1/3/21 Col. 3:12-17 “It’s Good News Week!”

01 Jan 1/3/21 Col. 3:12-17 “It’s Good News Week!”

1/3/21   Col. 3:12-17    “It’s Good News Week!”

It would be my guess that this is the last day off for many people after the New Year’s weekend and our holidays.  I know that when I worked at the Post Office, we always liked it when Christmas and New Years were on a Friday or a Monday so we could get an extra day off for a long weekend.  I also know that thinking like this is not right and it can get you into trouble.  But sometimes it is hard not to think like this when everyone around you is doing the same thing.  Whether or not we have Friday or Monday off is really quite minor but I have seen people get very upset about this.  I have sometimes wondered what would happen if something really important came up in their lives.  Today we are going to look at the book of Colossians that Paul wrote while he was in prison.  Paul would have every right to complain because of this and yet because of this he does the very opposite.  He calls us together to be God’s chosen people.  He is not just talking to the Colossians; he is also talking to us.  You may not think of this too often but you are God’s chosen people.

There was some trouble in the Colossian church and this story from Chris Talton reminds us that this happens today also.  It seems that the pastor and the music director didn’t like each other very much.  We never had that problem as Sharon was our music director and we like each other a lot.  Anyway, one Sunday the preacher talked about commitment and dedicating ourselves to service.  The director led the choir in singing, “I Shall Not Be Moved.”  The next Sunday the pastor talked about giving and how we should gladly give to the work of the Lord.  The choir leader led in the singing of “Jesus Paid It All.”  The next Sunday the sermon was on gossiping and how we should watch our tongues.  The hymn that day was “I Love to Tell the Story.”  The feud continued and the next Sunday the preacher told the congregation that he was considering resigning.  The choir then sang, “O Why Not Tonight.”  That was enough for the pastor and he resigned the next week saying that Jesus called him here and now Jesus was calling him away.  That Sunday the choir sang “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.”  This is a humorous example of just how broken we are and sometimes how we do not act like God’s chosen people.

So just how do we act if we are God’s chosen people?  I love how Paul starts out here.  He is telling us that you are holy and dearly loved.  This is one of the most important things for you to remember.  You are loved by God.  You are set apart from all others who don’t know Christ.  You are holy!

It is also important to remember here that we are not perfect.  We have many flaws.  We are prone to sin.  We like to gossip about others.  We like to tell tall tales.  We like to have bad thoughts about others.  But none of this will ever separate us from the love of God.  He loves you in spite of you.  This is the Good News and this is how Paul starts.  You are holy and loved.  I would like you to grab onto this feeling today.  I know that some of you night not feel very loved today but just humor me a little.  Imagine that this massively huge God of ours has wrapped his great big arms around you and is flooding you with His love.  Hold this thought.

When you are in this position with God then you can clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.  When God is all wrapped up in your life like this, then all of these things that come from Him can flow out of you to others.  I have mentioned before that you feel better when helping others.  As God’s chosen people we have compassion on others.  We will treat everyone as if they are also a child of God.  We will be kind to those who are different from us.  When someone from a different race walks in our doors, we are to welcome them.  When a poor person walks in our doors, we are to welcome them.  This is the compassion and kindness of the chosen people.

I know that often times we like to think that the chosen people are the Jews.  The Bible refers to this and this is true.  But all of this changed a bit when Jesus came along.  Jesus extended the Jewish faith to us all.  Judaism took the next step forward when Jesus came to us.  I believe that the true Jew today is the follower of Jesus Christ.  Therefore, we are all included in all of these writings.

We are also called to be humble.  God had this whole thing planned perfectly long before we ever came along.  The history of humankind is the history of God and we are just a part of it.  We don’t have to dwell on it or try to flaunt it.  As God’s chosen ones you are to go out and be the hands and feet of Jesus where ever you go.  And you do this of course with gentleness and patience.  I hope that you can begin to feel all of these things and I really hope that they will pour forth from you as you go out and meet new people.

I think that sometimes it is tragic how we try to evangelize people around us.  Don’t get me wrong here; we sometimes need to go to more drastic measures.  But it doesn’t do much good to tell someone that their religion is all wrong.  It doesn’t do much good to tell someone that their lifestyle is all wrong.  It doesn’t do much good to tell people that their habits or anything else are all wrong.  If this is what we are doing, then we could just as well walk up to someone and tell them that they are stupid when they disagree with us.  And in the process of doing this, we will lose these people forever.  Forever, my friends, is a long time.  We don’t want to do this.  But if you pay attention to some of the people and pastors around you, you will find that this is exactly what they do.

Also, we seem to have built this fence around ourselves and we only let certain people through the gate.  This isn’t how we are to let God flow out from us.  We are to use compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience to make our point.  It is only then that we will be agents of our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is only then that we will begin to attract people to Jesus.  I know that these things are not always the easiest things to do but they are what we are called to do.  So next time you are thinking of not liking someone because of their poorness or color or orientation, stop yourself.  Let Jesus flow out of you.  Do not hinder these people from coming to Jesus.  They need Jesus just as much as you need Him, maybe even more.

When you start to do all of these things then the next thing that comes along naturally is that you forgive them for what they do.  You forgive your spouse, your sons and daughters, your neighbors and strangers.  You forgive people of other religions and beliefs.  You forgive people of different lifestyles and of different politics.  This is what you do.

Now I know that there might be someone who is hearing this who finds that it is impossible to forgive.  The infraction against you has been too great.  We have talked of forgiveness before and how it is a process in many cases.  Sometimes it just doesn’t come suddenly and that is ok.  But please remember that the forgiveness of others begins by getting forgiveness from God.  I am sure that if you really look at your own life, you will find that you are not at all worthy of the forgiveness of Jesus.  There is not a person here who is worthy of this and yet, and yet Jesus still forgives you.  Remember this as you work your way through forgiveness.  You are no more worthy of the forgiveness that you want to extend or receive than the person on the other end is worthy of forgiveness.  But this is part of being a chosen people.  You forgive no matter what the circumstance.

So now we have all of these things, compassion, forgiveness, humbleness, which are all bound together with love.  This is the tie that binds us together.  We come to receive this every week in worship.  This is what so much of the world is looking for in all the wrong places.  If we allow it to happen, love will conquer all in our lives.

Now I fully realize just how hard it is to maintain this.  Let’s be real here.  It is hard to even achieve this.  We are constantly being bombarded by Satan.  This evil thing is everywhere we turn.  He makes us get into fights about health care, homosexuality, elections and illegal aliens.  He makes us fight with our husbands and wives, our children and sometimes anyone who comes near.  As we saw in our opening story, he causes fights between pastors and music directors and anyone else who happens to get in the way.  We definitely know the ways of Satan because he is everywhere we look in this world.

And it is because of Satan being so dominate in our world and society that we find it hard to be able to focus on what is good and true.  We find it hard to concentrate on all these good traits that Paul is pointing out to us in this passage.  I also know and will guarantee that if you follow these good ways of life, you will have a better life.  You will live longer.  You will be happier.  It has been proven that faithful Christians have far better lives than those who don’t follow Jesus.

So, with all of this in mind, all of this good stuff happening to you, then let the peace of Jesus Christ rule your heart.  Now, are you still holding onto that thought of having the loving arms of God wrapped around you?  If you are, then you have to be close to feeling all of the things we have been talking about which in turn will bring you peace.  Hopefully you can begin to feel this as you let go and let God take over.  Let Him take over as the Christmas season is winding down.  Just let yourselves fall into the arms of our loving God, who loves you beyond what you can comprehend.

Then Paul goes on to tell us to be thankful.  Here is another area where we have let slip a little.  We often think that we don’t have to give thanks to people when they help us out.  We live in a society that doesn’t do thank you notes very often.  I have heard of a business in the area that has received funds from a church in the area for several years and they have not even acknowledged that they received anything let alone thank anyone for it.  But if you really think about it, this is just Satan at work again.  The important part of our thanksgiving should be to God.  All our thanksgiving should begin with God.  Only after we have given God the proper thanks, are we able to thank anyone else.  Therefore, if we are giving to ungodly organizations, then we shouldn’t really expect a thank you.

So always begin your thanksgiving with God.  Sometimes I feel that I am in a rut with my prayer life, especially when I lead prayer in a worship setting.  I feel like this because I always begin my prayer by first praising the Lord for what He has done and then thanking the Lord or thanking and then praising.  Sometimes I feel that I should do something different because you probably get tired of the same thing all the time.  So, then I try to do something different and pretty soon I am right back to praising and thanking the Lord.  I can’t seem to get away from it.

And yet I think that this is really important to do because it helps us to cleanse ourselves and let Christ dwell within us.  And when this happens, then we can come here on Sunday or any other time and praise the Lord with all our hearts and souls through our songs and our Scriptures.  This is why it doesn’t matter much what you sound like when you sing as long as you are praising the Lord.  It sounds good no matter what.

When we do all of these things then we can help each other and teach each other.  When the occasion calls for it, we can admonish each other in wisdom and love.  All of these things work together to help us to have better lives, much better lives.  Then Paul closes this section by saying, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”

Wow!  What a great Scripture!  This is definitely a reading about the Good News.  The hard part of this is following up on it.  We live in a society where these things just aren’t done.  We live in a society where God has been taken out of everything.  I think of sports figures when newsmen ask them questions about their performance and they answer by praising the Lord.  Usually, these newsmen don’t understand what is happening.  I have had a prominent public figure tell me that I did a nice service and gave a nice message.  You all know what I usually say to this type of talk and this was no exception.  I praised the Lord for the message as I thanked the person for the compliment.  Unfortunately, he didn’t understand that all things come from God in the first place.  I came from God.  This place came from God.  And my message came from God.

This is what we are up against in our world.  Many people haven’t forgotten this because they never knew it in the first place.  It is up to you to stand up to anyone and everyone and praise the Lord.  As we begin this new year, let’s see if we can make a better effort at praising our God in public.  Let’s see if you can go out and attract people, not to this church, but to Jesus Christ by the actions that you do.  Let’s go into our world and be God’s chosen people who are holy and dearly loved.

When you do these things that we talked about today, then you will have better lives.  Sometimes I just get the feeling that life cannot get any better than it is right now.  Then God does something that makes things even better.  Let us all join together in this new year and make our lives better by making other people’s lives better.  I cannot thank Jesus enough for this wonderful new life He gave me.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.