I had a shorter sermon since it was communion Sunday. Today, I discovered an old sermon on this same topic that I preached in 1995. Apparently, I have been trying to figure this out for a long time!
“Have You Received Jesus?” August 4, 2019; SAPC, Denton; Colossians 2:1-19; Richard B. Culp
6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, continue to live your lives[b] in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the universe,[c] and not according to Christ. 9 For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, 10 and you have come to fullness in him, who is the head of every ruler and authority. 11 In him also you were circumcised with a spiritual circumcision,[d] by putting off the body of the flesh in the circumcision of Christ; 12 when you were buried with him in baptism, you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God[e] made you[f] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15 He disarmed[g] the rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.
16 Therefore do not let anyone condemn you in matters of food and drink or of observing festivals, new moons, or sabbaths. 17 These are only a shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ. 18 Do not let anyone disqualify you, insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels, dwelling[h] on visions,[i] puffed up without cause by a human way of thinking,[j] 19 and not holding fast to the head, from whom the whole body, nourished and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows with a growth that is from God.
Introduction: Someone asked me recently if growing up in the Bible belt, and more specifically, the land of the Southern Baptism, had impacted me.
The answer, of course, was absolutely yes. Even as a life-long Presbyterian, growing up in the Bible belt meant interpreting my Reformed, Presbyterian theology over and against the Southern Baptist tradition.
this really hit home when I served a church in OH, where being Presbyterian means interpreting theology over and against Catholicism, since that was the dominant faith tradition in our area.
Growing up int eh Bible belt means when I read Paul writing to the Colossians, “As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord….,” I laugh and say to myself, “Paul doesn’t know how to write that - it should be “have you asked Jesus into your heart.”
That is the question I remember being asked as I grew up in the Bible belt.
In fact, right here at St. Andrew in Sunday school one year I had a teacher finish each week’s Sunday school lesson with the question: “have you asked Jesus into your heart?”
So let’s reflect a few moments this morning on how Paul approaches that topic.
Move 1: Having Jesus Christ in your life is a big deal to Paul.
a. As I mentioned last week, this letter to the Colossians is all about Jesus.
1. About the importance of what Jesus has done for us.
2. Paul is arguing against those who are teaching that Christians must do more, somehow work their way up the ladder of faith.
3. Paul has an emphatic “no.”
4. Who Jesus is and what Jesus has done is so incredible, so powerful, so important, everyone ought to lay claim to their faith in Jesus.
b. For Paul, however, receiving Jesus is less about one emotional moment, and more about being overwhelmed, being convinced by what Paul tells them about Jesus.
1. Paul makes the case for Jesus.
2. He has told them about the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
3. He continues to tell them about how Jesus has freed them from the law.
5. Paul assumes they have received Jesus Christ because they have been taught about Jesus.
c. a few verses later he talks about baptism.
1. biblical scholars think this reveals a pattern of the early church.
2. First, you learn about Christ through a catechism.
3. then you are baptized and publicly brought into the faith.
4. much like our confirmation process.
d. Paul seems less concerned with the Colossians knowing the exact moment they believed in Jesus Christ.
1. he is very concerned about believing in Christ.
2. he is very concerned about committing your life to following Christ.
Having Jesus Christ in your life is a big deal to Paul.
Move 2: Paul also points to God as the one who acts to save.
a. That is always the challenging question associated with accepting Jesus into your heart.
1. Does it mean we have to do something?
2. Can we refuse God’s desire to save us?
b. Paul is not directly answering that question, but he makes it clear that God is the one who saves.
1. The God who raised Jesus from the dead, this God, Paul tells us: made you[f] alive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14 erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross.
2. Our salvation is about the God who saves us.
3. Perhaps that is why Paul uses the term “have received."
4. In receiving, the burden of action is on the one giving - in this case God giving us Jesus Christ, who brings with him the gift of salvation.
Move 3: Receiving Jesus is not the end, but the beginning.
a. Paul follows “as you therefore have received Jesus Christ“ with “continue to live your lives in him.”
1. Emphasis is on the lives they will live in response to what God has done for them in Christ.
2. Paul is not looking for one singular moment of receiving salvation, but a lifetime of discipleship in response to God’s saving grace.
b. Paul writes his letters to these communities of faith to help them learn how to live as followers of Christ. He is preparing them for a lifetime of commitment.
Conclusion: Visiting the hospital - I visited a man dying in the hospital. They were sort of Presbyterian.
In the ICU waiting room, his wife and neighbor were very concerned about whether he had ever accepted Jesus into his heart.
The next day, they were in the ICU waiting room again, but they were smiling and joyful. I thought maybe the man had a miraculous recovery. No, they were joyful because someone remembered a conversation they had had with him 20+ years ago. they were relieved that he was saved.
I preached his funeral. I suspect his family’s comfort was in that conversation his neighbor had remembered. I am glad they had that comfort.
The comfort I shared with them from the pulpit was our hope in the God who sent Jesus Christ to save us.
Amen.
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