Above and Beyond
“Above and Beyond” by Pastor Rosanna McFadden
Good morning! It has been a week of wonders for the McFadden family: the wonder of a new grandchild, the wonder of a child making responsibly adult plans and decisions, and of course, the I wonder if we’re going to survive Vacation Bible School? As in so many things in life, sharing those tasks and responsibilities with other people makes all the difference. It was great to see all the children — and especially four of our grandchildren — at Bible School. Some year I will be far-sighted enough to plan my sermon topic around the biblical material which were part of VBS and which are currently front-of-mind. This is not that year.
This is the second consecutive Sunday that our text is taken from the book of Colossians. There is great stuff in this book, as I mentioned last week, but it is not really the stuff of a bouncy Vacation Bible School theme. Last week we looked at the opening address in verses 3-14, and this morning, I want you to hear a song. I’m not going to sing it, but Colossians 1:15-20 is an ancient Christian hymn. It is, of course, not the first or only worship song in the biblical canon; the entire collection of 150 psalms are all verses which may have been sung or used responsively in gathered worship. Another notable New Testament hymn is found in Philippians 2. Although no one knows what this hymn from Colossians chapter 1 sounded like nearly thousand years ago, scholars believe that it would have already been familiar to the readers of this letter in Colossae and elsewhere.
I don’t know who Gordon Fee is, but I heard this quote from him more than once in my seminary studies: “Show me a church’s songs and I’ll show you their theology.” I know that music plays a number of varied and complex functions in our worship and life together, and that sometimes we are not paying attention to the words which we are singing, but I believe those words shape us even when we are not paying close attention. There is some powerful theology going on in these verses which I want to direct your attention to as we consider these words together. I’m going to highlight a couple sentences from verses 15-20, and let you consider if you agree, disagree, or have reservations about these statements. If we were at Annual Conference or a Creekside congregational meeting, I’d give you green, yellow and red cards to represent Full Agreement, Some questions, or Disagree. I’m not going to put you on the spot in that way, but I’m going to ask you to do this mentally. To be clear, I’m not encouraging anyone to disagree with what’s here, but I believe it’s healthy to question and test big claims, and not simply hear or repeat them without listening to what we are saying. Are you with me?
The Son is the image of the invisible God.
He existed before all things.
He is the head of the body, the church.
He brought peace through the blood of his cross.
Again, this is not a test of orthodoxy, whether or not you all believe the “right” things, but as I said earlier, these are big claims, claims which will determine what we believe, and presumably how we act.
The Son is the image of the invisible God. The image of God is a pretty big deal. We are told in Genesis that humankind has been created in God’s image — specifically both female and male, but presumably people equally, everywhere. Jesus Christ is the image of the invisible God, which is a pretty neat way of tying together humanity and divinity: if we look at Jesus, we see God. Maybe we see some reflection of that when we look at other people, too. Or if we don’t, it may be worth questioning why that is. If we believe that the Son is the Image of God, what does that mean for how we see ourselves and others?
The Son existed before all things. I have driven to Fort Wayne several times this summer. There is a big billboard in Wolf Lake which says, Jesus is Not God. There is some fine print about Jesus not pre-existing with God which I haven’t read carefully because I’m trying to drive through Wolf Lake as quickly as possible, but I’m intrigued that someone would use a billboard to win a theological argument. The relationship of Jesus to God is a very old argument among Christians, and whether you agree with Christ being present at Creation or not, this is not an equivocal statement; it is a definitive one: the Son existed before all things.
He is the head of the body, the church. I hope there is broad consent to this one, but as you know, it can get very muddled in practice. Some Christian bodies, like our Orthodox and Catholic siblings have set up very clear leadership hierarchies; some, the like the Church of the Brethren have leaned into the priesthood of all believers, and every member as a ministering person. Either way, the church is infested with human beings and that makes everything more complicated. The ideal, of course, is a group of people who give Christ first place in everything. That has always been a challenge, individually and corporately, but it is an ideal worth reminding ourselves of. It’s worth a gut-check now and to see how we’re doing. It’s part of the reason we take time, as we did before the service of communion last week, to see if we are in fellowship with God and neighbor. If we are not making a positive contribution to the body of Christ, what needs to change? [I’ll give you a hint: ‘Everyone else needs to treat me better’ is not the correct answer]
And finally He brought peace through the blood of his cross. As you may imagine, this statement is beloved by Anabaptists and historic peace churches, as are the verse which follow which expand on the idea of peace and reconciliation. We were once alienated from God because of our evil actions, but Jesus reconciled us, redeemed us, bought us back by his physical death. Because of that grace from Jesus, we are people who are holy, faultless and without blame. Halleluia! But wait, there’s more. We are not only to stay rooted firmly in our faith in this good news, we are to share it with others so that they too can be without blame. This sounds great, but do we really want a world without blame? Bad things are going to happen, and it’s pretty convenient to have someone else to blame when they do. If we truly desire the peace of Christ, are we willing to confess more and blame less? What if our peace depends on the peace of all people, including the people we don’t like, we don’t agree with, we don’t understand, and we don’t care about? Reconciliation is not just a personal, thing verse 20 says it is all things, whether things on earth or in the heavens. That’s a lot of things which are to be reconciled to Christ. That’s a lot of reconciliation for us to be part of.These four statements from Colossians 1 are foundational to who we understand Christ to be. Christ is above and beyond what we know or understand, beyond even what we can imagine. As I said earlier, these are big claims, and I believe that big claims should be taken out and examined and discussed and wrestled with — I believe that pushing back against sweeping statements of Christ’s pre-existence and pre-eminence is a healthy exercise which can develop some theological capacity and muscle. What makes the body of Christ weak and flabby is saying that we believe something but not letting that affect what we do in any way. That kind of apathy and hypocrisy gives Christianity a bad name, and sometimes an ugly face. I’d be happy for you to read Colossians on your own and let me know what you think. This is one of the ways in which our faith goes above and beyond Sunday morning. God bless you.