Sermon on Last Sunday after Trinity (Bible Sunday) - Clarendon Team Service during Coronvirus Restrictions – Sunday 25th October 2020
Colossians
3:12-17
“As God’s chosen ones, holy and
beloved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and
patience” so begins
our passage of scripture this morning on this, Bible Sunday. What absolutely beautiful words they are,
aren’t they? For me they encapsulate
everything that should mark out a Christian life from anything else.
For many, in
this modern and for me, increasingly dystopian world, the bible is something
which people simply don’t understand.
For many it is a book of don’ts rather than do’s. For many, being a Christian means not having
fun, having to be miserable, always being prevented from doing what you really
want to do by old fashioned rules and regulation and laws. For those of us who are Christians, we know much
better and we know that we are expected to live Christ-like lives. Jesus himself, we read, enjoyed a good party,
he ate and drank with people from all walks of lives and indeed was a good
storyteller and, at times, humourist (remember the story of the splinter and
the plank in the eye); but above all he was the epitome of compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness and patience.
Today we are
expected to act strong, be brave, not show our feelings or vulnerabilities lest
they be exploited. For some, compassion,
kindness, humility, meekness and patience are by-words for weakness not
strength; but I challenge anyone who has had to act humbly or seek forgiveness
after doing or saying something wrong or even show forgiveness to others, to
say that it hasn’t often been extremely difficult and has required an immense
amount of strength to do it.
Paul, in
these few words from his letter to the Christians in Colossus is reminding them
that these attributes are indeed the mark of true Christianity. He goes on to
express how they should behave if in dispute in verses 12-13 and the prime word
here is “forgive” reminding them that to forgive is to act in the same way as
God who forgives us all when we truly repent – that is say sorry and turn back
to Him. But, above all Paul, continuing
in verse 14, implores us to clothe ourselves in love because from love, agape,
will flow that same compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience he
first talks about.
We should,
in all we say and do, be ever mindful of the word of Christ which, as
Christians, now dwells within us. We should support each other with wisdom and
continually bind ourselves together in praise and whatever we do or say or
think we should do it in the name of Jesus.
He means everything too – not just on Sunday morning in church, but also
in our daily lives whether we are cooking, working, cleaning, gardening,
playing golf - we should do it with that same love.
It all
sounds so easy doesn’t it? Well it’s
not! I was having coffee with a group of Christian men midweek and we discussed
how each of us had become a Christian. One of our number had been influenced by
his wife after accompanying her to a Christian conference. He had come to Christ at the age of 56 after
a life pursuing things which could not always be described as “Godly”. After his epiphany he had found it comforting
to know that God had forgiven him for his past misdemeanours and that was a
great help towards a complete healing process – however, the one thing which
took many years afterwards was to forgive himself, and he is still not quite
there yet.
That is what
I mean about needing to be strong sometimes to be a Christian. It’s not an easy
life, it isn’t all going to go well and there will still be times when the
going is very tough. Those are the times when we need to feel God’s
overwhelming presence and love – to feel his “charity”.
This is where the bible can be so helpful. In my early years, when the only translation of the bible was the good old King James Authorised Version, I struggled to really understand its beautiful, flowery yet often incomprehensible out-dated language. My copy sat on my bedroom bookshelf gathering dust. As the years went by and I met other Christians through my University Christian Union and was introduced to more modern versions of the bible, I began to understand more and more of the scriptures until I realised that many of the messages contained still have great relevance today.
The more I read and the more I see of our changing world the more I see the important messages of scripture. It is probably a combination of age and dare I say increasing wisdom, at least I like to think it’s the latter, that makes me now appreciate its messages. But the messages are, for the most part simple – like today’s message from Paul – be compassionate, kind, humble, meek, and patient. If you are genuinely these things, people will see them in you and you will be a true evangelist, spreading the word of scripture by what you do, think, and behave. Praise be to God!
Amen MFB/153/21102020
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