As the year 2020 came to close many people expressed relief that a difficult year was now behind them. Many people wished one another a happier new year, one marked by healing and peace. A scant week or so into 2021, chaos erupted in Washington, D. C., variant forms of COVID were found in our local cities, and other uncertainties cropped up leaving many people starting the year with greater inner turmoil than they had at the end of 2020. I have seen Facebook posts galore either imploring people to pray to God for an answer to political problems or posts fermenting great division. The situation feels like a mess and, in many ways, it is a mess. What then are we to do?
I want to suggest the first thing we do is for all of us to do some genuine “Facebook.” We need to take our face and put it into the book called the Bible. If we put our face in that book, we would read these words that seem tailor made for our response to the year 2021:
6 You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following him” (Colossians 2:6-CEV)
Please. I implore you to read those words again, aloud, and slowly.
6 You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following him” (Colossians 2:6-CEV).
These words came from the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul to the church at Colossae. Paul was imprisoned in Rome at the time he wrote these words. Paul wanted to encourage the members of the church who were dealing with their own uncertainties, inner turmoil, and external hostilities.
The first sentence of this verse reminded people of who they were. “You are part of Christ Jesus and He is part of you.” There is an inseparable bound between Jesus and those who accept Him as Lord of their life. And that bond establishes an identity that is essential for all seasons of life but most so when things feel like a mess. Paul was inspired by the Holy Spirit to speak further about the unbreakable bond with Christ amid turmoil. Paul, in his letter to the church in Rome, wrote:
“31 What can we say about all this? If God is on our side, can anyone be against us? 32 God did not keep back his own Son, but he gave him for us. If God did this, won’t he freely give us everything else? 33 If God says his chosen ones are acceptable to him, can anyone bring charges against them? 34 Or can anyone condemn them? No indeed! Christ died and was raised to life, and now he is at God’s right side, speaking to him for us. 35 Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?...38 I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:31-35; 38-39).
These are beautiful words that remind us that when we accept Jesus as Lord, the struggle as to who we are, and the uncertainty of our eternal future is over. When we act in accordance with the words, “You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord,” we can then say, “I am a child of God, the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords. Jesus Christ lives within me and has promised to be with me always. In fact, He is with me right now. And by the way, have you notice how things feel like a mess right now?” Do you get the sense that what is most important in our life is stated first as an identity and a promise of God’s presence? The momentary situation of men and women struggling against themselves for great control is acknowledge come second because those things have nothing to do with who we are or our destiny.
“You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following Him” (Colossians 2:6). Keep on following Him means to do the things that Jesus taught you to do and to do the things His Holy Spirit is leading you to do. Now in this passage, Paul was giving us some important insights. Paul said keep on following Jesus. How do we do that? Paul helped us with these words: “7 Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught” (Colossians 2:7-CEV).
“Plant your roots in Christ.” The root of a plant has four functions: first, the roots collect water and nutrients; second, the root anchors the plant to the ground; third, the root stores nutrients for difficult times; and fourth, the root gives the plant the ability to spread. Paul said be rooted in Christ and in Him receive your strength for the day. Practically speaking, we root ourselves in Christ when reach out and read His word before the news and before social media and when we pray during the day. These actions give us knowledge and wisdom and remind us of our identity and destiny. Get rooted with Jesus first to get the strength you need for the day. Being rooting in Jesus means that we are anchored in Him. We are holding onto Him and he is holding onto us. Being rooted in Jesus means that when we face uncertainties or challenging times, we are not alone. We are bringing Christ with us. Many people do not understand that when they face a crisis in this world, they must deal with that crisis with what they have in hand at that moment. Being rooted in Christ means that we have a source of nourishment, stability, and wisdom immediately available to us to draw upon. Finally, rooted in Jesus means we have the capacity to spread out, to mature, and bear fruit. Rooted in Christ means we are not just a vessel of peace and comfort, but we become an instrument of peace and comfort. When we do these things, then we have become more like the person we want to be for we have become more like Jesus.
“7 Plant your roots in Christ and let him be the foundation for your life. Be strong in your faith, just as you were taught. And be grateful” (Colossians 2:7-CEV). Gratitude. How often do we take time to wonder at how much we have and how blessed we are? Thankfulness, or gratitude, means we recognize God has blessed us and that we best express that gratitude through living. Understanding and recognizing God’s blessings can be expressed in part through words but mostly gratitude is best expressed through living. Jesus did not say, “Go and live a life isolated from everyone else.” Jesus said, “14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16-NIV). We need to let our gratitude in God show not with an arrogance that we are better than anyone else, because we are not, but with a gratitude that acknowledges we are better off because God is with us. We can express that gratitude by our behaviors toward others in living.
So, if the chaos of these times makes us want to shrink away and not engage people as we are able to do, then we are missing the point. We should be able, even with the difficulties of COVID, to express gratitude toward God in our conversations and actions with other people. Think how different our conversations would be if when a friend calls and says, “This COVID stuff is getting me down and the nonsense and violence in Washington is so upsetting.” And instead of just signing up to those words, we said, “Yes. I know it is disturbing but it is particularly at times like these that I am glad I am rooted in Christ and that he gives me peace and reassurance in these difficult times. I am grateful for Him.” What a different and more uplifting that conversation would be for you and your friend because you chose to bring Jesus into the conversation.
Now Paul understood that expressing gratitude and bringing Jesus into the conversation would in some cases, or perhaps many cases, cause those around us to argue against Jesus. Paul said when someone tries to shake your faith, “8 Don’t let anyone fool you by using senseless arguments. These arguments may sound wise, but they are only human teachings. They come from the powers of this world and not from Christ.
9 God lives fully in Christ” (Colossians 2:8-9-CEV). You are rooted in Christ and grateful to Him. There is no reason to let someone change your outlook on life no matter how interesting their argument may be or how convoluted their questions about our faith. Paul was saying to remember some simple things. “God lives fully in Christ” (Colossians 2:9-CEV) and you are rooted in Christ. There is nothing missing in Jesus, he was and is fully God and our attachment to Jesus makes us complete. We need to expect that there will be many people in our lives who will not accept these truths, but they do not need to accept those truths for us to know it is true. Our faith and our walk with Christ depend upon no other person.
When we receive Jesus, Paul said, “10 You are fully grown because you belong to Christ… 12 When you were baptized, it was the same as being buried with Christ. Then you were raised to life because you had faith in the power of God, who raised Christ from death. 13 You were dead, because you were sinful and were not God’s people. But God let Christ make you alive” (Colossians 2:10, 12-13). Again, Paul shares with us something important just for times like these. “God let Christ make you alive!” We are alive and, in our living, we can express the beauty of Christ. We must not shrink from living in a way that makes Jesus evident in our life.
On what basis are we alive? Paul said, “14 God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. 15 There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when he celebrated his victory” (Colossians 2:14-15-CEV). The cross was the instrument of Jesus death. Those who crucified Jesus thought that was the end of him. They thought Jesus and his followers were defeated. God used the cross as a way of humiliating the powerful because God raised Jesus from the dead. In doing so, God made clear that Jesus defeats all powers and emerges the victor.
So, when we see the difficulties of the world struggling and fighting with itself, we need to remember it is a battle among those who were defeated. No matter which political party, faction of society, or country declares itself the victor, they are, at best, victors among the losers. Christ has already fought the ultimate battle and won. If we are with Jesus, if we are in Jesus, then we are on the side and the team of the first-place victor. I can think of no one who would leave a team that had already won the championship to join a team that was still trying to win some distant second place. Why then would we become embroiled in the battle and the viciousness of the world?
Paul said so when people’s carefully crafted arguments have not moved you from Christ, “16-17 Don’t put up with anyone pressuring you in details of diet, worship services, or holy days. All those things are mere shadows cast before what was to come; the substance [the reality] is Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17-MSG).
Isn’t true in life we always want the real thing? Last week, chaos seemed to be everywhere and those with the loudest voices were shouting at us hear only them. Do these people represent the real thing or a shadow?
Before you answer, let me share with you another event from last week. Last week, Becky and I met with parents who are suffering the loss of a child. There was no shouting. There were no loud voices. Instead, there were soft voices expressing that if it were not for Jesus, the pain of the loss of their children would be unbearable. They said, if not for the promise of the resurrection the death of their child would make them utterly hopeless. They said, if not for walking each day with Jesus beside them, somedays getting them out of bed, their lives would have no meaning or purpose. Some said, because of the blessing of Christ in their life they can minister in Jesus’ name powerfully and personally to other parents who have lost much, and in some cases, have lost everything. This my friends is real. This my friends is what Paul was talking about. This my friends is the reality of what Jesus was talking about in being a light on the hill. This my friends is what it means to be rooted in Christ and drawing your strength from Him.
We do not need to loss a child or a dear loved one to be made alive. When we accept Jesus, life begins, and we begin to understand love. When we accept Jesus, we gain life and lose anger, resentment, loudness, arrogance, pride, and hopelessness. Why would we want to do things to bring those elements and that character back into our lives?
What are we to do? Paul made it simple for us, “6 You have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord. Now keep on following him.” Amen and Amen.