Good morning. It’s good to be back with you and I’ll be with you for the better part of Advent as well. Actually, I feel like today is the beginning of Advent rather than the last day of the liturgical year because when I read the lectionary texts for today, which we call Christ the King Sunday, it felt like I was reading a prelude or prolog to our advent devotional, “The Stars Tell The Story.”
This text from Colossians is a what some theologians refer to as the “Cosmic Christ” because it talks about Jesus in these larger than life terms. This passage stands in sharp contrast to the way Paul usually talks about the body of Christ because it’s talking more about how all the universe relates to Christ rather than the way Jesus relates to us. It also stands in contrast to the way Jesus talked of himself and the way he led his ministry. When Jesus reached out he did so in relationships, daily connections, and in the details of people’s lives. His own interactions were about getting into the thick of people’s lives. And when he told stories, they may have included big picture metaphors, but they were usually about how people were to relate to one another. But this passage in Colossians is different. It shows us a big picture view of Christ.
Now this got me to wondering why that is. Why is it that Paul would talk about Jesus in such a different way than usual? To find out, I only had to read a bit about the people of Colossae in that time and then it all made sense.
You see, Colossae was a town in the rugged, mountainous land of what would be modern day Turkey. Christians were a small sect amongst many other more dominant religions. All of the other popular religions were polytheistic, meaning that they had many gods. Now this isn’t surprising because Jews followed by Christians and then the Muslims some time later were the only religions claiming “A One True God” rather than many gods. So this little group of Christians that believed in one god who had also been a real live person was considered suspicious and weird in that time.
But the way they stood out didn’t stop there. Colossae was also what some of us might call a very backward culture. They were extremely superstitious which is why so many religions took hold rather than a dominant one. What I mean by this is that for every problem that arose, they believed it was caused by a demon or dark power. This would spark some religious faction to step up with the idea that they knew which god to pray to or pay tribute to in order to have the problem fixed. Now in an area of the world frequently plagued by earthquakes, droughts, and war, finding the “god” to fix it was like flipping a coin. It was all just chance. And so this produced belief in a lot of gods that had, in their view, answered their cry at one point or another.
Christians on the other hand were not as concerned with trying to fix these things that went wrong as much as they were helping the people suffering because of it. Now I’m sure that they prayed to God to bring back their flock that drowned in the flood and to stop the earthquakes. Who wouldn’t? But rather than being focused on what they couldn’t control, they were focused on what they could… being a good neighbor and caring for the poor and meeting the needs of the suffering. So let me tell you, these people were some real weirdoes in Colossae!
So here’s Paul writing a letter to them and in good pastoral form, he’s says “Ya know all those bad things and dark powers? You don’t have to worry about those anymore. God has answered them in an ultimate way through Christ. You just keep doing what you’re supposed to each day and God will take care of all the stuff you can’t control. Christ is the glue that holds you together now. Live in that victory and you’ll never need to wonder who’s in control.”
Ok, well that’s my translation of what Paul wrote but don’t take my word for it, read verses 13-17: [God] has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. 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, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together.
Hmmm… So maybe this “Cosmic Christ” really is about relating to people where they are and getting into the thick of their lives anyway. It seems to me that if a group of folks were being persecuted for not having enough cosmic mojo behind them, Paul just told them how they could explain Christ to the person with deeply rooted superstitions or the family who feels haunted by a darkness because they had lost so many loved ones. This “Cosmic Christ” sounds pretty available to everyday folks if you ask me.
All this leads us to what this passage has to say to us today. Because as much as I love digging into the history and sharing these interesting connections, you probably would like to leave here with more than an anthropology lesson.
So what is all this about? What does Christ the King Sunday mean? What does it mean to have Christ as our king? Well, this passage gives quick overview of several the ways to think of Jesus. Beginning with verse 15, Paul says that Jesus is:
Now we could probably talk for days about what all that means but I think Paul drove his ultimate point home. All this stuff about Christ reconciling himself to all creation, being the head of the body, and holding everything together is about us recognizing that as Christians, Christ is of always of ultimate importance and at the very center of our experience.
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, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he 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 his cross.
See, this is about what Paul said at the beginning of the passage. “Giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light. He has rescued us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”
We inherited the light. We have been rescued from darkness by Christ, our guiding light. We have been transferred into the kingdom. That kingdom is a new covenant in Christ. That kingdom is living out the life of Christ here and now. That kingdom is the peace of knowing that all other things are in God’s hands. For Christians, we cannot do anything without seeing Christ in it and if we can’t see Christ, it probably isn’t for us to do.
Christ’s reign as king lifts the burden of saving the world off our shoulders and leaves us to do only what our particular calling is in the body. God’s job is redemption and forgiveness. Our job is being that new creation. To use a term we don’t often use in the church anymore, Christ’s reign reinforces the sovereignty of God. God’s sovereignty means that God’s vision and redemption has, is, and will work to completion regardless of our will or action. God’s power is true power and works for the good of creation through Christ.
You see, the reason I keep drawing a sharp line between what we are called to do as the body of Christ and what we need to leave to God is because we so often get them confused and start to meddle in the affairs of God.
Let’s take for example that old saying “Love the sinner; hate the sin.” Well, that sounds good on the surface. It sounds like something we should be able to do but is it? See, getting focused on judgment puts us in God’s realm. When we are focused on figuring out what is wrong with someone, it then becomes all too easy to miss seeing God’s image in them. Instead, our job is follow Christ’s lead of seeking relationships.
If we truly want to help someone that we believe is suffering in sinful existence (as if we aren’t all suffering from brokenness), then we should enter into loving relationship with them and provide her or him with what the need to shed that which burdens them. In relationships we are all healed by God’s love in our midst. Furthermore, when we do this, the responsibility for judging or “fixing” sin is removed from us and placed in God’s hands because we’ve been faithful in relationship.
This is the whole essence of the church. Us opening up to let others help us find healing. Reaching out to others to nurture them along the way. Going outside these doors to be Christ’s hands of caring and nurture in the world. Christ came and gave us a more excellent way. Our job is to live it one day at a time.
The Rev. Dr. Michael Battle, an episcopal theologian said, “Christ’s reign distinguishes the human community from the frenzied animal kingdom. Jesus has taught us to act differently, to be human in such a way that we will no longer crucify God in our midst.” I thing that’s a mighty powerful vision.
When we look around, who do we see that we can extend Christ’s hand of healing to? When we look into ourselves, what wall do we need to let down to receive Christ’s light more fully? When we leave this place, where can we extend the love we learned from fellowship with Christ?
Sisters and brothers, this passage reminds us that God has all the universe well in hand so that we don’t have to worry about that. Ultimately, like the people of Colossae, we just need to stay focused on what we can do each day as part of the body of Christ and let God take care of the rest. Amen.
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