Sermon 22 November -
Colossians
1:9-20
Luke
1:68-80a
This sermon is in the context of a dedication service for Anna Naomi Pickering, the daughter of a local Minister.
What do we want for our children? Its a big question that.
Many of you will have seen the Disney film of Sleeping Beauty. Some will
have seen it recently, others in the dim and distant past. It all depends
on the age of your children and grandchildren!
At the beginning of the film, Princess Aurora is born and fortunately for
the royal family there are three fairies around who agree to be godparents
and provide some very handy gifts. The gift of Beauty. The gift of
Song. The gift of being able to Sleep for a Long Time. Of course the last
one only comes in handy because the christening goes pear shaped as someone
is unhappy at not being invited (hope David and Jan have covered everyone!)
But imagine if we could give our children gifts like that - the gift of
Footballers Legs, the gift of Money Making, the gift of Tidiness.
But not having any fairies to invite to Anna's party, what gifts might David
and Jan wish for Anna - the gifts of health? happiness? intelligence? beauty?
There's so much to choose from. And when you have small children it is so
easy to start making up a wish list of things we want them to have. We have
dreams and plans. The day when we can boast - well one of my son's is a brain
surgeon, the other a top lawyer and my daughter is URC moderator of Northern
Province.
But many of those dreams, those wishes will come to nothing - at the moment
one son aims to be an inventor, the other doesn't know and my daughter wants
to be Barbie!.
So what do we want, do we really, really want for our children? For me, the reading for the letter to the Colossians comes up with, not a wish list, but a faith list. it doesn't cover the peripherals of life - beauty, wealth and so on. It talks about how faith in Jesus can shape and mould a person's life - and what more could we ask for our children? Lets look again at the gifts that Paul prays will come to the christians at Colossi
We ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will, with all the wisdom and understanding that his Spirit gives.
This rather reminds me of the Serenity prayer
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference
What we would ask for is the wisdom that is beyond intelligence or learning. A wisdom that comes from the Holy Spirit. A gift from God.
Then you will be able to live as the Lord wants and will always
do what pleases him, Your lives will produce all kinds of good deeds
There is a craze sweeping America and of course, is catching on here. Its
the WWJD movement. You can get WWJD bracelets, badges, and necklaces,
and following that have come books, music, videos, cds, jewelry, watches,
rings, screen savers,calendar, coffee mug, koozie, pens, pencils, game, journal,
hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts, embroidery, polo shirts, denim shirts, and of
course a web-site. But the all important question is - what does WWJD? stand
for. Anyone know?
What Would Jesus Do? its aimed at young people to help them try to work out
how to live their lives in the Lords way. So that before they do something
they ask What Would Jesus Do? and try to act accordingly. It seems to work
pretty well, especially for teenagers with all the stresses and temptations
they have. Its a catchy, clever slogan. The only downside for me is that
you have to use your imagination a bit. If you were standing watching people
ripping others off in the Temple then WWJD should be easy - you chase the
sellers out of the temple. But if you are standing in front of a fridge wondering
whether you might have a beer... well I think the WWJD movement want you
to shut that fridge, but I would be thinking of the wedding at Cana and pick
up a bottle of wine instead.
But the idea of the question is good, though I would rather phrase
it so it didn't concentrate on the person of Jesus, rather the wholeness
of God. So lets borrow a phrase from Colossians. It is slightly less catchy
- AILATLW? Am I Living As the Lord Wants? The gift of being able to question
my lifestyle and offer it up to God - that's a good thing to want. Am I living
as the Lord wants?
and you will grow in your knowledge of God
This is something that we can work on. But its surprising how many Christians take it for granted. 'I've been a Christian all my life' is no guarantee that you have grown in your knowledge of God. Nor even is 'and I've never missed a week at Church'. If you are studying for an exam, you can't just turn up for lectures or lessons and expect to know your subject. You have to work at it - with homework, extra reading, revision. And so it is with our knowledge of God. We need to work on it, to keep up our reading of the Bible, praying to God, going to Bible Studies, reading devotional books. It doesn't have to eat into the week very much, but its surprising how doing it can pay dividends. Because its not like working on your Physics homework when you hate Physics anyway. Its exciting, challenging, rewarding. To grow in knowledge of God is to feel closer to God. To grow in knowledge of God is to feel ever more strongly that God loves you. To grow in knowledge of God is to grow in confidence, in faith, in love - and your example can help others to grow too!
May you be made strong with all the strength which comes from his glorious
power.
This is a gift we all need. And perhaps children more than others. Sadly
the days have gone when almost all children were sent to Sunday School. And
it means that those who do go can be singled out for teasing. They need God's
strength to help them to be different.
My eldest son has a girlfriend. Its nothing serious, he isn't able to see her so much now she has gone into the Junior's and he is still in Infants. But he gets teased about it at school. 'You've got a girlfriend, you've got a girlfriend'. His attitude is to ignore it. He doesn't like it but he ignores it. His relationship to the girl he sees as his future wife is more important to him than anything his friends can say. And I'm quite proud of that.
That is the kind of strength that our children and young people need. That's the kind of strength that all of us need when we get into situations where we have to stand up for something or stand out because we are Christians. I hope we are given the gift of strength to ignore any taunts or teasing. We may not like it, but we can ignore it. Because our relationship to Jesus is more important to us than anything others can say or do to us.
so that you may be able to endure everything with patience
One of my church members has now been in hospital for six months. It took
ages for them to work out why her legs were in such a bad way. She is waiting
to have a skin graft on her heel. But after her last operation she developed
an infection called a MRSC (something like that anyway) a highly contagious
infection which has to be clear for three weeks before the operation can
go ahead. Several times Hannah has been clear for a week only for it to pop
up again. In the mean time she is in an isolation room so doesn't even have
the opportunity to chat and watch the world of the hospital go by.
And because you have to put on a gown and scrub yourself with special stuff
when you've visited, people tend to just stand by the door and shout in!
But hannah has the gift of patience and the ability to see good in everything.
She has the gift of bringing people out, so she knows the ins and outs of
everyone's life too. She is not nosy, she cares. And she talks to people
with compassion and they respond. She treats this time in isolation with
a resigned smile, where I would be in deep depression. Her faith in God sustains
her.
And with joy give thanks to the Father who has made you fit to have your
share of what God has reserved for his people in the kingdom of
light
The gifts of joy and thanksgiving to God. They are a gift of grace. And that
is what Anna's name means - grace. Naomi means beautiful, or my delight.
She is our delight isn't she? As a gift from God. And God is our delight.
We should delight in him as we do in the laughter of a two year old. God
is our delight. We should delight in him as we do in the sparkle of sunlight
on a dewy spiders web. God is our delight. We should delight in him as we
do in the smell of fresh baked bread. Let us enjoy , let us delight in the
love of God. And see that love revealed in all of creation. Try every day,
to find something to give thanks to God for. And even on the darkest days
you will be able to see the light behind the clouds.
The gifts of wisdom and understanding, of pleasing God, of knowing God, of strength, patience, joy. That's a pretty good faith list. These are the things that Paul wanted for the church at Colossi. These are the things that we want for Anna, and all our children. These are the things Paul prayed for and we can pray for too. And they are all wrapped up in the best gift of all - the gift of Jesus.
It is through Jesus that our faith is possible, through Jesus we have been
set free.
A Minister called Bass Mitchell was surfing the Internet and came across
a web site that said,“Who’s Number One?” He pressed enter and a list of who
was number one that week in football, on the music charts, racing, writers,
fashion and so on came to the screen. He looked it for weeks and saw how
what was number one this week might not be the next week. Number one’s seemed
to come and go quickly.
And it led him to question “Who’s Number One?” Who really should be Number
One for us this week and every week. Jesus, our King. This last Sunday of
the Christian Year (because we begin Advent next week remember) is the Sunday
to celebrate Christ the King. We proclaim him today as Lord and King of our
lives. That means, as Paul says that Jesus has “first place in
everything...”
And in the second half of the reading we had from Colossians we can see that
spelt out clearly
Jesus is Number One because in him we see God. You have heard of artists
who make a self-portrait? Jesus is God’s self-portrait. If you want to know
who God is, what God is like, look at Jesus.
Jesus is Number One because he is the first born son, with all the
responsibilities that brings
Jesus is Number One because everything was created through him and for him.
He’s not just another spiritual ruler or angel,” Paul’s saying. “All of them
were created through him! You name it, he’s above it!” Jesus is King of kings,
and Lord of lords!”
Jesus is Number One because he existed before all things. Other kings come
and go, their reigns begin and end. Christ’s reign has always been and will
always be, and one day “every knee shall bow and tongue confess” that Jesus
is Number One.
Jesus is Number One because he holds the whole of creation together. What
gravity is to us and our universe, Christ is and so much more - the Force
that gives it order, that sustains it all.
Jesus is Number One because he creates the church, he gives it life. He is
head of the church and we are the members.
Jesus is Number One because he has conquered death
Jesus is Number One because we are brought to God in and through him.
Jesus is Number One because through him we are brought back into a loving
relationship with God, the kind of relationship for which we were created.
Our sin had broken it, created a chasm too wide for us to cross. But God
sent Jesus to die on a cross and that cross became the bridge over this great
divide.
Jesus is Number One. Any arguments with that?
And he wants us to be part of his life, part of his family. God is father,
jesus is the first born son, through him we too become God's sons and daughters.
Jesus Christ is our Big Brother. The one who protects and loves and cherishes
us. Who makes us feel like number one too.
And its all of this, all of the love of God wrapped up in our big brother,
in the big gift who makes all the other faith gifts possible - that we have
to share with Anna. Its rather a responsibility I know but you have to do
it. You can't back out now. you promised earlier to play your part in the
Christian upbringing of Anna. And a promise is a promise.
But don't be scared. You can do it. God is with you. Your big brother has
sent his spirit to hold your hand and give you the words to say. Zechariah
doubted. he couldn't believe that God would work in mysterious ways. he was
struck dumb. But then when the time came to name his child his mouth was
opened and WHAM! his prophesy of God's power and love came flooding out.
Now its your turn. Go and share the good news of your Big Brother and his
big gift, not just with Anna, but with everyone. You can do it. You share
in the gifts of God.