Aug. 4, 2024 Col. 3:1-11 “Are You Slats of the Bucket?”

01 Aug Aug. 4, 2024 Col. 3:1-11 “Are You Slats of the Bucket?”

Aug. 4, 2024    Col. 3:1-11      “Are You Slats of the Bucket?”

I have noticed through the years that there are people who set goals and those that don’t.  Goal setters will tell you that you have to have goals in order to succeed.  Non-goal setters will tell you just the opposite.  I don’t know how to address this because I have seen many really successful people from both camps.  I am 73 years old and I do not see any reason for me to be setting goals at this stage of the game but then again, I might be a little prejudiced.  Usually, when we set goals, we are to be looking ahead or even looking up to the next level.  I think as a society, we have become very goal oriented which leads to extreme competitiveness.  It starts with our little ones where we can’t keep score in their games.  I have been around long enough to know that children of all ages are very smart and you are really not helping much by not keeping score.  Then we have to get the best test score, or be the smartest in the class, or be the best ball player or just about being the best of anything and everything.  This is who we are and this has turned into just what we do.  You compete in everything.  You can only go down this wrong path for so long before the truth comes along and pulls you back.  Today, we are going to look again at ways to achieve more holy living but we will be looking at it from what the Colossians saw and heard.  Paul is very good at this message as he repeats it throughout his writings.  Today, let’s hope that you and I can benefit from it.

Here is a story but I don’t know where it is from.  The one-day Christy, a six-year-old, looked for her dad in the house calling “Daddy, where are you?”  He said, “I am here in the basement.” She came down to the basement and as she approached him, she said, “Well, I forgot what I came down to tell you.” She thought for a long while and couldn’t remember.  He looked at her with surprise, but he also felt encouraged.

You see, he had a tendency to forget things and get sidetracked by another task while doing something else.  Each time he had that kind of short-term memory loss, where he thought he was getting old.  He was concerned that he might have some form of dementia.  But seeing a six-year-old forgetting something like that, he just felt comforted.  He thought that maybe he was not really old; maybe he is just getting younger!  I like it.  I guess the real fact of the matter is that we forget things because we lose focus, and get sidetracked by other things around us.  I hope this helps us to remember that it is just normal to forget.

Today, we are going to do things a little different as we talk about our lives in Christ.  I would like to start today by stating what Paul is meaning here.  Then I want to branch out into very specific areas of your life.  Let’s see how Paul and Christ want us to behave and then let’s apply these principles.

But before we begin, we need to be reminded of who we are in this world.  We are all sinners, each and every one of us.  Paul names just a very few sins we commit.  He names sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed.  Once again, Paul does not use a complete list or we would be here all day.  But just from these few bad behaviors, you should get the idea.  We all sin and fall short of the glory of God.  We need Jesus, the Holy Spirit and God to make our lives complete.  If you are missing these, then confess your sins to Jesus and invite Him to live in your heart as your Lord and Savior.  I guarantee that you will never regret this decision.

As we begin, I ask you this.  What is your present condition in Christ?  How is your relationship with Christ?  Do you seek things or everything from above?  Probably the biggest problem that we have, that the ancients had was they didn’t know who they were.  They had said all the words and done the worship but when push came to shove, they reverted back to their old ways.  Today, we have many who never see the inside of a church that need to see the inside of Jesus.  We have many of those who come to church but then go home and back to the ways of the world.  And then we have the very few who are actually trying to obey Jesus and all of His commands.  Even these people have their moments of doubt and shame.  We all need to kick it up a notch and follow Jesus a little better.

This is why I try to tell you all the time to read your Bibles.  Do not be afraid to go into times of prayer.  Never forget to worship Jesus, not just on Sunday, but every day.  Pray without ceasing.  These are the things that will help you to keep your eyes on the above.  The worst you can do is to ignore the teachings of God.  Then, if you are not careful, you may find yourself on the one-way road to where you definitely do not want to be.

The last thing that Paul mentions here is to practice your new self.  It does no good at all to know all the things that will lead to a new life if you do not actually try to have a better life by doing these things.  Try being nice to a stranger or just anyone you meet.  Try to help someone who is in trouble.  Give words of encouragement to those that are needy.  But most of all put to death the old you and put on the new you.  Jesus knows what He is doing all the time.  He knows that the new you is so much better than the old you. Therefore, go out and be the new you.

Now I’m going to give you some very specific ways to put on this new you and leave it on.  First, you need to apply the Gospel message in all you do.  In order, to do this you have to know the Gospel message.  Don’t rely on what other people tell you.  Listening to what others tell you about Jesus, is almost like thinking that whatever you see on the internet is true.  It just isn’t so.  I have even found many of the so-called Biblical scholars are wrong.  I know that they are wrong but how will you know?  Well, you can ask me.  Or you can look up this person and see what he or she actually stands for.  Often times these false scholars sound very convincing but once you look them up you find they are disreputable.  Always remember that if it seems too good to be true, then it is probably false.  Also remember, always use the Bible as a fact check for anything.  If what people say goes against the Bible, then they are wrong and there are no questions about it.  Wrong is wrong!

So, how does this work.  First, you have to depend on the Holy Spirit.  One of the most unfortunate parts of our society today is that we have to see to believe.  Author Lee Strobel will attest to this as he set out as an atheist to disprove Christianity because he couldn’t see it.  He had other reasons also but this one was big.  He ended up by becoming a Christian because he could not disprove a single thing.  Many people in our country today still feel the same way.  If they cannot see it or touch it, then it must not exist.  But let me assure you today that the Holy Spirit exists, is alive and well and will better your life immensely if you just believe.  You are called to believe in the whole Trinity and not just parts.

N.T. Wright tells us “Holy Spirit came to empower us to be God’s life in the world. We are to do the work of God in the world. We are to be God to the world. And we cannot do that alone.”  We do this through the Holy Spirit.  Jesus and God are not present in the world today except through the Holy Spirit.  We have all heard of some of the supernatural stories of how someone is saved in a car accident or saved by a hospital experience or just helped in some unexplainable experience.  This is the Holy Spirit working.

Generally, when I come here, I come to serve you Holy Communion.  When you are served Hoy Communion in your church, the power of the Holy Spirit works in you.  The same can be said of a baptism.  I try to make sure I include the Holy Spirit in any wedding I do.  I’m sure you can think of many instances where the Spirit has helped you.  My biggest flaw as a pastor is that I will say that Jesus healed you or Jesus lives in your heart or something similar.  I have even said this in the first part of this sermon.  What I really mean is that the Holy Spirit does these things.  Of course, Jesus is there also through the Holy Spirit.  You can’t have one without the other.

Now the Holy Spirit is great and does miraculous things.  However, and some people don’t like this part, you have a responsibility.  Many people think the Holy Spirit is a wish granter but that is not the case.  You have to do something to get rid of your sin.  It is your sin and not someone else’s.  Something external may have started you down the sin road but it is up to you to get yourself off that road.  Many people, many criminals think that bad behavior is some else’s fault when in reality it is all your fault.  This may be a little harsh but it is very true.  But fear not!  The Holy Spirit is here to help you.  You may not be as all by yourself as you think.  Here is some help.

First off, you have to identify the sin that needs to go away.  I cannot really help you with this because it is yours.  It is making your life miserable and less productive.  What you need to do is to try cultivate a Godly opposite of your terrible sin.  So, if lying has always been a problem, then try to seek and tell the truth.  If you covet things, then you may want to give away something you like.  Instead of being critical of everything, try being encouraging.  This list of opposites is just like some of my sermons.  It just goes on and on and on.  Every time you do the opposite of your sin, you are weakening sins hold on you.  If you are always condemning, then try to give a little forgiveness.  This is what Jesus is all about.  He forgave you so you are to go and forgive others.  I have always maintained that it is much easier to follow Jesus than it is to follow Satan.

Now as you are doing these things, look up the appropriate Scriptures that may help you.  Today, we have the internet to help us.  This is how I get the three readings every week to begin our worship.  Just about anything you want to repent of is found in the Bible and the easy way to look at this or figure it out is through the internet.  I used to think that the internet was an instrument of the devil but now I think that it is an easier way to find out things about Jesus and all He has done for you.  This isn’t hard and you can do it.

Also, you are to memorize some of these Scriptures that help you get through life.  Don’t memorize what someone tells you.  Memorize what need to know.  And along with this is to cultivate your prayer time.  This might be how you find the Scriptures to memorize.  Prayer time might be one of the most important things you do.  You might have heard that before!

Then the last item for today is to involve other believers in what you are doing.  This would mean coming to worship.  You can do this online for awhile but you really need to have others come along side of you.  This means coming to worship.  Of course, the ones that really need to know this are the ones who are not here.  People think they can be Christians all by themselves.  All I read in the Scriptures is just the opposite.  You need others to help you.  You need others so that you can help them.  You need others so that Christ can work through you.  No matter how I say it, you need others.

Clark Tanner gives this illustration about a wooden well bucket that a man came upon. He thought it was useless at first, because it had been sitting next to a barn in the sun, unused for a long time. He could see daylight between the wooden slats of the bucket. Certainly, this thing would never hold water again.

But an older man with him tied the bucket to the well rope and let it drop into the water below. In a couple of days, they came back and turned the crank to draw the bucket back up. It was full of clear, cool well water and was not leaking a drop.

The water had re-hydrated the wooden slats until they fit together as originally designed, and the bucket was useful again.  This is what happens to us more than we like to think.  It happens to me.  There is not a pastor alive that doesn’t need people around them so that they can love each other, care for each other and just be the slats of a wooden bucket to each other.

Today, we have once again talked about things that will make your life so much better.  We talk about this a lot because Jesus loves you a lot.  He wants you to have the best life possible.  He wants you to have everything that He has.  Practice the things we talked about today and give yourself a better life.  Become one of the slats in the bucket that now holds water.  You can do it.  Through Jesus Christ, you can do it.  And thank you, Jesus, for first loving us.  Let’s pray.