Listen!

Colossians 1:15-28

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; 16 for in him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or powers—all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He himself is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him God was pleased to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, by making peace through the blood of his cross. 21 And you who were once estranged and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds, 22 he has now reconciled in his fleshly body through death, so as to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before him— 23 provided that you continue securely established and steadfast in the faith, without shifting from the hope promised by the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven. I, Paul, became a servant of this gospel. 24 I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. 25 I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, 26 the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints. 27 To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 28 It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ.

Reflection

Paul writes to these Christians that are in the face of a Roman power that demands an allegiance to the government and the governing authority. A Roman power that even exalts the leader to the form of a god. This is the context of this scripture.

Yet Paul tells the Colossians  that another authority is rather over all things. Jesus is the image of God the first born of all creation. In Jesus everything comes into place... all creation. Even the Roman government? Even ISIS? Even the governments of the world today?

Well sort of... but God isn't pleased to dwell in our sinfulness... no matter how hard we try to make it right... the only true dwelling with God comes through a reconciliation that comes through God in Jesus Christ.

So some of the things of this world don't seek reconciliation... they don't turn to God... evil exists and we are in this world alongside God with all of it. We are presently in the context of this world all of the time.

So we listen. We listen in this passage to a new way. We pull ourselves back for a moment from this world's evil forces and listen to the Word.

Jesus makes us holy through his death. Jesus makes us holy and blameless and irreproachable before God... provided... that we stand with God in faith. Here we stand in faith and hope of all God has done in Jesus. Not what we do ourselves. Not what our worldly thinking of any political stand or thinking of our own could ever accomplish through our own misguided action. We stand in faith and in hope for all God has done.

Are we to not act then? No... we are to act. But we act through what God guides us to do. And here we must... must... stop... stop... and listen. We may act in such a way that we believe God is speaking to us but rather that we are acting in such a way that we think God has told us to act in the way that we wish to act. Whew!

We listen to Jesus... we follow his way... and realize that Jesus' way comes with suffering... it comes with hope... it comes with joy... it comes with life... it comes with resurrection. A resurrection out of the dead and evil of ISIS, terrorists, death, pain, false leaders and our own sinfulness. We listen to something completely different in the way of Jesus. We listen to a God that gives all for all so that all may live... all may live. Yes God died for ISIS, terrorists, presidents we like and presidents we don't like. God dies for all people of all walks of life. It's not our choice... that was God's choice.

So we listen in hope, we listen in faith, we listen as Paul states above...

" I became its servant according to God's commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known,  the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints.  To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.  It is he whom we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone in all wisdom, so that we may present everyone mature in Christ."

Listen!

Music

Prayer

Lord, open my mind and my ears to hear you through all the chaos of this world. Hover over the waters of chaos this day and bring us finally to that glorious day when we will see you face to face... today... tomorrow... and forever. --- Amen