What Are We Doing Here?
Vision: Our vision is to be a community of loving disciples, growing in spiritual maturity, following Jesus by actively sharing in God’s mission to transform the world.
Mission: We seek to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit by sharing God’s love and grace, guiding people to God, and developing fully devoted followers of Jesus.
I know many of our students who have just begun college or who have returned to college are often asked, “What do you want to do? What are you going to do?” Sometimes this is difficult to answer. Many of us had no clue what we were going to do or wanted to do with our lives when we were 18-22 years old. Some of us don’t know when we’re twice that age. Or if we did know, we still may have ended up changing jobs or careers multiple times in the years that followed. While it’s exciting in one sense to have a range of possibilities available from which to choose, it can also be stressful when there is a lack of certainty about the future or what we are to do.
September 9, 2012
Colossians 1:28-29, 2:6-7, What Are We Doing Here?
Doug Scalise, Brewster Baptist Church
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I read about a guy who loved to do puzzles. He was in his kitchen trying to do one on the table when a friend stopped by and found him really frustrated. “What’s the matter? he asked “It’s this puzzle, it’s so poorly made, I can’t find any of the corners, all the pieces are the same color, and I can’t find anything that looks like the cover of the box?” His friend looked at the box, sighed, and said, “That’s not a puzzle; put the Corn Flakes back in the box.” Life doesn’t come like a puzzle where we’re given a picture of what it will look like when we’re done and everything fits together. It often takes effort to figure out what we’re doing.
The Apostle Paul thought he had clarity about his life, he was a Pharisee, then he had an encounter with the Risen Christ and he changed his major. The Apostle Paul endured an awful lot in sharing the gospel, planting churches, and developing leaders. Among other things he was ridiculed, threatened, beaten, imprisoned, and shipwrecked. It is amazing both that Paul survived as long as he did and that he persevered in what he was doing. Paul had great clarity about what he was doing and he expresses it several times in slightly different ways including in these verses from Colossians:
“It is Christ whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.
For this I toil and struggle with all the energy he powerfully inspires within me.
As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,
continue to live your lives in him,
rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught,
abounding in thanksgiving.”
An acorn knows what it is trying to do, produce a mature oak tree. An auto company knows what it is trying to create, vehicles that the public will like and buy. Things in nature and businesses know what they’re trying to become or make, what service they’re seeking to provide, or what need they aspire to fill. What about the church? What are we doing here? What are we trying to make?
Margaret Wheatley, writes in her book Leadership and the New Science, that in the world of quantum of physics, there are things called fractals. A fractal is any object or form created from repeating patterns evident at many levels of scale. Picture a head of broccoli or cauliflower – how the same pattern is obvious at the smallest level as in the head as a whole. There is a sense in which Paul, in writing about the church, is describing in these verses the fractal, the repeating pattern that ideally should be evident at every level of scale in the church. Paul’s clearly stated goal is to be able to present to God everyone mature or perfect in Christ. Did you hear the repetition of “everyone” in verse 28? “It is Christ whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.” The gospel Paul proclaims is for everyone and he shares it with everything he’s got. That’s what he toils and struggles for with all the energy and strength that God powerfully inspires within him. That is what he sacrifices for, pours out his life for, what he is willing to die for, to have the repeating pattern in a church be that of mature Christians helping others become mature in Christ.
We want that to be the repeating pattern, the fractal of BBC, the answer to the question when people ask us “What does your church do? What’s your major?” Every church has repeating patterns, we may not always be aware of them or able to identify them, but they are present. We even attach phrases, such as, “We’ve always done it that way before,” or “We’ve never done that before,” to indicate the patterns that we repeat or value or not. Why does our church say the Lord’s Prayer the way we do each week? Is it because it is the most accurate rendering of the Lord’s Prayer as given in the New Testament? Not exactly. Every time we pray it we say, “Lead us not into temptation” even though it says in James 1:13, “No one, when tempted, should say, ‘I am being tempted by God’; for God cannot be tempted by evil and he himself tempts no one.” We call it the Lord’s Prayer but it is truly the disciples’ prayer, it is a prayer for disciples who wish to learn to pray. The Lord’s Prayer is more truly in John 17. Why do we say The Lord’s Prayer each week? The answer to all these questions is, “Because that is the way we’ve done it and known it and called it, that is what we’re comfortable with, that’s the way we want it, we’ve always done it that way.” This is a repeated pattern. Why do Christians habitually engage in behaviors that we should not, like not being able to control our anger or speaking about other people inappropriately? Because it is a repeated pattern we have not addressed, altered, or broken regardless of our profession of faith in Jesus.
Each of us can reflect on our own life and choices and think about, what are the repeating patterns in my life? Are they good? Are they helping me mature in Christ and be a better person? If there are some that are not, with God’s help, what am I going to do about it? Paul knew that he could not take for granted that the Colossians would continue in the faith much less continue maturing in the faith – it doesn’t just happen, nor should we take it for granted that we will mature just because we’re part of a church. So like a teacher, Paul lays out three points for the church and Christians then and now. First, Paul begins with a theological statement about the need to receive Christ Jesus as Lord and the importance of everyone striving for maturity in Christ.
Second is continuing to live our lives in Christ, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith.
Third is a word about our attitude, we are to be abounding in thanksgiving.
First, there is simply no way we can mature in Christ solely on the basis of attending worship for one hour a week. There are 167 other hours that must be utilized if we are to become mature in Christ. If a child only ate one hour a week, he or she wouldn’t make it for long, much less mature and thrive. If we only feed our soul one hour a week, the chances we will mature and thrive spiritually are not good. That’s why at BBC we talk about the importance of attending worship as one component in experiencing God’s grace and power in our lives. We also need to commit ourselves to grow through spiritual practices during the week, such as Bible study, prayer, service, solitude and other things that will help us grow spiritually. We can discover and use our spiritual gifts in service that blesses the Lord, the people we serve, and our selves. We can give generously and sacrificially of what God has given us financially so that all of our life is under God’s guiding hand and at God’s disposal. We can find some other Christians we can meet with regularly in a small group to learn, grow, and hold each other accountable. This is part of why almost every year for a while now we have done a series like the one we begin next week on Joy and Encouragement in Difficult Times based on Philippians. It gives us the opportunity to start new groups so people can experience them and it also helps to have the majority of the church focused on the same topic. All these things help us mature in Christ and grow in our relationship with and trusting in the Lord.
Second, Paul mentions the importance of continuing to live our lives in Christ, rooted & built up in him & established in the faith. Paul invites us to reflect on our initial expression of faith by which we pledged to follow Jesus and joined the community of believers. The response Paul is looking for is illustrated by three images. Rooted as a tree sends down strong roots into the soil.
Built up as a house takes shape in construction.
Established a legal term speaking of a contract that is ratified and made binding.
Rooted. We are to be rooted in Jesus. He is our soil. He is the ground in which our life takes hold. The nature of that soil is love. Paul says to the church in Colossians 2:2, “I want their hearts to be encouraged and united in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ himself.” What is crucial to grasp about that statement for a church is this: having hearts encouraged and united in love precedes, is a prerequisite to, fully understanding and having knowledge of God’s mystery that is Jesus. Because God is love, because Jesus shows us what God’s love is like – in order to mature in Christ and to have what Paul says are “all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge” that God has for us in Christ, we have to be rooted in the pure, unconditional love of Jesus.
Most of us are aware of the ongoing clean up at the Mass Military Reservation that Ben Gregson is working on. The problem with poisons, toxins, and pollutants in the soil is they get into everything – they leach through the soil, they pollute the groundwater, and they’re sucked into the roots of plants and the fruit they produce, they are eaten and ingested by animals that eat those plants. They change the nature of the entire environment. It’s a mess that is incredibly difficult to contain and even more costly to clean up. In the church, poisons that pollute the love of Jesus that is the soil of the church include things like spiritual pride, arrogance, a lack of humility, or the failure to love others with the love we have received from Jesus. When these attitudes and behaviors get into the roots of a church, the church is a mess. Daily attention to our relationship with Jesus is needed both personally and as a congregation so that we don’t resemble a dead bush – dry, brittle, inflexible, unattractive, rough, and easily cutting those who get too close to us. Spiritually, like with plants, it is better to gently water and nurture our relationship with God and each other regularly, so that our roots take hold and mature growth will naturally appear over time. Roots are important because everything that follows is built on and from them. It is the root that produces and supports the branches so we want to be rooted in the love Jesus.
The second image Paul uses to describe living our lives in Jesus is
Built up – as a house or building takes shape in gradual construction. The point is the same as being rooted: maturing as a follower of Jesus is a process of gradual development and growth. United in love and rooted in Christ Jesus we worship, pray, serve, share our faith, and give. As we do these things in the right spirit, our faith in Jesus will grow, take shape, and become increasingly visible in our lives and in the church. Like the watering of a plant, here again is an image that reflects the gradual development and growth of Jesus’ power and presence in lives. Like with a house there is the beginning, then there is constant maintenance and upkeep. Unlike building a house, there is no modular approach to being a Christian. There are stages, steps in the process that need to be followed for a house to be well built. You can’t do the roof first. You begin with the foundation. You need to have walls before you put in the second floor. Building a house begins with a plan – for the septic system, foundation, and house. We also need a plan for building our spiritual life. Fortunately, unlike a house, we don’t need a permit to build our spiritual life; we are free to begin any time.
When it comes to continuing to live our lives in Christ, Paul says we are to be rooted, built up and, thirdly, established in the faith. Established is a legal term speaking of a contract that is ratified and made binding. In Genesis 6:18, God establishes a covenant with Noah before he gets into the ark. In Genesis 9:17, God tells Noah after the flood that the rainbow in the clouds “is the sign of the covenant that I have established between me and all flesh that is on the earth.” After years of waiting for God to give him and Sarah a son, Abraham is finally told by God (Genesis 17:21), “My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this season next year.”
To be established in the faith is a way of saying, God has made covenant, a contract with us that both parties have agreed to and which is now binding. We have accepted and received Jesus as our Lord. Through him we have the assurance of the forgiveness of our sins, and the gift of eternal life. Our part of the bargain is to see to it that our lives are increasingly rooted, built up and established in Jesus.
Finally, Paul leaves us with a word about our attitude; we are to be abounding in thanksgiving. A friend of mine who gives flying lessons said the key to landing a plane is finding the right attitude in spite of atmospheric conditions. It is true of a landing a plane and living our lives. The right attitude is one of abounding in thanksgiving in spite of atmospheric conditions, in spite of situations in life that drive us up a wall, make us want to scream, or cry. Developing the habit of abounding in thanksgiving involves the mental commitment to increase our ability to adjust to things beyond our control. Paul says we mature in Christ with an attitude abounding in thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the appropriate response to what God has made possible for us in Jesus. Thanksgiving is not just an attitude or response when things are going well, but even for the most challenging of times. “Gratitude is an offering precious in the sight of God, and it is one that the poorest of us can make and be not poorer but richer for having made it.” (A.W. Tozer, Signposts). Whether we will be people who abound in thanksgiving and love or not largely depends on the attitude we carry around every day.
What are we doing here at BBC? We’re trying to make loving, mature Christians. What is each of us doing here? Hopefully trying to become a mature Christian. That is our fractal, our repeating pattern, that has continued in this place for over 180 years and has repeated and spread around the globe for almost 2,000 years. We want to be a community of loving disciples, growing in spiritual maturity, following Jesus by actively sharing in God’s mission to transform the world. We do this by seeking to be an instrument of the Holy Spirit by sharing God’s love and grace, guiding people to God, and developing fully devoted followers of Jesus.
For Reflection or Discussion
What are the repeating patterns in your life?
Are there any you’d like to change?
Are there some you’d like to add?
What does a mature Christian look like – how does one behave, speak, etc?
What are you thankful for today?