“Continuing in the Faith”
July 26th, 2010 Posted in SermonsThe Eighth Sunday after Pentecost (Series C)
“Continuing in the Faith”
July 18, 2010
Sermon Text: Colossians 1:21-23 [show]Colossians 1:21-23
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (ESV)
Grace, mercy and peace be unto you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
As they made their way to the promised land… through the desert land… through one challenging situation after another… the Lord God Almighty again and again reminded the children of Israel where they had come from … and where they were going.
He reminded them how He had spared them from the hand of Pharaoh… how He had freed them from oppression and slavery… and how He was taking them… guiding them… leading them oh-so mercifully… to a land “flowing with milk and honey.”
The Lord never wanted them to forget what was done for them, is being done for them, will be done for them… to never lose sight of His mercy and grace past and present… to never lose sight of the precious prize awaiting them in the not too distant future.
And yet, among their ranks there were those who grew weary of hearing about this. I mean… come on… it was the same old thing. Ya, they were thankful what God almighty had done for them in the past, but what was He going to do now, especially about this or that problem or obstacle that they happened to be facing at the time.
“Tell us something new” is what they WANTED. But it isn’t what they NEEDED.
Instead, they needed to be reminded where they once were… reminded what once was their helpless, hopeless situation and condition… reminded what was done for them… how they were spared… how they were saved… freed… and what lay ahead for them… if they remained faithful… if they stayed the course the Lord their God was lovingly leading them on.
I ask you… are we any different? Are we any better at remembering and readily recalling what has taken place in our lives by God’s grace… what is now happening and what will soon come about, thanks to the Lord and what is ours in Christ Jesus? No, we are not any better… any different.
Sin… your sin and mine… can so easily cloud our minds and dull our memory… our understanding. It can so easily cause us to forget… to once again become ignorant about what is the real state of affairs now… what is the real situation in our lives and in our world even though it does not look that way from our limited perspective.
And the insidious thing is… sin dulls us without our even knowing it… where we still think we fully remember and understand… that we fully know. But in reality we do not.
The world and life… our own sinful flesh… crowd out what is most important and have us running around doing this, doing that… going through the motions, keeping us busy and preoccupied where… as a result, we forget what all this is about… what our life here on earth is all about.
As God through His prophets reminded the children of Israel again and again of their past, present and future… so, too, He reminds you of the same… because… again… you, dear people… ALL people… need it. You need to hear it again and again… be reminded and commit these timeless truths to heart and mind again and again.
In our Epistle text, just like the Christians at Colossae, it is so important to realize that… what does it say? “You, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he [Jesus, your Savior] has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.”
(Colossians 1:21-23 [show]Colossians 1:21-23
And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister. (ESV))
Yes, you need to hear again and again just how alienated you once were due to sin… how you were alienated from God – the source of all light and love… the source of eternal life, peace and comfort.
And not only that, you need to hear repeatedly how hostile you were in mind… hostile to God… hostile to His Word… to His ways. And how all you once did was evil in His sight.
You need to be reminded again and again of your wretched condition and state… how you were held captive, powerless to free yourselves from the influence of sin and Satan… how your present and your future could not have been bleaker, darker, until…
… until Christ your Savior came to earth to champion your cause… until He gave His very body… shed His precious blood for YOU. How He… Jesus… died for you… washing away all of your sins… every spot… every stain… in order to present you holy and blameless… above reproach… before God the Father.
And that is what Christ will do with you and all the saints… all who are part of the Christian Church, His bride. He will present us holy and blameless… He who is the Bridegroom. And what is more, He will receive us unto Himself to live with Him in heaven forever in never ending joy and peace, happiness and contentment.
This will indeed happen… certainly happen… but notice that God’s Word holds up a very big “if” here. Do you see it there in our text? “IF indeed [it says] you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven.”
Your faith is key my friends. Your faith… not a dead faith but a living and alive one… stable and steadfast… is essential.
It is essential that in you there is no shifting… no shwaffling of the faith in terms of what you believe and hold on to… what you confess with your lips and your very lives.
And this is only possible… only possible… if you remain stable and steadfast in the Word of God… in the preaching of that Word to you… in the teaching of the Word to you.
Notice that our Scripture text says that the Gospel that you heard has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven. It has been proclaimed… faithfully preached, that is true… but it does not mean that it has been embraced, held on to, cherished and treasured by all.
Sad fact is… there are those, including maybe some gathered here… where such preaching and proclaiming goes in one ear and out the other. And you can see this total missing of the Gospel… the missing of God’s Word… in people’s lives… how these brothers and sisters act and react. How they continue in their old ways… selfish ways… petty ways… arrogant and obstinate ways…
… with poor attitudes… not putting the best construction on things, but always going for the worst… not speaking in love, acting in love, but rather being so critical and complaining… without patience… without kindness… without forgiveness and understanding.
And if all this were not bad enough, when it comes to the TEACHING of the Word, with some of you it is not even a case of it going in one ear and out the other. Why? Because it is not even going in the ear to begin with!
It cannot because you are not present when such teaching, such catechizing goes on. You are not even in earshot of the Word being taught. You are out and about doing this or doing that… keeping yourself busy with other things (just like Martha) and trying to rationalize that you have good reason when in reality, you are only kidding yourselves.
Where there is a will, there is a way, but some do not want to find a way, refusing to sit at Jesus’ feet and with Mary receive the good portion… the best portion… that which will not be taken away from her or from us… that which matters most… that which matters period… namely the Words of eternal life.
Shame on you… if you are not daily in the Word, reading it… studying it.
Shame on you… if you are not in Bible Class.
Shame on you… if you do not bring your children to Sunday School regularly… faithfully.
Shame on you… if you sit around, walk around while others are going up to classrooms…up to the sanctuary of the Lord to learn. Nice witness to our children and young adults as they see their parents and other adults not attending Bible Class, but busily being about other things or sitting around gabbing. Way to teach them priorities. Way to teach them what counts… what matters most.
To all of you, this is a call to repentance because all of us fail and fall at times, many times. This is a call made out of love and concern for your spiritual welfare… concern for your faith and how stable it is… how steadfast, sure and immovable… how deep it is, alive and active. This is nothing less than deep concern for your eternal life.
And if you have no concern about this… that should be your first clue that something is wrong… seriously wrong… spiritually wrong.
Again, the truth be told… we all fall short of our being in the Word of God to the degree and extent we should be. The call to repentance is a blanket one … to all of us… as it is a word of warning and a word of encouragement. Again, made out of love and concern that Satan… this world… or your own sinful flesh may not rob you of your faith and the life… eternal life… that is yours in Christ Jesus.
To all who are repentant… rejoice… there is forgiveness. Your faults and failures… all your transgressions are no more. They have been cancelled out by Christ’s atoning work. And you have a new start… a new beginning in Him… now… today.
Dear friends, how precious is the faith which has been instilled in you by the Holy Spirit. Give thanks to the Lord always for that saving faith. Give thanks to Lord for His Holy Word and the Blessed Sacraments… the very means which will keep you strong and steadfast in the faith as you journey on through this wilderness… all the way to, yes, the promised land.
If you would, please take a look with me again at the introit that we proclaimed a little while ago. What does it say? “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. The Lord is my portion; I promise to keep your words.” (Psalm 119:105, 57 [show]Psalm 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.
Psalm 119:57
The LORD is my portion;
I promise to keep your words.)
Amen.
May the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus unto life everlasting.
Amen.
“Continuing In the Faith”
7/18 /10 The Rev. Mark H. Hein
St. Paul’s Ev. Lutheran Church, Lockport, IL