Sunday Service | February 7, 2021

We have been focusing on Jesus as our Good Shepherd. The idea of following Jesus the Christ, and not getting distracted by all the other things grabbing our attention shows us two kingdoms:

One kingdom of:
Politics, economics, or religion
Power, wealth, control

Second, the kingdom of:
Intimate relationship--where we seek relationship with the one who leads us, hears us, and responds to us

This requires us to be active in our thoughts, actions, and desires. It’s not that we have to get it all right and perfect in order to have value and worth. 

But so easily our desire and attention turn from Jesus our good shepherd  to ourselves without us giving intentional effort.

The song “Roll Away Your Stone” from the first Mumford and Sons album draws out the story of our Good Shepherd:

“It seems that all my bridges have been burned
But you say 'That's exactly how this grace thing works'
It's not the long walk home that will change this heart
But the welcome I receive with every start”

This is his goodness of rescuing, loving, tending to us, leading us through our lives.

And he empowers us to engage the world with his kind of love.

We are at a crossroads once again. Change needs to happen in our lives, society, and culture. 

The question though is one we keep coming back to, from Psalm 23:
Where are we turning and who is leading us?

The institution of the church is being redefined before our eyes. That’s good in so many ways. Yet, where are we seeking direction?

I believe the good shepherd, Jesus, is the way, the truth, and our life.

Last week, we ended with some scripture from Colossians 3. Today we will revisit those words, looking at a bit more of the context surrounding it.

Paul wrote the letter to the church in Colossae to discuss that Jesus is supreme to any human philosophy or accomplishment. This is relevant to us today because we are being persuaded to seek spirituality and become cultural aware outside of Christ.

The church as an institution has led many astray in many issues. I believe that is why we must slow down and ask ourselves are we following the good shepherd or an institution.

With that being said, Jesus calls us his believers--his body, his bride, and his church. So the path forward is to follow the good shepherd first and become the church together that seeks Jesus and his kingdom first, which looks like Loving God with all we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves.

Let’s dig into Colossians starting at 2:16-17--

Therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink, or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

The early church was mocked because of their practices. Following food regulations and observing holy days are pointed out here. But Paul is saying that these are just ways we direct our attention to Christ in our everyday, the practices are not our faith. Our faith is in Jesus.

2.18-19--

Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind, and not holding fast to the Head, from whom the whole body, nourished and knit together through its joints and ligaments, grows with a growth that is from God.

So often we are influenced to let go of our practices to engage with “newer” ways to connect with spirituality. But in doing so, we neglect Jesus. And any attempt in growing spiritually or becoming enlightened without the influence of Christ is to neglect actual enlightenment and spirituality.

2.20-23--

If with Christ you died to the elemental spirits of the world, why, as if you were still alive in the world, do you submit to regulations— “Do not handle, Do not taste, Do not touch” (referring to things that all perish as they are used)—according to human precepts and teachings? These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self-made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.

We have chosen to live because of our faith in Jesus. So we let go of earning or growing our spirituality by any means outside of faith in Jesus. Faith is a gift granted by God in his love and favor to us. Humanity’s wisdom believes if we work harder and find the right path we can achieve a deeper level of being woke or profound.

But in truth, those pursuits seem to give us an appearance of emotional spiritual healthiness but do not transform our core. Only Jesus, our good shepherd, can transform our heart and mind to love in an eternal nature. Bringing real emotional spiritual maturity.

3.1-4

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

We are the people of the resurrection! We believe and have faith in the resurrected Christ!

So we set our hearts on him and his ways. He is our very great treasure. We become active in setting our minds on Jesus and the ways of his kingdom rather than the ways of man. Because, in faith, we have begun to let go of our ways that lead ourselves so that the good shepherd can tend to us and refresh our souls as we were created for.

Our lives are in Christ and his in ours. We find holiness, purpose, belonging, love, and significance. And there is so much more overflowing, so that we can seek to share this life with others.

3.5-11

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.

So we go forward making active choices to live with Christ and no longer seek belonging, identity, or purpose through physical activities alone, like sex, lust, and lifting others or objects up as a way for us to find fulfillment.

We have gone this route before. And found it to be a dead end. To continue down that path only creates hard hearts and isolation. These are the opposites of Christ’s ways and to continue to follow will seem like punishment.

Instead, we choose to connect in love rather than separate from Jesus and one another. So we also let go of the ways that corrupt and end relationships with one another. We do not allow anger to lead us, we begin to check our rage, we pay attention to what comes out of our mouths to one another, and we stop lying to each other.

We do this because Jesus has brought us into his kingdom, his fold, where we all belong together; we are not categorized by race, religion, creed, slave, or free anymore. We are now known as his beloved.

3.12-14

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. 

We become active in loving God, others, and ourselves as Jesus loves us.With the effort of the Holy Spirit within us, we practice compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. We bear each other’s burdens and practice forgiving as we are forgiven. We put on love and act in love to bring Justice into this world.

3.15-17

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

We open ourselves up to the peace of Christ to rule in our lives. We become active in becoming thankful for God and for one another. We engage purposefully with the message of Christ to remind us of the realities we have discovered in him

We become a community, and we teach and correct one another, so as not to return to dead end philosophies or patterns in our life that can harden our hearts and isolate us from love.

We worship to connect our physical to our spiritual with an attitude of gratitude.

And we submit our words and deeds to Jesus--with thankfulness--because we know whatever we do, we can live in unity with Jesus who is our life! 

There is so much action here, and we can do it all with Christ. That is what a relationship with him looks like: trust, and a willingness to engage with each other.

I read these ancient words of Paul and I see a description of what it looks like to follow Jesus as our Good Shepherd. There is not a call to gain power, to grow in wealth, and to take control of every circumstance in order to make your life easier, as a way to find fulfillment.

What is here though is a holy life on display in which we step out of the system or patterns that alienate, demean, or diminish others or ourselves, in pursuit of a fulfilled life. What is here is a holy life on display where we participate in the divine ways of Christ that bring grace, mercy, justice and love in our every word and deed.

This week, read through this passage once or a few times. Where might the Holy Spirit be leading you?

Who are you following?
How are you being tended?
What do you serve?