In Him

Rev. Steven D. Spencer – Pastor

Pentecost 9 (July 29, 2007)

Colossians 2:6-15

6 As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, 7 having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. 8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. 9 For in Him all the fulness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; 11 and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; 12 having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And when you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, 14 having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him.

In last week’s sermon we heard about Mary and Martha. Mary sat at the feet of Jesus listening intently to our Lord’s words while Martha busied herself with preparing and serving the meal. What I didn’t tell you is at times I’m more like Martha than I am like Mary. When people come into the presence of the Lord one of two things usually happen. They either bask in the glory of His Word or they become busy in His work. Both are fine and noble things but all need to stop and hear His Word. There’s a certain order that we need to remember. Our works don’t save us, our works don’t impress Him and our works don’t cause our faith to grow. Our works and our actions are a response to His love, which is brought forth in His Word. First is hearing of His Word, and then comes the good works. They are byproducts of God’s Word.

But you see that is where the problem is. Our society teaches a different philosophy. It teaches us that we are rugged individualist. We don’t need anyone or anything. If it’s meant to be it’s up to me. You work hard and get what you deserve. Before I go any further, I have a confession to make. I am a rugged individualist. I can’t help it; it was the way I was raised. Don’t ask anyone for help, because if you do you will owe them. And you don’t just return the favor done, you return it with interest. Never be left owing anyone.  Never ask for a favor.

Several years ago while we were living in Washington, for the first time, we moved. Of course being a rugged individualist I wouldn’t ask anyone for help. I was going to load the whole truck all by myself. It gets worse. We had a full size upright piano. We rented one of those big moving trucks like a Ryder truck. It had a long narrow ramp with elevated sides on the ramp. The piano’s wheels weren’t tall enough to lift the bottom of the piano over the edge of the ramp. The only way to get the piano up the ramp was to put it on dowels. This piano was heavy. So heavy that it caused the ramp to bow and sway under its weight. It gets worse. Because I was such a rugged individualist I didn’t ask anybody to help load the piano. I got it onto the ramp and the only way to push it up the ramp was to push it with my back against using my legs. When I would push it about 4 feet I would have to lift one side of the piano and move the dowels forward. And that’s impossible to do with just one person. I needed a person stabilize the piano as the ramp swayed and to move the dowels forward as needed. The only person available was my wife. There standing below this massive heavy piano, trying to stabilize it was Denise. It gets worse. She was pregnant with our youngest child. Fortunately we were able to load it without incident. But by being a rugged individualist I had put myself and those that I love at risk.

That’s what rugged individualism does. It puts people at risk. The age of individualism is a byproduct of the Period of Rationalism, the age of enlightenment, where people put reason and philosophy above faith. The core belief is that pure logic exists and that each person through pure logic can ascend to reality, whatever that may be. That out there in society exist certain truths that are self evident. That’s what Descartes taught. That man really isn’t fallen he just needs to concentrate. To find God man must work hard, do good, use pure reason. It’s up to each individual. Through good thoughts, words and works man can ascend to God. That’s what the age of enlightenment taught. Even our Declaration of Independence is influenced by the enlightenment language. “We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal”.  It’s up to each individual to figure it out.

Do you see the problem with this way of thinking? Natural man isn’t corrupt, he’s dead. Dead people don’t think. In the fall everything became subject to sin. All of creation is fallen. There is no such thing as pure logic. St. Paul sees something similar happening in Colossae. Verse 8: “See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.” Already in St. Paul’s times people were practicing reason over faith. The great Greek philosopher Plato had influenced the people Greece with idea of pure reason. They loved philosophy and reason. So do we! It makes us feel we are in control. In reality we are out of control.

Look at the world today. People will tell you it doesn’t matter what God you believe in as long as you’re a good person. Each person needs to figure out what works for them. Where does that put the focus? It puts it inward. I’ve shared this with you before. Both St. Augustine and Dr. Luther say original sin is curvatis en se, to be curved in on self. It’s to place yourself above everyone and everything else, including God. That’s the human tradition and philosophy touted by talk show host and authors of our day.  It’s all about self empowerment, it’s all about me. It’s in direct violation of the First Commandment, “You shall have no other God’s before Me.” And as Dr. Luther says. “What does this mean?” “We should fear, love and trust in God above all things!” Even human intellect!

Let’s go back to our passage again. But before I read it, the philosophy of individualism is that we don’t need anyone or anything. That everything we need is inside us. That’s the philosophy taught today. I want you to open your bulletins and look at the passage as I read it. Use the pencil in the pew to underline the words I tell you as I read it. ⁶Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, ⁷rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. ⁹For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, ¹⁰and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. ¹¹In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, ¹²having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. ¹³And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.

Did you catch the theme there? In Him! It starts off with being received into Him. It’s passive, it happens to you. You don’t take it, it doesn’t say as you take Christ the Lord, it says receive Him, passive. It is God who does the giving. It goes on to tell us to be built up in Him, rooted in Him. How are we to be rooted? By being taught! Again passive, we are taught. Taught by what, His Word.  And that Word establishes the faith which brings forth the fruit of thanksgiving. If you’ve been feeling anything but thankful lately maybe it’s a sign that you’re a rugged individualist too. Maybe it’s time to recognize how much you need Him (T). For we are filled in Him (vs 10). So if you feel empty, well you get the picture. In Him we have had the body of the flesh put off us (vs 11). So is the flesh is running us, or are we running it?  God made us alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, ¹⁴by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. The legal demand? The wages of sin is death, eternal death in Hell. Every sin you’ve committed requires payment. The devil notices everything wrong you do and brings it God to condemn you. But these He (T) sets aside, nailing it to the cross. Jesus nails your sins to the cross taking on the full punishment due to you. He suffers the payment of death in your place. And by doing this ¹⁵He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him.

What claim do they have on you? None, when you are in Him (T). And how do you stay in Him? By being in His presence, like right now in this place, His church. Where you can receive His forgiveness through absolution and receive His Word, through Bible study and by listening to the sermon; in this place where you can receive His grace through the Sacrament. You see it’s not about you, it’s for you. It’s for you that He went to the cross, it’s for you that He died and for you that He was victorious over sin, death and the devil. So that you can know without a doubt that all your sins are forgiven, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. For you are in Him, that is in Jesus. In Jesus name, AMEN!