled by the exclusivity of what he calls the “Roman Catholic Jesus.” McLaren continues to grow in his understanding of who Jesus is, and he presents in his book “Eastern Orthodox Jesus,” “Liberal Protestant Jesus,” Anabaptist Jesus,” and “Liberation Theology Jesus.” These descriptions are simplistic, and no one of them on its own is complete. Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you?
Who is Jesus to you when you struggle to tame the demons of addiction? When the doctor tells you that you have cancer? Who is Jesus to you when you hear that African Americans and police officers are shot and killed? Who is Jesus to you when over 80 people in Nice, France, are killed by a man driving a truck through the crowd?
We have been left reeling after months of violence and mass killings, not just in our country, but throughout our world. Fear has gripped us. Who do we say Jesus is in light of this? Next Sunday, Pastor Ballentine will gather with anyone who wants to talk about how the gospel speaks to our current social unrest. Join him in the Gathering Space at 10 o’clock.
Who is Jesus? Who is Jesus to you? In the words of our scripture reading this morning, “[Jesus] is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of the cross” (Colossians 1:18-19). This declaration of who Jesus the Christ is has come to be known as the “Christ hymn.”
The early church sang this hymn of hope in Christ. “In him all things in heaven and earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all thing have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things and in him all things hold together” (vs. 16-17). Christ is the one through whom God joined all things to God’s own self. Through Jesus’ death on the cross, everything in all creation has been reconciled to God.
Pastor Brian Walsh observes, “Here is a kingdom born of blood, but instead of this being the blood of its victims, it is the blood of its Lord.”[2] Jesus does not die instead of us. Jesus dies with us. Jesus does not offer his death to God to appease God’s wrath; he offers his life to God as a victory over death. Through the cross, we are rescued from sin, death and the devil, as Luther says. God does not do this with violent power, but accomplishes this by becoming one of us, by joining us to his life and his death. Jesus’ life was marked by his tears at the death of his friend Lazarus, and dinner with friends Mary and Martha. His life included his betrayal by Judas and by those who did not believe in him. His life included his flesh being ripped apart by nails, and breathing his last breath hanging on a cross, and burial in a tomb. Jesus descended to the dead, rose to life and ascended to God. This is what we are joined to in the water and the word of baptism.
This is our hope. In fact, Christ is our only hope. Christ has gone out to the world to be where people are suffering, and to be with people in their suffering. Our hope is not avoidance of things that make us want to hide under the covers. Our faith does not deny evil in this world. Our hope is in Jesus who brings light out of darkness and life out of death. Our hope is that God is still working in our world. Our hope through Christ is that there is no death from which resurrection is not possible. We are Easter people.
Frederick Buechner fleshes out our hope. He writes, “For Christians, hope is ultimately hope in Christ. The hope that he really is what for centuries we have been claiming his is. The hope that despite the fact that sin and death still rule the world, he somehow conquered them. The hope that in him and through him all of us stand a chance of somehow conquering them too. The hope that at some unforeseeable time and in some unimaginable way he will return with healing in his wings.”[3]
This Christ hymn in Colossians reminds us, as Paul writes in his letter to the Romans, that “neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (8:38-39). This is who Jesus is. Jesus is our hope. This is our Christ hymn. How can we keep from singing?
~Pastor Cheryl Ann Griffin
[1] McLaren, Brian. A Generous Orthodoxy. Grand Rapids: Youth Specialties, 2004.
[2] http: //www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=2925
[3] Buechner, Frederick. Beyond Words. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, 2004. 160.