In a couple of weeks, we will begin the time of Lent...the days of preparation and reflection leading to Easter. Part of the Christian tradition is to employ various spiritual disciplines during Lent to grow closer to God through intentional practices. So, the worship committee decided we would do well to study a few of those disciplines in worship before we reach Lent. Today, we will be talking about Prayer and devotional practices. Next week we will talk about practices of fasting,
and the third week we will talk about various forms of Christian action.
Col 2:6-7
6 So live in Christ Jesus the Lord in the same way as you received him. 7 Be rooted and built up in him, be established in faith, and overflow with thanksgiving just as you were taught.
—In this letter, the author, (likely not Paul) is addressing the church in Colosse. Like the other epistles, we don't know what was sent about the issues they were facing. So we simply have to read the responses and try and see what might have been at stake. There are two really significant parts to what is being shared.
1) The author is warning the people against getting caught up in the fantastical....reminding them that they already have a relationship with Christ and need to be grounded in that. They don't need to be consumed with having a charismatic experience of the Holy Spirit. Not that they are bad, but more that they aren't the true measure of faith.
2) on the other end of it, the author is advising, don't get consumed with following the law to the detail. It's not about the check-list of observances, it's about what they offer you in terms of the experience of and relationship with God.
So, if we don't need the fantastic and we shouldn't get consumed with the details of getting it right, what do we need? Well, according to today's passage: to "love in Christ" and "be rooted and built up in him". As a result, we will be full of thanksgiving.
How do we do that?
We spend time with Jesus. We build a relationship. How do we do that? Listen to what he says...not by sitting and waiting to hear voices...but by reading the Word...listening to it being read...reading what others have heard as they read that passage. His voice is recorded here in these pages. So if we want to know who he is and what he did...we have to spend time with him. Not just the guy you used to know...but the guy who is...the one of today...how are you hearing him today? When was the last time, outside of church, that you sat and read the Bible and listened to the voice of Jesus? For some of us, it was this morning, or yesterday, for others of us...it's been awhile. Now, I'm not trying to make you feel guilty about it, I'm trying to say, the point of faith is a relationship with God...God wants a relationship with you!
Think about it this way. Rick and I have known each other since we were in Junior High when his family moved to Bishop. It was a small town so I knew who he was. He was a trumpet player who was loud and obnoxious. He played football. He ran track. He was Sam's little brother. His dad was a pastor. I knew who he was. But we never really spent any time together until 2008 when we reconnected. As we talked, I learned who he was...both in 2008 and who he actually was in 1998. He wasn't who I thought he was. But to know that, to know him, we had to spend time together...sharing stories, and being present with what was happening each day. It's like that with Jesus. We have what we think we know. But do we actually know him personally? for ourselves? or do we only know what other people have told us? We are encouraged to spend time in prayer and reading the scriptures because they are the key way we maintain our relationship with Christ.
Maybe the Rick analogy doesn't fit you. Maybe you and Jesus have been really close over the years. In that case, I can easily think of my friend Jenny. Jenny and I met in 3rd grade when her family moved from Minnesota. We were in the same class and grew to be friends. And we stayed friends all through elementary, junior high and high school. We were close. As high schoolers, we spent all kinds of time together. We talked about family, friends, work, our boyfriends. We were in 5 classes a day together, plus 2-3 hours at drama practice each night. We were really close friends. And even after graduation, we remained friends...but as the years have passed and we've lived across the country, our time together is further and farther between. We connect easily when we're together. We're comfortable, but along the way, we miss the details. I caught up with her the other day and she mentioned she found a great guy. I figured they'd been dating for a couple of months. When I asked she told me they'd been together for about a year...a year and I had no idea. It's ok. That's not how we relate these days....but it shows how if we aren't investing in each other regularly, we don't really know what's happening. The same can be said of Jesus...maybe we were really close for a time. We knew each other and were comfortable. But life happened and things came up and we spent less and less time together. We know who he was to us then, but don't have a relationship now. The difference is Jesus isn't ready to leave our relationship alone. He wants to know you today and for you to be close today. He's ready...not too busy or too committed. So, will you invest in the relationship? Will you stay rooted and built in him?
How do we do that? Through prayer and listening through the scriptures. Now, can you hear God's voice in lots of different ways? Absolutely. God speaks through people. God speaks through nature. God speaks through conviction. God speaks through peace. God speaks through challenges. You can find God in lots of places if you're willing to look. But the most trusted and promised place to find God's voice is through the scriptures. So, if you really want to be with God...why spend your days searching for a maybe when you could go with a sure thing? Granted, some scriptures can be confusing, I don't doubt that. That's what commentaries and conversations are for. But the stories of the scriptures is where the Jews and later the Christians saw and heard from God in their own lives. And they are where millions of Christians have sought God for thousands of years. People who are educated and could read and study for hours. And others who were illiterate and had to have the words read to them...each one is free to hear and receive from God. There is no measure for who is more worthy...each of us is worthy of the relationship and the revelation of God simply because God says we are worthy.