Sermon for 6th Sunday after Trinity: Forgiveness & Incarnation.

Colossians 2; 8 - 17

8 See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.

9 For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form, 10 and in Christ you have been brought to fullness. He is the head over every power and authority. 11 In him you were also circumcised with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self ruled by the flesh was put off when you were circumcised by Christ, 12 having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through your faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13 When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, 14 having cancelled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. 17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.

Luke 11:1-4, & 11 - 13

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, ‘Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.’

2 He said to them, ‘When you pray, say:

‘“Father,

hallowed be your name,

your kingdom come.

3 Give us each day our daily bread.

4 Forgive us our sins,

for we also forgive everyone who sins against us.

And lead us not into temptation.”’

11 ‘Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!’

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ.”

Colossians 2:8

What might this mean?

Colossians is a letter the Apostle Paul and his assistant, Timothy, wrote to the church in Colossae. This church was a part of the first generation of Christians, people who had heard the good news from the disciples and followers of Jesus.

As with all the New Testament letters we are hearing only one side of the conversation. We read in chapter 1 that Paul and Timothy had heard of the faith and love of the Colossian church, so we may assume that they hadn't been there, or at least not in recent times. Was there a letter from the congregation in Colossae which prompted such a response? Or had reports of problems in the church in Colossae been brought to Paul and Timothy's attention? What 'human traditions' and 'elemental spiritual forces' had informed the “deceptive philosophy' that was misleading the Colossians?

A sense of the problem can be deduced from Paul and Timothy's response. They write concerning the Deity and authority of Jesus, and of the forgiveness the Colossians have received through Jesus, and they conclude that they should therefore not let anyone judge them by what they eat or drink, or by what religious festivals they observe.

It would seem the Colossians were being influenced by a philosophy that led them to reject both the divinity of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins, and were instead embracing religious laws as a means of salvation.

That “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form” is important to understand because it demonstrates the all sufficiency of the grace of God.

There is no sin greater than the sacrifice which was made for sin. Jesus is eternal, all our sins are temporal, so even the entire sum of every generation's sinfulness is not greater than the eternal sacrifice of the cross. The eternal and imperishable is infinitely greater than the transient and perishable. Do not think God cannot or will not forgive you because your sin is so great, instead remember that the measure of God's forgiveness is Jesus.

The writer of the Letter to the Hebrews also makes this point, contrasting the ministry of human priests with that of Jesus, saying,

“Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when this priest (that is Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God...”

As the Book of Common Prayer pugnaciously declares, Jesus made, “...a full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice, oblation, and satisfaction, for the sins of the whole world.”

If, like the Colossians, you doubt that Jesus is an eternal part of the Godhead you may also find yourself doubting that God forgives all your sins, and perhaps turn to keeping religious laws rather than relying on the grace of God for your salvation.

The greatest testimony to the love and forgiveness of God is the life of Jesus, because, “in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form,” and thus the life of Jesus shows us the character and nature of God.

That phrase, “...in bodily form,' also gives us a clue to the philosophy being countered by Paul and Timothy. It is likely that Gnosticism was influencing the Colossians, put simply, Gnostics believed that the physical world was bad, and the spiritual world was good. So for Gnostics it would be difficult to accept the idea of the incarnation, if God was a pure spirit why would He inhabit in flesh and blood our intrinsically wicked material world?

The Gnostic way of thinking contradicts the Old Testament, in which God is shown to be present in the the physical world that He created, and also contradicts the New Testament in which 'the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.' Christians down the ages have fallen into the error of thinking of the material world as evil, and the spiritual world as holy, and the two as entirely separate realms, when the bible describes an overlapping of the spiritual and material worlds, and makes clear that God created the material world as good, and that even a fallen world can be redeemed.

There is perhaps also a Jewish element to the Colossians confusion, the Colossians were gentiles, but they may have believed, or been told, that they had to be circumcised to be acceptable to God. Paul and Timothy assure them that baptism is a spiritual circumcision, and that by baptism they are completely reconciled to God.

The Christian proposition seems unlikely, that you can be reconciled to God by accepting the forgiveness He offers, and that baptism is an outward sign of this repentance, and that is it. No need for mortifying the flesh, or offering sacrifices, or observing complex and strict religious laws, no need to withdraw from society, or harbour hatred of those who have not converted, no need for ornate and obfuscating religious rituals, just, as Peter says, ““Repent and be baptised, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Do we find it difficult to believe that God forgives?

Do we judge Him by our own standards?

Do we not believe the testimony of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus?

Would we prefer it if we had a greater part to play in our own salvation? Would that give us a sense of control? Is it unnerving to find we cannot climb up to heaven by our own religious efforts? Does the overwhelming generosity of God's good gift of reconciliation embarrass us?

Jesus asks of us,

“Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

The system is as Peter described, “Repent and be baptised...and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

So does that mean all religious ritual and law is just human tradition, and should be rejected? Should we become iconoclasts? Should we burn our altars, and choir stalls, and hymn books, and pulpits, and robes?

Icons, altars, choir stalls, hymn book, and robes will not reconcile you to God, but they can be sign posts pointing you in the direction of God. The 'human traditions' Paul and Timothy found they had to counter in Colossae pointed away from Jesus, their philosophy told the Colossians that they, and all the material world, were fundamentally evil, and that the only possible way to escape this material trap was religious ritual and observance. The good news of Jesus told them, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

To paraphrase Paul and Timothy, 'He has forgiven us our sins, having cancelled the record of the charges against us, by which we stood condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.'

When Jesus says, “ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children,” it can sound like Gnosticism, like Jesus is saying we are fundamentally evil. However,“Ponéros” misleadingly translated here as evil, means hurtful, it is about the effects of our actions, not our fundamental being. God creates good, we do not live up to our potential, we are hurtful (Ponéros), but God offers us restoration through His forgiveness, and our repentance.

Christian, see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy. If what you are hearing leads you away from Christ, repent and turn back to the way of Christ, for that is the way to true peace of heart, and complete freedom from sin and guilt. Then forgive as you have been forgiven, and you will see the Kingdom of Heaven being built around you here on earth.

Amen.