When you’ve been around me long enough, one of the things that becomes clear is I’m a lover of music. All types, all volumes, all genres. Odds are if you can name it, it’s on my iPod - with one notable exception - I’ve never been much of an 80’s hair band kind of girl. One of the things I enjoyed the most about Daniel Ogle serving as the office assistant in June was the random singing we’d do together. He’d start at his desk and without leaving mine, without even looking at each other; we’d be singing together and laughing to beat the band. I’m not sure how the rest of the office staff felt about it, but we sure had a good time!
I am the person who will pause movies and live TV because I recognize a snippet of a song in the background and I am uneasy - I literally cannot relax until I can put a name with the tune. One of our favorite things to do in my family is to play the music quiz games at sporcle.com. If you haven’t been there I suggest you check it out - rather than games to numb your mind these are games to increase brain use - like naming all 44 presidents in 1 minute - or listing the mottos for all 50 states. Great fun! They have games where you have to guess songs based on 5 - 10 sec clips and I love it!
Part of the reason I love music so much is all the emotion tied up in it. My mom tells me that when I was a kid, anytime I felt anything, I went to the piano and played. Certain songs delve up emotion and memory in all of us. You can hear a song - only a couple of bars and it takes you back to a precise moment - and you’re reliving it. The people there with you, the way you felt, the way the air tasted, good memories and bad memories. Music is incredibly powerful like that. And it works with groups of people as well as individuals. James’ entire family tears up when singing Here I am Lord, because it reminds them of a shared grief. And those things tie us together.
Collective memory is among the most essential components of a community's shared identity. Both texts today deal primarily with communal memory. Deuteronomy telling the Israelite's how to live their lives - always remembering that God had broken their bonds in Egypt and delivered them into new life. Paul talking to the community in Colossae, encouraging them to find their footing by remembering their past - what they know. You can almost hear them - Remember! Remember who you are and what’s been done for you. Remember how you are different.
Paul uses 6 verses to re-tell the communal story. They have come to fullness in Christ, the ultimate authority. The Colossians need reminding that they are in this world but not of this world because God has disarmed the rulers and authorities of this world, triumphing over them. Therefore the rules of this world do not apply. We are no longer bound by the principalities and powers of this world as we are connected to God through Christ. That is a powerful proposition, and one both the Colossians and modern believers need to hear again and again.
Paul starts and ends our reading today by encouraging believers in Colossae not to be taken in by “philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition”[1] and enumerating ways this could happen. It seems that the Colossians were in the midst of conversations about what the requirements were to be a faithful follower of Christ. The issue of circumcision, dietary laws, and religious festivals had all come to the forefront. Those of you who have been a part of the First Christian Class this summer will recognize this theme. Many of Paul’s letters center on this single discussion. Must believers become faithful practicing Jews before they could become Christians? Must they rest on other elements - seeing visions, worship of minor deities (angels), self-hatred and physical pain as others might claim? Should they model their practice of faith on one person, or in one way? What makes a good Christian?
It’s not so different today. We’re in our best moments still having that conversation - and in our worst moments we’re divided over these questions. There is still ‘deceitful philosophy’ alive in the church, and it weakens our connection to one another.[2] We are divided over many issues as believers - and understandably we don’t always see eye to eye. But, one group begins to think that not only is their opinion right, they themselves are right. It is a very small step to the idea that they are the ‘good ones’ and everyone else, those others, are the ‘bad ones’. We then base our actions on that stereotype.[3] It is an even smaller step from being good and bad into the language of ‘faithful’ and sinner. Some on either side adopt the philosophy that the ‘others’ are unforgivable sinners. We begin to use divisive language aloud and in public to one another like “A real Christian would never vote for Barack Obama” and ‘You’re not a real Christian if you don’t serve and fight for the poor and disenfranchised.’ We begin to believe that whatever church program we’re involved with - LINK, Preschool, Presbyterian Women or Music Programs - are more important and deserve more respect than all the other ministries of the church. .
It’s also appears on a smaller scale - this assumption that God’s work of redemption is limited by human actions. Many people honestly believe that some sins are unforgivable. in every church gathering this week, I can promise you that there are, among the faithful, people who have struggled with the belief that they can be forgiven. It can be personal - in that they are not sure they can forgive themselves. They might have heard from a preacher, teacher, or adult in the past that they are too bad - too guilty - for God to save. It may be some sin that remains in the past - one that seems unforgiven. One that they cannot let go of.
These ideas are deceitful precisely because we attempt to limit God by our frameworks. We begin to tell God where and how (or how not) to act. If we take the gospel seriously then surely we understand that there is no sin so terrible God has not already forgiven. I think that is one of the most powerful parts of reformed worship - each week we stand and hear that message again - that God forgives. We hear the waters of baptism poured each week reminding us of our connection. God has defeated the power of sin in our lives. God has erased the record. It is gone. And Paul tells us we are united, brought together in our differences in Christ. The powers of this world - powers the divide and conquer, that tear individuals and groups apart - they have no control over us! We are called to different ways of being. We are a whole body, nourished and held together by God.
It is God that grows us, as individuals and as communities, in our faith. Deuteronomy pointedly reminds the Israelites of that fact - “a land with fine, large cities that you did not build, houses filled with all sorts of goods that you did not fill, vineyards and olives groves that you did not plant, so take care that you do not forget the Lord[4]” Like the Israelites, God has acted for us - we have been redeemed, and counted among the righteous. Paul is reminding the Colossians of their roots - roots deeply tied to God’s work in Christ. In order to continue to grow, they must nourish those roots - recognize and remember whose they are. It is God, who has saved us, and it is God’s action that draws us together - not right belief, or submission to a list of agreed upon terms. Nothing but God.
All the deceitful philosophy Paul speaks of, the puffed up human ways of thinking, and our modern iterations all grow out of us being out of right relationship with God. We begin to trust ourselves. We apply our frameworks to God. We wonder if in fact we might know better than God. We begin to rely on one another and on the power of this world - however weak and flimsy they might be. Our sight becomes dim and our vision limited. Paul is reminding us to trust in what we know. Trust in what has made us different.
We are reminded to rely fully on God who is our head and trust in God’s promises. Often one might hear or say the phrase ‘return to their roots’ as a way of vocalizing a desire to return to what strengthens them, nourishes them. Paul is reminding the believers in Colossae to return to their roots - to turn always to God. If the theme of Colossians is ‘living in Christ’, then chapter 2 tells us how to grow in Christ - to be rooted in our faith, to trust and to believe.
That is the central message of our faith and one that should resonate deep within our souls like an old familiar song. Remember. There is nothing so bad God cannot forgive, no wound so deep God cannot heal, no division so great God cannot overcome it. Remember whose you are - and trust in that answer.
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