Series: Justice and the Gospel - #8 Text: Col. 3:12-17 Valley Community Baptist Church Feb. 25/26, Truth, Trust, Unity

Transcription

1 Series: Justice and the Gospel - #8 Text: Col. 3:12-17 Valley Community Baptist Church Feb. 25/26, 2017 Avon/Bristol, CT Pastor Jay Abramson Truth, Trust, Unity This is the last sermon in our series on Justice and the Gospel so, I was trying to think of an illustration that might help me sum up this whole discussion. And I came across this great quote from one of my favorite social justice movies, My Big Fat Greek Wedding. Social justice disagreements almost always center on differences in how various people groups define their circumstances, right? That s what is front and center in this film where Toula Portokalos, the daughter of a very Greek family, falls in love and plans to marry Ian Miller, a non-greek. After going through the painful but hilarious drama of courtship, Ian and Toula finally get the blessing of both their families. At the wedding reception, Toula s father, Gus, gives this reconciling speech: "Welcome to the Portokalos family, and welcome to the Miller family. I was thinking last night, the night before my daughter is going to marry Ian Miller, that you know the root of the word Miller is a Greek word. Miller comes from the Greek word "milo," which means "apple." So there you go. As many of you know, our name, Portokalos, comes from the Greek word "portokali," which means "orange." So, here tonight, we have apples and oranges. We are all different. But, in the end, we are all fruit." 1 So, there you go. That s my sermon for today. No, we need to look at one more passage which, I believe, makes the same point as Gus Portokalos. And by doing so, it shows us the path to unity. All in all, this third chapter of Colossians builds this principle: Unity is built on trust. Trust is built on truth. And truth is found in Christ alone. Now, when you build anything you always begin with the foundation. So first, we see I. How Truth Is Found in Christ Alone. This letter is sent from Paul and Timothy to a church in the city planted in Colossae by Epaphras, one of Paul s disciples. It was a divided community, a fractured community. False teachers, competing beliefs, and even various ethnic groups with cultural differences were causing the divisions. So, Epaphras traveled to Rome, where Paul was in prison, to get some pastoral advice on what could be done. The letter is addressed by Paul and Timothy to, the saints and faithful brothers in Christ in Colossae. It begins by focusing on what is good: We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love that you have for all the saints (Col. 1:3, 4) But by the time they get to page three of their letter, the cat is out of the bag and their gloves are off! They get down to business by writing: (Col. 3:5-7) Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. So, that s not a great list of characteristics for a church, is it? But then they go on to relational issues: But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old 1

2 self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (Col. 3:8-10) To what does this last phrase refer, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator? It s referring to the foundational truth of every believer, which Paul and Timothy have affirmed in verses 1-3 of this chapter: If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. (Col. 3:1-3) Now, when it says that we should seek the things that are above, and set our minds on things that are above, does that mean we should disregard issues of justice and morality and anything to do with this physical world? No! It s inviting us to build all our actions and thoughts in this life on the Truth found only in Christ. Paul is urging us to focus on Christ as He is today. And where is Jesus today? Today Jesus is in the seat of ultimate authority, at the right hand of God. What does this have to do with anything? Justice issues are always finally settled by the highest court of the land. In this country that s the Supreme Court. In Hong Kong, that court is called the Court of Final Appeal. Paul, you remember, was a trained lawyer. What is he urging these Christians in Colossae to do forget about injustice issues? Are Paul and Timothy telling them just to think happy thoughts and pray more? No. He s urging them to focus on the Court of Final Appeal, which is the court of heaven. And who is presiding at the court? It is God the Father with Jesus at His right hand. Remember, the Hebrew word for justice also means righteousness God s righteousness. Paul is urging these fairly new believers to find their definition of truth in God s court, not man s court. This is why he says, Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. (v.9, 10) Justice can be found only in the eternal truth of Jesus Christ. Theodore Weld was converted to Christ in a revival meeting of the evangelist Charles Finney in the early 1800 s. In the decades before the Civil War, there was a hot theological debate over whether the Bible endorsed or opposed slavery. Weld wrote a booklet entitled, The Bible Argument Against Slavery. In it he demonstrated that Old Testament slavery was categorically different from American slavery, since Old Testament slaves were regarded as persons, while in American slavery, they were property. This book was a powerful tool used by Abolitionists. Harriet Beecher Stowe used another of Weld s books, American Slavery As It Is, as her source and inspiration for Uncle Tom s Cabin, the novel that in the 1850 s created huge anti-slavery sympathy. 2 Justice and righteousness are defined by the truth found only in Jesus Christ. Secondly II. Trust Is Built on Truth Truth is a big deal with God. Through the prophet Isaiah, God says: I the LORD speak the truth; I declare what is right. (Is. 45:19) Ps. 51:6 says of God: Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being When Jesus taught, He regularly began by saying, Truly, truly I say to you In Matthew we hear Jesus say this 37 times. And in the list of seven things that the Lord hates, we find both lies and being a false witness: There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: 2

3 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart the devises wicked plans, feet that make hast to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers. (Prov. 6:16-19) That s pretty strong language! Why is God so adamant about telling the truth? Because lying breaks relationships and truthfulness builds relationships. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin. (Prov. 26:28) A truthful witness saves lives (Prov. 14:25a) If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. (John 8:31, 32) Please notice where the truth comes from it comes from Jesus words. And how do we hold onto the truth? By abiding, by living in His Word. That is also what designates you as His disciple. And finally, by knowing His Word, which is the truth, you will be set free. So, in Colossians three, Paul is saying to Christians from various backgrounds, various cultures, cultures that for centuries did not trust each other if someone s life is built on the truth of Jesus, you can trust him. My anthropology professor at Wheaton College had spent years as a missionary in different cultures. He repeated a statement over and over again in a class on bi-culturalism. That phrase was this, Trust is the presupposition of every relationship. Whether that relationship is within one culture or between people of different cultures, there is always the prior question of trust. Can I trust you? Isn t that always the first question in a relationship? A good friendship, a lasting marriage, a successful business relationship they re all built on trust. And trust must be built on truth. But betrayal of a trust is so common. Zagreb, Croatia, is home for an unusual museum. It s The Museum of Failed Relationships. It was founded by two Zagreb artists after the end of their four-year dating relationship. They laughed about setting up a museum of shared objects of their relationship that now held memories of how their trust fell apart. As they each talked about the funny museum idea with their friends, people started sending them objects from their own failed relationships. Soon they had over a thousand objects and the museum opened! 3 Trust is built on truth, but once truth is compromised, trust will eventually be damaged. Which brings us to the final phrase of our principle III. Unity Is Built on Trust Unity does not arise from nothing. It is the final product of a trust that is built on truth. But what if trust has been betrayed? Then what? Have you ever been betrayed by anyone? So much of injustice is a consequence of broken trust or the absence of trust. It was true in Colossae! In Col. 3:11 it says, speaking of the Christian church: Here there is not Greek or Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all. Why would Paul and Timothy mention these particular cultural groups? Because they had a history of betrayal and mistrust of one another. Commentator, William Barclay writes: The ancient world was full of barriers. The Greek looked down on the barbarian: and to the Greek any man who did not speak Greek was a barbarian The Jew looked down on every other nation. He belonged to God s chosen people and the other nations were fit only to be fuel for the fires of hell. The Scythian was notorious as the lowest of the barbarians; more barbarian than the barbarians. The Greeks called him, little short of 3

4 being a wild beast The slave was a living tool There could be no fellowship between a slave and a free man. 4 So, how were these barriers overcome? Ever since Cain killed his brother, Abel, there have been incidents that caused trust to be broken. And broken trust builds barriers between people. But the Church was used by God in the Roman world to break down the barriers and rebuild the foundation of trust, one brick at a time. The Church destroyed barriers which came between the educated and uneducated, between slave and free, between one culture and another. How? By first leading people to trust Christ; then they realized that anyone else who trusted Christ could be trusted. This is why Paul and Timothy could urge the Colossians to: Put on then, as God s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. (Col. 3:12-15b) And this wasn t just talk with the churches Paul and Timothy planted around the Mediterranean. They lived it. What s the proof? Max Müller, an expert in the science of language and not a Christian, noted this: Not till that word barbarian was struck out of the dictionary of mankind, and replaced by brother, not till the right of all nations of the world to be classed as members of one genus or kind was recognized, can we look even for the first beginnings of our science of language This change was effected by Christianity. 5 Jesus Christ has a record, spanning thousands of years, of bringing unity between people who formerly did not trust one another or in some cases who even hated each other. Let me close with one more story from someone I met in Zimbabwe. His name is Craig Deall. He had a very successful farm that was taken from him by the revolutionary government in their land redistribution campaign that began in Craig and his family were followers of Jesus Christ but still, how would you respond if someone came and said, Everything that you now own belongs to me. Craig said he realized that he had three choices. He could flee, fight, or forgive. He and his family chose to forgive. But what does that process look like? Listen to how Craig described it recently: [play: Hyperinflation: How we survived McAlvany Weekly Commentary Youtube -- from 15:18 to 18:39 This is audio only] Friends, this is the only way to unity among people and peace in your heart. Liz and I met Craig Deall while we were in Zimbabwe. And he is the Real Deal! He now is the CEO of Foundations for Farming, which is literally helping farmers of the smallest farms climb out of their poverty by teaching them to farm God s way. As he said, I used to have a farm in Africa, but now Africa is my farm. This all happened because, when injustice visited his family, rather than fleeing or fighting, he forgave by the power of Jesus. Forgiveness does not undo the injustice. Jesus will take care of that when He returns. No, forgiveness does something else. It replaces injustice with grace and mercy. And through Craig Deall s distribution of the grace and mercy of God, thousands of Zimbabwean farmers have become followers of Jesus Christ AND they ve been rescued from poverty. So, what injustice have you suffered? What injustice have you observed that has motivated you to do something? What should you do? May I suggest that you apply to that injustice the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which begins and ends with forgiveness. 4

5 if one has a complaint against another, [forgive] each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything in perfect harmony. (Col. 3:13b -14) In doing this, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free. Let s pray 1 My Big Fat Greek Wedding, (Playtone Pictures, 2002), directed by Joel Zwick, DVD scene 17, 01:25:30 01:26:48 2 Tim Stafford, The Abolitionists, 3 Andrew Mueller, Display of Affection, The Guardian ( ) 4 William Barclay, The Letters to the Philippians, Colossians, and Thessalonians (Louisville: The Westminster Press, 1975), p Ibid., Barclay, p