Staying Connected

9.30am Sunday 12 August 2007

Readings: Mark 6:1-24; Colossians 2:16-23

When driving in Europe through the winter months, one thing that is essential when motoring is that your window washers are working. There is often snow about which can make the roads slushy and if you happen to be following another vehicle it is not long before your vision becomes very limited. There are also hundreds of trucks on the road. They travel in convoy, one after another. Although the car we were using was new, the window washer packed up on us just outside Tbingen, and we knew that there was no way that we could go much further without getting it seen to. We were staying with our German host daughter that night, and so the next morning we went in search of a garage. You can imagine our predicament. Here we were, not knowing any German except "Sprichen de English," driving a Peugeot, a French car, trying to communicate with someone who only spoke a smattering of English and who specialised in servicing Volvos, a Swedish car. To further complicate matters, the car's handbook was written in French, and being technical language, that was no help to the mechanic either. As the mechanic sought to locate the problem, every now and again he would pop his head out from the motor and say something to us in German. Although we didn't have a clue what he was saying we smiled and nodded in agreement. After some time he found the problem, a blown fuse, and we were soon on our way, very grateful for his help. A fuse is a tiny part of a car's equipment, about the size of a ten cent piece, but it can make all the difference between being able to continue a journey or not.

Small and seemingly insignificant things can have serious repercussions in our spiritual life, too. We may not notice them at first. We may not even be aware that something is wrong, but over a period of time it can lead us to lose our connection with Christ. In the passage we read from Colossians Paul informed the Church that this is what had happened to those who were trying to lead them astray. They had lost their connection with the Head of the body, Jesus Christ, on whom they were absolutely dependent for their life and growth as members of the church. These people were putting their trust in rules and observances that had passed their 'use by' date. They were to be observed only until Christ came. Now they were of no further use. We, too, need to be wary of such things that can disconnect us from Christ, on whom alone our spiritual life depends. This is something that Paul stresses over and over again in his letters. It is not what we eat or drink, or the observance of special days that are necessary for our salvation, but faith in Christ. What God required of his people in the Old Testament foreshadowed what was to come. Once Christ came, they were no longer necessary. As Paul says here, "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality ... is found in Christ."[1] As we will see when we come to Colossians 3, Christ is our life! Like the branches of a vine that wither and die unless connected to the vine, so, too, the vitality and freedom of our life in Christ can be cut off if we are not watchful for the things that can sever us from the source of our life in him. It is the life of Christ that flows into us through the Holy Spirit and through serving together in his church that builds our Christian lives and makes the church grow. We, as a church, are totally and exclusively dependent on him.

Among the things that Paul mentions here is food. The Old Testament had a whole list of restrictions concerning what God's people could or could not eat. They were still religiously observed when Jesus walked this earth. This is why when Peter had his vision of the sheet coming down from heaven with all kinds of animals, reptiles and birds in it, and was told, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat." He said, "Surely not, Lord!' I have never eaten anything impure or unclean."[2] However, the New Testament states very clearly that those restrictions no longer apply. For example, when the Corinthians were wanting advice from Paul on what meat they should eat, Paul said, "Eat anything sold in the meat market without raising questions of conscience, for, 'The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it.'"[3] He tells the Roman Christian, "All food is clean..."[4] The important thing is to honour and give thanks to God in whatever we eat and drink, and to act in love.[5] Jesus was saying the same in the passage we read from Mark 7. What goes into our bodies cannot defile us or make us unclean. Mark then adds in parenthesis, "By saying this, Jesus meant that all foods were fit to eat."[6] What the false teachers in Colossae were offering concerned 'perishable' things, and their rules bound them to the elemental forces of this world, the powers of darkness from which Christ delivers us. The prohibitions of these false teachers were further based on human customs and wisdom. The ascetic practices they were promoting looked impressive, but they only lead to pride and do not help curb our sinful human desires.[7] Only Christ can do that. What Christ offers us is eternal. Our focus is, therefore, to be on things of lasting significance. As Paul says, "We fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."[8]

These false teachers were challenging the Colossian's hope. The same is true today. There are ideologies circulating that challenge our allegiance to Christ, and many are being led astray, sometimes without being aware that it is happening. These ideologies and philosophies appeal because they promise great experiences and easier ways to explain life's uncertainties. Such philosophies that take away from Christ's centrality and sufficiency have been present throughout history, and have constantly challenged the faith handed down by the apostles to the church.

David Garland identifies a number of characteristics common to all such teaching:

1.      They are EXCLUSIVE in the sense that they judge, exclude, or disqualify people according to arbitrary human criteria. Unless you follow certain rules and procedures you are not one of them.

2.      They ENSLAVE because they bind people to paying homage to supernatural powers or a human person other than Christ. It is the same temptation Jesus faced in the wilderness - who are you going to worship. Our answer to these things must always be the same as Jesus, when he said, quoting from Deuteronomy 6:13, "Worship the Lord your God and serve him only."[9]

3.      They are EGOTISTIC. That is, they pander to human pride and self-centredness. Paul makes the statement: "...their unspiritual minds puffs them up with idle notions.[10]" They foster an arrogant attitude that is contrary to the humility Christ modelled for us and wants us to show in our lives. Remember what he said to his disciples when he placed a little child among them, "...whoever takes a humble place - becoming like this child - is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven."[11]

Staying Connected to Christ. How can you prevent what at first may be seemingly little things from disconnecting you from Christ?

1.      ACCEPT one another. To stay connected to Christ you must keep in fellowship with his body, the Church. When you were baptised you were baptised into Christ's church. You became part of his body, and no part of the body can remain alive if it is severed or separated from the rest of the body. To accept one another means that you and I must recognise the intrinsic value of every person within God's family. You may be able to do without some members of our physical bodies, like your appendix or gallbladder or one of your kidneys. You can also lose and eye or an ear or a limb, but you may not function so well. However, with the church every member is important, and so we value each other by accepting and welcoming and serving one another. This is way God causes the body to grow. We must avoid the dangers of a religion that judges and disqualifies others within the body of Christ like what was happening in Colossae. Paul says, "Accept one another ... just as Christ accepted you."[12]

2.      ACKNOWLEDGE his all-sufficiency. All that you can ever hope for or desire for and far, far more is found in Christ. "You are complete in him."[13] His Spirit at work within you will generate the inner motivation to help you do his will. No outward observance of rules and regulations, or setting goals of what you may do in the way of self-discipline, self-help or self-realisation can bring about permanent change. A 'do-it-yourself' religion that puts self at the centre eventually leads to 'self worship.' All you will ever need is found in Christ.

3.      Set your focus ABOVE where Christ is. This is where our sight is to be trained. There are very real dangers in concentrating only on what can be seen. This is what the media does, especially with its advertising. Advertisers seek to create a desire in people to want or experience the new and latest of everything. Its emphasis is on the eyes, believing that the eyes will connect with the heart and therefore the emotions. Sometimes we buy things simply because they look good or feel comfortable. Some people choose their faith the same way. The danger is that things that appeal to the senses, cannot sustain the spiritual part of our being. Furthermore, the attraction of the new can cause us to consider the tried and true to be old-fashioned and obsolete. It also panders to our wants and desires that run counter to the sacrifice and self-discipline that is part of Christian discipleship. The cross has no attraction for such people, but it is the only thing that can save. The religious practices promoted by the false teachers at Colossae were like this. Its attention was focussed on the outward and formal practice of religion, what can be seen, whereas the essence of faith is internal. Paul's words in 2 Corinthians quoted earlier encourages us not to follow our hearts or be guided by our eyes, but to look beyond the visual and superficial to what is true and has eternal significance. Setting our focus above helps us stay connected to Christ.

4.      Be wary of ADD-ONS, things that are made additional to the essentials of our faith. In the Colossian's case, one of these was the worship of angels. This is symptomatic of the constant danger of seeking to put something between God and ourselves, some divine intermediary. Angels have become very popular today. A number of movies and TV series revolve around beings that intervene in the lives of individuals. An example is the movie "Michael," the story of a flawed angel who acts like cupid in bringing lovers together, and even raises a dog from the dead. You can understand why people are attracted to this, because angels are more accessible than God and there are more of them, which means that each person can have their own one. The message that such movies put across is that angels are devoted to our personal well being, that they will give us what we want, and will not make demands on us for religious commitment or sacrifice. However, when we look at angels in the Bible they bear little resemblance. They usually say very little, and what they do communicate is important privileged information about what God is going to do. They are otherwise inaccessible to humans and do not remain around for long. Angels in the Bible are also agents of judgment. For example they were involved in Genesis 19 in the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, in 2 Kings 19 in the death of 185,000 soldiers in the Assyrian army, and in Acts 12 in the death of King Herod. Going along with the modern notion of angels who serve us rather than God and who work to improve our lot here and now, has the effect of undermining our dependence on Christ for help and guidance. Becoming preoccupied with them only leads to spiritual confusion, and leaves us susceptible to the very sin Israel committed in setting up gods of our own making. The New Testament affirms that we can only truly experience God and salvation in Jesus Christ. He is the head of his body, the church. A body cannot survive if its headless, neither can any member of a physical body live by itself. No individual believer can live apart from the body of Christ. We can only experience and grow in our salvation within the church. In the West we have tended to put an individualistic interpretation on our relationship with Christ and look upon the church as secondary. We have got things round the wrong way, as Paul's use of the image of the church as a body illustrates. Paul says here in Colossians that it is through the Head, that "the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow."[14] When you become a follower of Christ you are joined to the body of Christ. You are therefore joined with other Christians. You cannot grow on your own without Christ, and you cannot grow on your own without other Christians. God calls you to live in community for you cannot find your meaning, purpose and significance isolated from God or one another. Where church is regarded in individualistic terms it is little different to a health club where one goes to 'work out' to fulfil some individual bodybuilding or weight-loss goals. Severed from Christ and his church your spiritual life starves to death. You must stay connected to Christ and his church like the branches on a vine to grow and be fruitful for Jesus. This is a theme which we will explore next year when we take part in 40 Days of Community.

To stay connected to Christ we must accept one another as Christ has accepted us. We must acknowledge that all we will ever need is to be found in Christ. He is the 'all-sufficient' One. Our focus must be upward where Christ rules with God. We must be continually watchful for 'little things' that people seek to add to the 'finished' work of Christ that can lead to us being disconnected from the life we have in him, or any teaching that would place an intermediary between Christ and ourselves. Let nothing come between you and your Lord.

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